“Silvestro and Chen take a common figure of speech and transform it, literally, into a lovely expression of a universal experience.” —Kirkus“A cheering first-day story.” —Publishers Weekly Rosie can’t wait to start kindergarten—she’s had her pencils sharpened and her backpack ready for weeks. But suddenly, on the night before the big day, her tummy hurts. Rosie’s mom reassures her that it’s just butterflies in her belly, and she’ll feel better soon. Much to Rosie’s surprise, when she says hello to a new friend on the bus, a butterfly flies out of her mouth! As the day goes on, Rosie frees all her butterflies, and even helps another shy student let go of hers, too.

    Always curious, George finds his way to the pancake table. After making some of the most interesting pancakes the crowd has ever seen, George gets into even more monkey mischief. Activities include coloring, fun facts, and funny faces pancake recipe.

    But what happens when a monster can’t be mean any more? Is he still a monster at all?One young monster's attempts to live up to his name go hilariously awry as he discovers—with a little help from new friends—that it's not what you're called but who you are that counts.

    Adventure goes hand in hand with imagination to create this charming classic story.

    Meet Beatrice Bottomwell: a nine-year-old girl who has never (not once!) made a mistake. She never forgets her math homework, she never wears mismatched socks, and she ALWAYS wins the yearly talent show at school. In fact, Beatrice holds the record of perfection in her hometown, where she is known as The Girl Who Never Makes Mistakes. Life for Beatrice is sailing along pretty smoothly until she does the unthinkableshe makes her first mistake. And in a very public way!

    When you live in The Happy Book, the world is full of daisies and sunshine and friendship cakes . . . until your best friend eats the whole cake and doesn't save you one bite. Moving from happiness to sadness and everything in between, Camper and Clam have a hard time finding their way back to happy. But maybe happy isn't the goal--being a good friend is about supporting each other and feeling all the feels together.At once funny and thoughtful, The Happy Book supports social-emotional learning. It's a book to keep young readers company no matter how they're feeling!

    Over 7,000 years ago Native Americans settled on the Nashua River, a beautiful and leafy valley. But the industrialization of nearby areas would lead to the deterioration of natural habitats. Each double spread examines brief periods of time when the river and surrounding areas teemed with wildlife. Lynne Cherry’s contrasting illustrations of the lush valley and the eventual polluted river deliver an astonishing look at our dramatic need for conservation efforts. This pictorial history of the river, edging towards a hopeful scene of modern-day descendants of both Native Americans and European settlers who come together to combat pollution and restore the beauty of the river, is an intelligent tale that shows young readers how they can do their part in taking care of the world around them, one river at a time.

    Jones books team up to bring kids this funny tale about friendship.

    They have no idea what they'll find on the other side, and Max the duck is the last thing they expect. Soon this larger-than-life houseguest is making himself at home—and forcing his way into the hearts of his reluctant hosts.

    Thankfully, the bestselling duo of author Laura Numeroff and illustrator Felicia Bond -- creators of If You Take a Mouse to the Movies and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie -- have teamed up to show us the hijinks a whiskered school guest could cause.Starting with asking for your lunchbox, this critter is set for mischief. The feisty mouse asks for a snack for later (cookies of course), a notebook, and pencils, and wants "to share your backpack, too." After he arrives at school, the pushy classmate tries his hand (make that paw) at math and writing on the blackboard, afterward whipping up a messy, pink science experiment and building a "little mouse house" from blocks. The schooltime antics don't stop there, but a busy mouse tends to get hungry after so much playtime. Naturally his snack is in the lunchbox, which is stored "in a safe place" with his new picture book inside.Following the whimsical style of their previous books, Numeroff and Bond have done it again. Their high-adrenaline mouse will have readers cheering while their eyes comb the illustrations for extra nibbles of fun. Although the book's main human character looks positively exhausted at the end, we can only holler for more of the little guy with the huge school spirit. Matt Warner

    Refe and Susan Tuma take this wonder several steps further in What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night.Every November, writer and social media master Refe Tuma and his wife, Susan, work into the night to bring their four children scenes from the secret lives of their toys—specifically the nighttime antics of their plastic dinosaurs. The dinosaurs wreck bathrooms, destroy vases, rock out, encounter terrifying hot irons, even do the dishes with hilarious, magical results. Each scene is photographed in meticulous detail, letting viewers joyfully suspend disbelief and think to themselves—just LOOK what the dinosaurs did last night!

    And she has several strong opinions on how Tea Party must be played. Cub tries to follow her rules . . . but just how much can one bear take, even for cookies? A laugh-out-loud funny look at the required give-and-take of playtime, Tea Party Rules is an eventual friendship story that will delight grubby cubs, fancy girls, and cookie lovers everywhere.

    Fish is nervously awaiting his first day of school, and he frets about not knowing how to write his name, how to draw shapes, and how to do math—until he’s reassured that school is the perfect place to learn how to master all of these new skills, in this new Pout-Pout Fish book from Deborah Diesen and Dan Hanna.

    When he first hears someone playing a violin, Mole realizes that he longs to make beautiful music, too.Through practice and patience, Mole learns to play. And even though he plays alone, in the privacy of his underground home, his music has an effect on others that is more magical than Mole will ever know.

    After asking several passing trains for help over the hill, a little blue train agrees to help the stranded toys. Even though she is small, the blue train tries her best to bring the toys to the children on the other side of the hill.