Skip to main content
  • Tags: happiness
Amanda pig, schoolgirl
VanLeeuwen, J. Amanda
Amanda is very excited for her first day of school. She makes many new friends and tries to help a girl smile in her class. Amanda plays with toys, goes outside for recess, and realizes how much fun school really is.

Wait! No paint!
Whatley, Bruce
The three little pigs move out to build their own homes. But when the big, bad wolf comes, the first two pigs escape to the brick house. Throughout the ordeal, the pigs hear a mysterious voice that turns out to be the illustrator. The illustrator runs out of paint while finishing the story and finally saves the pigs by changing them and the wolf into Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Remember me?
Wild, Margaret
Ellie's grandmother doesn't remember very much anymore. For example, she forgets where her keys are, and she needs to pay the electric bill. She does remember one thing though -- Ellie growing up. Ellie and Grandma celebrate with a picnic in the park.

Rebel
Schoenherr, John
Mother and father goose come to the same pond every year to make a nest to lay their eggs. This year when the eggs hatch, one of the goslings turns out to be a curious rebel. The gosling explores around the pond until the family flies south for the winter.

We are all in the dumps with jack and guy
Sendak, Maurice
There are two rhymes that precede one another to make a story about kids that are homeless. Two mean rats take one child and some kittens, and the children go after him. Jack and Guy later find the boy and the mother of the kittens. They all go and save the kittens. Jack and Guy take care of the little boy.

Raven and river
Carlstrom, Nancy White
The river ice begins to crack as spring descends upon the Alaskan tundra. The raven knows it is time to wake up, so he flies about alerting his animal friends of spring's arrival. The melting ice brings new life and excitement to the animals who live along side the river.

Rosebud
Emberley, Ed
A turtle is unhappy where she lives on the edge of a muddy, murky, little pond. One day she is discovered and taken to a pet shop. She is happy when she is sold to very caring people.

The most amazing dinosaur
Stevenson, James
Wilfred, a rat, takes on an adventure when he stumbles upon an old museum. He meets many friends there and has great fun exploring the exhibits. When Mr. Thrawl the owner sees them, their adventure comes crashing down. Will they ever have a warm place to sleep again?

Tiger flowers
Quinlan, Patricia
Joel's uncle, Michael, dies of AIDS. Joel remembers the fun times he and Michael spent together. These happy memories help to comfort Joel.

Dream wolf
Goble, Paul
This Native American story describes some boys who are alone in the wild at night. They meet a wolf who has close kinship to a tribe until the white men drives the wolves away. The boys bring the wolves back.

The happy birthday present
Heilbroner, Joan
Davy and Peter are brothers. Today it is a special day because it is their mom's birthday. So they set out on a journey to find a present for their mom. Upon this difficult task they come up with the best and most unique present of all.

Snowball
Crews, Nina
Each morning the children awake and anxiously look outside to see if it has snowed. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday go by and there's still no sign of snow!Friday is the children's last hope for a day of fun in the snow.

I wish I were a butterfly
Howe, James
A little cricket is sad and wishes to be a beautiful butterfly. Through talking to an older cricket, the littlest cricket soon realized, that he too, was beautiful.

The earth and i
Asch, Frank
The child in the story describes the reciprocity between himself,herself and the earth using activities such as playing, listening and growing and emotions and relationships, such as sadness and friendship.

The greedy little cobbler
Ross, Tony
After trying to work for the rich, a little cobbler realizes that having money is not everything. He decides that he enjoys life much more when he works for the town for food and supplies.

Picasso and the girl with the ponytail
Anholt, Laurence
Sylvette is a shy young girl, until she meets Picasso. He has moved to France for the summer to work on his art. Seeing Sylvette through his window, he decides to use her as his new model. All summer they work together and become good friends. Picasso helps Sylvette unlock her secrets and artistic talent.

Each one special
Wishinsky, Frieda
Henry, the baker, creates magnificent cakes. No two cakes are alike and his customers love the beautiful decorations. Henry's friend Ben visits Henry and watches him work each day after school. When the bakery is bought by new owners, Henry loses his job. Henry is sad when he can no longer decorate cakes, but only until Ben helps his friend find a new outlet for his creativity.

Dear daddy
Schindel, John
Jesse really wants to visit his father who lives far away. Jesse and his dad write letters back and forth to pass the time until Jesse can visit in the summer.

Klara's new world
Winter, Jeanette
Klara's family struggled in Sweden so they moved to America. The long trip and struggles of leaving her home make her sad but with time she became very happy.

Smile, ernest and celestine
Vincent, Gabrielle
Celestine decides to tidy Ernest's dresser drawers. She comes across his old pictures and realizes that he has no pictures of her. He tells her to dress up, so they can take pictures together.

The girl who loved the wind
Yolen, Jane
Danina's father does not want her to experience life's harshnesses or sorrows. She is surrounded only by beauty. Then, the wind comes and tells her of another world. She accepts it's challenge by setting out to discover the real world and broadening her sheltered life.

Sam

Sam

Shimin, Symeon
Sam is a little boy who is told by everyone that he is too young to help out around the house. When Sam begins to cry, the perfect job is found for Sam.

Big moon tortilla
Cowley, Joy
Marta Enos finishes her homework and accidentally knocks it out the window. She doesn't know what to do so she asks her grandmother for help. With a song and a warm tortilla, Grandmother helps Marta feel better.

The sleeping lady
Dixon, Ann
Nekatla and Susitha are a young couple preparing to wed. THe wedding is put on hold when war breaks out, and Nekatla must travel to another village to try to restore peace. Susitha waits on a grassy hill for Nekatla to return, and she falls asleep. Nekatla is killed in war, and Susitha never awakens and is now known as the sleeping lady.

