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

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Mrs. switch

Hoff, Syd

Mrs. Switch is a witch who moves to a suburb. All of the neighbors love her until they discover that she is a witch. However, in a crisis, the neighbors realize that they need her help and soon they all like her again.

Tags

acceptance, bias, careers, crisis, differences, helping, neighbors, peer resistance, stereotypes

The doubtful guest

Gorey, Edward

A guest becomes unwelcome in his hosts' home by doing silly and strange things. The hosts learn to accept him and to enjoy their company.

Tags

acceptance, assertiveness, conflict resolution, differences, nonverbal communication, refusal skills

Whinnie the lovesick dragon

Mayer, Mercer

Whinnie, a dragon, falls in love with a knight, but a knight and a dragon are supposed to be enemies.

Tags

acceptance, bias, determination, dragons, love, mythical, relationship, royalty, self esteem, stereotypes

It's george!

Cohen, Miriam

A boy named George feels like an outcast because other students pick on him. He is not able to do some of the things they can so he gets depressed. He rescues someone by calling 911 and is on television and becomes famous at school.

Tags

acceptance, conflict resolution, depression, feelings, nonverbal communication, peer resistance, rescue, school, self esteem, television, verbal communication

Looking for atlantis

Thompson, Colin

A young child learns about life by looking at it the way his grandfather did. He learns about himself at the same time.

Tags

acceptance, critical thinking, death, feelings, grandparents, learning, nonverbal communication, peer resistance, sadness, stress management, verbal communication

If i built a village

Mizumura, Kazue

The narrator of this story speculates about the going's on in several different imaginary villages. At the conclusion of the story, the narrator realizes that people will care about any village and fill it with love.

Tags

acceptance, critical thinking, curiosity, goal setting, imagination, love, verbal communication

Appelemando's dreams

Polacco, Patricia

Appelemando's dreams color the town. The adults do not appreciate the significance of his dreams until he uses his power to save the children.

Tags

acceptance, appreciation, colors, community, conflict resolution, creativity, critical thinking, decision making, dreams, friendship, imagination, individuality, safety, self esteem, sleep

Hildilid's night

Ryan, C

An old woman hates the night and decides to try to get rid of it. One evening, she stays up and tries to catch the night, but is unsuccessful. When the sun arises, she is so tired she cannot enjoy the sunlight.

Tags

acceptance, change, creativity, decision making, determination, fear, feelings, goal setting, night, nonverbal communication, sun

Abiyoyo

Seeger, Pete

A little boy and his father are banished from town. The little boy is banished because he plays his ukelele all the time and his father is banished because of his magic and his storytelling about the monster Abiyoyo. When the monster comes to terrorize the town, the boy puts it to sleep with his ukelele music and then his father makes the giant disappear with his magic. They are welcomed back into the town.

Tags

acceptance, assertiveness, community, courage, critical thinking, decision making, magic, monsters, multicultural, music, patience, peer resistance, refusal skills, storytelling

Back home

Pinkney, Gloria Jean

Ernestine travels from the city to visit her birthplace in North Carolina. She stays with her aunt, uncle and cousin Jack. Jack thinks she has become citified. She tries to convince Jack that she is not a city girl and can adjust to life on a farm.

Tags

acceptance, assertiveness, courage, family, farm, goal setting, travel

Remember the secret

Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth

Because she has already discovered the wonders of God, Suzy understands the true meaning of her friend's death.

Tags

acceptance, coping, courage, death, feelings, god, loss, nonverbal communication, preparation, secrets, self esteem, spiritual, understanding, verbal communication

I won't go without a father

Stanek, Muriel

Steve refuses to go to Open House night at school because he thinks his classmates will make fun of him for not having a dad. Steve is pleasantly surprised to find he is not alone.

Tags

acceptance, coping, critical thinking, differences, family, fear, feelings, friendship, neighbors, parents, school, separation, working mother

Everyone knows what a dragon looks like

Williams, Jay

By believing in an old, fat man who is really a dragon, Han, the road sweeper, saves the city of Wu. By being generous to the dragon, the attacking wild horsemen from the North leave Wu.

Tags

acceptance, assertiveness, community, dragons, fantasy, nonverbal communication, self esteem, stress management, trust, verbal communication

The rag coat

Mills, Lauren

Minna wants to go to school but she has no coat. Her mother and friends make her a coat out of clothing scraps. Minna wears it to school and the kids make fun of her until she tells them the stories behind each of the clothing scraps.

