Children’s / Teenage fiction: Nature and animal stories

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Book SynopsisIn this tale for young readers, a child is riding down the trail on a pony. A prairie dog, armadillo, jackrabbit, rattlesnake, and other critters appear along the way. The surprise ending will bring delight.

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Book SynopsisMax loves story time at the library. One day he spots a large speckled egg on a bookshelf. No one believes Max when he says a dragon has emerged and is now growing up in the library. Young readers will learn about book care as they follow the dragon's antics.

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Book SynopsisA pesky mosquito gets his due. Mosquito is a nuisance to all the animals as he buzzes about the forest. With fun word play, including rhyme, alliteration, and onomatopoeia, each critter expresses its annoyance with him. Finally, Mosquito bothers the wrong neighbor, who ends the insect's career as resident pest. A list of mosquito facts appears at the end of this humorous children's story.

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Book Synopsis“What are you doing, dear?”“It’s a secret.”“Secrets are better if you share them a little. So tell Mother why you look so sad on Christmas Eve.”“I am wondering what to give—someone—for Christmas.”So begins the story of a little mouse’s search for a very special gift for a very special person. Nothing seems just right until the little mouse realizes that the best present of all is already at hand. Palmer Brown has given us something special for Christmas—or any day—an entrancingly lovely story, filled with the true spirit of the holiday season.

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Book SynopsisComparing himself to all the other animals on the farm, Donkey-donkey gets more and more depressed over the way he looks, but when a young girl compliments his long ears and points out just how special they are, Donkey-donkey finally regains his self-esteem--proudly holding them up high for the whole world to see!

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Book Synopsis“Once upon a time there was a little mouse house. It was like a doll’s house, but not for dolls, for mice.” Not proper mice, but a flannel He-Mouse and She-Mouse with beady eyes and bristle whiskers who stand quite still, propped on their hind legs in the sitting room. Mary knows real mice run and scamper, and disappointed with her new gift, she puts the mouse house away in her room. Meanwhile, down in the basement, a real mouse named Bonnie has been jostled out of her woefully inadequate flowerpot home by her older brothers and sisters. Overlooked by her harried parents and desperate for shelter, Bonnie ventures upstairs and finds the mouse house. And before too long what was a miniature make-believe house becomes a marvelously messy home for proper mice who know how to play, much to everyone’s delight.

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Book SynopsisA Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor BookThis charming, bestselling picture book — now in Spanish! — says volumes about friendship with a few select words and accessible illustrations.Bear wants to read and write and think. But his friend Goose wants to talk and talk ... and talk! Bear and Goose are so different! But can they still be friends? Toddlers and preschoolers will learn about how to make--and keep--new friends through this delightful story. A Pennsylvania One Book, Every Young Child SelectionTrade Review"Bloom gets maximum effect with minimum words. . . . Fun to read aloud, the book will also lead to discussion about friendly (and annoying) behavior." —Booklist★ "The gentle humor will elicit giggles; Goose's silly statements and Bear's patient responses beg to be read aloud. An ideal book for storytimes about friendship and sharing." —School Library Journal, starred review★ "A more perfect union between giggle-inducing but reassuring images and a text of very few words is hard to conjure." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

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Book SynopsisAsian/Pacific American Librarians Association Honor BookIn this powerful parable that explores the impact of paying it forward, a young girl named Mai inspires a chain of events that brings good things back to her.When you do a good deed, it will come back to you. Mai loves feeding the caged birds near the temple but dreams that one day she'll see them fly free. Then she meets a young girl named Thu, and shares the joy of feeding the birds with her. This sets a chain of good deeds in motion that radiates throughout her village and beyond. Set in Vietnam, Roseanne Thong's inspiring story is elegantly illustrated with watercolor on wood by Eujin Kim Neilan.Trade ReviewAsian-Pacific American Librarians Association Honor Book★ "A perfect jewel... A picture book of rare beauty in both story and artwork."—Library Media Connection, starred review"A solid choice for multicultural units, this also demonstrates the value of kindness."—Booklist

