Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

A birthday for frances | by Hoban, Russell

Frances buys a candy bar for Gloria's birthday then thinks about how she can keep it or eat part of it. However, her heart softens and she decides Gloria should have it all.

Keywords: birthday, conflict resolution, family, food, giving, greed, honesty, love, nonverbal communication, nutrition, presents, sharing, siblings, verbal communication

The bowl of fruit | by Dunbar, Joyce

Pand and Gander have a big bowl of fruit to share. They each take their favorite fruit, but Gander's pomegranate takes much longer to eat than Panda's pear. As Panda finishes his piece, he takes another, and another. By the time Gander is done with his pomegranate there are only a few cherries left. Even though sharing is hard, the friends share the last few cherries.

Keywords: animals, conflict resolution, food, friendship, fun, goose, greed, hunger, nutrition, panda, sharing, verbal communication

Flim and flam and the big cheese | by Garrison, Christian

Two brothers, one fat and one thin, live together. Flam eats all the food and leaves nothing for Flim. So Flim decides to trick Flam into drinking the pond by placing a piece of cheese in the middle of it. Flam drinks the whole pond not realizing the cheese was the reflection of the moon. When Flam cannot move, Flim eats a very satisfying meal.

Keywords: assertiveness, beverage, bodies of water, body image, conflict resolution, decision making, family, food, greed, nutrition, pond, self esteem, siblings

White wave | by Wolkstein, D.

A Chinese farmer finds a shell with a moon goddess in it. She eases his loneliness, but then he becomes greedy and she must leave. He eventually learns and has a happy life.

Keywords: chinese, decision making, feelings, goddess, greed, happiness, learning, loneliness, moon, multicultural, nonverbal communication, self esteem, verbal communication

Yertle the turtle | by Seuss, Dr.

Yertle the turtle is the king of all turtles and everything that he can see. In order to see more things, therefore becoming more powerful, he would stack turtles to stand on. Finally, the stack of turtles got so high that Yertle came crashing down and set all the other turtles free.

Keywords: assertiveness, feelings, freedom, goal setting, greed, refusal skills, reptiles, self esteem, turtle

Mouse mess | by Riley, Linnea

A little mouse wakes up after a family goes to bed. He tries everything from crackers to peanut butter and makes a big mess while he is at it!

Keywords: adventures, animals, assertiveness, colors, decision making, excitement, feelings, five senses, food, greed, happiness, mouse, nutrition, rhyme, smell, taste, touch

The tale of the turnip | by Alderson, Brian

With the help of his family, a farmer grows an oversized turnip and presents it to the King. The King gives the farmer a cartload of gold for his turnip. The King's gift entices a squire to present the King with a horse, but the reward is not what the squire has in mind.

Keywords: animals, farm, folktale, food, garden, goal setting, greed, hard work, helping, horse, royalty, sizes

The hey hey man | by Fleischman, Sid

A thief sees a farmer bury gold by a magical tree. The thief steals the gold and runs away with it. The thief is followed by the tree's Hey Hey man. The wood spirit tricks the thief into returning the farmer's gold.

Keywords: assertiveness, conflict resolution, fantasy, greed, magic, robbery, verbal communication

Rumpelstiltskin's daughter | by Stanley, Diane

When Rumpelstiltskin's daughter is ordered by the King to spin straw into gold, she tricks him instead by telling him that sharing his gold with the townspeople is the way to increase his wealth.

Keywords: conflict resolution, critical thinking, fable, family, feelings, goal setting, greed, magic, parents, refusal skills, royalty, self esteem, sharing, stress management, verbal communication

Grandmother's pigeon | by Erdrich, Louise

When grandmother leaves for Greenland on a porpoise, her family cleans out her room. While cleaning, they find a nest which has hatching bird eggs. The family eventually set the pigeons free, but they get something in return.

Keywords: animals, birds, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, extinction, family, grandparents, greed, loss, nature, pigeon

The lost kingdom of karnica | by Kennedy, Richard

When two farmers find a beautiful red stone while digging a well, the King of Karnica becomes very greedy. This greed eventually destroys the kingdom.

Keywords: bodies of water, critical thinking, discovery, extinction, farm, greed, ocean, royalty

Who owns the moon? | by Levitin, Sonia

Abel, Nagel and Zeke are farming friends who argue about everything, including who owns the moon. The farmers go to a teacher in the city to settle their argument about the moon. The teacher tells the three men that they each own the moon two nights a week and the remaining nights they are to share it.

Keywords: argument, compromise, conflict resolution, coping, decision making, friendship, greed, moon, nature, sharing, stress management, verbal communication

As right as right can be | by Rose, Anne

Ron Ronson's shoestrings break. He decides that once he has new shoelaces that his whole outfit should match the new shoelaces and that leaves him broke.

Keywords: clothing, critical thinking, decision making, greed, peer resistance, poverty, self esteem

The birds' christmas tree | by Brock, Emma L.

After the first snow, all the birds that do not fly south for the winter are left hungry. The birds learn to compromise and share when a christmas tree full of tasty treats is put up in town.

Keywords: birds, christmas, compromise, conflict resolution, greed, holidays, hunger, seasons, sharing, snow, teamwork, weather, winter

The devil take you, barnabas beane! | by Christian, Mary Blount

Barnabas Beane is a wealthy, greedy, stingy old man who does not know the meaning of charity. John, an orphan boy, helps him to realize his folly through scare tactics that are based on hoof prints found in the snow.

Keywords: aggression, assertiveness, charity, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, devils, greed, verbal communication

The giving tree | by Silverstein, Shel

A tree and a boy become friends. The tree gives and gives to the boy, because when the boy is happy, the tree is happy. The boy grows and takes everything from the tree then deserts the tree. He finally comes back when he must replace the tree.

Keywords: change, decision making, environment, feelings, food, friendship, giving, greed, growing up, happiness, helping, nonverbal communication, plants, self esteem, sharing

The marzipan moon | by Willard, Nancy

A priest receives a broken crock pot which brings him food and other things he needs. A bishop visits one day and declares the pot a miracle. He throws the pot away to have a gold one made which causes the magic to disappear.

Keywords: appreciation, change, conflict resolution, critical thinking, food, greed, magic, miracle, religion, verbal communication

Gertie and gus | by Weil, Lisl

Gertie and Gus are used to simple life, until Gertie brings home a fishing net for Gus. From then on Gertie finds new ways to increase their fishing business and make more money, but Gus is not happy with their new life. Eventually they realize what real happiness is.

Keywords: business, careers, change, fishing, friendship, greed, happiness, wealth

The stingy baker | by Greeson, Janet

Jan is a stingy baker. When a woman enters his cookie shop and asks for a bakers dozen, Jan refuses to give her an extra free cookie. The woman puts an evil spell on Jan. When Jan finally gives her a bakers dozen of cookies, the spell is broken.

Keywords: careers, family, folktale, food, greed, numbers, nutrition, parents

The rich man and the shoemaker | by La Fontaine

A poor, old, but happy shoemaker sings all day long to keep his rich neighbor from sleeping. A rich man gives the shoemaker a bag of gold to keep quiet. The gold causes him to worry constantly and the shoemaker loses all his friends. The shoemaker realizes he is unhappy, returns the gold, and decides to go back to making shoes and friends.

Keywords: assertiveness, careers, change, clothing, coping, decision making, feelings, friendship, greed, happiness, money, neighbors, poverty, refusal skills, sleep

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