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  • Tags: verbal communication
Peter's long walk
Kingman, Lee
Peter lives in a house far away from the village. He desperately wants to find a friend to play with so he goes on a long search for one. When he can't find a friend, he goes home and finds that he has all kinds of friends.

It was a dark and stormy night
Ahlberg, Janet//Ahlberg, Allan
An eight-year-old boy named Antonio is kidnapped by thieves. The chief orders Antonio to tell a story, which he cleverly uses for his escape. His story includes all sorts of adventures.

Nicky and the big, bad wolves
Gorbachev, Valeri
Little Nicky is having a bad dream when his cries for help wake everyone up. After telling his mom about the dream, Nicky realizes it wasn't as bad as it seemed. He scared his brothers and sisters though, so mom has to go outside and pretend to get rid of the scary wolves so everyone can sleep.

Mama & papa have a store
Carling, Amelia Lau
Mama and Papa have a store. Day to day the routine is similar. The same people come in to buy the same things. This little girl likes these routines and she shares them with us. From what Mama is cooking to Papa counting on the abacus we spend the whole day with one little girl.

My rotten redheaded older brother
Polacco, Patricia
Patricia Polacco tells the story about her sibling rivalry with her brother. She wanted to be able to do something better than he could. Eventually, her wish comes true, but not exactly the way she had imagined.

The hallo-wiener
Pilkey, Dav
Oscar is teased by the other dogs because of his oblong shape. He soon proves that a dog his shape can do things that other dogs cannot.

Elvira
Shannon, Margaret
Instead of eating princesses, Elvira the dragon would rather dress like them. She is independent and wants to live life in her own unqiue way.

Aunt harriet's underground railroad in the sky
Ringgold, Faith
Cassie take a ride on the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman as her guide. She learns what steps slaves had to go through in order to reach freedom in the North.

A day's work
Bunting, Eve
Fransico takes his grandfather out to look for work. His grandfather does not speak English, so Fransico must translate. Fransico accepts a gardening job for his grandfather by telling the man he is a great gardener. When the man comes at the end of the day, he finds the job done incorrectly. Fransico's lie teaches him an invaluable lesson.

Trashy town
Zimmerman, Andrea//Clemesha, David
Mr. Gilly gets up every morning to go to work. He drives the trash truck which cleans up the garbage all around town. When he is finished he has to clean up one more thing...himself!

When grandma almost fell off the mountain and other stories
Porte, Barbara Ann
Grandma tells stories to her grandchildren of a car trip to Florida she took with her family and grandparents when she was younger. Her vacations were usually filled with exciting adventures and amusing mishaps.

How georgia drove the car carefully from boston to new york
Bate, Lucy
While on her mother's lap, a young girl begins to imagine driving her family to see her grandparents.

A balloon for grandad
Gray, Nigel
Sam lost his balloon out the back door. At first he was sad, but his father reminded him of his grandfather Abdulla who lived very far away. Sam thought about how his balloon might travel to his grandfather and make him very happy.

Little john
Orgel, Doris//Storm, Theodor
Little John constantly wants to be rocked to sleep in his bed. When his mother falls asleep and can no longer trundle the bed, the moon befriends Little John and takes him on a journey.

Little fox goes to the end of the world
Tompert, Ann
Little fox tells his mother about traveling to the end of the world. He tells elaborate stories of the things he encounters. At the end, he tells his mother that he misses her and comes straight home.

Marvin k. mooney, will you please go now!
Seuss, Dr.
The speaker describes many examples of ways for Marvin K. Mooney to leave town.

Snipp, snapp, snurr and the reindeer
Lindman, Maj
Snipp, Snap and Snurr vacation with their parents in Sweden. They meet a family from Lapland who come to their rescue accompanied by their pet reindeer.

Possum magic
Fox, Mem
A grandmother possum puts a magic spell on her granddaughter which makes her invisible. When the granddaughter decides she wants an identity, they must travel all over Australia for the cure.

Over the moon
Katz, Karen
A couple wait for a phone call that will tell them that their soon-to-be-adopted daughter is born. When they receive the call, they race to the airport to get the newborn child. The new family of mom, dad, and baby girl go to their loving home to get acquainted.

The day jimmy's boa ate the wash
Noble, Trinka Hakes
Jimmy and his classmates go on a trip to a farm. The trip is boring until Jimmy takes out his boa constrictor to meet the farm animals. The farm turns into total chaos. In all the rush to get back on the bus, Jimmy forgets his boa constrictor. Jimmy is not left without a pet because there was a pig left on the bus.

