69) Duck! Rabbit! By Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Bibliographic Citation:  Rosenthal, Amy Krouse. Duck! Rabbit!. Illustrated by Tom Lichenheld.  Candlewick Press, 2009. 40 pages. ISBN: 978-0811868655

Format:  Hardcover

Awards: Goodreads choice award nominee for picture book (2009)

Author/Illustrator Sites: http://www.whoisamy.com,  http://www.tomlichtenheld.com

Age Group:  Ages 0–4 Years

Annotation:  The narrators debate whether the animal shown is a duck or a rabbit. 

Reflection: When I first pulled the book off the shelf the oversized black text was a great contrast against the stark, black and white line-drawing of the duck/rabbit.  The entire book contained the super large, black text and the same repeating large head of the duck/rabbit.  The conversational style of the book is a great example of a conversation that children can easily relate to.  The text reads, “Oh great, you scared him away.  I didn’t scare him away.  You scared him away.”  It has a great twist at the end with the two narrators finding a new creature, one thinking it’s an anteater and the other thinking it’s a brachiosaurus! 

Categorization Tags:  Animals -- Identification, Juvenile fiction, Children's stories, Pictorial works,

68) A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka

Bibliographic Citation: Raschka, Chris. A Ball for Daisy.  Schwartz & Wade, 2011. 32 pages. ISBN: 978-0375858611.

Format: Hardcover

Awards: Caldecott Medal 2012, New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books (2011)

Age Group: Ages 3-4 Years

Annotation: Daisy is sad because her favorite ball popped, but she gets a delightful present from a friend that cheers her right up.

Reflection: This wordless picture book of brilliant watercolor illustrations conveys the message of the story in a series of pictures.  The sequencing of the pictures tells the story of a dog and her favorite toy, a red ball. The dog loves to play with the ball and even sleeps next to her ball.  The owner takes the dog for a walk and plays fetch with the ball.  While in the park the ball gets caught in the fence but is retrieved by the owner who then throws the ball.  Another dog runs after the red ball to fetch it but accidently pops it.  The dog is devastated by the loss of something she loves and tries to revive it in the next series of pictures. When the dog realizes that it is broken and the owner throws it away, she hangs her head in sadness. The owner tries to console the dog but she doesn’t cheer up until she goes back to the park and sees that the other dog’s owner has brought a new blue ball.  The book ends with the two dogs playing together with the blue ball and her taking the ball back home.  This book teaches children the concepts of loss and friendship and can be related to a real child’s life and what they have lost. 

Categorization Tags: Dogs, Balls, Juvenile Fiction, Caldecott Medal

67) ZooBorns!: Zoo Babies from Around the World by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland

Bibliographic Citation: Bleiman, Andrew and Eastland, Chris. Welcome to the World, Zooborns!. Simon Spotlight, 2012. 24 pages. ISBN: 978-1442443761.

Format: Hardcover

Author/Illustrator Sites: http://www.chriseastland.com/

Age Group: Ages 0-4 Years

Annotation: All kinds of different animal babies are explored in this book.

Reflection: Welcome to the World, Zoo Borns exposes children to language that builds their vocabulary and uses repetition of the line “Welcome to the world, baby (animal)!” to introduce a familiar welcome with a new baby animal each time. The most important feature of this series is it uses real photographs of animals in their natural settings not illustrations.

Categorization Tags: Zoo animals – Infancy, Juvenile literature

66) Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi

Bibliographic Citation: Gomi, Taro. Everyone Poops. Illustrated by Amanda Mayer Stinchecum. Kane/Miller Book Pub, 2001. 27 pages. ISBN: 978-1929132140.

Format: Hardcover

Age Group: Ages 2-4 Years

Annotation: The functions of human and animal bodies are shown.

Reflection: Everyone Poops is a fun book that young children are fascinated with and love to read.  In my library system, the book is interfiled with the adult nonfiction books.  The book has illustrations of animals and people pooping, and children are amused by the different sizes of poop.  Having a book about this natural occurrence makes it easier for parents to explain this bodily function and for children to be comfortable talking about it.  Some similar titles that go into more detail about pooping are The Truth about Poop by Susan E. Goodman and It Hurts When I Poop! by Howard J. Bennett, M.D.

Categorization Tags: Defecation, Feces, Juvenile Literature

65) Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

Bibliographic Citation: Willems, Mo. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!. Hyperion, 2003. 40 pages. ISBN: 978-0786819881.

Format: Hardcover

Awards: Caldecott Honor (2004), Kentucky Bluegrass Award for K-2 (2005), Charlotte Zolotow Award Nominee for Highly Commended Title (2004), Vermont's Picture Book Awards: Red Clover (2005), An ALA Notable Children's Book for Younger Readers (2004)...more, South Carolina Book Award for Picture Book Award (2006), Flicker Tale Children's Book Award (2005), Golden Archer Award for Primary (2005), Buckaroo Book Award (2004), Indies Choice Book Award for Picture Book Hall of Fame (2009)

Author/Illustrator Sites: http://www.mowillems.com

Age Group: Ages 2-4 Years

Annotation: The very expressive pigeon wants to drive a bus, but nobody will let him.