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Book SynopsisThis warm and adorable follow-up to the Geisel honor award-winning book A Splendid Friend, Indeed features the return Goose and Bear in another charming story about friendship. Bear and Goose are back and on a treasure hunt! Goose believes that the paper in Bear's hand could only be a treasure map. And X marks the spot—but for what? Soon, Bear and Goose are on a wild-goose chase for hidden treasure in this enchanting story of true friendship that will capture the imaginations of the youngest of readers. Trade Review"Lovable odd couples are a staple of children's books on friendship, and Bloom's Bear and Goose are among the most memorable. . . . An endearing treat for storytimes." —School Library Journal"The voice of each animal jumps off the page and right into the reader's heart." —Library Media Connection

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Book SynopsisFor fans of Mo Willem's Elephant and Piggie and Pigeon series, this clever and hilarious story stars Cat, who starts out perfectly content and relaxed, and Duck, who infuriates him by meowing like a cat instead of quacking like Cat thinks he should. Written completely in dialogue, this minimalist text is fun to read aloud and easy enough for newly independent readers to enjoy on their own. Humorous and deceptively simple artwork highlights the characters' personalities, showing Duck's quirkiness and good humor and Cat's rising frustration as Duck impersonates a variety of animals, refusing to concede that he is, indeed, a duck. Duck's silliness will appeal to children who enjoy pretend play, and older siblings will relate to Cat's annoyance as Duck refuses to leave his side. Ideal for multiple readings, here is a concise, funny story by award-winning author Sharon G. Flake with playful details in the artwork and humor that never fades.Trade Review"A duck likes to pretend to be other animals, much to the consternation of a very pragmatic cat.... beginning readers can have fun..." —Kirkus Reviews"Flake, best known for her middle school novels, presents a hilarious picture book that will surely beg multiple readings, with the absurd premise that nothing should be assumed, no matter how obvious. Fans of Mo Willems's popular 'Elephant and Piggie' and 'Pigeon' series will embrace this silly animal tale wholeheartedly. A delightful picture book, ideal for storytime and for supporting teaching units on animal sounds." —School Library Journal

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Book SynopsisZoey the Pig, also known as Old Grandma Zoey, is Bouchie Gouchie Town's cantankerous but lovable 800 pound pig who likes to do things the easy way. Though everything Zoey suggests leads to near disaster, the town's residents for some unfathomable reason get pulled into the schemes of the outrageous pig. Zoey's latest debacle is setting up a 900 telephone advice line for children so Zoey can rake in the easy money so she can have the luxury mudhole of her fondest dreams. Unfortunately, the town's children follow Zoey's advice and misbehave, much to their parents' dismay. One little girl "Sally" mishears Zoey's advice and runs away into the biggest storm in Bouchie Gouchie Town's history. To save the girl, Zoey and her pals square off against Zoey's archrival Old Grandma Skunk and her skunk friends in a hot air balloon battle in the skies filled with mud pies and stink bombs. Zoey just wants to redeem herself while the nasty skunk seeks a big money reward for the rescue. Will Sally be saved?

