Submitted by Sue from Leonardtown!
Meeow and the Little Chairs by Sebastien Braun. Meeow is a black cat who is having some animal friends over to play. He and his friends like to make things. During the story, each of Meow’s friends are introduced. Then Meeow and his friends proceed to make a train with different colored chairs. The words and sentences are descriptive, pointing out colors and objects used by the animal friends to create their imaginary train, which makes the story appealing and fun. The book provides opportunities for interaction between you and your child. Enjoy the answers you might recieve when the narrator asks questions, and you encourage your child to predict “What have you found, Meeow?” and “What can they be doing?” The illustrations are digitized and assembled using hand painted line shapes. See this book listed in our catalog
Jazz Baby
Submitted by Tammy, driver of the WoW van!
Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler is a rhythmic, short story about a baby and his extended family making jazzy music. In this amazing book you’ll find all the sounds you would hear in a jazz song: rat-tat-tat, snazzy jazzy, doo wop doo, etc. Readers will find themselves getting involved in the story as they start to clap and tap along to the rhythmic nature of the book. The beautiful illustrations cover the pages with long shots of buildings swaying to the beat, and music notes that dance around “Baby.” As the story winds to an end, the family members start to disappear, until a sleepy baby is left with his parents, and soon falls fast asleep. See this book listed in our catalog
The Other Side
Submitted by Tess from Lexington Park!
I love Jacqueline Woodson. I’ve had the privilege to see her speak several times and her classic The Other Side almost always comes up. She was inspired by a modern, urban setting, but the illustrator E.B. Lewis interpreted her words as referring to a time and place of segregation. It’s the story of two girls, one black and one white, Clover and Annie, who live on different sides of a fence that divides their town. After watching each other all summer, Clover feels brave enough one day to approach the fence to talk to Annie. They might not be able to go over the fence, but they can sit on top of it together. This is a heart-warming tale of a color-blind friendship, written in a style children can relate to, that I treasure and hope you will too. See this book listed in our catalog
The Great Gracie Chase
Submitted by Tess from Lexington Park!
Meet Gracie Rose, the heroine of The Great Gracie Chase: Stop That Dog! by Cynthia Rylant and Mark Teague. Gracie is very much like my dog, in that she likes her house to be nice and quiet. Unfortunately for her, painters have come to paint the kitchen, and generally disturb the peace she works so hard to maintain. Gracie barks and them to go outside, but something astounding happens–they put HER outside. Being upset, she decides to take herself for a walk, unwittingly starting The Great Grace Chase! Suddenly everyone is running after her yelling “Stop that dog!” She doesn’t want to get caught! She runs uphill, and through water fountains, until finally everyone is too tired to chase her. Noticing that it’s finally peaceful and quiet again, she returns home all on her own (much to the chagrin of the mob of people and animals that had been on her tail). I love the illustrations in this book, especially Gracie’s facial expressions. If your child is a dog lover they are sure to enjoy this adventure! See this book listed in our catalog
Wag!
Submitted by Melissa from Lexington Park!
Yet another adorable book by comic strip artist Patrick McDonnell, his latest title Wag! features his classic characters, in all their lovable glory! Mooch, the know-it-all cat, tries to answer the infamous question that all dog lovers ask: Why does Earl, the happy dog, wag his tail? There are many things to which Earl wags – fwip-fwip-fwip – his friends, his ball, flowers… Can Mooch determine what it is that they all have in common? Follow along with Mooch, determined to figure out the answer, and discover the reason why all dogs wag their tails. Equipped with sound effects and personality, this “tail” will surely delight, with every “fwip” of the page! See this book listed in our catalog
A Friend Like You
Submitted by Carol from Charlotte Hall!
A Friend Like You by Tanja Askani is a very cute book about friendship. The author photographed all the animals in the book, and also keeps many of the animals at her home. The story is very simple, and just tells basically what it means to be a friend, but the pictures really make the book. The pictures are absolutely adorable. In the back of the book there is a section that tells the reader about the author, and all the animals. It is very interesting and educational! See this book listed in our catalog