Reflection: "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" is definitely a fun read aloud.  I also think the simple illustrations of the pigeon show so much expression and the children can tell when he is sad or mad.  The ending is great when the pigeon sees the big truck at the end and then sets his sights on something bigger and better.  It's also a good "jump-off" book to the next series of pigeon adventures, such as, "The Pigeon Wants a Puppy," "The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!" The Pigeon has Feelings, Too!" and "Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late."

Categorization Tags: Pigeons, Bus drivers, Juvenile Fiction, Caldecott Honor

64) Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin

Bibliographic Citation: Cronin, Doreen. Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. Illustrated by Betsy Lewin. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2000. 32 pages. ISBN: 978-1416903482.

Format: Hardcover

Awards: Caldecott Honor (2001), Charlotte Zolotow Award Nominee for Highly Commended Title (2001), Vermont's Picture Book Awards: Red Clover (2002), An ALA Notable Children's Book for Younger Readers (2001), Charlotte Award (2002) ...moreMaryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award for Picture Book (2001), Book Sense Book of the Year Honor Book for Children's Illustrated (2001)

Author/Illustrator Sites: http://www.doreencronin.com, http://betsylewin.com

Age Group: Ages 3-4 Years

Annotation: A group of barnyard animals give their farmer a set of very interesting

demands.

Reflection: Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin and pictures by Betsy Lewin won the Caldecott Honor Book in 2001.  The expressive watercolor pictures accompanied the text perfectly.  The artist note in the book states, "For this book, I did brush drawings using Windsor Newton lamp black watercolor on tracing paper.  I then had the drawings photocopied onto one-ply strathmore kid finish watercolor paper and applied watercolor washes to the black drawings.  The advantage to this method is that I can get as many copies on the watercolor paper as I want, and can experiment with the color, choosing the finishes that I like the best." The story begins with Farmer Brown telling us that the cows love to type all day long and he hears "Click Clack Moo. Click Clack Moo. Clickety, Clack, Moo."  The literate cows go on strike and demand electric blankets or no milk and leave typewritten notes on the barn door for Farmer Brown.  When Farmer Brown doesn't respond the cows give him notes from the hens demanding electric blankets for the hens because they're cold.  So Farmer Brown gets his own typewriter and writes back to the cows that there will be no electric blanket and demands milk and eggs.  The cows call for an emergency animal meeting sending the duck out as a neutral party to negotiate a deal.  The cows typed that they would exchange their typewriter in exhange for electric blankets and Farmer Brown gave in to the their demands.  The book ends with a sweet twist when Farmer Brown receives a typewritten note from the ducks that the pond is boring and they would like a diving board, "Click Clack Quack.  Click Clack Quack.  Clickety, Clack, Quack."  The final page is a picture of a duck's bottom that has just dove off the diving board. 

Categorization Tags: Cow, Domestic Animals, Typewriter, Juvenile Fiction, Caldecott Honor

63) I Dream of an Elephant by Ami Rubinger

Bibliographic Citation: Rubinger, Ami. I Dream of an Elephant. Abbeville Kids, 2010. 28 pages. ISBN: 978-0789210586.

Format: Hardcover

Author/Illustrator Sites: http://www.amirubinger.com

Age Group: Ages 0-4 Years

Annotation: The dreamer dream of many different colored elephants and wonders if they dream too.

Reflection: I Dream of an Elephant by Ami Rubinger is an outstanding, read aloud, picture book that focuses on the concept of colors.  It is the colors of this book that stand out at first sight, which is filled with playful elephants of every color, set on a background of lavender that make this book impossible to pass over.  When you open the book, you are taken away to a colorful land of rhyming text, where the entire, two page spread is the major clue for the repeating question, "I dream of an elephant whose color is..." For example, on the first page, you see a giant, Blue elephant that is jumping and the text reads, "Jumping and playing the whole morning through!" and then the next side of the text reads, "I dream of an elephant whose color is..." and the response is, of course, "Blue!"  Children quickly catch on to the color naming game and can't wait to yell out the color of the next elephant.  From an early literacy/early learning standpoint, the colors are not presented in "Rainbow Order" which is, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple.  However, the author chose to add secondary colors and Black, White and Gray.  For children at the 0-4 age range, I recommend sticking to the same color names that the Crayola company gives it crayons, which are Black, White and Gray and leave the shades and tints lessons for later grades.

Categorization Tags: Stories in Rhyme, Juvenile Fiction, Elephants, Color, Vocabulary