Browse Items · Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Tags: play

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Nils all alone

Sigsgaard, Jens

A young boy wakes up to find that he is alone in the world. He wanders throughout his town, attempting to enjoy all of his favorite activites with his sudden independence, only to realize that he is lonely. In the end, he awakens to discover it is all a dream.

Tags

dreams, fear, feelings, growing up, independence, loneliness, play, sleep

When will sarah come?

Howard, Elizabeth F.

Jonathon's big sister Sarah is off to her first day of school. While she's gone, Jonathon tries to keep himself busy until she returns. He builds blocks with his grandma, rides his fire truck, and blows bubbles. He hears many sounds outside, but none of them are Sarah. When will Sarah come?Finally, Jonathon sees a yellow school bus. Sarah is finally home and now they can play together.

Rodney's inside story

Barasch, Lynne

Mom tells a story to Baby Gray about Rodney Rabbit, who lives in a cabbage and has vegetable toys and furniture.

Tags

animals, bedtime, family, food, nutrition, play, rabbit, shapes, sleep, storytelling, vegetables

The big alfies and annie rose story book

Hughes, Shirley

Alfie and his baby sister Rose have many adventures together.

Tags

adventures, baby, family, play, siblings

Bouncing

Hughes, Shirley

A young girl loves to bounce on sofas, beds, big cushions, and on her grandfather's knee.

Tags

activities, baby, exercise, family, grandparents, jumping, play

Those summers

Brandenberg, Aliki

Take a trip to the seaside through memories. Travel to the seaside to build sandcastles and splash around in the ocean with family members. Experience the magical, musical spell of the boardwalk at night. Never forget those wonderful memories from the trip to the seaside.

Tags

adventures, beach, bodies of water, car, carnival, clams, exercise, family, five senses, food, games, gymnastics, memories, nutrition, ocean, parents, play, radio, sand, sea, seasons, shadows, shells, siblings, sports, summer, sun, swimming, technology, transportation, vacation, verbal communication

Yesterday's snowman

Mack, Gail

A young girl recalls the time when she played in the snow at nightfall with her mother and brother.

Tags

decision making, family, goal setting, night, nonverbal communication, parents, play, seasons, siblings, snow, verbal communication, weather, winter

When the wind stops

Zolotow, Charlotte

A little boy questions the beginning and end of nature, and his mother helps him to understand that there truly is no end.

Tags

assertiveness, autumn, bodies of water, conflict resolution, confusion, contentment, critical thinking, exercise, family, feelings, happiness, moon, nature, nonverbal communication, ocean, parents, play, rain, sadness, seasons, self esteem, spring, summer, sun, verbal communication, water, weather, wind, winter

Louie's goose

Ehrlich, H.M.

Louie's toy goose goes everywhere he goes. Sometimes the goose needs to be fixed. Louie's mom and dad, and even the sun, fixes the goose.

Tags

accidents, accomplishment, affection, animals, assertiveness, beach, birds, boat, bodies of water, caring, clams, coping, crab, critical thinking, crustaceans, decision making, disappointment, dog, exercise, family, feelings, goose, happiness, helping, ocean, parents, play, sadness, sand, seagull, seasons, self confidence, self esteem, song, summer, swimming, toys, verbal communication

Great aunt martha

Jones, Rebecca C.

A young girl wonders what is so great about Great Aunt Martha when she comes to visit. Since Great Aunt Martha is visiting, the girl has to be very quiet. She decides nothing is great about her great aunt until Great Aunt Martha wants to have fun and make noise.

Tags

animals, boredom, dancing, disappointment, dog, exercise, family, feelings, food, friendship, fun, happiness, hygiene, noise, nonverbal communication, nutrition, parents, play, relief, sadness, verbal communication

Nice new neighbors

Brandenberg, Franz

The Fieldmouse children struggle to gain friends and acceptance when they move into their new home. Father encourages them to go play with each new family, but they are rejected each time.

Tags

acceptance, conflict resolution, family, friendship, moving, neighbors, play

The tub people

Conrad, Pam

The Tub People are wooden toys who love to play in the tub. Until one day the child of the Tub People gets sucked down the drain. Eventually, a plumber is called and he rescues the child. The next day the Tub People find themselves in a new room with no drains.