Do you know what i'll do?
Zolotow, Charlotte
A sister tells her younger brother all the different things that she will do for him. She will bring him things that will apply to his five senses. Most of all, she brings her brother her love and attention.

Uno, dos, tres: One, two three
Mora, Pat
Two sisters go shopping in a Mexican market for their mother's birthday. They count the number of presents in Spanish and English as they go along, and also create a rhyme about the gifts.

The baby who would not come down
Knight, Joan
The new baby in the family is smothered with kisses and love. Tired of the excessive attention the baby floats into the air after his uncle tosses him up. The baby does not come down until the family realizes that he has too much of some things and not enough of others.

Julius, the baby of the world
Henkes, Kevin
Lilly is not happy about the arrival of her new baby brother, Julius. She is happier when her cousin Garland comes to visit.

Ouch!
Babbit, Natalie
A baby born with the destiny of marrying a princess is brought by the King and thrown into the river to prevent a possible marriage with his newborn daughter. Rescued by a loving couple, the boy grows up and meets the King once again. The Kings plan to kill the young man backfires again and the young man marries the princess. As a test, the King sends the new prince to steal the golden hairs off the devil's head. In a surprise ending, the prince prevails, but the King is not so lucky.

Henry's baby
Hoffman, Mary
Henry wants to be a part of the in crowd at his school. They want to come over to Henry's house, but he is afraid for them to see he has a baby brother. However, all the guys think the baby is neat.

Kim and me: A book about a little boy and his baby sister
Kessler, Ethel//Kessler, Leonard
A three-year old boy describes all the things he can do that his baby sister, Kim, can't do. He then reflects that all the things he used to do, that Kim does now. Someday she will be able to play with him too.

Monster and the baby
Mueller, Virginia
Monster tries to stop baby from crying. He gives her toys and she is finally happy.

Dealing with feelings: I'm furious
Crary, Elizabeth
When Matt sees his Reggie Jackson baseball card floating in the toilet, his jaw drops. He is furious that his little brother did that. One thing that will solve his problem is to hit his little brother, right?Wrong!His mother presents him with six ways to successfully handle his anger. After resolving his problems, Matt makes peace with his brother.

How do i feel?
Simon, Norma
A young boy named Carl encounters many people and activities in the course of a day. We see how he feels about each one.

A real nice clambake
Hammerstein, Oscar
A bunch of friends gather to have a big clambake at the beach. Everyone eats a lot and enjoys the beautiful day.

Waiting to sing
Kaplan, Howard
A young boy loves playing the piano but especially listening to his father play while his mother sings along. The boy's mother also listens to him play. Shortly after the boy, his sister, and his father come back from a vacation at the beach, the mother dies. Playing the piano helps the young boy and his father cope with their loss.

Poppy's puppet
Gauch, Patricia Lee
Poppy is an amazing puppeteer who has the magical ability to listen to wood and carve beautiful marionettes. When he comes across the unique teakwood, Clarinda, he makes the mistake of not listening to what she wants to be. He wants her to be a ballerina, but that is not her passion. Will Poppy help this special marionette achieve her dream and allow her to blossom?

The lost and found house
Cadnum, Michael
A moving truck and moving men load items from a boy's house until the house is empty. The boy and his parents feel differently as they leave and travel to their new house. The boy meets two children and hopes someday they will be his friends!

There's a nightmare in my closet (Una pesadilla en mi armario)
Mayer, Mercer
A little boy is afraid that the nightmare in his closet will get him. One night, he decides to shoot the nightmare, but soon befriends the monster.

The egg
Robertson, M.P.
George finds what he thinks to be a giant chicken egg. However, when it hatches, a dragon comes out. He cares for it and teaches it necessary skills but the dragon longs to be with his family. Before going to his home with the other dragons, the dragon takes George for an adventure and thanks him for his kindness and caring.

Chicken man
Edwards, Michelle
The summer that Rody worked in the kibbutz chicken coop, the hens laid more eggs than ever before. When Rody gets moved from job to job, the chickens become very unhappy. So they do something to get Rody back.

The crocodile in the tree
Duvoisin, Roger
A crocodile lives on a farm. The animals are scared of the crocodile at first. The crocodile makes friends with the farmer's wife.

All the colors of the earth
Hamanaka, Sheila
Children across the earth come in all different colors, and they are just like you and me!

Arnold of the ducks
Gerstein, Mordicai
A boy is taken from his home and dropped into a duck nest. He grows up thinking he is a duck. He eventually must struggle to regain his true identity.

Journey cake, ho!!
Sawyer, Ruth
A family lives happily on a farm, but each must do an equal share of work. When food gets scarce, Johnny must leave. A round cake is packed with Johnny's things. When the cake falls out and rolls, it takes animals back to the farm.

Least of all
Purdy, Carol
Little Raven Hannah feels sad when she is not big enough to do anything on the farm. Then she teaches herself to read (something no one else in her family can do) and she becomes very happy.

The happy owls
Piatti, Celestina
The birds alway fights, so they go to see the owls, who are always peaceful. The birds do not like the answer from the owls as to why they are always happy, so they go back to fighting.

Pumpkin seeds
Yezback, Steven A.
David uses his nickles to buy a bag of pumpkin seeds. Willing to share his seeds, he offers some to everyone he meets, but only the pigeons want his pumpkin seeds.

Niki's little donkey (Niki's eselchen)
Hol, Coby
When the family donkey finally has its baby, Niki can hardly wait to call the donkey her own. She is disappointed, though, when Niki's father insists that they sell the donkey. Through hard work and determination, Niki earns the money to buy the donkey from her dad!

Baby, come out!
Manushkin, Fran
Mrs. Tracy is pregnant and the baby does not want to come out. Everyone tries to tell the baby why she should come out. The baby does not want to come out until her Daddy says just the right thing.