Book picks similar to
The Blind Men and the Elephant (Hellor Reader!, Level 3) by Karen Backstein
picture-books
animals
children-s-books
fiction
Itchy, Itchy Chicken Pox
Grace Maccarone - 1948
Bouncy rhymes makes this lively story about coping with chicken pox one that children will love to read long after their itches are gone.
Franklin In The Dark
Paulette Bourgeois - 1986
A turtle afraid of small dark places, and therefore of crawling into his shell, asks a variety of animals for advice, only to find out that each has a fear of its own.
The Elves and the Shoemaker
Jim LaMarche - 1812
Jim LaMarche's stunning paintings, reminiscent of his earlier work in The Rainbabies, are the perfect compliment to this favorite Grimm fairy tale.
Poor Puppy
Nick Bruel - 2007
Kitty's best friend stars in this zany companion to the best selling BAD KITTY. Poor, poor Puppy: Kitty isn't interested in playing, so all puppy's left with are: 1 Airplane, 2 Balls, 3 Cars, 4 Dolls... and 22 other toys. When he's done, Puppy's so tired, he takes a nap--and dreams of playing apple bobbing in Antarctica, Baseball in Brazil, Checkers in Canada, Dodgeball in Denmark... and 22 other games. Who else but Nick Bruel could combine the alphabet, a counting game, a whirlwind geography course, and a screamingly funny story... all in 40 pages?
Corduroy
Don Freeman - 1968
When all the shoppers have gone home for the night, Corduroy climbs down from the shelf to look for his missing button. It's a brave new world! He accidentally gets on an elevator that he thinks must be a mountain and sees the furniture section that he thinks must be a palace. He tries to pull a button off the mattress, but he ends up falling off the bed and knocking over a lamp. The night watchman hears the crash, finds Corduroy, and puts him back on the shelf downstairs. The next morning, he finds that it's his lucky day! A little girl buys him with money she saved in her piggy bank and takes him home to her room. Corduroy decides that this must be home and that Lisa must be his friend. Youngsters will never get tired of this toy-comes-alive tale with a happy ending, so you may also want to seek out Dan Freeman's next creation, A Pocket for Corduroy. (Ages 3 to 8)
The Tortoise & the Hare
Jerry Pinkney - 2013
This nearly wordless companion to the Caldecott Medal-winning The Lion & the Mouse is Jerry Pinkney's most stunning masterpiece yet. Even the slowest tortoise can defeat the quickest hare, and even the proudest hare can learn a timeless lesson from the most humble tortoise: Slow and steady wins the race! Here is a superbly rendered journey from starting line to finish that embodies the bravery, perseverance, and humility we can all find inside ourselves. Don't miss these other classic retellings by Jerry Pinkney:
The Little MermaidThe Lion & the Mouse
The Grasshopper & the Ants
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Little Red Riding HoodTwinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Just Me and My Cousin
Gina Mayer - 1992
The day starts well but turns into pillow fights and tattletelling and checker boards overturned. It's not always easy to be a cousin. Little Critter is ready to go home, but his cousin saves the day before it's too late.
The Most Magnificent Thing
Ashley Spires - 2013
She is going to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing! She knows just how it will look. She knows just how it will work. All she has to do is make it, and she makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!? But making her magnificent thing is anything but easy, and the girl tries and fails, repeatedly. Eventually, the girl gets really, really mad. She is so mad, in fact, that she quits. But after her dog convinces her to take a walk, she comes back to her project with renewed enthusiasm and manages to get it just right.
I Am Not a Chair!
Ross Burach - 2017
Full of vibrant and playful illustrations and hilariously absurd logic, kids will want to read it again and again.Could there be anything worse for Giraffe? Maybe being sat on by a skunk or smooshed by two hapless hippos, or worst of all—cornered by a hungry lion? No one seems to notice that Giraffe is not standing around just to be sat upon. Will he be able to find his voice and make his friends realize who he really is?
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves!
Lucille Colandro - 2010
What can you make from leaves, clothes, a pumpkin, and rope? That's right, a scarecrow!Perfect for back-to-school time.
My Teacher Is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.)
Peter Brown - 2014
You see, his teacher is a monster.But when Bobby runs into his teacher outside of school, he learns there is more to her than meets the eye.
Something from Nothing
Phoebe Gilman - 1989
Gilman's modern adaptation and lively illustrations turn this favorite Jewish tale into a contemporary classic.
Song and Dance Man
Karen Ackerman - 1988
in full color. "In this affectionate story, three children follow their grandfather up to the attic, where he pulls out his old bowler hat, gold-tipped cane, and his tap shoes. Grandpa once danced on the vaudeville stage, and as he glides across the floor, the children can see what it was like to be a song and dance man. Gammell captures all the story's inherent joie de vivre with color pencil renderings that leap off the pages. Bespectacled, enthusiastic Grandpa clearly exudes the message that you're only as old as you feel, but the children respond--as will readers--to the nostalgia of the moment. Utterly original."--(starred) Booklist.
The Story About Ping
Marjorie Flack - 1933
He liked his life on the riverboat just and liked his large family and his kind master. He didn't like to be the last in line to board the boat at night, for that unlucky duck got a loud spank. So what did Ping do when it seemed that he would be the last on line? What else but set out on his own to explore the fascinating world of life on the Yangtze River.The Story about Ping is one of the best-loved and enduring children's books, both for its spirited and irrepressible hero and for its beautiful evocation of a distant land and way of life. Every child can sympathize with a dawdling duck who wants to avoid a spanking, and share his excitement and wonder as he sails down the river.
Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose
Dr. Seuss - 1948
When Thidwick allows a motley collection of creatures to set up home in his antlers, the kindly moose soon finds that his guests have gone too far!