Goose on the Farm

Sophie and Goose are back again in this cute picture book. This time, their class is going on a field trip to the farm! When they get there, the children play with all of the different animals, including bunny rabbits, lambs, and chicks, but Goose isn’t having such a good time. He gets chased by a chicken, falls into a puddle of mud, and gets scared by a peacock. Just when he is about to give up, he meets a new friend that makes the farm seem not so bad after all. This book shows that a new place may be frightening, but it’s better with friends. Goose on the Farm, by Laura Wall, is sure to be a read-aloud hit!

Guest post by Sarah H.

The Lion and the Bird

The Lion and the Bird by Marianne Dubuc is a beautiful story of an unlikely friendship. In autumn, as he’s working in his garden, a lion finds an injured bird. After bandaging the bird’s broken wing, the lion invites the recovering bird to stay with him, since he can’t fly south with the other birds. Beautiful illustrations, accompanied by very few words, depict the blossoming friendship and show the friends making the most out of a snowy winter. It’s cold, “but winter doesn’t feel all that cold with a friend.”

The arrival of spring brings the return of the other birds, and the lion knows that he must say goodbye to his friend. He watches longingly as the bird flies away. “And so it goes. Sometimes life is like that.” Through spring and summer, the lion goes about his daily life looking a little sadder than before, clearly missing his companion. Finally, as fall reappears, the lion wishes for the return of his friend. Sure enough, the bird comes back, and instead of flying south, he stays to keep the lion company. “Together, we’ll stay warm again this winter.”

The lovely illustrations really evoke a lot of emotion. In fact, this story of friendship is so sweet that it brought several of my coworkers to tears. So, if you’re a bit of a sap yourself, you may want to read it with a box of tissues nearby…

Hello, My Name is Ruby

 

The illustrations in Caldecott winner Philip C. Stead’s latest book, Hello, My Name is Ruby, are enough to make it shine. But, the combination of the gorgeous pictures with the absolutely beautiful storyline truly makes it a must-read.

The story follows Ruby, a tiny bird in a big world, who wants nothing more than a friend. She bravely introduces herself to other birds, even ones much bigger than she. Ruby says “hello,” asks questions, and even invites them to go flying with her. Though she’s met with mostly positive responses from the other birds, she does get one rejection, which leaves her standing alone in the rain, singing a “sad song.”

The sun comes out and brings with it a curious bird, Skeepwock, who Ruby names for the sounds he makes. Skeepwock tells Ruby: “I have heard your name before.” Then he shows her a tree full of little birds, just like Ruby. “Ruby floated happily above the treetop.” And in true Ruby fashion, she tells them that she’s glad to meet them and asks: “Would you like to meet my friends?” The book concludes with a heartwarming picture of Ruby and all of her friends gathered together.

You will love Ruby and adore this book!

Stick!

 

A puppy with a stick really only needs one thing: a playmate. In Andy Pritchett’s new book, Stick!, Puppy faces just that problem. He tries to enlist playmates with a simple, one-word question: “Stick?” Each of his potential fetch partners replies with a one-word answer: “Grass!” from Cow, “Worm!” from Bird, and “Mud!” from Pig. They were all too busy to play with the, now sad and lonely, Puppy. Just when Puppy thought his chances of finding a stick-throwing pal were ruined, a stick landed right in front of him with a “clunk!” And, (spoiler alert!) it was another puppy! The two puppies had so much fun playing, that the other animals even joined in the fun!

The simple text in this book (only one word per page), makes it a great one for a beginning reader or a little one with a short attention span. Plus, the illustrations are just plain adorable! And really, who doesn’t love a cute story with a happy ending? Come in and check it out today!

Ribbit!

 

Oh, how I love books about friendship! In this adorable new one, Ribbit! by Rodrigo Folgueira, a family of frogs finds a pig sitting on a rock in the middle of its pond. When the frogs question the pig about what he might be doing in the pond, he replies, “ribbit!” The frogs don’t know what to think. Is he confused? Is he making fun of them? Did they hear him correctly?

When all the other animals hear about this pig who thinks he is a frog, they hurry to see him. They can’t believe their ears! Finally, after some laughing, shouting, and thinking, they decide to go find the wise old beetle so that he can tell them what to do.

The beetle has a hard time understanding the problem, since all of the animals are talking at once. Even so, he agrees to go with them to see the strange pig. But, when they arrive back at the pond, the pig is gone. “Maybe he just wanted to make new friends,” says the beetle. The animals feel a little sad that they hadn’t thought of that on their own.

Sure enough, in the branch of a nearby tree full of birds, was the pig. He wasn’t saying “ribbit” anymore, though. Now he was saying, “tweet!” The book ends with pig and all of the other animals up in the tree, and they’re all saying, “tweet!”

You’ll love this sweet story of friendship and reaching out to those who may seem different, and your kids will love to laugh at the silly animal sounds. It’s a win-win! J

Ten Things I Love About You

We recently added the book Ten Things I Love About You to our collection, and it just makes me smile. Daniel Kirk tells the story of two friends, Pig and Rabbit. Rabbit has decided that he’s going to make a list of ten things that he loves about Pig and is so eager to share his list with Pig that he goes to Pig’s house to show him the list before it’s even close to being finished. Pig, though he loves the idea of the list, is too busy to wait around while Rabbit finishes writing all ten things. He sends Rabbit home and tells him to finish the list and they’ll be able to play later. As the story continues, Rabbit keeps coming back with an incomplete list, and Pig, though appreciative of the list, keeps sending him away because he’s busy working on something. At the end, Rabbit discovers that the thing that was keeping Pig so busy was that he was making his own list of the ten things he loves about Rabbit! The two friends smile as they share a big hug, and both friends’ lists are shown on the last two pages of the book.

Even more than the heartwarming story of friendship, I loved the idea of making a “Ten Things I Love About You List.” What a great activity for you and your child to do at home! Your little one would undoubtedly feel special, hearing all of the things you love about her. And, if she’s old enough, you could try getting her to dictate her own list of the things she loves about you. I mean, we all need an ego boost every now and then, right? These lists could be posted on your refrigerator, recited each night as part of a bedtime routine, or used however else you decide. You could even repeat this activity each year or just add to it as your child gets older. What a special treasure that would be for both of you!