Brave Donatella and the Jasmine Thief

The jasmine plant was Duke Cosimo de Medici’s most treasured possession and he went to great pains to keep it all for himself. When the gardener Antonio clips a sprig of the forbidden jasmine for his love, he is sent to prison. Now brave Donatella, Antonio’s beloved, is his only hope for freedom. Antonio and Donatella flee the wrath of Duke Cosimo de Medici, and they use that rare plant to make a fresh start.

Kiss Kiss

“What is a kiss like?” That’s what a teddy bear asks a little boy in this sweet and enchanting picture book. From Grandmother’s noisy kisses, to Father’s prickly kisses, to Little Brother’s chocolate kisses, Teddy learns there are many different kinds of kisses—but the best kisses are from the ones you love!

The Heart and the Bottle

Once there was a girl whose life was filled with all the wonder of the world around her. Then one day something occurred that caused the girl to take her heart and put it in a safe place. However, after that it seemed that more things were empty than before. Would she know when and how to get her heart back?

 

Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse

Everyone loves Willy the wind-up mouse, while Alexander the real mouse is chased away with brooms and mousetraps. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be loved and cuddled, thinks Alexander, and he wants to be just like him until he discovers that Willy is to be thrown away.

Little Blue and Little Yellow

Little Blue and Little Yellow are best friends, but one day they can’t find each other. When they finally do, they give each other such a big hug that they turn green! How they find their true colors again concludes a wonderfully satisfying story told with colorful pieces of torn paper and very few words.

Six Crows

While a farmer tends his field of wheat, six hungry crows watch and wait in a nearby tree. When the wheat ripens, the farmer builds a scarecrow to frighten them off, but these ingenious crows are not so easily scared. An owl helps the farmer and the crows reach a compromise over the rights to the wheat crop.

Nicolas, Where Have You Been?

When the young mouse Nicolas sets out across the great meadow alone in search of ripe red berries, he is grabbed up by the claws of a huge bird and carried high into the sky. But that is only the beginning of Nicolas’s adventure. How he gets the berries he was hoping to find, and learns to trust the very creatures he thought were his enemies, makes this Leo Lionni fable one that young children will want to hear again and again.