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  • Tags: self esteem
The owl and the pussy-cat
Knight, Hilary
Two children are magically transformed into an owl and a cat. They return back when their parents call them.

Rainbow rhino
Sis, Peter
Rainbow Rhino and his bird friends go on a journey and find places that match their respective colors and stay there. They soon discover that their old home behind the mountain is the best because they are together with all their colors.

The winter duckling
Polette, Keith
When one duck decides he wants to see what winter is like, he realizes the hard way that it takes a lot of work to be a snow duck. Luckily, he has time and flies south for the winter.

Sidney
Jeschke, Susan
Sidney the rooster fools foxes into believing that he is a fox too. He is delighted at his keen abilities.

Farmer duck
Waddell, Martin
Farmer Duck cooks, cleans, tends the fields and cares for the other animals because the farmer is too lazy. Farmer Duck grows tired so the animals come up with a plan.

Squawk to the moon, little goose
Preston, Edna Mitchell
A little goose thought the moon disappeared. While watching the moon, a fox grabbed her, but she tricked him and ran home.

This is the bird
Shannon, George
The existence of and passing down of a cherished family heirloom depicts one family's history of women. This carved wooden bird is given to the women of each generation, and it brings with it memories of its owners and their lives.

Petunia's treasure
Duvoisin, Roger
Petunia the goose finds a treasure chest. Before she opens it, she tells her friends about it and they all beg her for gifts. She finds that the chest had nothing in it and that money is not always that important.

Casper and the rainbow bird
Hyman, Robin//Hyman, Inge
One day, Casper flies all the way to town. Through a window, Casper sees Rainbow, a bright, colorful bird who lives in a cage in the city. Rainbow is afraid to leave the comfort of her cage, but Rainbow overcomes her fear and lives with Casper in the forest after Casper proves that he is a true friend.

Moose, goose, and little nobody
Raskin, Ellen
All the animals have a home except for little nobody. Moose and Goose try to find his home which leads them to a mouse hole.

More tales of amanda pig
Van Leeuwen, Jean
Amanda pig and her family experience five short stories. One describes Amanda playing with her brother and another describes how she organized a birthday party for her dad.

Weekend girl
Hest, Amy
Sophie always spends a weekend with her grandparents when her parents take a trip to honeymoon cottage. Every year her grandparents have a special surprise, so she can hardly wait for this year's surprise.

Prince william
Rand, Gloria
After an oil spill covers Prince William Sound, a little girl rescues a baby seal and helps get him ready to go back to his natural home.

Hooray for pig!
Stevens, Carla
With the help of his friends, Pig overcomes his fear of water and learns to swim.

A tournament of knights
Lasker, Joe
Justin is a newly made knight who prepares for his first tournament. Justin must fight a more experienced knight named Rolf in order to keep his honor.


Salty sails north
Rand, Gloria
Salty the dog travels on a boat around the world with his master.

Arthur's loose tooth
Hoban, Lillian
Arthur, the chimp, is worried about losing his tooth because he is afraid of the sight of blood. His sister proves that she is brave by conquering her fear of the dark. Arthur pulls out his tooth to prove he is brave, too.

Veronica's smile
Duvoisin, Roger
Veronica, the hippo, is bored. When she starts helping all the farm animals, she becomes very useful and fulfilled.

Be brave, baby rabbit
Manushkin, Fran
Baby rabbit and his big sister go trick-or-treating. In the beginning baby rabbit is afraid of all the costumes, but in the end, he proved that he was brave.

White dynamite and curly kidd
Martin, Bill Jr.
A young child, Curly Kidd, wants to grow up to be just like Dad. Dad is a bronco rider, and together they ride the toughest bulls in all the country. In the end, the reader learns that Curly Kidd is a girl.

The story of ferdinand
Leaf, Munro
Ferdinand is a bull who likes to smell flowers and be by himself. He grows up and is chosen to be in the bull fights. He enters the ring and sits down to sniff the flowers.

Pierre: A cautionary tale
Sendak, Maurice
Pierre does not care about anyone or anything in his environment. After a lion eats him, Pierre learns the importance of caring.

If I were a mother
Mizumura, Kazue
The many positive aspects of mothering by different animals are described. The narrator realizes that she would like to be like her mother.

The great othello: The story of a seal
Palazzo, Tony
Othello, the seal, performs at carnivals. His trainer, Mr. Higgins, helps him perform at all of the carnival shows. Once Othello becomes famous, he is invited to Sealskin Island where he decides to stay.

The house gobbaleen
Alexander, Lloyd
After a stroke of bad luck, Tooley calls up on the Friendly Folk to help him improve his luck. When Hooks comes to the door, Tooley invites him in the house despite warnings from his cat. Hooks takes advantage of Tooley and makes his luck even worse than before-until the house gobbaleen scares Hooks away.

Miss flora mcflimsey's may day
Mariana.
Miss Flora McFlimsey feels like she is ugly and has no friends. At the end of the May Day, she feels differently.

Furlie cat
Freschet, Bernice
Furlie is a cat who is afraid of everything and hides in the house all day. He feels his life is dull, so he practices being brave. He becomes overly confident in himself and becomes a bully. He learns after he meets a bear that everyone should treat one another kindly and equally.