Tags

acceptance, assertiveness, clothing, coping, critical thinking, death, differences, friendship, poverty, school, self esteem, storytelling, understanding, verbal communication

Tumble tower

Tyler, Anne

Molly the Messy is a princess who lives in the tower of her family's palace. Her family is embarrassed about the fact that she never cleans her room. One day, the lake floods the palace and they must all stay in Molly's messy tower.

Tags

acceptance, cleanliness, conflict resolution, parents, refusal skills, royalty, survival, verbal communication

Merry christmas, amelia bedelia

Parish, Peggy

Amelia Bedelia has lots of work to do for the Rogers family before Aunt Myra comes for Christmas. Once again she gets things mixed up. She is so cheerful, though, that it is a nice Christmas after all.

Tags

acceptance, assertiveness, careers, christmas, conflict resolution, decision making, holidays, literal interpretation, responsibilities

The backyard

Collier, John

A flashback through time of the exciting past of a child's backyard. The child's imagination runs wild as he visualizes the various turns of the changing land and the people which were effected.

Tags

acceptance, change, critical thinking, dreams, forest, growing up, history, mountains, nature, ocean, parents, sea, verbal communication, vision

Jesse's dream skirt

Mack, Bruce

Jesse always likes to wrap himself up and try on his mother's old dresses. He has a dream skirt which his mother helped him make. When he wears it to school, all the children have something to say.

Tags

acceptance, assertiveness, change, clothing, conflict resolution, differences, discrimination, family, learning, nonverbal communication, parents, peer resistance, school, self esteem, sexuality, verbal communication

A color of his own

Lionni, Leo

A little chameleon is sad because he does not have a color of his own. He meets another chameleon who befriends him and they become the same colors together.

Tags

acceptance, animals, chameleon, colors, elephant, feelings, friendship, identification, nonverbal communication, pig, reptiles, sadness, self esteem, stress management, uniqueness, verbal communication

Mik's mammoth

Gerrard, Roy

A misfit in a tribe is accidently abandoned. He must try to survive on his own with a creature that he nurses to health.

Tags

acceptance, cave, conflict resolution, differences, friendship, self esteem, survival

The tenth good thing about barney

Viorst, Judith

A young boy copes with the death of his cat by remembering what he loved about it.

Tags

acceptance, cat, critical thinking, loss, memories, sadness, stress management, verbal communication

Grandma drives a motor bed

Hamm, Diane Johnston

Josh's grandmother has to stay in a motorized bed because her legs don't work. Josh enjoys visiting her because she is very lively and as active as she can be.

Tags

acceptance, body image, caring, challenges, coping, critical thinking, family, grandparents, handicap, helping, illness, perspective, self esteem

The long way westward

Sandin, Joan

Carl Erik and his family arrive in America off of an immigrant boat from Sweden. They have an adventurous, yet hard, journey westward to Minnesota.

Tags

acceptance, adventures, assertiveness, bravery, decision making, family, goal setting, history, moving, multicultural, pioneers, refusal skills, stress management, swedish, travel

Monster mama

Rosenberg, Liz

Patrick Edward's mother is known as a monster all over town. One day, Patrick's mother sends him out to get strawberries. On his way home, three bullies steal the strawberries. Monster Mama is so upset that she teaches the boys a lesson, and they think of her as Cool.

Tags

acceptance, assertiveness, bravery, bully, conflict resolution, decision making, differences, family, food, learning, monsters, nonverbal communication, parents, peer resistance, robbery, uniqueness

Tacky the penguin

Lester, Helen

Tacky is a penguin who is unlike the other penguins. One day hunters come looking for penguins, but Tacky stands up to them and scares them away.

Tags

acceptance, assertiveness, birds, bravery, comparisons, individuality, penguin

It happened in pinsk

Yorinks, A.

Irv Irving is not happy with his life. He wants fame and fortune. One day, Irv loses his identity and everyone mistakes him for someone else. After he finally retrieves his identity, he realizes what he has and becomes content.

Tags

acceptance, assertiveness, boredom, change, conflict resolution, critical thinking, fame, feelings, fortune, frustration, individuality, jealousy, mistake, misunderstanding, refusal skills, uniqueness, verbal communication

Shrek!

