Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

The marshmallow incident | by Barrett, Judi

The town of Right and the town of Left do not have anything to do with one another. Someone had even painted a yellow line that nobody ever dared cross. The Order of the Ambidextrous Knights of the Dotted Yellow Line, watch over the line as well as guarding their marshmallows. In June, the town of Right has their picnic, and someone accidentally trips over the yellow line. The knights immediately grab the closest ammunition: their marshmallows, and minutes later both towns are covered with marshmallows, until they realize how silly it was. The towns hold town meetings and no one could think of…

Keywords: castle, celebration, colors, community, conflict, conflict resolution, creativity, dancing, decision making, differences, fable, food, goal setting, kite, neighbors, peace, play, poetry, puppets, royalty, teamwork, verbal communication

Pick a pumpkin, Mrs. Millie! | by Cox, Judy

Silly Mrs. Millie is at it again. In the fall, she takes her kindergarten class on a trip to pick pumpkins for their harvest party. The class has fun guessing the meanings of their favorite teacher's nonsense words. They go on a dragon (wagon) ride, pet the boats (goats), and drink apple spider (cider). Coupled with hilarious artwork in pen, pencil, and colored dyes by Joe Mathieu, this lighthearted text sets a class trip on its ear with subtle lessons in wordplay.

Keywords: animals, bus, clothing, farm, food, garden, goat, holidays, humor, mule, nutrition, play, scarecrows, school, sheep, spider, transportation, vocabulary

Trouble gum | by Cordell, Matthew

Ruben is a troublesome piglet. his grandma gives him a piece of gum to keep him quiet. His mom gives him three rules, but each time she leaves, Ruben breaks a rule and gets into trouble. He finally stops, but then they find Julius, his younger brother, making an even bigger mess!

Keywords: animals, body parts, decision making, onomatopoeia, parents, pig, play, rescue, rules

How I captured a dinosaur | by Schwartz, Henry

Liz captures an Albertosaurus dinosaur while in Baja, California with her family. Albert soon becomes a friend and moves back to Los Angeles with them where he enjoys running through the sprinkler.

Keywords: critical thinking, dinosaur, family, friendship, nonverbal communication, play, recreation, travel

Things that go | by Rockwell, Anne

Tractor trailers, convertibles, police cars, and tankers are some of the things that travel on the road. Food is delivered in some of these vehicles. Things that go in the air, in the city, in the yard, and in the park are also described. Can you ride a bicycle?

Keywords: airplane, bicycle, boat, bus, car, exercise, food, kite, motorcycle, nutrition, park, play, skating, skiing, sledding, snow, toys, train, transportation, truck, weather

Count on your fingers African style | by Zaslavsky, Claudia

This beautifully illustrated four color picture book takes children through the markets, showing traditional finger counting of various African people - the Maasai, the Kamba, and the Taita in Kenya, the Zulu of South Africa, and the Mende of Sierra Leone. This book examines the role that numbers play in creating a common language across cultural boundaries.

Keywords: africa, african, author's note, body parts, cattle, chicken, counting, cow, food, fruit, games, language, learning, market, multicultural, nonverbal communication, numbers, parents, play, school, siblings, verbal communication

A child's day in a Ghanaian city | by Provencal, Francis & McNamara, Catherine

Nii Kwei gets up with the sun, and at half past five, he's already hard at work chasing the chickens and sweeping the compound clean with his straw broom. As the city begins to wake up, he washes, changes into his school uniform, and sits down to chocolate milk and sandwiches for breakfast. Photographs capture the lively rhythms of West African daily life, and this delightful dawn-to-dusk journal will encourage young readers, wherever they live, to compare and contrast Nii Kwei's day with their own.

Keywords: africa, african, author's note, band, bath, bodies of water, chores, cooking, family, ghana, hygiene, language, math, multicultural, music, parents, play, school, sea, siblings, soccer, sports

One child, one seed: A south african counting book | by Cave, Kathryn

Play a simple counting game. Watch a pumpkin grow. Follow young Nothando and discover the rhythms of her daily life in her South African village.

Keywords: africa, african, cattle, chicken, cleanliness, cooking, counting, cow, dog, family, farm, friendship, games, garden, hard work, home, language, numbers, parents, photograph, plants, play, preparation, siblings, summer, walking

The boy who wouldn't go to bed | by Cooper, Helen

Not wanting to go to sleep, a little boy rides away in his car to find someone to stay up and play with him all night. As the determined little boy drives off, he encounters exciting things such as a lion and a parade of soldiers. After searching for someone to play with him, the little boy finds someone who is still awake.