Here in space
Milgrim, David
A boy sets out for an adventure on his bike. As he travels around, he discovers many strange wonders about planet Earth. But his biggest discovery of all is that we are all living in outer space.

Frank and ernest on the road
Day, Alexandra
Frank and Ernest drive a truck. They learn truck language along the way. They use funny words that have a real meaning to truck drivers.

Have you seen wilhelmina krumph?
Chasek, Judith
Everyday, Wilhelmina Krumph disappears when she should be washing her windows like all the other housewives. They follow her one day and discover that she rides a motorcycle along a dirt road everyday. They see what fun it is and join her.

A smooth move
Rabe, Berniece
Gus and his family move from Portland to Washington D.C. when his dad starts a new job. He keeps a journal to help the move go smoothly. While he misses his friends, Gus knows he will like his new home.

The wreck of the zephyr
Van Allsburg, Chris
A young boy's dream of being the greatest sailor brings him to ruin when he misuses his ability to sail his boat above land.

Pieces of another world
Rockliff, Mara
A father and child go on a nighttime excursion to watch a meteor shower. Through the eyes of the child, who has no idea where they are going or why, enjoys the trip with her father. In the middle of the night, they stand in the middle of a field watching the tiny bits of other distant worlds, blazing into their own world.

The slumber party
Wild, Margaret
It is an exciting time for eight good friends as a birthday slumber party turns into an all night adventure. A frog named Cannibal, a mouse named Curly, and a yellow monkey make this night a night to remember.

Arthur's eyes
Brown, Marc
Arthur's friends tease him when he gets glasses. Soon other children get glasses, and Arthur learns to wear his glasses with pride.

The best nest
Mueller, Doris
Long ago, magpie nests were the envy of all other birds. To help the other birds, Maggie Magpie patiently explains how to build a nest. But some birds are impatient and fly off without listening to all the directions, which is why, to this day, bird nests come in all different shapes and sizes. This clever retelling of an old English folktale teaches the importance of careful listening.

Oh, brother!
Grimes, Nikki
Xavier feels sad, angry, and jealous towards his new step brother, Chris. Xavier soon realizes that Chris is coping with loneliness and resentment too. The pain over losing a parent to divorce forms a special band between Xavier and Chris so they promise each other, that no one will ever leave. Through short vignettes, the story ends with Our family is a song we sing, and we can add new notes anytime we like.

By the light of the halloween moon
Stutson, Caroline
A little girls toe is the basis of this cummulative tale, or a story that repeats and adds on with each new character that is introduced. There are many pictures of witches, ghosts, and ghouls.

Leo in the library
Mkatshaw, Dumazile
Leo was in the class watching ants crawl on the wall when his teacher asked on what animal he would be doing his project. He could only think of ants, about which he knew nothing. Leo goes to the library looking for a book and causes a terrible mess. Leo must find his book about ants, but he doesnメt know what it would look like.

I wanna iguana
Orloff, Karen Kaufman
A little boy wants an iguana, but first he has to convince his mother that he is responsible enough to have it. Through a series of letters written between the boy and his mother, they both provide reasons to support whether or not he should get the iguana. They decide that the boy may have the iguana on a trial basis to prove he will take care of it.

The trial of cardigan jones
Egan, Tim
Cardigan, a moose, is new to town. While walking through the neighborhood, he happens upon Mrs. Brownメs pie in her window. The pie becomes missing and witnesses say that he took it. He then goes on trial and throughout the trial, he keeps knocking things over with his giant antlers. This gives the judge an idea, so he takes the courtroom to Mrs. Brownメs house. They notice the smashed pie in the bushes and pronounced Cardigan モnot guilty.ヤ

The giant and the beanstalk
Stanley, Diane
Otto, the gentle giant, lives in the magical kingdom of giants. Otto loves his pet chicken, Clara, so when a human named Jack climbs up a beanstalk and steals Clara, Otto must search for Jack. While looking for Jack, Otto meets many other Jacks from different nursery rhymes before he finds the Jack that has Clara and takes Clara home.

The man who called the crocodiles
Mashiri, Pascal
Gyiii-eee! This is the sound that calls a crocodile. In this land, the wealthy king takes Lulaba as his new wife. She eventually has Gobango as her only son. She tells Gobango of stories about her father calling crocodiles. Eventually Gobango has to flee from his mom or the dead kingメs enemies will kill him. He flees to meet Lulabaメs father, his grandfather. He goes on a fishing trip and meets one of the fishermanメs beautiful daughters, Nanjobe. Gobango asks her father if he can marry her. He says no because he isnメt rich enough to take care of his daughter. Therefore, he works to raise money for her. Six months later, Nanjobe is to marry an old man. Gobango and Nanjobe both hate this idea and flee to Gobangoメs boat. Nanjobeメs father sends people after the two, so Gobango calls the crocodiles, Gyiii-eee. Crocodiles surround their boat. The rest of the people search for the lovers and assuming they are dead, take their boats back to the village.

