Book picks similar to
The Looking Book by P.K. Hallinan


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The Most Magnificent Thing


Ashley Spires - 2013
    She is going to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing! She knows just how it will look. She knows just how it will work. All she has to do is make it, and she makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!? But making her magnificent thing is anything but easy, and the girl tries and fails, repeatedly. Eventually, the girl gets really, really mad. She is so mad, in fact, that she quits. But after her dog convinces her to take a walk, she comes back to her project with renewed enthusiasm and manages to get it just right.

The Rain Came Down


David Shannon - 2000
    It made the chickens squawk. The cat yowled at the chickens, and the dog barked at the cat. And still, the rain came down."The barking dog wakes the baby, the dog barks louder, and a policeman comes. His police car blocks traffic, and a woman in a taxi yells, so the taxi driver honks his horn. The truck driver in front of him gets mad and starts honking back. The beauty parlor owner comes out to look, and she bumps into the barber, and they begin to argue. A painter bonks the barber on the head with a can of paint, and then the baker opens up his umbrella and pokes the pizza man. On and on and on until suddenly . . . . . . the rain stops!The sun comes out, everything shimmers, and all of the bickering townspeople make amends–even the arguing children, who get free ice cream cones.

That's How Much I Love You


Lisa Tawn Bergren - 2014
    FREE Read-aloud audio book inside Vividly illustrated and written in the charming back-and-forth style so familiar to mothers and children around the world, a little pup tries to convince her mom that she loves her more. "Mama, do you know how much I love you?" "No more than I love you, for sure," she said. "Oh, yes I do," I said. "I love you way more than you love me." "Impossible!" she cried, snuggling close. "Do you know how many trees there are in the forest? That's how much I love you." Young readers and parents will be delighted by the book's soothing pace, beautiful images, and heart warming message.

Bootsie Barker Bites


Barbara Bottner - 1992
    It's the worst when Bootsie Barker comes to my house. Bootsie's the one who pulls my hair and tears my books. She hates Charlene, my pet salamander. She says that I'm a turtle and she's a turtle-eating dinosaur.Uh-oh, I think I hear a car pulling up. That's her now! Eeek!"The colorful cartoon and wash drawings, filled with amusing detail, perfectly express the terroristic tactics and the narrator's frustration. When Bootsie is on a rampage, even the stuffed animals cover their eyes." --School Library Journal

Commotion in the Ocean (Picture Books)


Giles Andreae - 1998
    Collects poems describing the many creatures living beneath the sea, including the crab, dolphin, and angel fish.

Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill


Jamie Harper - 2009
    Of course, this isn’t your typical classroom, and Miss Mingo isn’t your average teacher! Alligator, Panda, Octopus, and the others work hard to master the rules of fire safety and perform the perfect fire drill, but thinking about fire is a bit nervewracking, and each of them reacts differently - often with hilarious results. Sprinkled with fascinating facts about animal behaviors, this second story about the characters in Miss Mingo’s one-of-a-kind class is sure to appeal to readers of all stripes.Stop! Drop! Roll! Learning the rules of fire safety is a lot more fun (and less scary) when demonstrated by a charming and diverse group of animals.

On Earth


G. Brian Karas - 2005
    All these amazing things happen because the earth is constantly in motion. Spinning and circling, gliding and tilting, as passengers of the earth, our voyage never ends!With poetic text and gorgeous illustrations, G. Brian Karas illuminates our earth and its cycles and does a brilliant job of making the concepts of rotation and revolution understandable to even the youngest readers.

What are You So Grumpy About?


Tom Lichtenheld - 2003
    But in this book, the things that make you grumpy can actually be funny. So be careful, or you'll end up laughing at your own grumpiness. And, as you'll soon find out, it's hard to be giggly and grumpy at the same time.

Penguin Problems


Jory John - 2016
    I bet you won't even finish reading this flap. Don't worry about it. Why would you want to learn about some penguin's problems when you have plenty of problems of your own? Just look around. The world's a mess!Besides, you probably don't even like penguins. Heck, I barely like penguins and I am a penguin.Seriously, I'll understand if you put the book back on the shelf. Go ahead. It's for the best. I'm sure you'd just get a bunch of paper cuts, anyway. And you'd probably bend the pages. And you'd get your little fingerprints everywhere.When was the last time you washed those grubby hands of yours? No offense.Sigh.Listen: I'm going back to bed. Read, don't read. Buy, don't buy. Whatever. Just try not to wake me up. I'm a light sleeper. And I have a lot on my mind.

You Nest Here with Me


Jane Yolen - 2015
    As a mother describes to her child how many species of birds nest, from pigeons on concrete ledges to owls in oak tree boles to swallows above barn doors. The soothing refrain of “you nest here with me” eases her little one and readers alike to slumber. Combining their poetic writing and their love of birding, mother and daughter Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple have written what is sure to become a bedtime classic.

The Crayon Man: the True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons


Natascha Biebow - 2019
    purple mountains’ majesty, mauvelous, jungle green, razzmatazz… What child doesn't love to hold a crayon in their hands?  But children didn't always have such magical boxes of crayons. Here’s the true story of an inventor who so loved nature’s vibrant colors that he found a way to bring the outside world to children – in a box for only a nickel!

The Emperor's Egg


Martin Jenkins - 1999
    While his mate is off swimming in the ocean and catching loads of fish, he stands around in the freezing cold with an egg on his feet for two whole months, keeping it warm and waiting for it to hatch. This charming, oversize picture book is full of fabulous facts about nature’s most devoted dad.

Happy Dreamer


Peter H. Reynolds - 2017
    A celebration of the colorful spectrum of what it means to dream and the many ways to find happy!While the world tells us to sit still, to follow the rules, and to color inside the lines, Happy Dreamer celebrates all those moments in between when the mind and spirit soar and we are free to become our own true dreamer maximus!

The Umbrella


Jan Brett - 2004
    When Carlos drops his umbrella to climb a tree for a better view of the animals, they all cram into the banana-leaf umbrella as it floats by--from the little tree frog to the baby tapir to the big jaguar and more. It gets so crowded in the umbrella that there isn't even enough room for a little hummingbird! So over the umbrella tumbles, everyone falls out, and poor Carlos comes back wondering why he didn't see any animals all day.In the spirit of Jan Brett's The Mitten and The Hat, this cheerful tale of escalation will have readers poring over every illustration for the world of details Jan packs in. With its classic story, exotic jungle setting, and brilliantly colorful menagerie, The Umbrella is sure to take its place among Jan's many family favorites.

Dinosaur Roar!


Paul Stickland - 1994
    The subjects are, first, antonyms--such as above/below and weak/strong--and then lunch. The paired dinosaurs, in a goofy array of pastels, are almost all smiling, even when the rhyme insists they're "grumpy"--so when they settle down to a lunch with (and not of) each other, the end is satisfying. The pictures and swingy short verses will make this a good group read-aloud, even for the very young. -BooklistThese prehistoric monsters are just perfect for the preschool crowds. A natural for story time. -School Library Journal