Father Christmas


Raymond Briggs - 1973
    Meet Father Christmas: a very human gift-giver with a tough job to do. You'll find out that he sometimes gets a little grumpy living at the icy North Pole and squeezing down chimneys, but he more than makes up for it in heart and humour. Raymond Briggs brings this endearing character to life in over 100 wonderfully illustrated vignettes that follow the adventures of Father Christmas on his big night of the year.

Herbert the Timid Dragon


Mercer Mayer - 1980
    A timid dragon rescues a princess in order to become a brave knight in armor, but his efforts are misunderstood.

Diary of a Wombat


Jackie French - 2002
    Their favorite activities are eating, sleeping, and digging holes. Here, in the words of one unusually articulate wombat, is the tongue-in-cheek account of a busy week; eating, sleeping, digging holes . . . and training its new neighbors, a family of humans, to produce treats on demand. This entertaining book, with its brief, humorous text and hilarious illustrations, will endear the wombat to young children, who may recognize in the determined furry creature some qualities that they share.

The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip


George Saunders - 2000
    In the seaside village of Frip live three families: the Romos, the Ronsens, and a little girl named Capable and her father. The economy of Frip is based solely on goat’s milk, and this is a problem because the village is plagued by gappers: bright orange, many-eyed creatures the size of softballs that love to attach themselves to goats. When a gapper gets near a goat, it lets out a high-pitched shriek of joy that puts the goats off giving milk, which means that every few hours the children of Frip have to go outside, brush the gappers off their goats, and toss them into the sea. The gappers have always been everyone’s problem, until one day they get a little smarter, and instead of spreading out, they gang up: on Capable’s goats. Free at last of the tyranny of the gappers, will her neighbors rally to help her? Or will they turn their backs, forcing Capable to bear the misfortune alone? Featuring fifty-two haunting and hilarious illustrations by Lane Smith and a brilliant story by George Saunders that explores universal themes of community and kindness, The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip is a rich and resonant story for those that have all and those that have not.

Chloe and the Lion


Mac Barnett - 2012
    But one fateful day, she gets lost in the woods on her way home, and a large dragon leaps out from-"Wait! It's supposed to be a lion," says Mac Barnett, the author of this book. But Adam Rex, the illustrator, thinks a dragon would be so much cooler (don't you agree?). Mac's power of the pen is at odds with Adam's brush, and Chloe's story hangs in the balance. Can she help them out of this quandary to be the heroine of her own story? Mac Barnett and Adam Rex are a dynamic duo, and two of the strongest contemporary voices in picture books today. In an accessible and funny way, Chloe and the Lion talks about the creative process and the joys and trials of collaboration.

Bullfrog Pops!


Rick Walton - 1999
    . . (coach) and finding his hop in Once There was a Bull . . . (frog), our hero is now on an eye-popping eating binge trying to cure his insatiable appetite. Woven through the western town of Ravenous Gulch, the story leaves a cast of many hopping mad. However, just as things look bleak, transitive and intransitive verbs turn the tables and take Bullfrog on another adventure. Part of Rick Walton's tremendously successful Language Arts series.

It's a Book


Lane Smith - 2010
    This satisfying, perfectly executed picture book has something to say to readers of all stripes and all ages.This title has Common Core connections.

I Will Not Eat You


Adam Lehrhaupt - 2016
    Lucky for the bird, wolf, and tiger, who pass by his cave, Theodore isn’t hungry…yet. But then something new approaches. A boy. Has Theodore found a new favorite food? Or something more?

Franklin's Flying Bookshop


Jen Campbell - 2017
    One day, he meets a girl named Luna who, rather than being afraid, is fascinated to meet Franklin, having recently read all about dragons in one of her books. They instantly become friends and talk nonstop about what they’ve read: books about roller-skating, King Arthur, spiders, and how to do kung fu. Together they hatch a plan to share their love of books with others by opening a bookshop―a flying bookshop, that is―right on Franklin’s back!Franklin, a well-read and peace-loving dragon, and Luna, a young girl with an independent spirit and an insatiable love of reading, make fantastic role models for young children. Franklin’s Flying Bookshop brings the magic of classic fairy tales into the twenty-first century through exquisite illustrations, and will enchant children as well as anyone who loves books.

Small Blue and the Deep Dark Night


Jon Davis - 2014
    . . and warty things . . . and hairy things! But are they really as scary as they seem? With the help and comfort of Big Brown, Small Blue slowly begins to imagine fun things in the dark instead of scary ones. Jon Davis's whimsical text and illustrations featuring a sweet father-daughter duo ensure that neither the night nor the unknown will be scary again.

The Day the Crayons Quit


Drew Daywalt - 2013
    But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: We quit!Beige is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown. Blue needs a break from coloring all that water, while Pink just wants to be used. Green has no complaints, but Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking to each other. What is Duncan to do? Debut author Drew Daywalt and New York Times bestseller Oliver Jeffers create a colorful solution in this playful, imaginative story that will have children laughing and playing with their crayons in a whole new way.

Hairy Maclary: Five Lynley Dodd Stories


Lynley Dodd - 1996
    She is enormously popular for her rhyming stories of the unforgettable HAIRY MACLARY and his friends. She worked as a teacher before beginning to write her own books in 1974.Read all the Hairy Maclary and Friends books by Lynley Dodd!Hairy Maclary's Bone; Hairy Maclary Scattercat; Hairy Maclary's Caterwaul Caper; Hairy Maclary's Rumpus at the Vet; Slinky Malinki; Hairy Maclary's Showbusiness; Slinky Malinki, Open the Door; Sniff-Snuff-Snap!; Schnitzel Von Krumm Forget-Me-Not; Slinky Malinki Catflaps; Slinky Malinki's Christmas Crackers; Hairy Maclary's Hat Tricks; Scarface Claw; Schnitzel Von Krumm, Dog's Never Climb Tress; Hairy Maclary, Sit; Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack; Magnet Fun with Hairy Maclary; Hairy Maclary, Shoo; Hairy Maclary and Friends Little Library; Slinky Malinki, Open the Door; Slinky Malinki Early Bird; Where is Hairy Maclary?; Sticker Fun with Hairy Maclary; My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes

Princess Smartypants


Babette Cole - 1987
    Commanded by her parents to find herself a husband, the Princess sets tasks for her horde of suitors. All of the potential husbands fail miserably as the gleeful Princess looks on — until Prince Swashbuckle appears. . . .

The Reluctant Dragon


Kenneth Grahame - 1898
    When the town-folk send for St. George to slay the dragon, the boy needs to come up with a clever plan to save his friend and convince the townsfolk to accept him. This story first appeared as a chapter in Grahame's Dream Days and was first published as a separate book by Holiday House in 1938 with illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard.

The Purple Kangaroo


Michael Ian Black - 2009
    What begins as a simple request to imagine the most spectacular thing in history turns into the story of a roller-skating, bubble-blowing purple kangaroo searching for his dear friend Ernesto on the moon. So by the time you finish this book, there's no chance you will be thinking of anything BUT the purple kangaroo.