Book picks similar to
The Cranky Ballerina by Elise Gravel


picture-books
childrens
picture-book
kids

Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing


Judi Barrett - 1970
     ...because a snake would lose it, a billy goat would eat it for lunch, and it would always be wet on a walrus! This well-loved book by Judi and Ron Barrett shows the very youngest why animals' clothing is perfect...just as it is.

Where's My Teddy?


Jez Alborough - 1992
    Could it be a case of mistaken identity? This fast-paced comedy of errors, illustrated with Jez Alborough's quirky artwork, is guaranteed to have children—and bears alike—reaching for their teddies!

Duck, Duck, Moose!


Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen - 2014
    When he disappears in shame, Duck and Duck must go find him so he can join in the party-which was for him! The slapstick physical humor of Duck, Duck, Moose will have kids overcome with the giggles.

I Like Myself!


Karen Beaumont - 2004
    Messy hair? Beaver breath? So what! Here's a little girl who knows what really matters.At once silly and serious, Karen Beaumont's joyous rhyming text and David Catrow's wild illustrations unite in a book that is sassy, soulful--and straight from the heart.About the Author:KAREN BEAUMONT's picture books include Being Friends, illustrated by Joy Allen, and Louella Mae, She's Run Away!, illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. She lives in Capitola, California.DAVID CATROW is a political cartoonist and the illustrator of many popular books for children, including the Book Sense 76 Top Ten selection Don't Take Your Snake for a Stroll by Karin Ireland. He lives in Springfield, Ohio.

A Piglet Named Mercy


Kate DiCamillo - 2019
    Watson and Mrs. Watson live ordinary lives. Sometimes their lives feel a bit too ordinary. Sometimes they wish something different would happen. And one day it does, when someone unpredictable finds her way to their front door. In a delightful origin story for the star of the Mercy Watson series, a tiny piglet brings love (and chaos) to Deckawoo Drive — and the Watsons’ lives will never be the same.

The Pout-Pout Fish


Deborah Diesen - 2008
    Fish swims aboutWith his fish face stuckIn a permanent pout.Can his pals cheer him up?Will his pout ever end?Is there something he can learnFrom an unexpected friend?Swim along with the pout-pout fish as he discovers that being glum and spreading "dreary wearies" isn't really his destiny. Bright ocean colors and playful rhyme come together in this fun fish story that's sure to turn even the poutiest of frowns upside down.The Pout-Pout Fish is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

The Summer Nick Taught His Cats to Read


Curtis Manley - 2016
    So naturally Nick decides it’s a great idea to teach his cats to read. But Verne and Stevenson don’t appreciate when Nick wakes them up with a flashcard that says NAP. Nick finally piques Verne’s interest with words like MOUSE and FISH. But not Stevenson’s. While Nick and Verne go to the library, Stevenson hides under the porch. Will Nick ever find a way to share his love of reading with his feline friends?

Where's Walrus?


Stephen A. Savage - 2011
    With the zookeeper in hot pursuit, Walrus cleverly tries on all sorts of hats to disguise himself. Will a yellow hardhat point to a new life as a construction worker? Or will a red swimming cap reveal his true talents? Follow the happy-go-lucky runaway as he hides amongst firefighters, businessmen, and even high-stepping dancers in this delightful wordless picture book.

One Big Pair of Underwear


Laura Gehl - 2014
    But look out—here comes a pack of twenty pigs ready to prove that sharing makes everything twice as fun! This seriously silly picture book with artwork by the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site irresistibly combines the concepts of counting and sharing.

How Do You Dance?


Thyra Heder - 2019
    You can bop or bounce or go completely nuts. You can dance at the market or the bus stop, with your fingers or your face. You can dance because you’re happy or even because you’re sad. But, what’s the best way to dance? Exactly how you want to!In How Do You Dance?, author-illustrator Thyra Heder explores dance in all of its creativity, humor, and—most of all—joy, in a picture-book celebration of personal expression that will inspire young and old readers alike to get up and get moving.

Quackers


Liz Wong - 2016
    Sure, he may have paws and whiskers. And his quacks might sound more like…well, meows, but he lives among ducks, everyone he knows is a duck, and he’s happy.Then Quackers meets another duck who looks like him (& talks like him, too!)—but he calls himself a cat. So silly!Quackers loves being among his new friends the cats, but he also misses his duck friends, and so he finds a way to combine the best of both worlds. Part cat, part duck, all Quackers!

The Rock from the Sky


Jon Klassen - 2021
    He likes it so much that he asks his friend Armadillo to come over and stand in it, too. But now that Armadillo is standing in that spot, he has a bad feeling about it . . .Here comes The Rock from the Sky, a meditation on the workings of friendship, fate, shared futuristic visions, and that funny feeling you get that there's something off somewhere, but you just can't put your finger on it.

Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs


Davide Calì - 2015
    When the 77 dwarfs who live there invite her to stay, it seems like a perfect solution--at first. But with 77 dinners to make, 77 lunches to pack and 77 little hats to wash, Snow White begins to wonder if she's bitten off more than she can chew...

Little Beauty


Anthony Browne - 2008
    He appears to have everything he needs, but one day he signs that he is sad and needs a friend. His keepers bring him a tiny cat called Beauty and the two of them become inseparable.

Also an Octopus


Maggie Tokuda-Hall - 2016
    What happens next is up to you! A delightfully meta picture book that will set imaginations soaring.It begins with an octopus who plays the ukulele. Since this is a story, the octopus has to want something—maybe to travel to faraway galaxies in a totally awesome purple spaceship. Then the octopus sets out to build a spaceship out of soda cans, glue, umbrellas, glitter, and waffles. OK, maybe the octopus needs some help, like from an adorable bunny friend, and maybe that bunny turns out to be . . . a rocket scientist? (Probably not.) But could something even more amazing come to pass? Debut author Maggie Tokuda-Hall, with the help of illustrator Benji Davies, sets up an endearingly funny story, then hands the baton to readers, who will be more than primed to take it away.