Submitted by Jill from Leonardtown!
The Giant Hug by Sandra Horning. “What do you want to send Granny for her birthday?” Asks Owen’s mother. “A GIANT hug,” is Owen’s answer. But the birthday gift has to go by mail. Does Owen mean he’ll send a picture of a hug? No, young Owen intends to send a real hug through the mail. So, his mother takes him to the post office, where they give Postmaster Nevin Granny’s address, and a giant hug. The hug is transferred along a long chain of postal workers all across the country, brightening everyone’s day in the process, until Granny’s own neighborhood letter carrier finally delivers Owen’s giant hug. Granny is delighted, and mails an equally special thank-you back to her grandson! Young readers will love seeing how the hug (and other mail) progresses through the postal network via neighborhood carriers, small-town and big-city post offices, a variety of trucks, and even an airplane to arrive at its destination.
Animals
Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes
Submitted by Sue from Leonardtown!
Lousy Rotten Stinkin Grapes by Margie Palatini and illustrated by Barry Moser. Fox makes a plan. After all, he believes himself to be sly. Clever. Smart. Fox eyes a bunch of tantalizing grapes hanging high in a tree and decides those juicy morsels should be for him! So he sets out to find a way to get to them using his sly, clever, and smart ideas to come up with a plan. After all he is a fox. With his clever plans, and the help from Bear, and Beaver, and Porcupine, and Possum, Fox comes up with complicated plans for getting the grapes. Will Fox get those juicy grapes, or will his plans fall apart and leave him frustrated? Read this twist to the Aesop’s fable “The Fox and the Grapes.” The bright and colorful water color illustrations help to create a silly twist to a popular story.
Amish Horses
Submitted by county youth coordinator Janis!
Amish Horses by Richard Ammon. This story is about horses and their role in daily Amish life. A little boy tells the story of Amish life and the process of feeding the animals, shoeing the horses, and going to an auction to buy or sell their animals. This book gives you a great glance of the everyday life of an Amish family from the work they do, to the games they play for entertainment. This story shows the process of planting and mowing hay. It also shows how the entire family helps on the farm. The pastel horse illustrations look so real you want to reach out and pet the horse. This is a great book for horse lovers of all ages!
Where is the Cake Now?
Submitted by Tess from Lexington Park!
Where is the Cake Now? by T.T. Khing is a fascinating wordless picture book about a group of woodland creatures attempting to have a picnic. The centerpiece of the picnic is two delicious looking cakes. First, everyone treks through the woods, across the river, and up the hill to the campsite. It’s quite a steep hill and everyone’s struggling to make it. Somehow along the way the cakes go missing. When the burglary is discovered, accusations fly! The mice dressed in black jumpsuits and carrying an oversized sack are the obvious suspects, and the chase begins! Check out this book to find out the true culprits of the cakes, as well as who is grafitti-ing the forest, why the mole is incredibly sick, and answers to a multitude of other mysteries.
Mouse Was Mad
Submitted by Amanda from Lexington Park!
Mouse Was Mad by Linda Urban is great book to help kids learn how to deal with their anger in an appropriate way, and how to express it. Mouse was mad, and he didn’t know how to express it. He tried to be “hoppin’ mad,” “stompin’ mad,” “screaming mad,” and even “rolling mad,” like his friends, but each time he just ends up getting angrier because he cannot be mad like Rabbit, Bear, Bobcat, or even Hedgehog. He gets so mad, he stands very, very still, and discovers his own way to be mad. No one else can be “still mad” like Mouse and this makes Mouse happy.
Jellybeans
Submitted by Tess from Lexington Park!
Jellybeans by Sylvia van Ommen is strange and wonderful. It begins with a rabbit named George getting a text message. The message is from George’s friend, a cat name Oscar, who suggests they get together in the park to eat jellybeans and drink hot chocolate. When they’re sitting under a tree enjoying their snacks Oscar begins a philosophical discussion about what might happen when they die. Will they go to heaven? Can they meet up at the entrance? What if they don’t recognize each other? Is there going to be jellybeans in the afterlife? This book is a fantastic way to discuss the passing of a loved one in a kid-friendly style that is not scary, but hopeful.