Early Years (ages 2-6)

Tweedle Dee Dee

The award-winning creator of HELLO TWINS offers a joyous celebration of nature as it springs to life.Come into the woods, where the green leaves grow around and around and where, high in the branches, a nest is full of cheeping birds. With radiant, expressive artwork, Charlotte Voake captures the essence of a forest as it comes alive in the spring, illustrating a simple text based on the traditional song “The Green Grass Grew All Around.” Includes a musical score to inspire musicians of all ages.

Monsoon Afternoon

It is monsoon season in India. Outside, dark clouds roll in and the rain starts to fall. As animals scatter to find cover, a young boy and his dadaji (grandfather) head out into the rainy weather. The two sail paper boats. They watch the peacocks dance in the rain, just as the colorful birds did when Dadaji was a boy. They pick mangoes and Dadaji lifts up his grandson so he can swing on the roots of the banyan tree, just as Dadaji did when he was young. Finally, when the two return home, hot tea and a loving family are waiting.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 3, Issue 1

Kiss! Kiss! Yuck! Yuck!

Every time Auntie Elsie comes to visit she gives Andy two big sloppy kisses. Kiss! Kiss! on the left cheek. Kiss! Kiss! on the right cheek. Yuck! Yuck! Andy says to himself.

Andy is a fast runner. But not fast enough to outrun Auntie Elsie. Andy is good at hiding. But Auntie Elsie always finds him. When he ducks down in a pig pen, she climbs right over the fence. When he climbs a tree, she follows right after him.

But then Auntie Elsie breaks her leg and stops coming to visit. Andy realizes he misses Aunt Elsie and her sloppy kisses. One day, a taxi pulls by the gate and out come two crutches. Now it s Andy s turn to get Aunt Elsie. Kiss! Kiss! Hug! Hug!

Kyle Mewburn s funny story of an overly affectionate aunt and her long-suffering nephew will resonate with readers, who will instantly recognize the bond of love that unites the two characters. Ali Teo and John O Reilly s colorful and quirky multimedia illustrations, which combine freehand drawing and photographic collage, exaggerate the humor of the story.

“I Have a Little Problem”, Said the Bear

The bear has a problem and absolutely everyone has the perfect remedy. The only trouble is, they’re all in such a hurry to help, they have no time to find out what the bear’s problem is. Everyone knows how it feels not to be listened to — especially children.

The Sleeping Porch

When the intense heat drives young Brando to sleep on the porch, he is awoken around midnight by a cat from a nearby graveyard. Together, Brando and Graveyard Cat embark upon a rollicking adventure: leaping up to the rings of Saturn, visiting the Arctic seas, scaling cliffs and sliding down slopes. Brando is certain his journey with Graveyard Cat was just a dream, but finds that he can’t be entirely sure . . . This imaginative tale is perfectly complemented by Ian Wallace’s charming illustrations.

If I Were You

When Dad tucks Daisy into bed, he says,  “If I were you . . . I’d go to sleep.” But Daisy doesn’t want to go to sleep. In fact, if she could trade places with him, she’d read her dad a story, dress him in a pink tutu, feed him oatmeal  . . . and that’s only the beginning. Because just wait until you hear what Dad would do!

Oloyou (Libro Tigrillo)

Oloyou the Cat, the very first creature that the God-child creates, is also the very first friend. God-child and Oloyou play together for hours on end, until one day the cat falls into the void and lands in the dark, featureless, sea kingdom of ferocious Okún Aró. Oloyou is terribly lonely until he meets Aró’s mermaid daughter and falls madly in love. Infuriated, the father flings the pair into the heavens, where they become an everlasting part of the night sky. This imaginative tale, sparked by the author’s mesmerizing text, is the perfect introduction to the vibrant Santería/Yoruba culture.

Come and Play: Children of Our World Having Fun

Come and Play features 32 photographs of children from everywhere. China, Japan, Greece, Wales, Morocco, Oman, Texas, New York, and many more. Each photo is beautiful, thought provoking, and accompanied by lines of children’s poetry that will amuse young readers, and cause adult readers to reflect and laugh as they see the images through children’s eyes. The photographs span the last fifty years; while the children who wrote about them are a diverse group between the ages of 5 and 11.

The Contest between the Sun and the Wind: An Aesop’s Fable

The sun and the wind test their strength by seeing which of them can cause a man to remove his coat, demonstrating the value of using gentle persuasion rather than force as a means of achieving a goal. 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.