Tags

careers, conflict resolution, family, loss, nonverbal communication, play, reunion, stress management, verbal communication

Grandma's house

Moore, Elaine

Kim loves going to grandma's house because they spend lots of time together. They both enjoy the country life.

Tags

family, grandparents, play, sharing, travel

I go with my family to grandma's

Levinson, Riki

Five cousins, each from a different borough of New York City, travel with their families to go to Grandma's house. They all travel in different ways and they all end up in the same place. No matter how they get to Grandma's, they all enjoy being able to play together.

Tags

family, goal setting, grandparents, play, stress management, transportation, travel

Brrr!

Stevenson, James

Whenever his grandchildren complain about the cold, Grandpa tells about the really cold winters he experienced when he was young.

Tags

assertiveness, critical thinking, decision making, family, grandparents, memories, peer resistance, play, seasons, snow, storytelling, stress management, winter

The trip to grandma's

Hollander, Cass

One day Mom decides to take the whole family to Grandma's. On the way there, they stop and do all sorts of fun things-pet horses, pick apples, and go swimming. It takes the family so long to get to Grandma's, that by the time they arrive it's time to go home again.

Tags

activities, animals, bodies of water, car, dog, family, food, grandparents, horse, nutrition, parents, play, siblings, stream, swimming, transportation

Grandma gets grumpy

Hines, Anna Grossnickle

Grandma has an eventful day with all five of her grandchildren. They spend all day at Grandma's. In the end, they realize why there are rules and consequences at Grandma's house.

Tags

assertiveness, conflict resolution, crisis, family, feelings, food, games, goal setting, grandparents, nonverbal communication, nutrition, parents, peer resistance, play, stress management

I hate red rover

Lexau, Joan M.

Jill hates red rover because she is afraid to hold on and afraid to run into arms; she does not want to get hurt. Her grandfather helped her overcome her fears by sharing his fears about having his teeth pulled.

Tags

family, fear, feelings, games, goal setting, grandparents, peer resistance, play, school, stress management, teeth

The hickory chair

Fraustino, Lisa Rowe

Louis is born blind. He and his Gran play hide-and-seek or just sit and tell stories in her favorite old hickory chair. When Gran dies, her memory lives on through the gifts she leaves behind for her family.

Tags

blindness, correspondence, Days of The Week, death, family, feelings, five senses, flowers, games, giving, grandparents, loss, love, memories, nonverbal communication, play, relationship, shadows, smell, storytelling, surprises, touch, verbal communication

Ghost in a four-room apartment

Raskin, Ellen

A ghost travels throughout an apartment and haunts each person in the family. He only wants to play with them, but they are unable to see him.

Tags

assertiveness, family, ghosts, mystery, nonverbal communication, play, recreation, shelter, stress management

Apple juice tea

Weston, Martha

When Gran first comes to visit, Polly wishes she would leave so her life could get back to normal. One night, Gran babysits and they have a tea party. After that, there are many more tea parties and special times.

Tags

airplane, bedtime, celebration, child care, dolls, exercise, family, food, grandparents, nutrition, parents, party, play, sleep, transportation, travel, walking, zoo

Exactly alike

Ness, Evaline

Elizabeth has four brothers who look exactly alike and she cannot tell who is who. Though her brothers make fun of her, she decides to be nice and share her toys with all of them. In return, they are nice to her and tell her their names.

Tags

conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, family, fight, giving, imagination, play, problem solving, sharing, siblings, toys

When mommy is sick

Sherkin-Langer, Ferne

When a little girl's mom is sick and has to stay in the hospital she becomes sad and doesn't want to sing or play with her friends. She visits her mom, but she is nervous that her hugs might hurt her. When her mom finally comes home, the little girl is happy to have her back but worries that she won't be there when she wakes up.

Tags

calendar, colors, coping, Days of The Week, family, feelings, friendship, happiness, health, hospital, illness, nonverbal communication, play, playground, sadness, school, stress management, teaching, verbal communication

Roller coaster

O'Malley, Kevin

A young girl visits Fantasy Park and gets to play golf, games, and eat ice cream. She is not tall enough to ride the roller coaster though. This year she has grown and now she can ride the roller coaster.

Tags

body image, carnival, excitement, exercise, family, feelings, food, games, golf, happiness, humor, nonverbal communication, nutrition, play, running, sizes, transportation

Aren't you lucky!