Keywords: animals, assertiveness, bedtime, car, conflict resolution, disobedience, family, imagination, instruments, moon, music, night, parade, play, shadows, sizes, sleep, train, transportation

Murmel murmel murmel | by Munsch, Robert

A little girl finds a baby in a hole in her sandbox. She walks him around town but no one is willing to take him. She is only five years old!What will she do with a baby?

Keywords: assertiveness, baby, child care, conflict, frustration, goal setting, identification, play, sand, self esteem, stress management, transportation, truck, verbal communication

The everyday train | by Ehrlich, Amy

Jane lives near a train track. She would stop whatever she was doing to go and watch the train. She would play a game that corresponded to the color of each train cart.

Keywords: colors, games, imagination, play, train, transportation

The ball bounced | by Tafuri, Nancy

A ball bounces through a house and during its journey describes what is happening in the house.

Keywords: animals, birds, cat, dog, five senses, play, toys

The blue balloon | by Inkpen, Mike

A young boy finds a magical blue balloon. The boy and his dog try to burst the balloon but it never breaks. The balloon takes the boy on a wonderful trip to space.

Keywords: animals, balloon, clouds, critical thinking, dog, nonverbal communication, play, toys

Pig william | by Dubanevich, Arlene

William takes his time doing everything. One day he messes around so long that he misses the bus and also the school picnic. At home, William takes his fish and radio outside for his own picnic. At the school picnic, it starts to rain and the picnic is cancelled. By the time his brothers arrive home, it stopped raining and they join in his picnic.

Keywords: decision making, family, music, picnic, play, procrastination, rain, recreation, school, self esteem, siblings, time, transportation, weather

Song and dance man | by Ackerman, Karen

When the children go to visit their grandpa, he takes them to the attic to show his three grandchildren what he used to do for entertainment before television was invented. He dresses up in his hat, vest, and cane, then begins to dance and sing for his grandchildren. When they go downstairs, they wonder how much he misses the good old days.

Keywords: aging, clothing, dancing, exercise, family, grandparents, imagination, memories, nonverbal communication, play, recreation, respect, self esteem, technology, television

Rockin' reptiles | by Calmenson, Stephanie//Cole, Joanna

Allie the Alligator is a typical young girl. She and her two girlfriends have lots of fun together playing games and dressing up. The three of them will do anything to be able to go to the Rockin Reptiles concert, their favorite band. There's a catch though -- only two can go.

Keywords: alligator, basketball, bias, biking, boat, challenges, competition, conflict resolution, cooking, dancing, dedication, exercise, family, friendship, fun, games, humor, jumping, moving, music, neighbors, peer resistance, play, relationship, reptiles, selfishness, song, sports, technology, telephone, verbal communication

The pig in the pond | by Waddell, Martin

Neligan's pig jumps into the pond on a hot summer day. Neligan sees his pig and decides to go for a swim himself. All the other animals jump in for one giant splash!

Keywords: animals, bodies of water, conflict resolution, exercise, friendship, pig, play, pond, recreation, seasons, summer, swimming

River parade | by Day, Alexandra

A young boy goes boating with his father. The boy's toys fall in the river so his father puts them on a string to keep them together. The boy also falls in the river and joins his toys on the string.

Keywords: boat, bodies of water, conflict resolution, decision making, exercise, family, nonverbal communication, parents, play, river, safety, swimming, toys, transportation, verbal communication

The moon jumpers | by Udry, Janice May

A group of children, who call themselves the moon jumpers, love to play outside at night under the moon. They dance, play tag, make a camp and pretend they are on an island. When their mother calls them in to go to sleep, they dream of tomorrow's sun.

Keywords: bedtime, camping, dancing, dreams, exercise, island, jumping, moon, night, nonverbal communication, play, running, sleep, sun, verbal communication

How tom beat captain najork and his hired sportsman | by Hoban, Russell

Tom is always fooling around. His aunt decides to teach him a lesson. She has Captain Najork come to compete with Tom. Tom ends up teaching the captain a lesson by always winning.

Keywords: assertiveness, competition, critical thinking, family, learning, play, success

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