Educational Books, Toys: Award-Winning Books:
Parents' Choice Award
Award-Winning Books:
Parents' Choice Award
Simms Taback's Safari Animals
by Simms Tabacks
Here's a book that's also a guessing game! Turn the page for your first clue: "I have a huge mane." Open the flap and you'll see another: "I can roar." Open one more, and you'll see the answer to the riddle: "It's a lion!" In this colorful book of safari animals, the award-winning art of Simms Taback becomes a fun, interactive guessing game. Review from Amazon
Trainstop
by Barbara Lehman
A ride on the train is exciting. There's always something new to see, even if you've been there before.But some train rides are better than others . . .What if a train took you somewhere else entirely? What if the doors opened in a strange, new place? This is one train stop you won't want to miss! Review from Amazon
Hogwash
by Arthur Geisert
It's bath time! All the little piggies have had lots of fun playing, and now they're dirty, muddy, and covered in paint. But their mamas aren't worried?they have just the machine to turn this Herculean task into an adventure. Anyone who has ever been captivated by the swaying brushes and spinning jets of soap and water at the car wash will be in hog heaven as Arthur Geisert's intricate etchings reveal the inner workings of an enormous contraption that can lather and scrub a whole farm full of dirty little piglets in no time at all?and that's not just a bunch of hogwash! Review from Amazon
The Fisherman and His Wife
by Rachel Isadora
Caldecott Honor?winning artist Rachel Isadora brings another fabulous fairy tale to brilliant life with her stunning collages. The Brothers Grimm story of the kind fisherman who catches an enchanted fish, and his greedy wife who always wants more, is perfect for these ?give-me? times. Rachel Isadora?s captivating collage-style artwork, featuring the African landscape and the increasingly turbulent ocean, provides a wonderful new backdrop for this classic story. Review from Amazon
Lila and the Secret of Rain
by David Conway
For months, the sun has baked Lila’s Kenyan village. It’s too hot to gather firewood, too hot to weed the garden, even too hot to milk the cow. Without rain, the crops will fail. Lila is so worried that when her grandfather whispers to her the secret of making the rain fall, she decides to do something about it — even if it means confronting the sky itself. Lila’s quest to save the village is beautifully told in David Conway’s elegant, sparse prose. Jude Daly’s color-drenched illustrations perfectly evoke both the parched landscape and vibrant village life. Review from Amazon
A Kitten Tale
by Eric Rohmann
Once there were four kittens who had never seen snow. The first three kittens are wary—snow is cold, it’s wet, it covers everything. As the seasons pass and winter begins to loom, the three skittish kittens worry. But the fourth kitten is getting excited. Snow will cover everything! “I can’t wait!” Review from Amazon
Max's Dragon
by Kate Banks
Max is looking for words that rhyme. His dragon is in his wagon – or was, for now its tail has left a trail, which Max follows. He finds an umbrella on the ground— “Found, ground,” he says, while his older brothers mock him for believing in dragons and sitting under an umbrella when it isn’t even raining. But Max believes in possibilities—and when he can show his brothers not only a dragon in the stormy clouds but also a dinosaur, they begin to come round. When Max demonstrates the power of his rhyming words to tame the dinosaur and the dragon and make the rain come, he wins them over completely.With amusing wordplay and beguiling illustrations, Kate Banks and Boris Kulikov celebrate language and imagination in a collaboration that is bound to be oodles of fun for everyone. Review from Amazon
Steel Town
by Jonah Winter
In Steel Town, it's always dark.In Steel Town,it's always raining...In Steel Town, the mills blaze all day and all night, making steel and even more steel to be shipped over the Magic Mountains, down the Pitch-Black River, and far, far away. The men who work in the mills work as hard as the machines that make the steel, never stopping. But when the men go home at night, a different side of Steel Town emerges -- one filled with music and neighbors, pierogies and spaghetti, churches and front porches.This gritty yet poetic world is brought to life through Jonah Winter's lyrical, rhythmic text and Terry Widener's luscious, nocturnal illustrations, whose massive figures glow with the few lights that shine through this darkness. This is a portrait of an imaginary town derived from the very real American steel towns of the 1930s, when the sky was often black as night all day and the cavernous mills belched out fire and smoke. Here is a journey to a town that time has not forgotten, just misplaced: Steel Town. Review from Amazon
Owney, the Mail-Pouch Pooch
by Mona Kerby
One rainy night in 1888, a stray dog wandered into the U.S. Post Office in Albany, New York. Workers found him the next morning asleep on a pile of mail pouches. The dog seemed to like the post office and the smell of the mailbags and the men’s wool uniforms. When no one came to claim him, they named him Owney and made him their pet. However, Owney’s loyalty and sense of adventure soon made it clear he wasn’t just an average mutt. Over the course of nine years, Owney guarded the mail—not only in Albany but on mail trains that traveled all over the United States. Accompanied by lively pen-and-watercolor illustrations, this is a delightful true story of a special dog whose faithful service earned him a trip around the world. Owney can be seen in the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. Review from Amazon
Indian Tales
by Shenaaz Nanji
From magical spirits in the northeastern mountains to sneaky robbers and brave heroines in the Indus Valley, these stories, each taken from a different state, are full of action and adventure. Cultural notes introduce every tale, giving readers a taste of India's rich and diverse heritage. Review from Amazon
Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary
by Beverly Donofrio
