Santa is coming to Texas by Steve Smallman
It's Christmas Eve, Have you been good? Santa's packed up all the presents and is headed your way! With the help of a certain red-nosed reindeer, Santa flies over:
-Texas State Capitol, Austin
-Alamo Mission, San Antonio
-Reunion Tower, Dallas
-Space Center, Houston
-Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, Dallas
-Moody Gardens Pyramids, Galveston
-San Antonio Riverwalk
-San Jacinto Monument
-San Fernando Cathedral, San Antonio
-Fort Worth Stockyards
-Big Texan, Amarillo
"Ho, ho ho!" laughs Santa. "Merry Christmas, Texas!"
For more information on Steve Smallman and his latest works visit this website.
Rabbit Food by Susanna Gretz
Perfect for picky eaters!
Celery, tomatoes, peas, mushrooms, and carrots—John’s brother and sister love them, but John won’t touch that rabbit food no matter what!
How can his desperate parents get John to eat his vegetables? By enlisting the help of Uncle Bunny, of course! Not only is Uncle Bunny always ready to have some fun, he sets a good example by eating his celery, tomatoes, peas, mushrooms, and . . . wait a minute!
What’s that Uncle Bunny is hiding under his napkin? Can it be that he doesn’t like his rabbit food either?
With a rollicking text and bright, funny illustrations, Susanna Gretz spins a story that finicky bunnies everywhere will relate to.
For more information on Susanna Gretz and her latest works visit this website.
Pancakes for Supper by Anne Isaacs
Caldecott Honor author Anne Isaacs and N.Y. TIMES bestselling artist Mark Teague transform Helen Bannerman's popular classic story into an Amercian tall tale set in the backwoods of New England.
When her family's wagon hits a bump, golden-haired Toby Littlewood is hurled into the sky and lands deep in the snowy forest. There she meets a prickly porcupine, an enormous bear, and a hungry cougar, among other fearsome creatures. Cleverly, she talks each one out of eating her by offering up her fancy clothes. In the end, in a competition to be the grandest beast, the vain animals chase each other around and around a maple tree, where they turn into maple syrup!
Isaacs' clever, rollicking text and Teague's animated animals in Toby's clothing are sure to delight the youngest reader.
For more information on Anne Isaacs and her latest works visit her website.
Sue MacDonald Had a Book by Jim Tobin
What would you do if a bunch of letters jumped right off the page while you were reading a book? Run after them, of course. Join Sue MacDonald as she travels from a railroad station to a sewer to a mountain peak and more, all in an attempt to capture her renegade vowels. Reading a book has never been so interactive!
Jim Tobin’s clever text—based on a favorite children’s song—is perfectly coupled with Dave Coverly’s winning illustrations.
Get ready for a madcap adventure starring five very important letters.
For more information on Jim Tobin and his latest works visit this website.
Growing Frogs by Vivian French
When a mother brings her daughter to a pond to collect some frog spawn, the little girl isn’t sure what to expect.
Day after day she checks on the jellylike bubbles until the black dots in their centers turn into slippery tadpoles, sprouting bumps that turn to stumps that become legs with webby feet.
The engaging narrative and colorful illustrations accurately evoke each stage of a frog’s growth, in a story that will inspire children to roll up their sleeves and experience firsthand the wonders of the natural world.
For more information on Vivian French and her latest works visit her website.
Bear and Bunny Grow Tomatoes by Bruce Koscielniak
A hard-working bear and a lazy bunny both plant tomatoes in their gardens, with quite different results.
For more information on Bruce Koscienlniak and his latest works visit this website.
My Amazing Body by Pat Thomas
Many aspects of health and physical fitness are explained in a way that younger children can readily understand. This lively picture book explores the importance of a good diet and plenty of exercise, and encourages kids to make positive decisions about caring for themselves.
Kids discover that even healthy people get ill sometimes, but that our bodies have special abilities to protect us and restore our health. Titles in this series for younger children explore emotional issues that boys and girls encounter as part of the growing-up process. Books are focused to appeal to kids of preschool through early school age.
Written by psychotherapist and counselor Pat Thomas, "A First Look At" books promote positive interaction among children, parents, and teachers, and encourage kids to ask questions and confront social and emotional questions that sometimes present problems. Books feature appealing full-color illustrations on every page plus a page of advice to parents and teachers.
For more information on Pat Thomas and her latest works visit this website.
What Makes the Seasons? by Megan Cash
Why do leaves fall off trees?
What makes flowers bud? What makes snow?
In delightful rhyming verse, Megan Montague Cash asks and answers thoughtful questions children have about the weather and the seasons. As they walk outside or look out the window, children are naturally interested in knowing why the seasons change and what makes weather happen.
With bold and colorful artwork that attracts the eye, now even the youngest readers have a chance to learn some of the reasons. With an adorable little girl shown on every spread, here is a book that will appeal to great teachers, wise parents, and most of all, curious kids!
For more information on Megan Cash and her latest works visit her website.
When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan
Where oh where do the leaves all go when winter comes and the cold winds blow?
What happens to fish, flowers, field mice, and other living things when ponds freeze and the air turns blustery? Walk with a curious child and his parents as winter's first snow falls and find out....
For more information on Nancy Van Laan and her latest works visit this website.
You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together by Mary Ann Hoberman
Designed with budding readers in mind, this collection features eight fairy tales, each given a new twist and set in three columns and three colors as a script for two voices to read separately or together.
For more information on Mary Ann Hoberman and her latest works visit her website.
Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin by Lloyd Moss
When this book begins, the trombone is playing all by itself. But soon a trumpet makes a duet, a french horn a trio, and so on until the entire orchestra is assembled on stage.
Written in elegant and rhythmic verse and illustrated with playful and flowing artwork, this unique counting book is the perfect introduction to musical groups. Readers of all ages are sure to shout "Encore!" when they reach the final page of this joyous celebration of classical music.
For more information on Lloyd Moss and his latest works visit this website.
The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy by Jane Thayer
Petey the puppy has one wish for Christmas: to have a boy of his very own. But boys are in short supply this year, and he can't seem to find one who is just right!
For more information on the late Jane Thayer and her works visit this website.
The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
The author and artist Lynne Cherry journeyed deep into the rain forests of Brazil to write and illustrate her gorgeous picture book The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest (1990).
One day, a man exhausts himself trying to chop down a giant kapok tree. While he sleeps, the forest’s residents, including a child from the Yanomamo tribe, whisper in his ear about the importance of trees and how "all living things depend on one another" . . . and it works.
Cherry’s lovingly rendered colored pencil and watercolor drawings of all the "wondrous and rare animals" evoke the lush rain forests, as well as stunning world maps bordered by tree porcupines, emerald tree boas, and dozens more fascinating creatures.
Awards: IRA Teacher’s Choice (1991), ABA’s Pick of the Lists, Reading Rainbow Review Book, NSTA-CBC Outstanding Trade Book for Children .
For more information on Lynne Cherry and her latest works visit her website.
This is Our Earth by Laura Lee Benson
Laura Lee Benson's lilting verse carries us from one panoramic scene to another as we explore the landscapes and creatures that live on Earth.
The simple prose facts, a subtext to the verse, serve as an introduction to earth and life sciences. Carrozza's exquisite watercolors help create a book that instructs and inspires.
For more information on Laura Benson and her latest works visit this website.
