Submitted by Tammy, driver of the WoW van!
Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Waking Up? by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson. A kitten and her patient mother take part in the daily ritual of getting ready for school. This comic rhyming book shows the struggle in the cat household, as the mother cat responds to the actions of her kitten, who dilly-dallies in the morning when she should be getting ready for school! Readers follow along as the kitten snuggles on her pillow, stands on her head in bed, tears apart the bedroom in search of socks, discovers and chases a mouse. The mouse serves as an interested observer on each page, and escapes the kitten when she is swept off to school. In the end, the mother cat and her little kitten share a warm hug. Even having a they’re having a tough morning, they still love each other. See this book listed in our catalog
Family
Sunday Chutney
Submitted by Tess from Lexington Park!
“I’m Sunday Chutney and I’m a bit unusual” proclaims the titular character of Sunday Chutney by Aaron Blabey. What looks like a strange book on first inspection, turns out to be a touching and timely story about what it’s like to be the “new kid” as many of our local military brats might be able to relate to. Because of Sunday’s dad’s job, she’s lived all over the world, which is great, but with new homes, come new schools, filled with new people. Most kids think Sunday is weird, but she doesn’t really mind! She likes who she is! She’s very sure of the things she likes (like drum solos and marine biology) and the things she doesn’t like (like her lazy eye and creamed corn). Sometimes she feels lonely, but she’s getting really good at making new friends. Maybe your child would like to make friends with Sunday Chutney! See this book listed in our catalog
Bartleby Speaks
Submitted by Catherine from Charlotte Hall!
Crickets chirp, the wind blows, and birds tweet. But if you’re yelling and carrying on, you’ll never hear any of it. In Bartleby Speaks! written by Robin Cruise, and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, young Bartleby Huddle simply does not speak. He’s a happy baby, but a relatively quiet one. He’ll coo and chortle, but words just aren’t his thing. As he grows older, his family worries about his lack of words, so they try everything (as loudly as possible) to get young Bartleby to speak. But alas, no amount of opera, cello playing, tap dancing or woofing can convince Bartleby to chime in. But in the end, it’s Bartleby that teaches his family that you need to stop and listen to really have something to say. See this book listed in our catalog
The Treasure Bath
Submitted by Melissa from Lexington Park!
The Treasure Bath, by Dan Andreasen, is an imaginative tale of a little boy who is disappointed about “bath time.” The book begins with a little boy helping his mother with baking. As you can imagine, little ones and baking can create one big mess. So, off to bath time he goes, glumly of course. Through vivid illustrations, and imagination, you will journey with the boy as he discovers a bath tub sea of interesting characters! They lead him to a map, and then a treasure chest. Inside the chest… well, you’ll just have to check out the book in order to know the rest! It’s a “giggly” twist, ending in sweet surprise! Picture books without any words have always been a personal favorite. These wordless tales encourage imaginative thinking, and allow your child to develop their own words to the story. This sort of imaginative story telling actually encourages the development of narrative skills and sequential learning. See this book listed in our catalog
Ted
Submitted by Tess from Lexington Park!
Ted is a really cute book by Tony DiTerlizzi, the fabulous co-author/illustrator of the Spiderwick Chronicles. In this story, a young boy who feels neglected by his father finds solace in an “imaginary” friend, a large raspberry-colored, rabbit-like creature named Ted. Ted has a lot of ideas of ways to have fun, starting with a harmless game called Monopoly-Twister, but soon evolving to more destructive activities like giving each other haircuts, or turning dad’s study into an indoor swimming pool. Finally the boy’s father forbids him to play with Ted ever again! Ted lets us in on a little secret though: when Father was little, he had an imaginary friend named “Ned” who his father forbid him to play with… If your child has an imaginary friend, they will probably relate to Ted, which I think is loosely based on DiTerlizzi’s own childhood! See this book listed in our catalog
Pink
Submitted by Amanda from Lexington Park!
Pink by Nan Gregory and Luc Melanson. Vivi is dizzy wanting pink! She wants to have “perfect pink” like the cool, rich girls at her school. They have all the “perfect pink,” she whines to her mother and her father. Vivi’s father is a truck driver, and her mother cleans the halls in the apartment complex they live in. Vivi wants a perfect pink bride doll that she knows she will never afford. So she runs errands all winter for her neighbors to save for the perfect pink bride doll. On a beautiful spring day, Vivi’s mom suggests that the family goes on a “pinknic” in the park. Her Mom makes pink sandwiches, pink tea, and they even stop to buy pink cakes for desert! They make a list of all the things they see that are pink that day. On the way home they stop by the store to see the perfect pink bride doll that Vivi has so desperately been craving and working for, only to find it has been sold. Vivi learns that you can’t always have what you want that day–the same day she learns that she has all she wants in her family. It is a great lesson about not getting what you want, and fitting in. It is a great tale for little girls! Plus it is filled with PINK! See this book listed in our catalog