MARY LIVED IN A BIG HOUSE with a very little mouse. The mouse lived in a little house inside of a very big house, with Mary. Even though Mary has been warned to stay away from mice - and Mouse has been warned to steer clear of people - the two can't help but peek at one another. Side by side, they grow up, go to college, get married, and have children of their own - Maria and MouseMouse. And then one day, Maria and MouseMouse do something surprising . . . something their parents never did. They actually come nose-to-nose and speak to one another! Review from Amazon
Big Bad Bunny
by Franny Billingsley
At home, in the Mouse House,Baby Boo-Boo gets no respect.Just look at her name:Baby Boo-Boo.She's no baby!The word drives her wild in a big, bad way.And here's Mama Mouse calling, always calling after her, "Baby! Where are you, Baby?"It's humiliating.Mice (and other small persons)will understand whatBig Bad Boo-Boo does.It's quite naughty. Review from Amazon
Elephants Never Forget
by Anushka Ravishankar
Crraack! Flash! Boom! When a terrible storm scatters a group of elephants, one tiny member of the herd is left behind in the loud, chittering jungle. Where can he turn? The water buffalo look nice enough, but he couldn't become a part of their herd . . . could he? Review from Amazon
LaRue for Mayor, Letters from the Campaign Trail
by Mark Teague
Ike finds his civil liberties at risk when Hugo Bugwort, the hard line mayoral candidate, promises to crack down on free-roaming, fun-loving dogs. As the anti-dog rhetoric escalates, Ike is compelled to join the political fray and run for mayor himself. Bugwort rethinks his pooch-policies when Ike selflessly helps rescue him after he collapses at a campaign rally. Told through letters to Mrs. LaRue and local newspaper accounts, Mark Teague delivers another excellent execution of split-screen visuals and uproarious escapades of the unforgettable Ike. Review from Amazon
Sally Gets a Job
by Stephen Huneck
Sally, the curious and fun-loving black Labrador retriever, wants a job—but what will she be? Everybody in Sally’s family has a job to do. Sally thinks it’s a good idea if she gets one, too—but there are so many options to choose from! She likes digging in the yard—she could be an archeologist! She likes playing ball—she could be a baseball player! Sally imagines herself in all sorts of jobs in this charming tale. Acclaimed artist and author Stephen Huneck uses his trademark woodcut illustrations to bring to life a variety of careers that children might someday pursue. Sally’s clever, simply relayed ideas authentically capture the imagination and thought process of preschool children. Review from Amazon
The Contest Between the Sun and the Wind
by Heather Forest
In this retelling of a classic fable from Aesop, we learn that being the most forceful does not make you the strongest. Sometimes the greatest strength comes from a place of gentleness. Review from Amazon
Way Up and Over Everything
by Alice McGill
My great-grandmama's mama told her and she told me this story about a long time ago . . .So begins this account of the author's great-great-grandmother Jane, and how she meets a slave new to the plantation, a slave who would prove to have magical powers . . . created by the wish for freedom. Alice McGill remembers this story, passed down in her family through the generations, from her childhood and how her greatgrandmother told it to her "as if unveiling a great, wonderful secret. My siblings and I believed that certain Africans shared this gift of taking to the air?'way up and over everything.'" Review from Amazon
Josephine Wants to Dance
by Jackie French
The popular wombat?s friendFrom the award-winning duo behind the bestselling Diary of a Wombat (the famous wombat even makes an appearance at the ballet complete with a tutu!), Josephine Wants to Dance encourages all readers to never give up and to always dance to their own music. Josephine loves to dance. She dreams of wearing a pink tutu and silk ballet shoes. But everyone reminds her that kangaroos don?t dance?they hop! Kangaroos don?t wear tutus, and they never wear ballet shoes! So Josephine sneaks into town, where the ballet rehearses, and watches for hours as the dancers spin and swirl and pirouette and curtsy. But on the day of the ballet performance, the prima ballerina twists her ankle and a new dancer is needed for the lead role, a dancer who can jump higher than all the rest. Will Josephine be able to make her dream of becoming a ballerina come true? Review from Amazon
Little by Little
by Amber Stewart
Otto is an otter who can do many things. But there's one thing he can't do: swim. Little by little, and with a some help from his big sister, Otto gets the courage--and the practice-- to splash and tumble in the water with his friends. The story and illustrations will encourage kids, showing them that if they take it step-by-step, any new skill is within their reach! Review from Amazon
The House in the Night
by Susan Marie Swanson
A spare, patterned text and glowing pictures explore the origins of light that make a house a home in this bedtime book for young children. Naming nighttime things that are both comforting and intriguing to preschoolers?a key, a bed, the moon?this timeless book illuminates a reassuring order to the universe. Review from Amazon
Skunkdog
by Emily Jenkins
Dumpling is a dog of enormous enthusiasm, excellent obedience skills – and no sense of smell. She doesn’t care about flowers, garbage, or any of the other smelly things most dogs enjoy. As a result, Dumpling has no dog friends. With a useless nose, she can’t relate. Dumpling is lonely . . . until she and her people move to the country. And then the good dog has to choose between obedience and friendship – with a skunk!Ridiculous, touching, and a little bit disgusting, Skunkdog, with its lively storytelling and comic pictures, will spark conversations and giggles. Review from Amazon
You Were Loved Before You Were Born
by Karen Barbour
Everyone in the family, and all the neighbors, too, are getting the house and garden ready for the birth of this highly anticipated child. The baby's room is painted with rainbows and stars, special furniture is made and bought, a kite is made, local children create a welcome banner. It feels as if the entire world is waiting just for this one special baby to be born. And when it is born, the parents make this very, very clear: We loved you even before you were born...and we always will. Review from Amazon
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