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Book SynopsisFeaturing the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Belle is an enthralling adventure through three hundred years of art! Belle, a painted butterfly, has been quietly hovering over a beautiful white poppy in a seventeenth-century Dutch painting that has been her home for three hundred years. Suddenly and unexpectedly there is a sudden whoosh of air and she finds herself flying out of her picture into the void So begins the adventures of Belle, the red admiral butterfly in Jan Davidsz de Heem's Vase of Flowers. Accidentally dislodged, when her painting was being taken by museum staff to be examined by the Conservation Department, Belle and her sidekick Brimstone, a fellow butterfly who was ejected from the painting at the same time, must find their way back home. When their painting rolls into an elevator without them, their journey through the art museum begins. Because they are made of paint, they discover that they can blend into any of the other paintings in the museum, no matter what the subject or period. The characters travel through the museum galleries, morphing into and out of paintings by multiple artists and in many styles, while searching for their home painting. At the same time they must avoid becoming lunch for a painted bird in hot pursuit after being inadvertently released from another painting by an awkward bump from Brimstone! Belle and Brimstone tell their story as it happens with all the scary encounters and comic incidents that have them hiding out in unlikely places in the paintings they encounter. They dash and dart as the predatory bird flies after them, chasing them from room to room. Successful and safe in the end Brimstone is up for more adventures. Belle is not so sure! Maybe it will be safer if they stay put in their painting from now on. Can you find them? While the story is an adventure story written for young readers it will also enchant younger listeners. Featuring the collection of the National Gallery of Art, this tale is a fanciful romp through three hundred years of art history, inviting young people to delve into the world of art through the paintings of de Heem, Vermeer, Chardin, Goya, Rembrandt, Elisabeth Vigée-LeBrun, Mary Cassatt, Renoir, Monet, Tissot, Picasso, Derain, Marc, Matisse, Georgia O'keeffe, Rothko, Pollock, Lichtenstein and many others. As an added bonus Belle has taken the trouble to create Belle's Amazing, Astonishingly Magical Journal and illustrated it with her comments on each painting and ideas on where to hide when being chased! Let Belle and Brimstone be your guides and docents and mind out for that Bird! Mary Lee Corlett, an art historian and research associate at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., owes her love of art to her father, whose mechanical drawings and plans always seemed magical to her as a child, and to an inspired teacher who introduced her to the wonderful ideas and concepts that underlie all great art. As a child she drew and painted but later when, thinking she would like to teach art, she enrolled in college and attended studio art classes and studied education, she discovered that the art history classes were more exciting than her own studio work. Her first job after collecting her BA was as a teaching assistant in the Education department at the Cleveland Museum of Art, doing art projects in Mini-Masters classes of 4-5 year olds. She then moved to Washington and worked at the National Portrait Gallery before assuming her current position. She still draws and paints but her daughter has forsaken paint brush and easel for flute and music stand. They still visit the galleries together and walk through all the amazing, astonishing and magical rooms full of wonderful paintings and sculptures just to check that Belle and Brimstone are safe and sound! Phyllis Saroff is a professional artist who can't remember when she didn't draw pictures. Inspired in First Grade by an older girl drawing pictures for a story she had written Phyllis started to illustrate her own stories. Her father would bring home large stacks of used accordion-fold computer paper from his lab. It was printed on one side with his equations, and the other side was blank. The blank side was Phyllis' side. He let her leave her drawings all over the house, on the coffee table, the dining room table and the kitchen table. His daughter only had to get them out of the way to set the table for dinner. He thought each drawing was a masterpiece; each one greater than the last. He bought art supplies for every birthday and when she was eleven he bought her a small drafting table which she still uses in her studio. She now sells her paintings in galleries and illustrates books for a living and her 97 year-old father still thinks every one of her drawings is a masterpiece.

