She loves them so much!But Katie's enthusiasm frightens the kitties, and she's sad when they run away from her. Don't they know that she just wants to play?Katie Loves the Kittens is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

    At the next stop, who should get on but a group of seals, who holler "errp, errp, errp" at the top of their lungs. Each time the bus stops a new kind of animal joins the passengers and adds to the din, to the children's delight and the parents' annoyance. But when several hissing skunks want to come aboard, even the children cry "help! help! help!"

    Panda for doughnuts?Patiently and politely, Mr. Panda asks the animals he comes across if they would like a doughnut. A penguin, a skunk, and a whale all say yes, but they do not remember to say "please" and "thank you." Is anyone worthy of Mr. Panda's doughnuts?Steve Antony has captured a cute panda, delightful animals hungry for doughnuts, and a manners lesson. With the black-and-white animals, plain backgrounds, and brightly colored doughnuts, Antony's art is bold, striking, and engaging.

    Can you?We've all got hands for clapping, necks for stretching, and feet for kicking. We've all got eyes that close and mouths that open (and often do). But best of all, as this colorful menagerie is happy to display, we've all got bellybuttons -- for tickle-tickle-tickling!

    Cookie Baker. In this book, youngsters can follow the process of measuring, mixing, baking, decorating, and eating cookies. With six new full-color pages, a handsome new jacket, educational tie-ins, and more recipes, this is the perfect supplement to early math units on sequencing, sorting, measuring, and telling time. The simple, straightforward behind-the-scenes view of a bakery makes it a splendid addition to Monica Wellington's other nonfiction for the very young, such as Zinnia's Flower Garden. Yummy in any season!

    This follow-up to Simms Taback's Safari Animals presents six city animals in a guessing-game format: a pigeon, a police horse, a squirrel, a dog, a cat, a swan--all poster-size illustrations in Taback's one-of-a-kind style.

    She walks through a red poppy field, hops under an orange bridge, waddles around a yellow cornfield, rushes past a big green tree, and paddles across a deep blue pond. By the time she reaches her nest, purple clouds have begun to rain, but don’t worry — the book’s rounded pages, each one smaller than the last, form a spectacular rainbow on the last spread! With the boldest of colors and enchantingly simple shapes, Frances Barry’s collage illustrations combine with an ingenious format for an eye-popping concept-book debut.

    The third book in the General Mills Spoonful of Stories series! Can you imagine hugging a porcupine? Sure, it's easy to picture hugging a bunny or even a billy goat, but where would you begin to try to hug a porcupine? After seeing all his friends hug their favorite animals, one brave boy works up the courage to hug a porcupine, but the porcupine isn't so sure he wants to be hugged! The latest contest winner Laurie Isop and illustrator Gwen Millward aren't afraid to ask the pointed questions!

    All the musicians are coming to play! Each animal musician knows what to do, but Cow can only moo! This charming book is a wonderful read-aloud featuring musical sounds and a refrain children will love repeating. Tim McCanna’s playful text will have children laughing at the funny musical sounds, and Allison Black’s energetic illustrations will make children want to get up and move.  Barnyard Boogie! is full of rhyming and nonsense sounds that will enrich and delight.

    Four friends, three big and one little, are out for a walk. Suddenly, they spot it—a beautiful bird perched high in a tree! They simply MUST have it and—SHH!—they have a PLAN. So they tip-toe, tip-toe very slowly, nets poised—"Ready one ... ready two ... ready three ... GO!" But, at the turn of the page, we find a ridiculous bunch of very tangled characters and a blissfully oblivious bird, flying away.

    Right. I knew that...WAIT?! You're telling me I can become a BUTTERFLY?Yes.With wings?Yes.Wait for ME!!Ross Burach's hilarious, tongue-in-cheek exploration of metamorphosis will make you flutter with glee, while also providing real facts about how caterpillars transform into butterflies.

    An accompanying free song is available online.

    A chilly chipmunk asks to stay, and Will scooches over in bed. "There's room for two -- I'm sure we'll fit." The chipmunk is just the first in a parade of mammals, each bigger than the last, until the bed is full. Then a note is slipped beneath the door: "Do you have room for just one more?" William tugs the door to see who's there . . . only to find a great big BEAR! Is there enough space to spare? Will the other animals be willing to share?Kids will delight at each new guest's arrival and enjoy counting along as the animals keep scooching over to fit in William's bed. Linda Ashman's clever rhymes set up each page turn with suspense and humor, and the expressions on Chuck Groenink's characters are perfect. This is must reading for the dark time of year when everyone wants to hibernate!

    . . he has to. When the two meet again, Otto is still the same dirt-loving earthworm, but Bob has done the unthinkable: grown wings. Friendship overcomes all else in this sweet and funny story, because no matter what happens, . . . friends are important.

    Climb floor by floor and page by page to find out whose singing, dancing, cheering, and cooing are keeping a grumpy old man awake.With innovative split-level spreads that offer the feeling of climbing an apartment building floor by floor, this clever and colorful collaboration between New York Times bestselling author Mac Barnett and gifted illustrator Brian Biggs offers an irresistible investigation of one noisy night.