Peck, Peck, Peck

Pecking his way through the door of a house, an intrepid little woodpecker busily raps on a rhyming sequence of indoor objects, from a hat and a mat and a racket and jacket to a teddy bear and a book called Jane Eyre.

Maude: The Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton

Being noticed is what all the members of the Shrimpton family lived for – all except, that is, for Maude. She prefers to blend into the background rather than stand out in a crowd.

Old Bear

Old Bear has been up in the attic for a very long time, but he hasn’t been forgotten. Bramwell Brown and his friends Little Bear, Duck, and Rabbit attempt to rescue Old Bear from the attic and bring him safely back home. A beautifully-illustrated classic picture book from popular author-illustrator Jane Hissey tells the familiar story of how a much-loved teddy bear is lost and finally found again.

Babushka’s Doll

Natasha isn’t really a bad girl. It’s just that she wants to play on the swing now, not after the wash has been hung up to dry. And she wants her soup now, not after the goats have been fed. Looking after Natasha keeps Babushka, Natasha’s grandmother, very busy.Then, after lunch, Natasha notices a doll sitting on Babushka’s shelf…a doll Babushka tells Natasha she played with just once when she was a little girl. When Natasha plays with the doll while Babushka goes to the store for groceries, she discovers why once is enough with Babushka’s doll…and finds out just how tiring it can be to take care of a child who wants everything now.

Puffin Peter

When his best friend is lost in a terrible storm, an intrepid young puffin teams up with a big blue whale to mount a rescue mission and discovers that while many other birds match his friend’s description, none are quite the same.

My Grandmother’s Stories: A Collection of Jewish Folk Tales

These are stories within stories: the narrator remembers herself as a young child hearing them from her grandmother, as they cooked, hung up laundry, prepared for the Sabbath, or cleaned house for Passover. This framing of the stories emphasizes their continuing pleasure across generations; and customs, idioms, traditions, even recipes that the Jews brought with them from Eastern Europe are an unobtrusive part of the telling.