Hellobee

In the midst of what I jokingly call the Assessment Purgatory that is the month of May, I didn’t get around to sharing our favorite library picks of the month. But, since I hate missing an opportunity to share my latest book crushes and had been jotting down titles, I thought I’d combine our May and June picks in one super-sized post! Enjoy!

Bear Has a Story to Tell: From the team that brought your the Caldecott award-winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee comes this equally darling and sweet story about Bear, his friends, and a story that he wants so badly to tell.

The Sick Day: An old favorite of mine, this is wonderful story for a daughter and her daddy, this book shares about an ordinary sick day that turns out to be memorable time spent together. And here’s a fun fact, the illustrator of this story lives in the town where I went to college and she often based her illustrations on children from the school where I worked and student-taught. I happen to know the little girl that posed for Emily!

Little Bear’s Little Boat: This book brought some tears to my eyes…it talks about the inevitability of growing up and moving on, and that sometimes it’s even hard for the little ones that are growing up. Check out it’s companion, Big Bear’s Big Boat.

Scaredy Squirrel At the Beach: We’re big Scaredy Squirrel fans over here! He’s unintentionally hilarious and I love the format of these books that showcase different nonfiction text features and graphic organizers.

Have You Seen My New Blue Socks?: Another winner from Eve Bunting! Silly Duck cannot find his new socks and asks lots of friends and neighbors about them on this cute, rhyming adventure.

Super Heroes: Ready For Action: Yep, super hero love is still going strong over here. I happened to be quite fond of the Lego super hero books and toys because they are considerably less dark and violent. This book is an intro to some of the best known DC heroes and their gear and important places.

DC Super Friends: Catch Catwoman: Another super hero book, but this one is cool because it’s also an early graphic novel/comic book. A great way to introduce kids to that genre.

Franklin is Bossy: Five year-olds are pretty egocentric and being bossy is not uncommon (read: it’s happening here…). This book is a great way to talk about that issue.

Mix it Up!: Similar to the genius Press Here and written by the same author, kids will enjoy interacting with this book and learning about primary and secondary colors.

Martha Doesn’t Share!: A great book for a kiddo who might have trouble sharing or as a reminder for any kid!

Little White Rabbit: Kevin Henkes was HUGE in the late 90s and early 2000s with his books about hilarious and often larger-than-life in personality mice like Lilly and her purple plastic purse. He eventually took a break from the mice books and wrote some books that were beautifully illustrated with pastel and acrylic, like this one. The colorful pictures and imaginative thoughts of Little White Rabbit will be instant hits with your preschooler.

Ruby’s Beauty Shop: A classic Max and Ruby story featuring some classic Max and Ruby antics and some hilarious illustrations of a dolled up Max!

This Book Just Ate My Dog!: This book is hilarious and so very clever. Using the gutter of the book, Richard Byrne has the book “eat” the little girl’s dog and some other items and characters. In the vein of Press Here, the book asks for interaction from the reader and I just know you and your reader will love it!

Boom, Snot, Twitty: A trio of unlikely friends on a seemingly regular day with different ways of seeing the world around them. From the author of the Click, Clack, Moo books and the illustrator of the The Quiet Book.

Use Your Words, Sophie!: Rosemary Wells gets toddlers…and you and your toddler will get a (perhaps too-close-to-home) kick out of little Sophie and the constant reminders for her to use her words. You’ll get a kick out of the mom’s indecisiveness when it comes to naming Sophie’s new baby sister, too!

Read and Rise: Whenever we visit the library, I’m always on the lookout for books that feature children of color that mirror Lil’ CB and his friends. This was one that I was so happy to find! I so appreciate the spirit behind this book as it encourages a love of reading and highlights that reading is a bonding experience.

Ralph Writes a Story: I love that this story highlights that writers’ stories can be about anything that happens to us, no matter how seemingly small that event. I love even more that the classroom in the story showcases the Writing Workshop model that many schools use and that is widely seen as best practice when teaching writing!

Walk On!: Marla Frazee is one of my favorite illustrators (check out her darling illustrations in the chapter book series, Clementine). Her illustrations are adorable, yet filled with lots of little details. This book is a cheeky how-to guide for babies learning how to walk. Bigger kids will get a kick out of it and you can use it as a conversation starter about trying and learning new things.

Very Little Red Riding Hood: What would Little Red Riding Hood’s story sound like if she were a toddler instead of a little girl? Probably like this one, especially if the wolf was as thoughtful and helpful as this one. Very cute and quite silly!

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild: In this story, Mr. Tiger grows tired of being proper all the time and decides to wild, much to the shock (and then later, understanding) of his proper animal friends and neighbors.

Number One Sam: My little cowboy is quite competitive, so we had quite the text-to-self connection with this book! A book that teaches that winning isn’t everything and that helping others is always a winning choice.

The Invisible Boy: Though the title of this book sounds like the little boy in the story is a superhero, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Read about Brian who feels invisible because he is quiet and others ignore him. This book is wonderful for teaching that your actions can make others feel small and invisible, even if you aren’t outright bullying…and it also teaches that small acts of kindness can go a long way.

Peggy: A very silly, but sweet story of Peggy, the hen that gets swept into the city by a big gust of wind. The illustrations are just darling and so is Peggy.

Library Lion: This story is reminiscent of some of my favorite old stories, like Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. It has a classic, timeless feel to it and it is a tribute to a place I love dearly, the library! Plus, I love that library features the New York City Public Library lion statues. Read about this lovable and library-loving lion and the rule-following librarians that adopt him as their own.

Every Friday: This would be a wonderful Father’s Day gift from a son to his daddy. Highlighting the special weekly tradition the author and his son share, this story is perfect for any father and son to read and start their own tradition.

The Moose Belongs to Me: I love Oliver Jeffers. His stories are so quirky and his illustrations are so whimsical and different. This one is no different: featuring a rule-following boy, his “pet” moose, and beautiful, mixed media illustrations, you’ll fall in love with the moose, too.

Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great: Bob Shea is freaking hilarious and pretty great. In this hilarious story told by the snarky goat, we see his jealousy towards Unicorn, who seems to be so fabulous at everything and with whom he simply cannot compete. Well, in an important turn of events (and an important lesson to be learned), Goat learns that perhaps Unicorn isn’t so bad after all and that others might not be exactly how they seem at first.