Children

Little Lolo is not thrilled at the attention her big sister Eva receives for her quincenera (15^th birthday). Great illustrations by Martha Aviles and a handy glossary for readers to pick up some simple terms in Spanish make this a classroom library favorite.

There are lots of “dog” books out there, but not many about the power of adopting unwanted dogs. This is a story that can be used by teachers and parents to address kindness to animals and the power of pet adoption (child adoption, too – for that matter).

Are you in need of a resource to introduce little ones to good manners? Rosser provides a fun look at how to curb rude behavior, and kids delight in Shane Sowell’s illustrations.

Nicely illustrated poem of gratitude that makes for great read alouds.

The second in Broach’s wonderful Masterpiece series, this book is a great page-turner for new chapter book readers. Broach is an incredibly gifted writer.

Carpenter spins a fun poem about her silly son, Nicholas, in this beautifully illustrated picture book by Mark Wayne Adams.

This is a Caldecott winner that I have been reading to my children in bed for years. It chronicles the story of courage, perseverance and redemption between a young Parisian girl and her mother’s boarder, “The Great Bellini.” A really nice story for all ages to hear.

Fun parody of “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes that is sure to be a read-aloud hit in your classroom.

Over the holidays my wife and I often reviewed with our own three children how to clean up their own messes and the value of working together. This book provides a great lesson for all children who need to learn a thing or two about efficiency and teamwork. Heck – I use it for my corporate presentations!

Featuring magnificent illustrations by S. Saelig Gallagher, this beautiful story of a daughter and her single, hard-working mother is a must for Mother’s Day.

A nice story about an African boy's first trip to the market. My baby girl enjoyed listening to this pleasant tale.

I could not find cover art in Amazon for this book, so I have attached another book in the Alistair series (Alistair and the Alien Invasion). All of them are great, and I would suggest you first try out Alistair's Time Machine. Alistair constructs a time machine for the science fair, and he travels throughout history. The machine does not work at the science fair, and a dejected Alistair wonders how he can prove to adults that it works. Meanwhile, a bunch of woolly mammoths linger outside his school. This is a very amusing and enjoyable story that any kid will love.

Even though this won the Caldecott Medal in 2001, I somehow had never heard of this fun book of Presidential trivia. What I like most about the book is its central premise: ANYONE can be President.

. Part of the Time Warp Trio series, this is yet another book from Scieszka that will encourage little boys to love reading. Some great phrases in Latin and plenty of laughs.

The lovely story of a loner curmudgeon who ignores his neighbors until the day a mailman delivers him an anonymous valentine. The unexpected gift changes the way Mr. Hatch lives his life, and he becomes an outwardly generous and caring person…until the day the mailman returns to announce he mistakenly delivered the valentine to the wrong address. Read the book to find out what happens next (hint: do you think I would steer you toward a depressing book?).