Go Away, Big Green Monster!


Ed Emberley - 1992
    As kids turn the die-cut pages of this vibrantly illustrated book, they'll watch the Big Green Monster grow before their very eyes. Then, when they're ready to show him who's in charge, they'll turn the remaining pages and watch him disappear!Ed Emberley's groundbreaking book about mastering fear and emotion through play and imagination has been a bestselling favorite for decades and feels as fresh and innovative today as it did 25 years ago.

Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody


Michael Rex - 2008
    Goodnight goon. Goodnight Martians taking over the moon."It's bedtime in the cold gray tomb with a black lagoon, and two slimy claws, and a couple of jaws, and a skull and a shoe and a pot full of goo. But as a little werewolf settles down, in comes the Goon determined at all costs to run amok and not let any monster have his rest.A beloved classic gets a kind-hearted send up in this utterly monsterized parody; energetic art and a hilarious text will have kids begging to read this again and again.

I Want My Hat Back


Jon Klassen - 2011
    Patiently and politely, he asks the animals he comes across, one by one, whether they have seen it. Each animal says no, some more elaborately than others. But just as the bear begins to despond, a deer comes by and asks a simple question that sparks the bear’s memory and renews his search with a vengeance. Told completely in dialogue, this delicious take on the classic repetitive tale plays out in sly illustrations laced with visual humor—and winks at the reader with a wry irreverence that will have kids of all ages thrilled to be in on the joke.

Ask Me


Bernard Waber - 2015
    With so many things to enjoy, and so many ways to ask—and talk—about them, it's a snapshot of an ordinary day in a world that's anything but. This story is a heartwarming and inviting picture book with a tenderly written story by Bernard Waber and glorious illustrations by Suzy Lee.PreS-Gr 2—A vivacious child and her father share an early autumn stroll. "Ask me what I like," she says. Dad's dutiful answer is printed in purple: "What do you like?" Energetically she answers with a list. Sometimes dad presses for details, "Geese in the sky? Or geese in the water?" She answers, "I like geese in the sky. No, in the water. I like both. Ask me what else I like," she demands, seeing something new she wants to tell him about. So they proceed through their day, celebrating the brief but precious time when children are gaining a sense of self and exploring the power that comes with it. The patience required to converse with a small person who wants to dictate every part of the interaction is sure to be familiar to parents, but the poetic text rises above the mundane and captures the beauty, energy, and innocence of these conversations and holds them up for readers to appreciate without becoming saccharine or trite. Lee's lively, colored-pencil drawings are a perfect match to the text. The line drawings are similar in style to those in Wave (2008) and Shadow (2010, both Chronicle), but Lee expands from the single-color palette she employed in those titles to a full spectrum of bright autumn colors. VERDICT A first choice for libraries, especially those looking to expand their selection of father-as-caregiver stories.—Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me


Eric Carle - 1986
    Monica wants the moon to play with, so her Papa sets out to get it for her. It isn't easy to climb all the way to the moon, but he finally succeeds--only to find that the moon is too big to carry home! The way the problem is resolved is a joyful surprise. Illustrated.

The Thing About Yetis


Vin Vogel - 2015
    They love snowball fights and hot chocolate and sledding and building snow castles. But even yetis get the shivers, and even yetis get crabby from all the cold. So here’s a secret about yetis:  sometimes they miss summer. Sometimes, they have to bring a little bit of summer to the coldest of winter days. Those yetis, they're just full of surprises.Perfect for fans of Love Monster and the Cat books by Deborah Underwood, this endearing new character will warm your heart.

Goodnight Everyone


Chris Haughton - 2016
    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.

The Sleepy Little Alphabet: A Bedtime Story from Alphabet Town


Judy Sierra - 2009
    It's sleepy time in Alphabet Town. But the twenty-six little letters of the alphabet all have something they need--or want--to do before BIG-letter moms and dads tuck them in. Not since the classic Chicka Chicka Boom Boom has there been such an appealing way to teach the youngest child the ABCs while providing a one-minute goodnight story. Of course, Melissa Sweet's animated watercolor, pencil, and collage illustrations may beg for a little more time to match up all the toys with the right letters, and Judy Sierra's rollicking rhymed story will want to be heard again and again. Okay, so maybe it's a three-minute story!

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.

Bedtime for Sweet Creatures


Nikki Grimes - 2020
    a loving, effective lullaby."―Publishers Weekly, STARRED reviewIt's bedtime. But Mommy's little one is not sleepy.He growls like a bear, he questions like an owl, he tosses his mane like a lion. He hunts for water like a sly wolf, and hides like a snake.Mommy needs to wrangle her sweet creature in bed so that the whole family can sleep. From tigers to squirrels to snakes, the little boy dodges around his bedtime, until he is tired enough to finally sleep. His imaginative animal friends weave their way through the illustrations, eventually joining him in curling up for the night."The mother's loving understanding is demonstrated by how she works with her child's rich imagination, never slipping into admonishment. As such, children will engage with the pajama-clad tot's antics and be soothed by the book's positive tone. A fabulous interpretation of an everyday battle."―Booklist, STARRED review

Koala Lou


Mem Fox - 1988
    Perfect for growing families or as a baby shower gift. When Koala Lou’s mother becomes so busy that she forgets to tell her firstborn how much she loves her, Koala Lou enters the Bush Olympics, intending to win an event and her mother’s love all at one time. Filled with charming art and featuring a heartwarming story about family, read the classic that's been called, “a first-rate choice for bedtime, story hour, or reading aloud.”--The Horn Book.

Stuck


Oliver Jeffers - 2011
    But how? Well, by knocking it down with his shoe, of course. But strangely enough, it too gets stuck. And the only logical course of action . . . is to throw his other shoe. Only now it's stuck! Surely there must be something he can use to get his kite unstuck. An orangutan? A boat? His front door? Yes, yes, and yes. And that's only the beginning. Stuck is Oliver Jeffers' most absurdly funny story since The Incredible Book-Eating Boy. Childlike in concept and vibrantly illustrated as only Oliver Jeffers could, here is a picture book worth rescuing from any tree.

Armadillo Rodeo


Jan Brett - 1995
    Follow that armadillo! Bo leaves his mother and three brothers behind and takes off for a two-stepping, bronco-bucking adventure. Jan Brett turns her considerable talents toward the Texas countryside in this amusing story of an armadillo on his own.

Blue on Blue


Dianne White - 2014
    Discover the joys of a wild rainstorm in this poetic picture book, illustrated by a Caldecott Medalist.Join a farming family as they experience the full range of a thrilling seaside thunderstorm—from the wild wind and the very first drops; to the pouring, pouring rain; to the wonderful messy mud after the sun returns! With gentle, rhyming text and vivid artwork from a Caldecott Medal–winning illustrator, this sublime depiction of nature’s patterns turns a storm into a celebration.

Big Bad Bunny


Franny Billingsley - 2008
     Just look at her name: Baby Boo-Boo. She's no baby! The word drives her wild in a big, bad way. And here's Mama Mouse calling, always calling after her, "Baby! Where are you, Baby?" It's humiliating. Mice (and other small persons) will understand what Big Bad Boo-Boo does. It's quite naughty.