No words are needed in this striking and colorful exploration of animal shapes. Bold graphic forms create a playful exercise in visual perception. At first glance, that green bump might be a grassy hill. But we’re too close to be sure. Step back (turn the page) to see a little more. Now there are two green loopy humps. What could it be? Turn one more page to reveal — of course, the squiggles of a snake! Preschoolers will see animals in a new way when they look from both near and far.
Europe
Materials from Europe
Let’s Play!
A lively yellow dot leads the reader through a journey through color, shape, and a child’s imagination.
Mamasaurus
Babysaurus is looking for his mamasaurus and meets different prehistoric animals along the way.
Happy Birthday, Alice Babette
It’s Alice’s birthday! But her friend Gertrude seems to have forgotten. No matter, Alice goes out and enjoys her day just the same. A beautiful spring afternoon in Paris — what could be better? Little does she know that her dear friend has a few surprises up her sleeve.
While Alice spends the day walking around Paris — riding a carousel in the park and watching a puppet show — Gertrude turns her attention to the kitchen. She is determined to make a lavish dinner with all of Alice’s favorite things and write a poem to match the occasion.
But the lure of the perfect poetic line proves to be too distracting, and just as Alice’s day takes an exciting and unexpected turn, Gertrude’s big dinner falls all to pieces. The poem turns out beautifully, of course, but the house is a bit of a mess. It’s a good thing Alice doesn’t mind cleaning up. And that she has such a good brownie recipe for their guests.
Will’s Words
When Jane Sutcliffe sets out to write a book about William Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre, in her own words, she runs into a problem: Will’s words keep popping up all over the place! What’s an author to do? After all, Will is responsible for such familiar phrases as “what’s done is done” and “too much of a good thing.” He even helped turn “household words” into household words.
Beowulf
Graphic novel adaptation of the Old English epic poem, Beowulf. Now it is reinvented for a new generation with Gareth Hinds’s masterful illustrations. Grendel’s black blood runs thick as Beowulf defeats the monster and his hideous mother, while somber hues overcast the hero’s final, fatal battle against a raging dragon. Speeches filled with courage and sadness, lightning-paced contests of muscle and will, and funeral boats burning on the fjords are all rendered in glorious and gruesome detail. Told for more than a thousand years, Beowulf’s heroic saga finds a true home in this graphic-novel edition.
The Girl with the Parrot on Her Head
Isabel has a best friend named Simon, who is very good with newts. But one day Simon moves away in a truck and never comes back. For a while Isabel hates everything and decides it’s better to be by herself. After all, she has a parrot who likes to sit on her head, and she has a system, sorting all the things in her room into boxes. But now she faces a new problem: the parrot worries about the box that is full of wolves, and Isabel secretly worries too.
The House That Zack Built
Follows Zack and his dog Rufus as they share a day on the farm, building a house out of blocks, before a wandering fly attracts the attention of a determined feline, inadvertently wreaking havoc.
Who Woke The Baby?
It’s early morning in the jungle and the little gorilla is NOT happy. Someone has woken him up! As the mystery unfolds, we learn about a chain of events involving an assortment of animals who all played a part.
Whoops!
The cat can’t meow, the dog can’t bark, and even the mouse can’t squeak. When they go to the little old lady in the woods for a spell to restore their voices, things don’t go as expected.