Among a Thousand Fireflies


Helen Frost - 2016
    Lights start to flash all around her — first one, then three, seven. Hundreds. Thousands. How will she find just one flash among them? And will he see her flash in return? In evocative photographs and lyrical language, Rick Lieder and Helen Frost, creators of the critically acclaimed Step Gently Out and Sweep Up the Sun, offer a true story of how two fireflies come together after finding each other’s light among thousands of others.

Sleepover at the Museum


Karen LeFrak - 2019
    The perfect birthday gift for museum lovers and adventure-seekers alike! Mason couldn't wait to celebrate his birthday with a sleepover at the museum of natural history--his favorite place to visit.Armed with headlamps for the dark hallways, a map, and a list of clues, Mason and his two best friends take off on a scavenger hunt through each hall of the museum. But they aren't just trying to solve the clues. They're scouting for the best place to spend the night.Sleeping next to a T. rex in the Hall of Dinosaurs felt too scary. And sleeping with the monarch butterflies would probably tickle. This decision isn't as easy as Mason thought it would be....Wherever they end up, the museum at night is the best place for a birthday adventure!

Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus


Barbara Bash - 1989
    A story about the mighty saguaro cactus.

I Feel Teal


Lauren Rille - 2018
     You’re every golden, warmy shade… All of us have lots of feelings, and this sweet rhyming story cleverly uses colors to explore the wide range of emotions little ones experience throughout the day, from a shy scarlet to a quiet ecru to an exuberant magenta. Along the way it celebrates individuality and self-acceptance—after all, our feelings are the palette that makes us who we are!

Secrets I Know


Kallie George - 2017
    Follow the girl throughout a day spent in her own backyard, and you'll discover lots of secrets only she can tell. For example, did you know that whispers hide in trees? Or that trees make great umbrellas? With a simple, poetic text from Kallie George and extraordinary illustrations from debut artist Paola Zakimi, here is a book families will read again and again and treasure for years to come.

Silly Fluffy Barking Jumping Wet-Nosed Dog Book


Agnes Green
    Cheerful Pug, proud Greyhound, calm Great Dane, friendly Dalmatian, and many others. Each spread is a story about an extraordinary dog’s personality, written with humor and drawn with love, giving details that children love so much!But the most important part is the end of this story. It will make your heart beat faster and moisten your eyes.This is a short story in verse that your little dog lover will ask to read again and again at bedtime. Or maybe you will take it to the park and find each breed described?

The Nut That Fell from the Tree


Sangeeta Bhadra - 2020
    This is the house where Jill plays. This is the oak that holds the house where Jill plays. This is the nut that fell from the oak that holds the house where Jill plays ... In the style of “The House That Jack Built,” here's a cumulative, rhyming tale that follows an acorn on an arduous journey, as one animal after another steals it, drops it or tosses it, sending the acorn inside an old shoe, high above the trees and down to the bottom of a stream. But in the end, the rat, goose, bear and more turn out to simply be the conduits that help the acorn eventually land on a hillside, where the warm sun helps it grow into another grand oak tree, which now holds the house where Jack (Jill's grandson) plays.In this lively story, Sangeeta Bhadra offers a playful depiction of the circle of life. The jaunty rhythm of the text (“This is the raccoon, a sneak through and through / that tricked the goose with a bird's-eye view . . .”) and the use of fun-to-say words --- like, “hullabaloooo” and “pee-ew” --- make for a picture book that begs to be read aloud. France Cormier's richly colored illustrations add energy and continuity to the story, as the perspective zooms in and out and dotted lines follow the acorn's path. This book could easily spark discussions about plant life cycles, animal habitats and food chains.

Clara: The (Mostly) True Story of the Rhinoceros who Dazzled Kings, Inspired Artists, and Won the Hearts of Everyone . . . While She Ate Her Way Up and Down a


Emily Arnold McCully - 2016
    Her owner, a Dutch sea captain, keeps Clara fed (she eats 100 pounds of hay and 30 loaves of bread a day!) and watered (she drinks 14 buckets of water and beer) and takes loving care of her until her death 17 years later.