Be boy buzz
hooks, bell
bell hooks poetically describes the pleasures of being a boy. Boys are beautiful. Sometimes, they are all boy. Sometimes, they like to laugh and talk, and sometimes they like the quietness of being alone. Boys have many moods, actions, and emotions.

The village in the valley of darkness
Mashiri, Pascal
I want to see my people in the village. It is no fun to search alone. At last, I can see the light.ヤ During my travel, a dog at my side with brother and I. People in the village are thankful and at peace!

What Eddie can do
Gebhard, Wilfried
Eddie goes on many adventures but ignores his momメs advice on shoe tying lessons. After discovering his friend Clara, who needs to be rescued by a double tailed monster, Eddie takes time out and learns to tie knots, and succeeds in saving his friend.

The useful moose:  A truthful, moose-full tale
Robinson, Fiona
Molly loves moose so much that her family vacationed in Alaska, so that she could see them up close; except when they got there the moose had left for a vacation in the city. Once in the city, she saw moose everywhere and befriended three young moose who were tired and needed rest. She invited the moose to stay with them when they cooked, cleaned, and became part of the family. The moose became homesick for their own family, so they went back to Alaska. Molly was sad when she invited the moose to her birthday party and they didnメt respond, but they surprised her by jumping out of an airplane at her party and promised to come back often.

Monster at school
Blance, Ellen // Cook, Ann
Monster goes to school with a little boy one day. Once he arrives, he is a great help and loves to play with all of the children. One child, however, feels sad because Monster is not playing with him. What will Monster do to cheer up his sad friend?

Olivia saves the circus
Falconer, Ian
After making breakfast for her two younger brothers, Olivia dresses herself and heads to school. Today is Olivia's turn to tell the class about her vacation. She tells of a time when all the circus people are sick and she has to run the entire show. She uses her imagination to tell about her experiences as a lion tamer, juggler, and more. Olivia then heads for home, talks with her mother, and goes to bed.

The magic rocks
Herbert, Barbara N.
An African woman struggles to find firewood so that she can cook for her family. While cooking porridge, an old weak man came along asking for food. Because she felt sorry for him, she gave him the porridge. In return, he gave her some magic rocks that would turn to gold. However, the woman couldnメt get them to change. When her family came home to realize they had nothing to eat, her husband was angry and threw the rocks in the fading fire. The family fell asleep hungry and cold. In the morning, they woke to a burning fire and porridge cooking. The family found more rocks and called them coal.

This is the matzah
Levine, Abby
A Jewish family shops, cooks, and prepares for Passover. The traditions and the meanings behind them are explained in a rhyme.

Silly chicken
Khan, Rukhsana
Rani is jealous of Amiメs affection for Bibi, a chicken. Rani finally learns how to lay an egg - much to the motherメs delight. However, when left alone one day, the chicken dies and Ami is sad. An egg from Bibi is found, which hatches a new baby chick.

Baby danced the polka
Beaumont, Karen
While mom and dad are trying to do the chores, baby is supposed to be sleeping. However, baby canメt sleep and is dancing with the farm animals.

Two friends: A story from Zambia
Mashiri, Pascal
Two friends need sleep. Unfortunately, snoring becomes a problem for one of them. The friend that solves the problem doesnメt get the sleep.

Not norman:  A goldfish story
Bennett, Kelly
When a boy gets Norman, a goldfish, for his birthday he is disappointed. He wants an energetic pet with which to run and play. He makes a plan to take Norman back to the pet store and get another pet. After show and tell at school, he decides to keep him. Norman likes his music and makes him laugh; besides any other pet just wouldnメt be the same, they would not be Norman.

Elephant prince:  The story of Ganesh
Novesky, Amy
In this mythical story, that takes place in India, a girl grows up listening to her motherメs and grandmotherメs stories. As a princess, she meets her love and is married. He promises her a baby and has one within a year. When gods gather around the babyメs head vanishes. Another god helps save the baby with the help of an elephant offering his life. The little boy was saved and became the elephant prince, listening to his motherメs stories everyday.

Monster meets lady monster
Blance, Ellen // Cook, Ann
Monster and the little boy are cleaning the house when the little boy sees a lady monster outside. Monster is happy and freshens up before asking the lady monster if he can play with her. The two monsters play together and fall in love.