He wakes people up. He welcomes visitors. He washes dishes. He keeps humans warm. Without a dog around, how would a family get through the day? This wonderfully endearing text by debut author Caroline Sherman is matched with adorable digital artwork by Donald Wu.

    They played dragons adn knights. They played explorers and pirates. They played mountain climbers and astronauts. Then Lily Jean moved in next door. Carly and Sandy are happy to have a new friend join their games. But Lily Jean changes everything. She decides they'll play house and orders Carly to be the baby. When they play king and queen, she tells Carly to bark--King Lily Jean demands a royal dog! Tired of being bossed around, Carly comes up with a way to teach Lily a lesson. With Sandy's help, can she turn a bully into a friend?

    Join in as Ollie dances like jelly with a wobbly belly and wriggles after a bath.

    Out in the sea, Shark told his friend Lobster one day: "Lobster, I'm scared!" What could Shark possibly be afraid of? It seems somebody's told him about a thing that's full of teeth and stripes, and now he's scared of . . . tigers! Rumor has it these horrible creatures walk on their teeth, glow in the dark, and eat you up. Of course, there's nothing to be done but to build an undersea fortress that will shield Shark and Lobster from this terrible threat, and as word gets around, ocean friends from cuttlefish to spiky crabs get busy piling seven hundred rocks and an old piano to keep tigers away. But is their wall high enough to do the trick? Wouldn't a huge sea monster, big enough to swallow them all, do an even better job of protecting them?

    When Charlie plays the tuba, Bunny learns about “loud.” When Charlie plays doctor, Bunny learns about “ouch.” Harriet Ziefert and Barroux charmingly tell the tale of an inseparable pair who learn about the daily delights (along with the bumps and bruises) of friendship and love.

    In her refreshingly subversive world, monkeys must always use their fingers when they eat or get in trouble, elephants are encouraged to squirt and splatter everywhere, and pig parents ask their children to get muddy before they go to bed. Of course, if you're a pig, you smell, and that’s not nice. Still, the girl can see that behaving like an animal could be fun. . . .

    Then macaroni, no cheese. And don't even ask about the toilet paper!Newcomer Kristen Darbyshire's quirky humor, fresh, graphic style, and sweetly expressive family of chickens will make this a favorite with kids . . . and the beleaguered grocery shoppers in their lives.

    

    Lost in a large house, this itsy-bitsy baby mouse seeks to find something familiar that could lead him home. How will he find his way? Michelle Meadows and Matthew Cordell pair up to make a path for Itsy-Bitsy Baby Mouse—and young readers—to joyfully follow.

    This new Follow the Line book—illustrated in Laura Ljungkvist’s signature line style—takes young children around the world to see animals in their natural habitats. With informative facts and a gentle environmental message, Follow the Line Around the World is sure to appeal to those interested in taking better care of the earth.

     He barks. He slobbers. He tinkles on the carpet. But then something happens that changes him - and the world may never be the same. Simple yet profound, funny yet serious, this touching story will remind even the skeptics among us that the most remarkable changes often come from the least remarkable places.

    So, she decides to write a letter to the panda who lives in the zoo next door to her new house, asking him to be her friend. Happily, he obliges. Soon, when Flo is asked to stand up in front of her whole class and talk about any special friends she has, it only seems right to tell everyone about Panda, and for him to come for a visit.It’s thanks to Panda that Flo meets Bea, a little girl who shares her love of pandas — and swimming, and hula-hooping, and all kinds of other things. A quiet, introspective story about finding the confidence to make new friends, Dear Panda plays with the boundaries of what’s real and what’s imagined, and gives readers a new way to think about finding kindred spirits.Grade: 2Fountas & Pinnel: KReading Recovery: 18Lexile Measure: AD 680LCommon Core State Standards:CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.2,2a,2b,5,5a,5b,6CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.2.4,4a,4b,4cCCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.1,2,3,5,6,7,10CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.3,5,8

    All seems quiet. But soon the leaves change color; then comes the snow. A cat creeps into the house and curls up in the woodbox. A mouse tucks himself into a cupboard. When spring comes, the garden awakens, and by summer the house is bustling with human life once more. This unusual story about a summer house that welcomes all sorts of guests in the off-season celebrates the rhythm and cycle of the seasons, and reminds us all that we share our world – even our homes – with other living creatures.

    He loves being a wolf and doing wolf stuff -- like running through the woods or howling at the moon. But Rufus, like all wolves, must go to school to learn real wolf work, like wearing clever disguises and speaking sheep. While Rufus learns, he also teaches: Sometimes ou have to cut loose and learn to be yourself!

    Lively text and charming illustrations that celebrate individuality and friendship will have fans of this new author-illustrator sister act calling for an encore!