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.
Classic
The Monster at the End of this Book
Submitted by Jill from Leonardtown!
The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone. Grover, the blue Sesame Street monster, is eager to read this classic Little Golden Book with you, until he reads the title page–and realizes that there will be a MONSTER at the end of this book! And Grover is so SCARED of monsters! Our furry blue friend will spend the next 18 pages trying to prevent you from turning any more pages, and therefore bringing us closer to the end of the book (and the MONSTER)! He tries securing the pages with tape, string, and strong brick walls, but when you reach the next-to-last page, poor Grover is reduced to begging and pleading. Will you turn the final page and face the MONSTER at the end of this book?
The Napping House
Submitted by Catherine from Lexington Park!
Anyone who loves Good Night Moon, will want to check out The Napping House by Audrey Wood, and illustrated by Don Wood. This book, about a house where everyone from Granny down to the mouse sleeps in the same bed on a rainy afternoon, will have kids smiling as they look for the little animals on each page, and laughing as the “wakeful flea” sends the napping house into an uproar. The exaggerated drawings capture the silly feel of the book. And the colors – either soft or bright, show the feelings of the characters perfectly. This simple story with wonderful illustrations will be a favorite for parents and kids to read together.
The Paper Bag Princess
Submitted by Jill from Leonardtown!
“Elizabeth was a beautiful princess. She lived in a castle, and had expensive princess clothes. She was going to marry a prince named Ronald…” So begins The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch, but this is no ordinary sugar-sweet princess story. Things get interesting when a nasty dragon smashes the castle, scorches all of Elizabeth’s pretty things, and steals Prince Ronald. Fortunately for the prince, Elizabeth is no pushover princess. She’s a tough, smart girl who’s determined to recover her fiancé. Kids will laugh out loud as Elizabeth uses her brains to outwit the dragon and reclaim her sweetheart… but the surprise ending is the best part of all.
A Book
Submitted by Catherine from Lexington Park!
What happens in a book when the pages are closed? In A Book by Mordicai Gerstein, we meet a little girl who lives in a book. Everyone in her family knows their story, but she has yet to figure out what her story is. She travels through each page, meeting famous story book characters who try to convince the little girl that her story is a mystery, historical fiction, a fairy tale and many other genres. But at the end, the little girl decides for herself what her story will be. The illustrations are a unique take on the story. The reader observes the story from overhead, watching what is happening down below. This will be a great story for kids and parents to read together, with lots of bright fun pictures for kids, and funny reminders of childhood books for parents.
The Little House
Submitted by Allana from Leonardtown!
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. Beautifully illustrated in its simplicity. The Little House sits on a hill surrounded by trees and flowers and all of nature’s splendor in the countryside. Through the seasons you see the little house in the varying light and settings. The little house is content but becomes lonely as the family spend less time there. Gradually, the surroundings change, as technology takes hold. Buildings go up, trams or trains start coming and going, pretty soon it’s the hustle and bustle of a large town or small city. The little house seems to shrink and decline more and more, and becomes really lonely and sad as the owners have forsaken their former home. Finally the little house is “rescued” by a descendant of the family and carried back to the countryside. Even though it’s a different hill in a new location, the little house looks brighter and happier, and once again enjoys the loving care of a family in the beautiful countryside.