When she looks at herself, she just sees a hole right in her center. Every day she watches the other numbers line up to count: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 . . . !" "Those numbers have value. That's why they count," she thinks. But how could a number worth nothing become something? Zero feels empty inside. She watches One having fun with the other numbers. One has bold strokes and squared corners. Zero is big and round with no corners at all. "If I were like One, then I can count too," she thinks. So she pushes and pulls, stretches and straightens, forces and flattens herself, but in the end she realizes that she can only be Zero. As budding young readers learn about numbers and counting, they are also introduced to accepting different body types, developing social skills and character, and learning what it means to find value in yourself and in others.

    Peeking through the pages, children will be able to spot a different colored animal every time, and guess what it is using a simple, factual clue. Bold illustrations and die-cut holes will absorb young readers as they learn about colors and animal names.

    From seed-gathering to planting, harvesting, and eating home-grown fruits and vegetables, children join Little Groundhog in learning about the gardening process. At the end, Little Groundhog invites his animal friends to a Thanksgiving harvest feast. Beautiful illustrations and thorough research on plants and insects make this sweet story an engrossing read, as well as a great picture-book introduction to how plants grow. Children and schools can follow Groundhog's lessons.

    “Like Hervé Tullet’s Press Here, Matheson’s Tap the Magic Tree proves you don’t need apps for interactivity,” praised the New York Times.Every book needs you to turn the pages. But not every book needs you to tap it, shake it, jiggle it, or even blow it a kiss. Innovative and timeless, Tap the Magic Tree asks you to help one lonely tree change with the seasons. Now that’s interactive—and magical!It begins with a bare brown tree. But tap that tree, turn the page, and one bright green leaf has sprouted! Tap again—one, two, three, four—and four more leaves have grown on the next page. Pat, clap, wiggle, jiggle, and see blossoms bloom, apples grow, and the leaves swirl away with the autumn breeze. The collage-and-watercolor art evokes the bright simplicity of Lois Ehlert and Eric Carle and the interactive concept will delight fans of Pat the Bunny. Combining a playful spirit and a sense of wonder about nature, Christie Matheson has created a new modern classic that is a winner in every season—and every story time!And don't miss the follow-up, Touch the Brightest Star!

    Hop along to the Field and follow Lonely and Chalk Rabbit through a year as they try to cope with their fast expanding brood and handle a different seasonal challenge each month, from the cold of February to the wet of April and the heat of July.

    Kadir Nelson, acclaimed author of Baby Bear and winner of the Caldecott Honor and the Coretta Scott King Author and Illustrator Awards, presents a resonant, gently humorous story about the power of even the smallest acts and the rewards of compassion and generosity.With spare text and breathtaking oil paintings, If You Plant a Seed demonstrates not only the process of planting and growing for young children but also how a seed of kindness can bear sweet fruit.

    Two fuzzy creatures can't agree on who is small and who is big, until a couple of surprise guests show up, settling it once and for all!The simple text of Anna Kang and bold illustrations of New Yorker cartoonist Christopher Weyant tell an original and very funny story about size -- it all depends on who's standing next to you.

    For some, it's music. For others, it's art. For our heroine, it's math. When she looks around the world, she sees math in all the beautiful things: the concentric circles a stone makes in a lake, the curve of a slide, the geometric shapes in the playground. Others don't understand her passion, but she doesn't mind. There are infinite ways to see the world. And through math is one of them.This book is a gorgeous ode to something vital but rarely celebrated. In the eyes of this little girl, math takes its place alongside painting, drawing and song as a way to ponder the beauty of the world.

    From the popular creators of I’m Bad!, I Stink!, and I’m Dirty! comes the perfect new addition to this hilarious read-aloud series: the fire truck.He’s a big red ENGINEWith a siren,A horn,A tank full of water,And a whole lotta HOSE!He’s a good-lookin’ fire truck,And he’s BRAVE, too.When the alarm soundsEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOHe’s gotta drive throughSMOKE and HEATStraight to a blazing FIRE! HONK! HONK!

    Toddler book of shapes and Islamic traditions: From a crescent moon to a square garden to an octagonal fountain, this breathtaking picture book celebrates the shapes-and traditions-of the Muslim world.Toddler book by author Hena Khan: Sure to inspire questions and observations about world religions and cultures, Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets is equally at home in a classroom reading circle and on a parent's lap being read to a child.

    The sun is setting, and everyone in the forest is getting sleepy. The mice, rabbits, and deer all give great big yawns as they snuggle up with their families for the night. But "someone" isn't sleepy just yet. Little Bear thinks he can stay awake a bit longer. Can he do it? Chris Haughton's bold and vibrant illustrations will captivate little ones eager to stay up just a teeny bit longer, while sweet depictions of animals cozying up in their beds for the night will soon have them yawning off to a dreamland of their own.

    Everything that normal cats do is hard for her: She can’t get her square paw into mouse holes, she can’t wear her favorite circle skirt, and all of her friends are round! Eula is sad until her two best friends show her just how well a square cat can fit into a round world. Debut author/illustrator Elizabeth Schoonmaker applies her dry wit to the topic of fitting in, and the spare text and appealing trim size of Square Cat make it ideal for repeated readings.

    I wonder what happens when you press it? From a singing button to a tickle button, from a rude sound button to a mysterious white button, there’s only one way to find out what they do... A remarkable adventure powered purely by imagination, where the sounds, songs and play are completely up to you and whoever you're sharing this wonderful book with. This picture book will take you on a magical journey of colour, imagination, and play with a wind-down bedtime ending (unless you’re asked to read it again).

    But Prudence is a part-time cow she is also a scientist, an architect, and an inventor, studying and building and dreaming and creating. To the other cows in the herd, Prudence is a bit too part-time. She's just too different to be part of the herd. At first Prudence tries to fit in, suppressing all her scientific smarts and imaginative inventing. But in a moment of inspiration Cow Power! Prudence realizes how to show the others that she can be a part-time cow and a full-time member of the herd. Funny and sweet, this is a story for anyone who's ever felt a bit different."

    They dig, they plant, they play, they wait . . . and wait . . . until at last, the brown becomes a more hopeful shade of brown, a sign that spring may finally be on its way. Julie Fogliano's tender story of anticipation is brought to life by the distinctive illustrations Erin E. Stead, recipient of the 2011 Caldecott Medal.