Our World: Australia
by Maree McCarthy Yoelu
An Australian family have a perfect day fishing, playing at the beach, grilling out, and playing cricket! In the evening, they visit a food booth to eat traditional food. They fall asleep listening to the kookaburras laughing in the trees.
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Basil in the Wild West (Basil of Baker Street, #5)
by Eve Titus
Basil and his faithful friend, Dawson, are travelling from Mexico into the American West. They hear about a gang of smugglers who are stealing ancient artifacts from Mexico, smuggling them across the border disguised as ordinary souvenirs, and then selling them on the black market. A desperate hotel owner begs Basil to visit the Grand Canyon where their hotel is being terrorized by a mysterious “Thing”. Basil and Dawson travel through various areas of the Wild West, helping other creatures and solving mysteries along the way.
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The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, Abridged by Lou Peacock, Kate Hindley (Illustrations)
I really liked this adaptation of Wind in the Willows. The story is condensed and simplified for a young audience, but still captures the charm of the original and has most of the main plot points. The editor did a great job abridging the story, but still keeping the integrity and grace of the original.
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My First Lift-The-Flap Nursery Rhymes
by Ingela P. Arrhenius (illustrator)
These familiar nursery rhymes are made special by the inclusion of lift-the-flap designs that reveal a cute character or animal behind them. The reader can find Little Bo Peep’s sheep hiding behind a bush. The piggy that stayed at home is reading a book by a cozy fire. An energetic cow jumps over the moon. A spider is revealed inside Miss Muffet’s bowl of curds and whey. An elephant and fox row row row their boat. Humpty Dumpty takes a terrible fall behind the wall on the largest flap.
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Every Bunny is a Yoga Bunny
by Emily Ann Davison, Deborah Allwright (Illustrator)
Yo-Yo is a bouncy bunny. She can never sit still. Her grandpa tries to teach her some yoga poses to help her learn to be calm and still. But Yo-Yo gets distracted and races after a butterfly. She runs so far that she gets lost. Yo-Yo starts to panic, but then remembers the yoga poses and breathing exercises her grandpa taught her. It helps her to stay calm and find her way home.
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Heidi
by Carole Aufranc (Illustrator),Johanna Spyri
This picture book tells the basic story of Johanna Spyri’s Heidi in just a few pages. I love how the story is condensed to only a few sentences on each page, but the spirit of the story is intact.
Heidi loves living with her Grandfather on the mountain, but her aunt takes her away to live in the city and be the companion to a rich invalid girl, Clara. Heidi loves Clara, but she misses her mountain home.
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Rocki and Her Famous Tree: The (Mostly) True Story of One Owl’s Unexpected Trip to Rockefeller Plaza
by Analise G. Duques, Varya Shambrook (Illustrator), Ryan A. Duques (Goodreads Author)
When the big Christmas tree is brought to Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, they discover a little hitchhiker who has been snuggled inside the tree since they cut it down- a tiny owl! A young boy recognizes the owl and helps to rescue it. The owl is weak and starving, but the veterinarian nurses the tiny bird back to health, until it ready to be released back into the wild. But will the boy ever see his little owl friend again?
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Lit for Little Hands: A Christmas Carol (Volume 4) (Lit for Little Hands, 4)
by David Miles (Adaptor), Brooke Jorden (Adapter)
This board book tells the story of A Christmas Carol, simplified for little readers. It has interactive pull tabs and flaps to reveal the ghosts of Christmas! Some of the story is told with quotes from the original novel and includes original dialogue as well.
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Zander Stays
by Maureen Fergus (Goodreads Author), Scot Ritchie (Illustrator)
When the other geese fly south for the winter, Zander decides to stay. When the water freezes, he asks the other animals what he should do to prepare for winter. The bear says he should put on a layer of fat. The bats say to snuggle together upside down to stay warm. The squirrel says he should collect lots of nuts to eat. But Zander doesn’t even like nuts! Zander is freezing, ready to give up, when a human finds him and takes him home. They spend the winter skiing and skating and sledding, but also drinking hot chocolate and reading books by the warm fire. The next year, ALL the geese want to stay, and the house is overrun with a huge family of geese!
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Fix and Stitch
by Barbara Nass, Liza Woodruff (Illustrator)
As the last leaves of autumn fall, Squirrel begins to close up his tailor shop. He must start to build his winter home before the snow falls. But he meets a Fox who has a torn coat, so Squirrel opens up his shop again to mend it. The Fox promises that he won’t forget Squirrel’s kindness. Squirrel starts collecting materials to build his winter home, but then there is a Porcupine, a Skunk, and a mother Rabbit who need help too! Squirrel sets aside his own tasks and assists each animal. They each promise to help Squirrel and repay his kindness later on, but will they remember? When the first winter snow starts to fall, will Squirrel have to build his winter home alone?
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