The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks: A Masai Tale


Verna Aardema - 1996
    Peering down from her treetop perch, a lonely lioness admires the noisily cheeping clan of Mother Ostrich and thinks, "I would be happy to have just one child." So she leaps down, gurum! and steals all four ostrich chicks. Accepting the lioness as their mother, the chicks follow right behind he. Mother Ostrich is frantic! As she chases after the lioness, she enlists the help of gazelle, hyena, jackal, and mongoose. But which one can help her to get her chicks back? With art by Yumi Heo that blends primitive, African, and folk styles, The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks is a captivating picture book destined to be a classic.

The Hidden Rainbow


Christie Matheson - 2020
    Luckily, all the colors of the rainbow are hidden in this garden—but the bees need the reader’s help to find them. Brush off the camellia tree, tickle the tulips, and even blow a kiss to the lilac tree. With every action and turn of the page, a flower blooms and more bees are drawn to the feast.Christie Matheson is a master at creating simple picture books that encourage children to engage with the natural world. In The Hidden Rainbow, she introduces the colors of the rainbow, counting, and the basic ecosystem and vocabulary of a garden. Beautiful collage-and-watercolor art captures all the bold colors of a garden throughout the seasons, and the interactive text will captivate young readers at every story time.Perfect for fans of Herve Tullet’s Press Here and Kevin Henkes’s My Garden.Includes backmatter about bees and pollination.

Fix That Clock


Kurt Cyrus - 2019
    The old clock tower used to stand tall and proud. Now, it's rusty, dusty, moldy, musty. A construction team decides to turn zigzags into squares and get the clock chiming again. But wait: what will happen to all the animals who have made this dilapidated clock their home? Nothing can't be fixed and everyone is welcome in Fix That Clock, a celebration of hard work, compassion, and collaboration.

No Monkeys, No Chocolate


Melissa Stewart - 2013
    But those trees couldn’t survive without the help of a menagerie of rain forest critters: a pollen-sucking midge, an aphid-munching anole lizard, brain-eating coffin fly maggots—they all pitch in to help the cocoa tree survive. A secondary layer of text delves deeper into statements such as "Cocoa flowers can’t bloom without cocoa leaves . . . and maggots," explaining the interdependence of the plants and animals in the tropical rain forests. Two wise-cracking bookworms appear on every page, adding humor and further commentary, making this book accessible to readers of different ages and reading levels.Back matter includes information about cocoa farming and rain forest preservation, as well as an author’s note.

Me and You and the Red Canoe


Jean E. Pendziwol - 2017
    A perfect morning on the water unfolds, with thrilling glimpses of wildlife along the way.The narrator describes the experience vividly. Trailing a lure through the blue-green depths, the siblings paddle around a point, spotting a moose in the shallows, a beaver swimming towards its home and an eagle returning to its nest. Suddenly there is a sharp tug and the rod bends to meet the water. A few heart-stopping moments later, the pair pull a silvery trout from the water, then paddle back to the campsite to fry up a delicious breakfast.The poetic text is accompanied by stunningly beautiful paintings rendered on wood panels that give a nostalgic feeling to the story.

Fish and Sun


Sergio Ruzzier - 2021
    One day, bored little Fish journeys up to the surface of the ocean where it meets Sun, and a wonderful friendship blooms…Only, right in the middle of their fun, Sun starts to set! Told in a graphic novel format.

Feel the Beat: Dance Poems That Zing from Salsa to Swing


Marilyn Singer - 2017
    The rhythm of each poem mimics the beat of the dances' steps. Together with Kristi Valiant's dynamic illustrations, the poems create a window to all the ways dance enters our lives and exists throughout many cultures. This ingenious collection will inspire readers to get up and move!Included with the book is an audio CD of the author reading each poem accompanied by original music from composer Jonathon Roberts.