Steig, William

Shrek, an ugly beast, is sent out in the world by his parents to discover his future. He scares everyone who sees him. He marries an ugly prince and lives happily ever after.

Tags

acceptance, body image, differences, family, fear, feelings, marriage, monsters, parents, rhyme, royalty, self esteem

The little cuckoo

Gunthorp, Karen

Laura the bird has a problem when a cuckoo lays an egg in her nest. The cuckoo is too big and eats all of the food for the other birds and takes up all of the space. But Laura is happy when the little cuckoo saves the day.

Tags

acceptance, birds, bravery, conflict resolution, cuckoo, decision making, differences, growing up, patience, problem solving

Tico and the golden wings

Lionni, Leo

Tico, a bird, is born without wings. When he receives a golden pair of wings after wishing for them, he is not accepted by the other birds. After he gives his golden feathers away, he is accepted by his fellow birds.

Tags

acceptance, assertiveness, bias, birds, change, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, peer resistance, self esteem, stereotypes, uniqueness

The beautiful christmas tree

Zolotow, Charlotte

Mr. Crockett moved into a new apartment. Before Mr. Crockett moved in, the apartment was run down, but Mr. Crockett worked hard to make the apartment beautiful. His neighbors did not appreciate his hard work or planted tree. The neighbors thought it was ugly, but years passed and Mr. Crockett's tree grew and his neighbors enjoyed it.

Tags

acceptance, aging, autumn, birds, bluejay, canary, cardinal, change, christmas, community, differences, dove, environment, flowers, friendship, hard work, holidays, neighbors, nonverbal communication, pride, robin, seasons, self esteem, spring, summer, tree, uniqueness, winter

Journey home

McKay, Lawrence

Mai is going along with her mom to Vietnam, where mom hopes to find her mother and father, who were separated during the Vietnam War. There Mia learns about where her mom came from and gains a new sense of identity and feeling of home.

Tags

acceptance, airplane, beliefs, birthday, celebration, culture, divorce, family, foster care, identification, multicultural, orphan, religion, transportation, travel, vietnamese, war

The blue faience hippopotamus

Grant, Joan Marshall

A hippopotamus falls in love with an Egyptian princess. He finds a magician who turns him into a statue. The princess discovers the statue and there is a surprise ending.

Tags

acceptance, animals, assertiveness, baby, change, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, egyptian, fable, feelings, hippopotamus, love, magic, multicultural, stress management, surprises, verbal communication, wish

Prairie storms

Pattison, Darcy

Cozy up for this great rainy day read! Prairie Storms gives you a front row seat to learn about a year of ever-changing prairie weather, and how the animals living in these grasslands adapt and survive in this harsh climate. Each month, read about a new animal, and learn about everything from prairie chicken can survive the January snows to how an earless lizard escapes the harsh, unrelenting drought of August. Told in lyrical prose, this story is a celebration of the great American prairies.

Tags

animals, author's note, barn, biology, birds, bodies of water, buffalo, change, comparisons, cougar, crane, deer, eagle, fall, flowers, fog, fox, geography, grasslands, groundhog, habitat, illustrator's note, lightning, lizard, map, month, mouse, nest, owl, plants, prairie dog, rain, rainbow, science, seasons, sequence, skunk, sleet, snow, spring, storm, summer, weather, winter

Taking diabetes to school

Gosselin, Kim

Jayson explains how having diabetes effects his day, but doesn't stop him from doing what other kids do. Like most kids, Jayson loves to play at recess and take part in gym class.

Tags

acceptance, author's note, awareness, behavior, body parts, diabetes, differences, diseases, exercise, food, health, medicine, nurse, nutrition, school, soccer, sports

Daddy's wedding

Willhoite, Michael

Daniel's daddy marries a man. A commitment ceremony is viewed through the eyes of a child.

Tags

acceptance, awareness, baseball, celebration, ceremony, companion, divorce, family, grandparents, homosexuality, love, marriage, parents, relationship, sexuality, sports, wedding

Eagle eyes: A child's view of attention deficit disorder

Gehret, Jeanne

A child struggles through life with Attention Deficit Disorder. He goes to the doctor and learns several things that makes life easier.

Tags

acceptance, attention, conflict resolution, disability, doctor, family, nonverbal communication, parents, self esteem, siblings, stress management, verbal communication

A rainbow of friends

Halliman, P.K.