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Book SynopsisA boy is sure he has the world's best father, an outdoorsman who shows him the hiding places of ground-nesting birds and teaches him to paddle a canoe and handle a rifle safely. Never point your gun at anything you don't intend to shoot, his father tells him, and don't kill anything you don't intend to eat. When he's eight years old, he is finally allowed to go to hunting camp with his father. They climb through dark woods to the icy-cold camp, where Dad starts a fire in the stove. A few minutes later, a tiny, shivering white-footed mouse emerges from his nest to share the warmth of the stovepipe. The boy feeds him a bit of cheese and sees that the mouse trusts him. Later, when his father begins to bait a mouse trap, the boy wittily reminds his Dad of the lesson he had taught him.The White-Footed Mouse is Willem Lange's and Bert Dodson's latest collaboration, a delightfully illustrated parable for lovers of nature and the great outdoors and for kids who want to keep their Dads in line.Willem Lange is a short-story writer, columnist, commentator, and host on Vermont Public Radio and New Hampshire Public Television.This is his third children's book with Bert Dodson. He lives with his wife in East Montpelier, Vermont.Bert Dodson is the author and illustrator of the best-selling learn-to-draw classic Keys to Drawing as well as the illustrator of over 80 children's books including a previous one with Willem Lang. He has also co-written The Way Life Works with noted biologist Mahlon Hoagland. He lives in Bradford, Vermont.Advance PraiseWhen I was a 15-year-old kid, Will arrived in our tiny Adirondack Mountain town. It was the beginning of an enduring and profound friendship. Over fifty years we've paddled, climbed, hunted, and fished together, and listened to each other. This story is Will at his best: a man, a boy, and a mouse in a camp together, a tender story of respect and caring for one another in the most important ways.--Baird Edmonds, retired designer, contractor and outdoorsman What a wonderful and beautifully illustrated story! A father teaches his son about nature and ethics, and the son then gives his father a lesson. Willem Lange is a master storyteller and The White-Footed Mouse is one of his best. Beautifully written and beautifully illustrated, the story has lessons for us all. Though written for youth, it's one that every parent and grandparent will treasure. It's destined to become a classic that future generations will enjoy and learn from.--Gary Moore, syndicated columnist, broadcaster and former Vermont Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife

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Book SynopsisDo you think a mouse can fly? One Christmas Carlotte Otten's son gave her a fly he had tied, a mouse with red and green stripes which became the inspiration for this story. Teaming up with illustrator Greg Crawford, she takes us on a journey, part real, part fantasy, into the world of fly fishing and a little mouse. In the spirit of Hemingway's Up in Michigan stories and Maclean's A River Runs Through It, Otten's endearing story is nice addition to the books on fly fishing for children. Readers, both adult and children, will be caught up in the intricacies of fly fishing and the little flying mouse's journey. What more can you ask for, adventure, colorful illustrations, lots of new and interesting information, this book has it all. The captivating text of Charlotte Otten and realistic paintings of Greg Crawford bring this story to life and whether you are the reader or are being read to, this book is a pleasure for all ages. Charlotte Otten, a life-long resident of the Great Lakes, spent summers exploring the shores. She now resides in Grand Rapids, MI. She would often wander into small streams, where she watched the hatches of bugs, fished for brook trout, listened to the sounds of the woods, and even once caught sight of a rare animal, a fisher, gently swimming under a natural bridge at a waterfall. When her son grew older and started tying flies, she enjoyed seeing a deer hair caddis, a bead head serendipity, a humpy, a frog. Her poems on fishing have appeared in many journals. She is the author of a number of books for adults and children, including January Rides the Wind, a three starred book awarded 'Best Book of the Year' by the Bank Street College of Education and by Booklist. Greg Crawford has been an artist since he first learned to hold a crayon. He began working professionally while he was still in high school. He has enjoyed a rich and varied career that has demanded versatility. He has done everything from technical illustration to cartoons and caricatures, but he loves children's books. He has illustrated many over the years, including Tai Chi for Kids, Mr. Meow's ABC Book, and Mr. Meow Goes to the Shelter, which he wrote under the pseudonym, Mr. Meow. He also wrote and illustrated Animals in the Stars, Chinese Astrology for Children, and the upcoming Hill Farm. He also wrote and illustrated Animals in the Stars, Chinese Astrology for Children, and the upcoming Hill Farm. Greg lives in Stockbridge, Vermont.

