Duck and Goose
by Tad Hills

Duck and Goose find an egg, or so they think. They argue about whether the egg will hatch a duck or goose, and also as to who should care for the egg. Ultimately they decide they can share parental duties, only to realize that the egg is actually a ball.

Kids seemed to like this one.

Wolves
by Emily Gravett

Rabbit goes to the library and checks out a book about wolves. His nose firmly in the book, Rabbit doesn't see what's around him until it might be too late.


I like this book very much! The design concept is clever and well executed. The pictures are neat, and the spare nonfictionish text is well distributed through the book. That being said, it may be a bit too subtle for some littlekid readers and listeners.

Edwardo: the horriblest boy in the whole wide world
by John Burningham
2006

Edwardo starts the book described in various terrible ways, descriptions that are justified by the illustrations. Of course, he's also misunderstood. In his case, when he's misunderstood, this leads to positive changes. Nice, quite English seeming. As indeed Mr. Burningham is. Perhaps he's more familiar to me than name recognition suggests.

The Problem with Chickens
by Bruce McMillan
Illustrated with paintings by Gunnella

The old ladies of Iceland need eggs for their recipes, but the eggs are located on a cliff. They go to the city to buy chickens so that they will have eggs. Everything is fine until the chickens start imitating the ladies. The more the chickens are like the ladies, the fewer the eggs. Ladies don't lay eggs, after all. When the eggs stop, the ladies need to devise a plan to get the chickens to start acting like birds again.

This is a fun chicken story with nice odd paintings.

Piglet and Mama
by Margaret Wild
illustrated by Stephen Michael King

Piglet has lost her mother. She wanders around the farm, meeting many other animal mothers. They all offer to take care of Piglet and do fun activities, such as mud kicking or daisy chain making. Piglet keeps searching for her mother, refusing to go along with the other animals. At the end of the story, Piglet finds her mother and they have a fine time together, doing all the activities that Piglet had earlier rejected.

The Wolf Who Cried Boy
by Bob Hartman
Illustrated by Tim Raglin

A young wolf dislikes his parents cooking; nothing tastes as good as boy, but boy is a rarity. The young wolf would rather eat snacks than dinner, so he ruins several night's dinners by distracting his parents from their cooking by falsely advertising the presence of boys. He brags about his trickery on the phone but is overheard by his parents. When a boy scout troop makes an appearance, the young wolf realizes that he has lost his opportunity to eat boy as his parents are unresponsive to his cries.

This is fun, even if you know what happens as soon as you read the title. It's not all that logical; as the chain of causation seems to go "we'd rather eat boy than our regular dinner, but since we can't eat boy, we'll eat snacks" and this is entirely satisfactory to the young wolf. Anyway, it seems like kids think they're smart for figuring out what's going to happen from the title, and kids like this book.

Rainstorm
by Barbara Lehman

This wordless book finds a lonely rich kid inside his fancy rich kid house. It's raining outside and he's sad, proving that being rich doesn't outweigh the weather. How do I know he's rich? He's wearing a tie and shorts around the house. And the suit of armor by the stairs.

Anyway, the rich kid finds a mysterious key which opens a trunk, which leads to another location. Where there are kids to befriend the rich kid.

Good wordless storytelling and nice pictures. Even kids who are not rich would probably like this book.

Bad Boys Get Cookie!
by Margie Palatini
Illustrated by Henry Cole
2006

After kids get psyched up for Bad Boys, it's nice to know there's a follow up. This book mashes in the gingerbread man and Hansel and Gretel. Willy and Wally have a sweet tooth so they're all too happy to chase after missing Cookie. It has pretty much the same flaws as the first book ["brain ditto" again...argh] but is enjoyable in the same way. Kids like this one, too.

Bad Boys
by Margie Palatini
Illustrated by Henry Cole
2003

Take the big bad wolf from Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad wolf from The Three Little Pigs and you have two bad boys! Willy and Wally Wolf are hiding out..."on the lam." In this pun filled story, they lay low by hanging out with the [Little Bo] Peep Sheep. They think they've done a good job staying in character until they hear "bzzzzz"...

Kids like this book a lot. It's a great premise. The title is brilliant. But...Some of the humor will be lost on most kids (Meryl Sheep, "I knew the Peep Sheep, and you are no Peep Sheep"). Certain choices in diction ("brain ditto") are hard to read aloud without cringing.

This books shows a really great concept that is diminished somewhat by the telling. Still, kids really like it! And that makes me happy.

The Big Bad Wolf and Me
by Delphine Perret
2006

On his way home from school, a boy mistakes the big bad wolf for a sick dog. The big bad wolf hasn't been scary in quite a while, and the boy takes it upon himself to remedy this situation.

This is quite a charming picture book. The layout doesn't lend itself to reading aloud to a group of kids, however. Fake chapters are a plus.