Melvin and the Boy

Author

Bonny Becker

The relentlessly cheery Mouse pushes a cold-suffering Bear to new heights of melodrama in a hilarious new adventure starring the unlikely pair.

Bear has a terrible cold. In fact, Bear is quite sure that no one has ever been as sick as he is. So when Mouse comes tap, tap, tapping on his front door...

Author

Ken Kimura

Mother and Father Frog find it necessary to move to a larger pond after hatching 999 tadpoles.

A more accurate title would be 999 froglets as the baby frogs only spend three pages as tadpoles before becoming frogs.

The frog family outgrows its pond after hatching 999 baby frogs, and...

Author	Philip C. Stead
ISBN	1596435623

Check out more Picture book reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...

"When Jonathan loses his best friend, a stuffed bear named Frederick, he sets sail on the Big Blue Boat to find him. Along the way he assembles a ragtag crew, including a mountain goat, a lonely circus elephant, and even a friendly...

Author	Paul Schmid
ISBN	0061963313

Charming! This is a really fun book to read aloud. It’s also amusing, hilarious in spots.

The purple and black and white illustrations are very appealing, and I love how stripes make many appearances.

Petunia sure is persistent. Some will think she’s annoying but for the most...

Author	Eve Bunting
ISBN	0618998519

Little Elephant and Mama Elephant are going for a walk. “Hold on to my tail,” says Mama. “If you want to ask me a question, tweak twice.” Tweak, tweak! “Mama, what is that?” Little Elephant is curious about the frog, the monkey, the songbird, the butterfly, and the crocodile—and especially...

Author	Christine McDonnell
ISBN	0670011797

When Soo Min comes from Korea to live with her new American family, she struggles to learn English and adjust to unfamiliar surroundings. She finds great comfort in the family's cat, Goyangi - that is, until he runs away. After searching the streets with her mother, Soo Min discovers her beloved pet has...

Author	Eric Rohmann
ISBN	1596431504

One of School Library Journal’s Best Picture Books of 2011
One of Horn Book’s Best Picture Books of 2011

Ghost dogs and skeletons in a tall tale with a tender heart from the Caldecott Medal-winning creator of My Friend Rabbit.
 Gus doesn't feel like doing much after his dog Ella...

Author	Barbara Lehman
ISBN	0547238681

I usually enjoy this author/illustrator's books but this one was definitely an exception. It is a "wordless" picture book that "shows" an adventure that some children go on when they discover a treasure map hidden in the floor of their boarding school. They sneak out of their school, wander through...

Author

Kurt Cyrus

Sploosh! Fizz! Swish! The prehistoric ocean is a dangerous place for a baby sea turtle. But after she emerges from her egg, the treacherous waters are her goal. Swimming through the swirling waves and dodging larger sea creatures, she finds a resting place deep below. There she waits, until she...

Author	Albert Lamb
ISBN	0763650552

In this delightful bedtime story, a young bear tells his mama all about his exciting day — in reverse — inspiring little listeners to do the same.

Just before going to bed, Timmy Bear and his mama play a game they call Tell Me the Day Backwards. Timmy tries to remember everything that happened...

Author	Rand Burkert
ISBN	0545101476

From the illustrator of the classic edition of Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs

On a ridge above the Kalihari,
Lion naps, until Mouse bumbles into him,
willy-nilly, startling him awake.
After a show of teeth, Lion is softened
by Mouse's pledge of loyalty
and sets him free....

Author	Maria van Lieshout
ISBN	0399251847

A playful tale about friendship and home

"What," Hopper asks his little friend Wilson, "do you think it's like at the end of the world?" Hopper, the blue elephant, imagines a staircase to the moon, while Wilson, the yellow mouse, hopes for an endless supply of lemonade. So the two sail off in a...

Author	Jerry Davis
ISBN	1442414014

"I hear you cluckin', Big Chicken!" That's the simple refrain that Little Chicken repeats to his mama throughout a typical day. But Little Chicken can be distractable . . . and when he wanders off and gets lost, the day becomes anything but typical. With subtlety and humor, this sweet little story sweeps...

Author	Alison Murray
ISBN	1423136942

When an apple pie arrives piping hot on the kitchen table, a little pup does everything from A to Z to get his paws on it. He Ogles it. He Pines for it. But will his ABC antics land him a slice?

APPLE PIE ABC is a delicious twist on traditional verse brought to life by Alison Murray's simple words and...

Author	Arthur Geisert
ISBN	1592700985

A gorgeously rendered wordless tale of discovery and adventure that is meticulous in architectural detail and bursts with inventiveness. Arthur Geisert's ingenuity engages the child's imagination as well as the adult's through seamless storytelling and zany wit. Invested as always in his porcine...

Author	Cathleen Daly
ISBN	1596434686

I feel like such a stick in the mud for giving this otherwise charming book such a low score when almost everyone else gives it 5 stars. The illustrations are terrific and the humor is droll, but I have issues with the idea that Prudence leaves two of her "pets" (a tire and a shoe) in the junkyard because they...

Author	Renata Liwska
ISBN	0399252371

All Lucy wants to do is play with her brand-new, bright red wagon. But her mother has other plans for her-and the wagon. Lucy must go to the market and buy vegetables for dinner. Lucy doesn't want to do chores! But she sets off for the market nonetheless, hauling her red wagon with her. Before long, her ordinary...

Author	Kate Feiffer
ISBN	0763644056

Wishful thinking and a wonderful daughter-and-dad rapport drive this charming collaboration between Kate Feiffer and her father, Jules Feiffer.

Sadie has wanted to go the zoo forever, but something always gets in the way. Not today! Today they are finally on their way, and nothing can stop...

Author	Frank Viva
ISBN	0316129259

Well, this is a very creative book. Its illustrations are made up from one big illustration, which is shown on the inside front and back covers. It would be great for both beginning readers and for reading aloud.

However, neither the lackluster (lack of) story text or the pictures really appealed...

Author	Mary Ellen Jordan
ISBN	0807544000

Wow, I loved reading about how every animal on the farm does not do what it is generally expected to do. I liked how each animal was attributed with a specific and different demeanor than the others, and how well it rhymed the animals' names with their personalities. I also liked how the illustrator made...

Author	Christoph Niemann
ISBN	0062019635

A young girl asks a boy how various machines work. "How does a train work?" The boy thinks about it for a few seconds and comes up with a totally unrealistic idea, pronouncing "That's how!" The girl, impressed, responds with "Wow!"

Frankly, I was a little annoyed that the girl asked the questions,...

Author

Jon Agee

Watch Jon Agee win over a new flock of fans—the toddler set

If you should ever get a rhinoceros for a pet, you're in for a surprise. It won't chase a ball. Or a stick. Or a frisbie. In fact, according to the experts, a rhinoceros does only two things: pop balloons and poke holes in kites.

But...

Author	Lois Ehlert
ISBN	1442413050

Listen up you hallowed members of the Caldecott Committee. Lois Ehlert deserves your medal. She has deserved your medal for years, while you have repeatedly passed her by for everything from a biography illustrated with woodcut prints to a frickin' pseudo graphic novel.
Take a look at this one....

Author

Katherine Battersby

Squish is just a little rabbit. But being little can lead to big problems. Sometimes Squish is hard to hear . . . or see. (Which is how he got his name.) And no one notices him. But Squish notices things- especially when someone is about to get into trouble and needs help. Here is little Squish's BIG chance.

A...