Books! Books! Books!

Oats and Wild Apples In this gentle, introductory comparison between wild and domesticated animals, Calf and Fawn have great fun chasing a butterfly, playing Frog Nudging, and sharing their special treats, wild apples and oats.
Frank Asch
3–6 years

17 Kings and 42 Elephants “Seventeen kings sang loud and happily, / Forty-two elephants swayed to the song. / Tigers at the riverside drinking lappily, / Knew the kings were happy as they marched along.” This finger-snapping, foot-stomping tale romps through the jungle past “big baboonsters, black gorillicans,” “tinkling tunesters, twangling trillicans,” and much more—to a surprisingly quiet conclusion!
Margaret Mahy
3–7 years

Sara Loves Her Big Brother This is as much for the big brother (or sister) who has a little sister (or brother) like Sara as it is for all the Saras who want to be everything to their older brothers.
Ruth Hooker
4–6 years

Skip to My Lou Music for the chorus precedes the riotous fun of flies in the sugar bowl, cats in the buttermilk, pigs in the parlor, and all the rest of the farm animals running amok in this classic folk song.
Nadine Bernard Westcott (adapter)
4–7 years

The Magic Fan When Yoshi runs out of things to build, he finds a “magic” fan that shows him new things to build. But when he builds a rainbow arch, no one—not even Yoshi—likes it. It saves the village, though, and Yoshi learns that the “magic” is his own creativity.
Keith Baker
5–8 years

The Wild Horses of Sweetbriar The girl and her parents lived alone on the island, and Papa often had to be away. But there were wild ducks and geese—and the wild horses. That winter was one of the worst ever, and the horses, crazed with hunger, screamed shrilly and pawed at the cottage walls.
Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
5–9 years

The Most Wonderful Doll in the World Dulcy is never quite satisfied with any of her many dolls until she loses Angela. Then the lost doll becomes the most wonderful doll she ever owned. But Dulcy is very surprised when she finds Angela! Easy to read.
Phyllis McGinley
6–8 years

The Big Deal Since his dog, Wally, is flunking obedience school and is growing twice as fast as he is, Sam has to figure out now how to control his large friend on their walks. If he can’t, Wally will have to go back to the farm!
Alison Cragin Herzig
6–9 years

Meg Mackintosh and the Mystery at the Medieval Castle While Meg’s history club toured the reproduction of Dundare Castle, the only valuable thing in it, a silver cup with jewels on it, was stolen. All the clues to solving the mystery of who did it are there for you to solve along with Meg.
Lucinda Landon
7–10 years

Mummy Took Cooking Lessons and Other Poems If you enjoy jolly poems, this is the book for you. A sample: “Twice a day at twelve o’clock / Two little men run round my block, / One at midnight, one at noon. / If they keep it up, how soon / Do you suppose they’ll ever meet / One another on the street?”
John Ciardi
7–12 years

The Pilgrims of Plymouth Using quotations from the original Pilgrims, the author-artist helps you feel what everyday life was like in the Massachusetts settlement.
Marcia Sewall
8 years and up

Steamboat in a Cornfield This hilarious story of a true historical incident is told in rhyme. At the back of the book are three short paragraphs about what later happened to the boat and two people, and a page of interesting (often funny) explanations and comments about the photos.
John Hartford
8 years and up

The Alamo This brief story of the Alamo does not glorify war. It tells, simply, the history of this national historic landmark, “not so much as the site of a heroic defense of freedom as for the heroic courage it took to stand up and die for that freedom.”
Leonard Everett Fisher
9 years and up

Here Come the Monster Trucks From the first one, Bigfoot, to Black Stallion, The Boss, Godzilla and Bear Foot Trax, which rolls on steel treads from an armored vehicle instead of on wheels, these beautiful, powerful monster trucks will have you returning to this book time and again.
George Sullivan
9 years and up

Belva Lockwood Wins Her Case Belva Lockwood did many, many unusual things, including run for president of the United States in 1884—thirty-six years before the Nineteenth Amendment, which officially gave women the right to vote, was ratified.
Drollene P. Brown
10–15 years

Beautiful Origami For those with patience and the ability to carefully follow directions, this book shows how to make various birds, insects, flowers, and animals. There is even a fantasy section with a unicorn, a dinosaur, and more. And all are beautiful.
Zulal Ayture-Scheele
10 years and up

The Hidden Treasure Gripping and true. You are at the elbow of several persons, seeing and hearing and feeling with each of them—including Josh Dennis himself—in turn, from the start of the trip to Hidden Treasure Mine through all the days he was lost in its depths without food, water, or light.
Gayla B. Schmutz
11 years and up