A vision of harmony celebrates differences among people. These vibrant pictures and rhymes help portray the notion that uniqueness in individuals is what makes each of us so special.

Lentil

McCloskey, Robert

Lentil wanted to sing but was not very good. So he learned to play the harmonica and practiced until he was great. He saved the town when the band could not play, but he could.

Tags

acceptance, appreciation, assertiveness, community, conflict resolution, decision making, determination, goal setting, music, nonverbal communication, peer resistance, performance, practice, self esteem

One dad, two dads, brown dads, blue dads

Valentine, Johnny

Lou and his friend are discussing their dads. Lou has two dads that are blue. Lou's two blue dads like to cook, play, laugh, and work just like his other dads. Lou and his friend discover that blue dads aren't really different from other dads.

Tags

acceptance, appearance, colors, comparisons, discovery, diversity, family, friendship, love, parents, similarities, verbal communication

Mousekin's golden house

Miller, Edna

A little mouse finds a jack-o-lantern in the woods and gives it a home. It protects him from predators and the cold air.

Tags

acceptance, animals, assertiveness, autumn, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, friendship, halloween, holidays, mouse, nature, nonverbal communication, protection, refusal skills, safety, seasons, self esteem, woods

Coconut

Dragonwagon, Crescent

A little girl visits a pet store. She wishes that she had a pet and she would name it Coconut.

Tags

acceptance, animals, decision making, goal setting, pets

Leroy oops

Glasser, Barbara

A little boy named Leroy has a hard time behaving in class. He knows that if this class does not work, he will have to change schools. He has a hard time trying to fit in.

Tags

acceptance, animals, conflict resolution, misbehavior, mouse, rules, school, verbal communication

Dandelion

Freeman, Don

A lion tries to impress his friends through fashion and materialistic things. He is very lonely. It is when he is forced to be himself that he finds the acceptance of his friends.

Tags

acceptance, animals, change, conflict resolution, coping, decision making, feelings, friendship, lion, loneliness, nonverbal communication, peer resistance, refusal skills, self esteem

A porcupine named fluffy

Lester, Helen

A young porcupine named Fluffy is unhappy with his name and tries to change himself until he meets a rhino named Hippo.

Tags

acceptance, animals, body image, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, friendship, nonverbal communication, porcupine, rhinoceros, self esteem, verbal communication

Perfect the pig

Jeschke, Susan

Perfect the piglet is granted three wishes. He gets wings and that brings him into Olive's life where he is happy. But his wings get him in trouble when he flies into the trap of a mean man.

Tags

acceptance, animals, conflict resolution, fear, feelings, friendship, happiness, lost, magic, pig, sadness

Englebert the elephant

Paxton, Tom

An elephant is invited to the Queen's royal ball by mistake. When he first appears at the ball, he is a shock to everyone, but soon everyone grows to love him.

Tags

acceptance, animals, change, elephant, friendship, individuality, nonverbal communication, party, royalty, surprises

Mooch the messy meets prudence the neat

Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman

Mooch the sloppy rat is worried about his new relationship with his new neighbor, Prudence. The two become friends after they understand about each other's lifestyle

Tags

acceptance, animals, decision making, differences, friendship, goal setting, mouse, neighbors, verbal communication

Horton hears a who

Seuss, Dr.

Horton the elephant vows to protect a little town that is on a speck of dust. None of the other animals believe that it is possible for people to exist that small, so the town people all band together and yell to prove that they do exist. The smallest one of all makes all the difference and the animals can hear them.

Tags

acceptance, animals, assertiveness, baby, body image, community, differences, elephant, goal setting, individuality, peer resistance, self esteem, teamwork

Chrysanthemum

Henkes, Kevin

A little mouse girl has a long name and other kids make fun of it. The teacher has a similar name, so she helps to change their attitudes quickly.

Tags

acceptance, animals, conflict resolution, coping, differences, mouse, nonverbal communication, school, self esteem, stress management, uniqueness, verbal communication

Gemma and the baby chick

Barber, Antonia

Gemma is a very caring young child. She saves one of the hen's babies from dying. This child, with the help of her mother, understands that she can't keep it but must put it back into the hen's nest.

Tags

acceptance, animals, chicken, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, goal setting, helping, kindness, learning, rescue, safety, trust, verbal communication

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