Check out these literary treats perfect for reading aloud with the picture-book set:
“City Dog, Country Frog” (ages 4 to 7 $17.99): Combining a spare text with exquisitely evocative watercolor illustrations, this beautifully illustrated book is a story of a friendship filled with joy, loss and change.
The book blends the talents of two Caldecott Honor-winning picture-book creators: author/illustrator Mo Willems (“Knuffle Bunny” and “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”) and Jon Muth (“Zen Shorts.”)
Here, Willems spins the tale of a city dog who first visits the country in springtime and becomes fast friends with a frog who lives there. Muth’s delicate watercolors convey a range of emotions and seasonal landscapes.
“Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I don’t)” (ages 3 to 6, $17.99): It’s not surprising that Miss Brooks loves books. After all, she’s a children’s librarian. But even the charismatic Miss Brooks has trouble finding books that will interest a reluctant reader named Missy.
Fortunately, as author Barbara Bottner shows, there’s a book for every reader — you just have to find the right one.
“L M N O Peas” (ages 3 to 6, $16.99): Author/illustrator Keith Baker offers a delightful riff on the alphabet song. Dozens of energetic, anthropomorphized green peas take readers on a tour of the alphabet, illustrating activities for each letter. Baker’s book is so fun that kids won’t have a clue as to how much they’re learning.
“Ladybug Girl at the Beach” (ages 3 to 6, $16.99): Ladybug Girl, aka Lulu, is thrilled to spend a day at the beach with her family, including her trusty basset hound, Bingo, but she’s scared by the power of the waves. It takes a small crisis — the waves carry off her pail — to help Ladybug Girl overcome her fear.
“What If?” (ages 3 to 6, $15.99): Author/illustrator Laura Vaccaro Seeger asks young readers to play with time and space as she details three similar scenarios with different endings in.
Three times, Seeger uses illustrations to depict a sequence of events where two seals are playing with a beach ball in the ocean and one of them chases the ball onto the sand. From there, Seeger offers three different endings, asking readers, “What if?”
“A Beach Tail” (ages 3 to 6, $17.95): Karen Lynn Williams describes a day at the beach with Gregory and his father. Gregory draws a lion in the sand and his dad father warns him not to go into the water alone, adding, “Don’t leave Sandy” (the lion).
Gregory promises but, as only a child can, manages to stretch out that promise in a way that will intrigue young readers.
“Lyle Walks the Dogs” (ages 3 to 5, $12.99): Veteran author Bernard Waber teams up with his artist daughter, Paulis Waber, to create, the latest Manhattan adventure of the irrepressible crocodile.
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