Picture Book

Norman, Speak!

At the animal shelter, a young boy and his family choose a pet, Norman, the little stray dog who has been there the longest. Norman is brown and white, with a stump of a tail. He’s so glad to have a home that he does a “hula dance of happiness” whenever he sees his new owners. But the family soon discovers that Norman won’t respond to commands. He doesn’t even seem to know his own name. They conclude that lovable Norman just isn’t very smart until a chance encounter in the park makes them think otherwise.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume VII, Issue 2

This book has been included in WOW’s Language and Learning: Children’s and Young Adult Fiction Booklist. For our current list, visit our Booklist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.

Little Chicken Duck

Follows the adventures of a duck whose fear of water prevents her from learning to swim until she is assisted by a kindhearted frog and forest birds who reveal how they overcame their own fears.

Ella and the Balloons In the Sky

Ella comes down one morning to feed her pets and finds that they have disappeared. She discovers them floating away on balloons, high in the sky. Try as she might, she can’t get them to come back. But although they are out of reach, Ella soon learns they are not truly gone as long as they remain in her heart and her memories. Written in gentle rhyming verse with light-hearted illustrations, Ella and the Balloons in the Sky is a story that tackles the tough subject of love and loss in a new way–with whimsy, magic, and lightness.

The Fly

The first in a series of humorous books about disgusting creatures, The Fly is a look at the common housefly. It covers such topics as the hair on the fly’s body (requires a lot of shaving), its ability to walk on the ceiling (it’s pretty cool, but it’s hard to play soccer up there), and its really disgusting food tastes (garbage juice soup followed by dirty diaper with rotten tomato sauce, for example). Although silly and off-the-wall, The Fly contains real information that will tie in with curriculum.

Hannah’s Night

When everyone is asleep, Hannah wakes up and discovers the quiet, exciting night-time world. When Hannah wakes suddenly in the night, she discovers a whole new world of adventure. With nobody awake to tell her off, she can do just as she pleases. The book combines simple language with beautifully textured images, capturing the innocence and wonder of young children at play.

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

Gus, the Dinosaur Bus

Even though the school children think Gus the dinosaur bus is a great way to get to school, his size is causing some problems for the principle and the town. He causes traffic jams, gets tangled in telephone lines, knocks down traffic lights, and creates potholes with his big stomping feet. The principal fires Gus from school bus duty. However, Gus makes a swimming pool with his tears and finds a new life as the school’s playground, with a swing on his tail and his long neck serving as a slide.

Illustrations: watercolor, childlike pencil drawings

Mooncakes

Mooncakes is the lyrical story of a young girl who shares the special celebration of the Chinese Moon Festival with her parents. As they eat mooncakes, drink tea and watch the night sky together, Mama and Baba tell ancient tales of a magical tree that can never be cut down, the Jade Rabbit who came to live on the moon and one brave woman’s journey to eternal life.

Kenta And The Big Wave

When tsunami strikes Kenta’s small village in Japan, he ran to school far up the hill, where the waves couldn’t reach. Climbing to safer ground, Kenta watches helplessly as his prized soccer ball goes bouncing down a hill and gets swept away by the waves. When the tsunami recede, his family returned to their home, they found village ruined and could not find their belongings. Out on the ocean, Kenta’s soccer ball floated across the ocean. Finally the ball reached the other side of the world, where a boy picked the ball up and sent it back to Kenta, even though he could not read the word on the ball.

Jasper’s Story

Jasper is a moon bear who was held in a cage by bear farmers in rural China. The farmers extracted the bile from Jasper’s body and sold it to be used in traditional medicines. Despite how badly he was treated, Jasper was able to slowly recover, forgive, and trust humans. With each new bear who arrives in the sanctuary, Jasper becomes a friend, letting them know that they are in a place where healing will begin.