Chin yu min and the ginger cat
Armstrong, Jennifer
Chin Yu Min is married to a wealthy man. She takes advantage of their wealth and is very mean to people. Her husbands dies, and she is now poor. She finds a cat that catches fish, so she gets him to stay with her. She is attached to the cat now, but she accidentally gives him away. She later finds him and has now learned to appreciate her good fortunes.

The cat who loved to sing
Hogrogian, Nonny
A cat goes through a series of trades with many people. Each trade makes the person happy and in the end, the cat gets what it wanted.

Teacher's pet
Miles, Miska
Lottie is embarrassed as she begins her new school because her clothes are different, and her cat continues to follow her to class. She tries to fit in with the other children but is unsuccessful. Her cat has kittens in the school which helps her win the friendship of Gertrude. Gertrude helps Lottie to realize that uniqueness is special, not bad.

Fred
Simmonds, Posy
The night that Sophie and Nick bury their beloved cat, they find all of his cat friends outside. They find out their cat was famous and the other cats wanted to have a party to say goodbye.

Big mama
Crunk, Tony
Billy Boyd's grandmother is the best according to the neighborhood kids. She allows them to use their imaginations when she works and plays with them. Their journey to the ice cream shop is full of neighborhood excitement, but the trip back home is the most important part.

Nellie: A cat on her own
Babbitt, Natalie
Nellie is a cat marionette, and she belongs to an old woman. When the old woman dies, she becomes friends with Big Tom, a real cat. Big Tom takes her out of the house and into a new home.

Like likes like
Raschka, Chris
Like is lonely. Like wonders around seeing flowers and seas. Like finds a friend. Like likes Like.

Across the wide dark sea: The mayflower journey
Van Leeuwen, Jean
A young boy and his family leave England with many other people to search for a new life in a new land. They dream of finding a place where they can worship God in their own way. During their journey, everyone endures many hardships, but they find what they are looking for.

How the witch got alf
Annett, Cora
Alf is a donkey that feels unappreciated, so he hides on the roof and pretends to run away. His two owners miss him very much. Alf learns how appreciated he really is.

Joey and the birthday present
Kumin, Maxine W.//Sexton, Anne
Joey is a mouse who lives on a farm. He meets a city mouse who is a boy's pet, and they become good friends. They play and do things together until the city mouse has to leave.

Arthur's halloween costume
Hoban, Lillian
Arthur wants to be a ghost for Halloween. When he realizes that he won't be the only ghost, Arthur creates an original costume that stands out from everyone.

Timid timothy: The kitten who learned to be brave
Williams, G.
Timothy is a cat who is afraid of everyting. His mom teaches him how to be mighty. Eventually, Timothy scares a dog which builds his self-esteem.

Mr. hacker
Stevenson, James
Mr. Hacker decides to leave his home in the city for a country house. At first he is lonely, but eventually he becomes friends with a cat he calls Ellis, and a dog he names Jarvis.

Chato's kitchen
Soto, Gary
Chato, the coolest low-riding cat in East L.A., feels very fortunate when he learns a family of mice accepts his invitation to dinner. Chato and his best friend, Novio Boy, prepare an extravagant meal excluding the main dish. When the two cats open the door and see a surprise guest, they realize that their plan is ruined.

Mean murgatroyd and the ten cats
Zimelman, Nathan
Arabella takes her ten cats for a walk every day, but Mean Murgatroyd, the dog next door, scares them away. Arabella comes up with a great idea for dealing with Murgatroyd.

The porcupine mouse
Pryor, Bonnie
Louie and Dan are two mice brothers that move out into the world on their own. They learn how important a good breakfast is, how scary cats are, and how best friends are important.

Chato and the party animals
Soto, Gary
Chato's friend, Novio Boy, always gets sad at birthday parties because he is from the pound and does not know when his birthday is. Chato decides to throw his friend the biggest party ever, but in the hustle and bustle, forgets to invite the cat of honor!Now that he is found, it's time to celebrate.

Almira's violets
Fregosi, Claudia
A lady owned a flower shop with the most beautiful violets. Her cat was mad and jealous that the flowers got all the attention. One day she noticed that none of the plants had blossoms. Then she realized her cat had eaten the blossoms.

Heart of a tiger
Arnold, Marsha D.
One week before Naming Day, the character does on a search for Bengal. The parrots and monkeys were not kind to him in the forest and even teased him. Even in the face of danger and violence, this character shows how to have the heart of a tiger.

New baby
McCully, Emily Arnold
The youngest mouse in a big family finds it very hard to adjust to the new baby. She was used to being the center of attention and now has competition. If she shows the adults that she is still a baby, she thinks she will get more attention. It backfires, but the baby pays attention to her.

What a wonderful day to be a cow
Lesser, Carolyn
For each month, an animal is featured at the farm with an explanation of why it is wonderful to be there.

McBroom and the great race
Fleischman, Sid
Farmer McBroom is a successful farmer who has an evil neighbor, Heck Jones, who has tried to steal his farm several times. McBroom is tricked into betting his farm against his neighbor's farm in a race. McBroom overcomes the trickery to win the race and keep his farm.