Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
No Dogs Allowed by Linda Ashman and illustrated by Kristin Sorra (Sterling, August 2011) is a mostly wordless story of a small café on a street corner where there are no dogs allowed. As one very unusual day progresses, the café owner finds that he must adapt the rule to include other animals, from cats to kangaroos
Wiener Wolf written and illustrated by Jeff Crosby (Hyperion, July 2011) features a friendly looking dachshund who is tired of the same old things as a pet at home with Granny, so he sets out in the world. His new friends are wolves, and at first it’s quite nice having new friends. But it only takes a
In Reading to Peanut by Leda Schubert and illustrated by Amanda Haley (Holiday House, August 2011), Lucy is determined to learn to read and write so she can write a birthday card for her dog, Peanut! As she learns her letters with help from her mom and dad, they also work on planting a vegetable garden. By the
Charlie the basset hound is the laziest dog around, but not the way he tells his story in Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond and illustrated by Diane deGroat (HarperCollins, April 2011). Charlie likes bacon, sleep, and eating and sleep, and while he takes credit for all the chores around the ranch, the illustrations help us see
Argus by Michelle Knudsen and illustrated by Andrea Wesson (Candlewick, February 2011) is about learning to be okay with being different, particularly when Sally has a very different kind of pet. From the first day when Sally got her assigned egg from her science teacher, she thought something was different. And when everyone else’s eggs
In A Pet for Petunia by Paul Schmid (HarperCollins, January 2011), Petunia is determined to get her desired pet, a pet skunk, despite her parent’s advice against it. Of course, no amount of begging works, so Petunia sets out to find her own skunk … with an incredible surprise to Petunia! The book has delightfully
Initially, Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann (Roaring Brook, July 2011) left me both incredibly impressed by the gorgeous illustrations and a bit wary of the ghoulish setting for the story. I’ve mentioned before that I am not a fan of Halloween; Bone Dog is a Halloween picture book, complete with a visit to a graveyard and
I don’t often read middle grade fiction, but when I heard about The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright (published by Peachtree Publishers, October 2011) at BEA in May, I was excited to read it. After all, the subtitle is “A Dickens of the Tale” and I knew that Charles Dickens
We loved Jan Thomas’s books a few months ago, so we have been looking for more. My four-year-old loves Rhyming Dust Bunnies. The pages are very simple and easily readable by a young kid because they contain, for the most part, rhyming words. Friends Ed, Ned, Ted, and Bob (who are dust bunnies) are quite silly,
Brownie Groundhog and the February Fox by Susan Blackaby and illustrated by Carmen Segovia (Sterling, January 2011) is partly a Groundhog Day book and partly a most unusual story about a groundhog and a fox becoming friends. When Brownie appears on February 2, she’s welcomed by a deep snow. She’s of course bothered by the residual winter,
Mudkin by Stephen Gammell (Carolrhoda, April 2011) is an clever book about an imaginary friend, in this case, one that comes from playing in the mud. A little girl discovers a mud creature called Mudkin who invites her to his castle where she will be queen. Although there is little text (Mudkin does not speak English but
Perfect Soup by Lisa Moser and illustrated by Ben Mantle (Random House, October 2010) tells the simple story of Murray the mouse that wants to make “perfect soup.” When he finds himself short a carrot, he tries to borrow one from someone else but the farmer wants him to help in order to “earn” the carrot. One thing
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