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Book SynopsisFollowing a snow-filled winter, a young boy and his dog decide that they''ve had enough of all that brown and resolve to plant a garden. They dig, they plant, they play, they wait . . . and wait . . . until at last, the brown becomes a more hopeful shade of brown, a sign that spring may finally be on its way.Julie Fogliano''s tender story of anticipation is brought to life by the distinctive illustrations Erin E. Stead, recipient of the 2011 Caldecott Medal. This title has Common Core connections. And Then It''s Spring is one of The Washington Post''s Best Kids Books of 2012.One of Kirkus Reviews'' Best Children''s Books of 2012

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Book SynopsisA hilarious holiday picture book about everyone''s favorite naughty feline, Nick Bruel''s Bad Kitty! "Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the city, not a creature was stirring...Except for BAD KITTY."A greedy Bad Kitty didn''t get all the presents she wanted for Christmas, but after she goes on a Christmas caper across town and through multiple alphabets, she makes a new friend, finds an old friend, and learns the true meaning of Christmas. Or not.

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Book SynopsisMusk Ox, our rambunctious anti-hero, literally chews through the cover of this anarchic alphabet book. Having eaten the apple that A was supposed to be for, he blithely inserts himself, claiming A is for Musk Ox?because musk oxen are Awesome and live in the Arctic, which includes Alaska! Zebra, his nemesis, is less than thrilled. And so this cantankerous couple lead the reader on a romp through the alphabet with Musk Ox claiming every letter for himself, and Zebra doing his level best to keep him under control. Filled with Matthew Myers''s hilarious artwork with lots of hidden details for kids to explore, this may be the funniest alphabet book ever created.

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Book SynopsisIf you want to see a whale, you will need to know what not to look at. Pink roses, pelicans, possible pirates... If you want to see a whale, you have to keep your eyes on the sea, and wait... and wait... and wait... In this quiet and beautiful picture book by Julie Fogliano and Erin E. Stead, the team that created the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor book And Then It's Spring, a boy learns exactly what it takes to catch a glimpse of an elusive whale.

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Book SynopsisThis book is about Bear... so what happens when he doesn''t show up on his page? Who will find him? Will it be Giraffe, who himself seems to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or Cow, or perhaps even the author herself? One thing''s for sure--it probably won''t be Duck. Duck doesn''t seem concerned that Bear is missing. In fact, he seems to be trying to steal the show for himself! Duck would much prefer that the reader pick up his own book, The Duck Who Showed Up. He even disguises himself as Bear in an attempt to fool the reader. But after pages and pages of Duck''s antics and search-party chaos, Bear appears somewhere utterly unexpected. In fact, it looks like someone may have tried to get rid of him on purpose....LeUyen Pham''s The Bear Who Wasn''t There takes readers a hilarious search for the missing title character.

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Book SynopsisKitty wasn''t always such a scaredy-cat. She used to be brave and lionhearted and nervy. That is, until one late October day a group of terrifying monsters showed up on her doorstop and Kitty became VERY scared. Then she decided to take matters into her own paws.Bad Kitty is back in her first full-length picture book since A Bad Kitty Christmas (over 300,000 copies sold to date), just in time for another holiday! Now she''s up against something scary, something creepy, something more frightening than Puppy''s good moods: Halloween.

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Book SynopsisPerfect for preschoolers (and their parents) who resist bedtime, naptime, and sleep routines, this charming addition to the best-selling God Gave Us series will help all little ones prepare for a peaceful night’s rest. Little Cub is having so much fun building an igloo with her friends that she doesn’t want to stop for bedtime! Who needs sleep when there’s fun to be had? Mama patiently answers her child’s questions as she puts her to bed, explaining the importance of daily rhythms of work, play, and rest. As they talk through the fears that come with nighttime—and work through Little Cub’s endless stalling tactics—our favorite bear learns to realize that God gave us sleep as a vital gift.    “God gave us rest so we have energy for our day, and patience to enjoy it. And so we have quiet time to listen to him.”

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Book SynopsisGood Night Farm highlights corn, wheat, cotton, apples, peaches, pumpkin farms, and animals such as horses, cows, goats, sheep, geese, ducks, and chickens. Tractors, barns, and sheep shearing are also featured. Within the pages of this educational board book, children will spend a day on the farm while they learn about how a farm works. Don''t forget your overalls! This book is part of the bestselling Good Night Our World series, which includes hundreds of titles exploring iconic locations and exciting themes.

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