Anholt, Catherine

A little girl is having to deal with the aspect of having a new baby brother. She keeps hearing how lucky she is but she isn't agreeing at first. She now realizes how much they can do together and enjoys his company.

Tags

baby, conflict resolution, family, feelings, food, goal setting, happiness, parents, play, sadness, siblings, stress management

Sledding

Winthrop, Elizabeth

A young brother and sister are excited that the sledding hill is covered with snow. When they finally get dressed to go outside, they have fun with the other children sledding down the hill.

Tags

clothing, exercise, play, seasons, sledding, snow, winter

D.W. all wet

Brown, Marc

D.W. goes to the beach with her parents and brother, but will not go near the water. When she goes for a piggy-back ride on her brother's back, he throws her in the water. First she screams in fear, but then she likes playing in the water.

Tags

assertiveness, beach, bodies of water, conflict resolution, decision making, exercise, family, fear, feelings, peer resistance, play, refusal skills, siblings, swimming, verbal communication

Pretend you're a cat

Marzollo, Jean

A series of questions ask children to use their imaginations so they can leap like a cat, beg like a dog, and act like many other animals.

Tags

acting, animals, bear, bee, birds, cat, chicken, cow, dog, exercise, fish, five senses, horse, imagination, insects, jumping, pig, play, pretend, running, seal, snake, sounds, squirrel

Things to play with

Rockwell, Anne

Bicycle, pinwheels, balloons, sand, slides, and kites are some of the things to play with in the park. Noisy things to play with in the yard, things to play with at school, and things to play with at a party are some of the other areas described.

Tags

beach, bicycle, books, exercise, five senses, games, jumping, kite, noise, park, party, play, school, seasons, skating, snow, sounds, sports, toys

William and grandpa

Schertle, Alice

William goes to his grandpa's house where they enjoy singing, jumping on shadows, watching the stars and other things that grandpa enjoyed doing as a child.

Tags

exercise, family, grandparents, memories, nonverbal communication, play, recreation, self esteem, shadows, song, stars, verbal communication

Shape space

Falwell, Cathryn

A young girl empties a box full of rectangles, triangles, semi-circles, and squares. She plays on the shapes, she builds things with the shapes, she wears the shapes, and she creates a playmate with the shapes so she can dance with it.

Tags

african american, dancing, exercise, imagination, multicultural, play, shapes

Waving: A counting book

Sis, Peter

Mary and her mom walk down the street and wave for a taxi. Two bicyclists think Mary and her mom wave to them, so they wave back. Next three boys wave at the bikers and so on.

Tags

bicycle, biking, careers, counting, critical thinking, exercise, family, nonverbal communication, numbers, parents, play, recreation, running, sequence, taxi, transportation

Big red truck

Schlossberg, Stephen

Ray pretends that his reliable red tricycle is a big red truck, and he wants to see the wide open country. Along his way, he has to pay for things like lunch at a restaurant, a tow truck for his wrecked truck, and a speeding ticket. Because he has no money, Ray has to do jobs like wash dishes, mow the grass, and pull weeds to pay for these predicaments. Coincidentally, these jobs are exactly the same as the chores his parents want him to do.

Tags

bicycle, biking, community, conflict resolution, exercise, family, food, garden, imagination, nutrition, parents, play, pretend, restaurant, transportation, travel, truck

Don't touch

Kline, Suzy

A young boy's day is filled with being told Don't Touch from adults. He feels sad that he cannot touch anything. He goes off by himself and plays with his clay in any way he wants which makes him feel better. He then makes his own sign that reads Don't Touch for his things.

Tags

art, critical thinking, escape, family, feelings, parents, play, sadness

Quack and count

Baker, Keith

Seven fun ducks find many creative ways to count to seven as they play.

Tags

birds, counting, duck, fun, math, numbers, play

Dreams

Spier, Peter

Throughout a day, two children gaze up at the clouds and see many things that the clouds are forming.

Tags

clouds, dreams, fantasy, friendship, imagination, nature, play, recreation

The tightrope walker

Gervais, Benadette//Pittau, Francisco

Phil dreams of walking on a tightrope. He practices on the edge of his bed and on the clothesline. Phil walks a tightrope that takes him over fields, past Louises's house, past the city, out to the sea, into the mountains, and back home just in time for bed.

