Submitted by Ms. Tess!
A scruffy dog goes on a big adventure in The Umbrella by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert! On a windy day a dog finds a bright red umbrella. Soon he is scooped up by the breeze, and taken away from his home. After sailing through a cloudy sky, he’s spotted over the Serengeti. He must fend off hungry crocodiles before being blown on his way by some helpful elephants. He weathers a stormy sea, meeting fish and a friendly whale along the way. On his trip around the world he visits the Galapagos Islands, and the Amazonian rain forest. He even travels north, playing in the snow with Arctic hares and polar bears. There’s a night time flight with a colony of bats and finally our hero is returned home. Good luck to that cat who’s eye-ing the umbrella next… This wordless book is filled with large, beautiful, detailed pictures. If the child you care for loves dogs, adventure, and making up their own stories, The Umbrella is a win win win. I personally like it because I think the dog in the book looks a lot like my friend and fellow Kid’s Book Blogger Ms. Jill’s dog Oscar, who I suspect secretly takes trips around the world via umbrella on a regular basis. I mean, just look at this picture of him and you’ll see what I mean. See this book listed in our catalog
Things That Go
Gulliver Snip
Submitted by Ms. Jill!
Gulliver Snip by Julia Kay. It’s bath time for young Gulliver Snip, but, in this little boy’s vivid imagination, the ordinary tub becomes a mighty clipper ship, with Gulliver for a captain! In rollicking nautical rhyme, Captain Snip’s adventures grow wilder with every passing page: A storm rages, the mast crashes, the ship is swamped and sunk! Brave Captain Snip leaps overboard in a suitcase, washes up on a tropical island, and climbs tall trees to escape a marauding tiger… but the young sailor’s fantasy comes crashing down when Mom discovers a soggy reality: someone has overflowed the bathtub, flooded the hall, and broken a lamp. The mess is mopped up, and Gulliver is dried, dressed in pajamas, and sent to bed, where he dreams of tomorrow’s journey. Throughout the book, wildly colorful full-page paintings show Gulliver’s imagined adventure, contrasted on the facing page with a much smaller image of the little boy’s real-world mischief. Read this book aloud to feel the rhythm and rhyme, and let your little sailors chime in on the refrain: “the clipper ship, that his mother called the bathtub!” See this book listed in our catalog
Grandpa’s Tractor
Submitted by Ms. Brenda!
Take a trip down memory lane as Grandpa Joe relives his childhood on the farm in this very charming, beautifully illustrated book, Grandpa’s Tractor by Michael Garland. Grandpa Joe and Timmy take a road trip to visit the place where Grandpa Joe grew up. What was once a beautiful place, filled with open fields and cow pastures, is now a winding neighborhood, filled with rows and rows of houses. Soon, they come upon a small patch of land with a boarded up house and a barn with a collapsed roof. As they explore the yard around the broken down farmhouse and the dilapidated barn, they discover a rusted old tractor. Timmy listens as Grandpa Joe’s voice carries him back in time, to a time when that rusted, old tractor was a shiny new red tractor, when Grandpa’s own father let him sit on his lap and steer that very tractor around the farm as they planted crops, harvested crops, and rode to the orchard to pick apples, or to the woods for their Christmas tree. Timmy can picture the farm the way it used to be, the way Grandpa Joe remembers it. This is a lovely book. It helps us remember just how special grandpas are… and little red tractors too. See this book listed in our catalog
My Car
Submitted by Ms. Sue!
My Car by Byron Barton is a very simple story for very young readers. Sam describes in simple detail how he drives his car, how he takes care of it, and where he goes with it. Sam’s car has many parts, and when Sam drives he obeys all the laws, and reads all the signs. Sam loves his car. But when Sam goes to work, he drives a bus! This story is really fun to read in chant form. In between the pages we enjoy pretending to drive a car (use your hands as a pretend steering wheel) saying in a sing-song chant “I’m driving my car yea, I’m driving my car.” The children join in, and then the book becomes an interactive adventure! See this book in our catalog
Along a Long Road
Submitted by Ms. Melissa!
Along a Long Road by Frank Viva. Peddling up and down hills, along a long road, through tunnels, over a bridge, and stopped by a bump in the road. Follow the silky yellow line from page to page in this creative, repeat over and over again, roundabout tale about a boy on his bike. Sure to entrain those fascinated with “things that go.” An interesting way to introduce the concept of travel and distance to your child, discuss directions such as up and down, or talk about colors. Inside the cover you’ll find a twisty, curvy map of all the places you can go, along a long road. Top this book off with a bike ride, draw your journey, make a map, and talk with your child about what you saw. See this book listed in our catalog
Off Go Their Engines, Off Go Their Lights
Submitted by Ms. Jill!
Off Go Their Engines, Off Go Their Lights by Janice Milusich, illustrated by David Gordon. The sun is setting in the city as the yellow taxi picks up its last pair of passengers. As they make their way through the streets, the taxi and the people inside pass other hardworking vehicles at the end of their long day. A red pumper truck at the fire station is being cleaned and dried for the night: “Off goes its engine. Click. Off go its lights.” A green dump truck has finished a hard day of hauling. A brown delivery truck has made countless stops. A black and white police car has patrolled and kept the city safe all day. A blue ice cream truck has made countless people smile. One by one, each vehicle is shut down for the night: “Off goes its engine. Click. Off go its lights.” Janice Milusich’s gently repetitive refrain is perfect for settling down at day’s end, and David Gordon’s delightfully personified illustrations contrast the vehicles’ hardworking days with their sleepy preparations for a well-earned rest. Your little future mechanics will demand this roadworthy bedtime book again and again. See this book listed in our catalog