Saint George and the Dragon


Margaret Hodges - 1984
    George and the Dragon commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the Caldecott Award-winning picture book. Hodges retells an exciting segment from Spenser's The Faerie Queene, in which the Red Cross Knight slays a dreadful dragon that has been terrorizing the countryside for years, bringing peace and joy back to the land. Featuring a fresh new cover design - with artwork that highlights the dragon adventure within - and distinctive embossed gold Caldecott Award sticker, this is the perfect way to introduce the classic tale to a whole new generation of readers.

1 Is One


Tasha Tudor - 1956
    The classic book with Tasha Tudor's verse and Caldecott Honor illustrations, 1 is One is a charming introduction to numbers.

Tar Beach


Faith Ringgold - 1991
    Part autobiographical, part fictional, this allegorical tale sparkles with symbolic and historical references central to African-American culture. The spectacular artwork resonates with color and texture. Children will delight in the universal dream of mastering one's world by flying over it.

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky


Elphinstone Dayrell - 1968
    But so many poured in that they were forced to move to the sky.

The Snowy Day


Ezra Jack Keats - 1962
    Universal in its appeal, the story has become a favorite of millions, as it reveals a child's wonder at a new world, and the hope of capturing and keeping that wonder forever.The adventures of a little boy in the city on a very snowy day."Keats's sparse collage illustrations capture the wonder and beauty a snowy day can bring to a small child."—Barnes & Noble"Ezra Jack Keats's classic The Snowy Day, winner of the 1963 Caldecott Medal, pays homage to the wonder and pure pleasure a child experiences when the world is blanketed in snow."—Publisher's Weekly"The book is notable not only for its lovely artwork and tone, but also for its importance as a trailblazer. According to Horn Book magazine, The Snowy Day was "the very first full-color picture book to feature a small black hero"—yet another reason to add this classic to your shelves. It's as unique and special as a snowflake."—Amazon.com

Song of the Swallows


Leo Politi - 1949
    Joseph's Day. Juan loves las golondrinas, and so does his friend, Julian, the gardener at the mission.This year Juan plants a garden in his own yard. There's nothing he wants more than for the swallows to nest there. And on St. Joseph's Day, his dream comes true.Leo Politi is beloved author and illustrator of Pedro, The Angel of Olvera Street, among many other books for children. Song of the Swallows won the Caldecott Medal in 1950.

The Happy Day


Ruth Krauss - 1949
    The woodland animals awake from their deep winter's sleep to discover the first sign of spring'a flower blooming in the snow.1950 Caldecott Honor Book

Hush! A Thai Lullaby


Minfong Ho - 1996
    A lullaby which asks animals such as a lizard, monkey, and water-buffalo to be quiet and not disturb the sleeping baby.

Paul Bunyan, a Tall Tale


Steven Kellogg - 1984
    Who was the largest baby ever born in the state of Maine? Who dug the Great Lakes? Who gouged out the Grand Canyon? Why, Paul Bunyan, of course, America's finest, fastest, funniest lumberman and favorite tall-tale hero.

Baboushka and the Three Kings


Ruth Robbins - 1960
    The Russian folktale about an old woman's endless search for the Christ child.

The Little Island


Margaret Wise Brown - 1946
    There is a little island in the ocean—and this book is about how it is on that little island, how the seasons and the storm and the day and night change it, how the lobsters and seals and gulls and everything else live on it, and what the kitten who comes to visit finds out about it.

April's Kittens


Clare Turlay Newberry - 1940
    Many children understand April's dilemma when her cat, Sheba, has three kittens. April is thrilled until her father insists that theirs is strickly a one-cat household. April must give up three cats, but which ones? The aptly named Charcoal? Tiger-striped Butch? Sweet-faced Brenda? -- or even Sheba? How April eventually comes up with the perfect solutions makes for a heartwarming story that has appealed to many young cat lovers and will continue to delight generations of children everywhere. Clare's Newberry's enchanting illustrations reflect her fondness for cats; School Library Journal deemed these "beautiful drawings, so real one wants to pet them."

Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888


Ernest Lawrence Thayer - 1888
    Its author would rather have seen it forgotten. Instead, Ernest Thayer's poem has taken a well-deserved place as an enduring icon of Americana. Christopher Bing's magnificent version of this immortal ballad of the flailing 19th-century baseball star is rendered as though it had been newly discovered in a hundred-year-old scrapbook. Bing seamlessly weaves real and trompe l'oeil reproductions of artifacts-period baseball cards, tickets, advertisements, and a host of other memorabilia into the narrative to present a rich and multifaceted panorama of a bygone era. A book to be pored over by children, treasured by aficionados of the sport-and given as a gift to all ages: a tragi-comic celebration of heroism and of a golden era of sport.

Madeline's Rescue


Ludwig Bemelmans - 1953
    One day on a walk through Paris (a "twelve little girls in two straight lines" kind of walk), Madeline slips and falls off a bridge right into the Seine. Everyone feared she would be dead, "But for a dog / That kept its head," saving her from a "watery grave." What choice do Madeline and the girls have but to take the heroic pooch home, feed her biscuits, milk, and beef, and name her Genevieve? Sadly, when Lord Cucuface gets wind of the new dog, he decrees that no dogs will be allowed in the "old house in Paris that was covered with vines," and kicks Genevieve out on the street. Madeline vows vengeance, and the girls scour Paris looking for the pup: "They went looking high / and low / And every place a dog might go. / In every place they called her name / But no one answered to the same." As we've come to expect from Bemelmans, all's well that ends well chez Clavel, and young readers will be tickled by this heartwarming, quirky dog story with a surprise finale. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

Abiyoyo


Pete Seeger - 1963
    The tale of how a father with his magic wand and a boy with his music triumph over the giant Abiyoyo is based on a South African lullaby and folk story.