Click below to see the other books in each age band.
2014: GRADES K TO 2
Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer
by Carol Brendler
Winnie Finn is crazy about earthworms and knows everything about them. When spring arrives in Quincy County, all she can think about is the county fair coming up. This year, she would like nothing more than to win a prize for her worms so that she might buy a shiny new wagon for transporting them around. Trouble is, there’s no prize at the fair for worms . . . Bright, energetic illustrations accompany this jaunty tale about a young girl’s creativity that will inspire readers of all interests— but especially those with a love for something wiggly.
Fairly Fairy Tales
by Esmé Raji Codell
Parents and children love to play "question" games: Would you eat spaghetti made with gummy worms? Would you wear your clothes backwards all day? Sometimes the answer is "yes" and sometimes it's "no"--but the fun is in the asking. Gifted writer and educator Esme Raji Codell has writtten a book that incorporates fractured fairy tales with this kind of parent-child interplay to create a pitch-perfect combination of bedtime read-aloud and fairytales that will delight children and parents!
In Arctic Waters
by Laura Crawford
This arctic adaptation of "This is the House that Jack Built" follows polar bears, walruses, seals, narwhals and beluga whales as they chase each other around "the ice that floats in the Arctic waters." Not only is the rhythmic, cumulative prose good for early readers; it is a pure delight to read aloud. The "For Creative Minds" section helps children learn how these animals live in the cold, icy arctic region.
Doctor Ted
by Andrea Beaty
In this ode to the imagination, Ted, a little bear, bumps his knee, decides he needs a doctor, and then decides to become one himself when he finds there isn’t one in the house. After waiting too long in his own waiting room for patients, he locates a bunch of them at school. Lemaitre’s illustrations, which put poignant facial expressions onto otherwise fairly cartoonish creatures, provide a good visual counterpoint to Beaty’s sweet, matter-‐of-‐fact sense of humor. Ted is certainly taken aback when the school principal, a boar in a purple jacket, sends him home after Ted diagnoses him with bad breath, a fever, and foot odor. (Ted’s mother and teacher don’t like their diagnoses either.) The predictable turnaround, during which Doctor Ted saves the day, is amusingly delivered; on the last page Ted wakes up, smells burned toast, and decides...well, kids will have fun guessing what Ted will do next.
Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Everyone knows cookies taste good, but these cookies also have something good to say. Open this delectable book to any page and you will find out something about life. Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons is a new kind of dictionary, one that defines mysteries such as "fair" and "unfair" and what it really means to "cooperate." The book is by turns clever, honest, inspirational, and whimsical. Go ahead, take a bite!
Multiply on the Fly
by Suzanne Slade
From pirate bugs to spittlebugs to lovely Luna moths, children will love learning about the world's insects in Multiply on the Fly. This rhythmic book teaches multiplication in a way that will make children "bug" you for more. Teeming with fun facts, readers will multiply with a variety of insects, including daring dragonflies, hungry honeybees, and stealthy walking sticks.