Tags

adventures, animals, bear, bedtime, bodies of water, cat, cow, dreams, exercise, friendship, goal setting, gymnastics, imagination, moon, mountains, night, nonverbal communication, play, sea, sheep, sleep, sports, stars, whale

Let's play house

Lenski, Lois

Molly, Polly and Peter decide to play house. They cook, clean, sew, and take care of their dolls.

Tags

dolls, imagination, play, responsibilities

Miss flora mcflimsey's easter bonnet

Mariana.

A little girl dresses up her dolls to go to an Easter party but did not have anything for Miss Flora. A sweet rabbit notices she is crying and finds a solution. He has his aunt make Miss Flora a new bonnet. She wins a prize for the most original costume.

Tags

animals, clothing, competition, dolls, easter, feelings, friendship, helping, holidays, party, play, rabbit, sadness, self esteem, verbal communication

Lucky wilma

Kindred, Wendy

Wilma sees her father only on Saturdays when they go to museums and parks. However, one Saturday, they are forced to just spend time being together and they enjoy this much better.

Tags

conflict resolution, divorce, family, feelings, insecurity, nonverbal communication, parents, play, recreation, verbal communication

Camper of the week

Schwartz, Amy

Rosie is the camper of the week and refuses to be a part of a prank. The other campers are caught and disciplined, and even though she did not do it, she admits to it to help her friends from being more severely punished.

Tags

camping, decision making, disobedience, friendship, play, recreation, responsibilities, sharing

The catspring somersault flying one-handed flip-flop

Kiser, SuAnn

Willy lives on a farm with her parents an eleven siblings. Willy feels like no one notices if she is around and no one cares about her. She develops a gymnastic and she feels that no one realized she was gone. When she returns home she finds everyone did miss her.

Tags

disappointment, family, farm, gender, gymnastics, parents, play, running away, siblings, sports, verbal communication

Danny and the dinosaur

Hoff, Syd

Danny goes to a museum and meets a live dinosaur. They decide to play all around town together for the entire day. At the end of the day, they say goodbye and go to their separate homes.

Tags

decision making, dinosaur, friendship, museum, play, recreation, sharing

The upside down man

Ellentuck, Shan

A man walks and does everything upside down. At a birthday party, he gets other people to walk the same way.

Tags

birthday, differences, exercise, gymnastics, holidays, party, peer resistance, play, sports, walking

One monday morning

Shulevitz, Uri

On Monday,a king, queen, and little prince go to visit a little boy to play. He is not home, so they return on Tuesday. The next day they bring along a knight with them and he is still not home. Each day another person comes along until Sunday when he is finally home.

Tags

assertiveness, decision making, determination, friendship, play, royalty

Mother goose and the sly fox

Conover, Chris

Mother Goose leaves her seven goslings with Mr. Mouse while she goes to town. Although the goslings have been warned not to let anyone in, the sly fox tricks them into opening the door and catches all but one. Mother Goose rescues her goslings by playing a trick on the fox.

Tags

animals, birds, conflict resolution, critical thinking, deception, fox, mouse, play, responsibilities, rules, trust, verbal communication

Roger takes charge

Gretz, Susanna

Roger is left in charge of his little brother Nelson. Their neighbor, Flo, decides to take care of both of the boys. In the end, the two brothers trick her into getting in trouble.

Tags

assertiveness, child care, conflict resolution, critical thinking, deception, decision making, family, neighbors, play, responsibilities, self esteem, siblings

Someone special died

Prestine, Joan Singleton

A young girl deals with the death of someone close to her. She has many feelings of anger, sadness, and loneliness. She has many feelings of anger, sadness, and loneliness. She finds a way to feel better, though, when she makes a scrapbook to remember everything about this special person. She learns that everything dies.

Tags

acceptance, aggression, anger, art, books, coping, death, feelings, loneliness, loss, memories, play, pretend, reading, sadness, toys

My best shoes

Burton, Marilee Robin

Days of the week are expressed through many different shoes that children wear. Have you ever worn sturdy lace-up high shoes, run all day shoes, or tiptoe in the sand shoes?

Tags

african american, asian american, beach, clothing, dancing, Days of The Week, farm, jumping, play, running

Piggies

Wood, Audrey//Wood, Don

Ten pigs dance on a child's fingers, and eventually go to sleep.

Tags

animals, bedtime, dancing, exercise, nonverbal communication, pig, play, sleep

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Browse Items (432 items total)