I'll Be Home For Christmas


Holly Hobbie - 2001
    As in Holly Hobbie's earlier Toot and Puddle, Toot has the travel bug while Puddle contentedly tends the home fires. In his postcard from Scotland, Toot promises to be home for Christmas. But ice storms and delayed flights threaten to spoil the holiday plans... until an unexpected fellow traveler saves the day. Hobbie's marvelous illustrations are filled with telling details and subtle wit: Toot caroling his heart out in an Edinburgh blizzard with a few sheep buddies; Puddle curled up in an armchair with crayons and holiday cards (signed with a blank space before "and Puddle," in anticipation of Toot's signature). The devotion the pigs share for each other is sweet, never sickly, and young readers with best friends will know exactly how they feel, being apart at a most important time. Several more Toot and Puddle titles will also enchant, including A Present for Toot and You Are My Sunshine. (Ages 3 to 7) --Emilie Coulter

The Wonky Donkey


Craig Smith - 2009
    In this very funny, cumulative song, each page tells us something new about the donkey until we end up with a spunky, hanky-panky cranky stinky dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey, which will have children in fits of laughter! There is much fun to be had by listening to the song and trying to predict the new word for each clue given!

A Porcupine in a Pine Tree: A Canadian 12 Days of Christmas


Helaine Becker - 2010
    Delightful and Whimsical Story!

Llama Llama and the Bully Goat


Anna Dewdney - 2013
    Gilroy laughs at everything.Llama sings out just the same.Gilroy says a not-nice name.Teacher has some things to say:calling names is not OK.Llama Llama is learning lots of new things at school and making many friends. But when Gilroy Goat starts teasing him and some of their classmates, Llama Llama isn't sure what to do. And then he remembers what his teacher told him—walk away and tell someone. It works! But then Llama Llama feels badly. Can he and Gilroy try to be friends again?Taking on a difficult but important part of children's lives, Anna Dewdney gives readers a way to experience and discuss bullying in a safe and comforting way.

Cicada


Shaun Tan - 2018
    But in the end, just when you think he's given up, he makes a transformation into something ineffably beautiful. A metaphor for growing up? A bit of inspiration for the unappreciated striver in all of us? Yes, yes, and more.

Dance in the Desert


Madeleine L'Engle - 1969
    Describes an encounter in the desert when the animals came to a caravan campfire and danced with a child because fear was absent.

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb


Al Perkins - 1969
    in full color. A madcap band of dancing, prancing monkeys explain hands, fingers, and thumbs to beginning readers.

The Bear


Raymond Briggs - 1994
    A huge, snowy white bear arrives mysteriously one cold winter night and crawls into bed with Tilly. The next morning, Tilly sets about making her polar bear friend welcome and excitedly reports her progress in "civilizing" him to her bemused parents. They are sure Tilly has an imaginary friend. But is he imaginary? Whether or not, his story is irresistible.

Buddy and Earl Meet the Neighbors


Maureen Fergus - 2018
    When Wonder Buddy and Super Earl learn that the Evil Doctor Stinker is planning to shut down the only hamburger factory in town, they know they have to find the supervillain’s secret lair — fast! Hopping into the Earl-mobile, they race into the yard next door where they come face-to-face with the new neighbors.At first, Mister the bulldog is alarmed by Wonder Buddy’s laser-beam eyes (even though Buddy does not know how to turn them on), and Snowball the cat thinks that Earl is the funniest-looking mouse she’s ever seen.But when Snowball ends up in mortal danger, Buddy and Mister team up to save the day, and Snowball and Earl discover that they have more in common than they thought.The dog who likes to play by the rules and the hedgehog who knows no limits make some super new friends in this fifth book in the critically acclaimed Buddy and Earl series.

Puffin Peter


Petr Horáček - 2011
    With the help of a big blue whale Puffin Peter set off to find him. They find all kinds of birds that match Peter's description but none of them is quite like Paul.

Little Bunny Follows His Nose (Golden Scratch & Sniff Books)


Katherine Howard - 1971
    What’s a bunny to do on such a fine sunny day? Follow his nose! Down the hill, into the forest, and through a vegetable garden, Little Bunny does just that! Kids will love all the wonderful things there are to smell—pine, peach, roses and more—in this classic scratch-and-sniff book originally published in 1971.From the Hardcover edition.

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.

Ollie


Olivier Dunrea - 2003
    They try poking, listening, even sitting on top of his egg—but Ollie just won’t come out.Ollie is Ollie and he will decide when it’s time to hatch. Fans of Gossie and Gossie and Gertie will find Ollie just as charming and delightful as the first two books. Any toddler that has had to wait for a new brother or sister will find Ollie irresistible.

Shoo Fly!


Iza Trapani - 2000
    Adapted from the popular nursery rhyme, this book follows an adorable mouse as he tries in vain to escape from a delightfully determined fly

The Snow Goose


Paul Gallico - 1941
    Gallico's most famous story, The Snow Goose, is set in the wild, desolate Essex marshes and is an intense and moving tale about the relationship between a hunchback and a young girl. The Small Miracle is a contemporary fable about a young boy's love for his dangerously ill donkey.