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  • Tags: verbal communication
The shopping basket
Burningham, John
Steve is sent to the store with a list. On his way home, he is approached by many animals demanding his food. He tricks the animals and goes home with all of his groceries.

The seven silly eaters
Hoberman, MaryAnn
Mr. and Mrs. Peters have seven lovely children but they are all very picky eaters. Each child wants his or her particular food at every meal. Soon they discover a food that all the children will eat - Mrs. Peter's birthday cake made from a combination of everyone's favorite foods!

The selfish giant
Wilde, Oscar//Zwerger, Lisbeth
When a selfish giant forbids the neighborhood children to play in his garden, the only thing that remains is the cold winter season. However, one little boy opens the giants heart to kindness. The seasonal changes of the garden return along with the children.

The seeing stick
Yolen, Jane
A blind princess learns to see the world through her fingertips from an old blind man.

The secret of the stones
San Souci, Robert D.
John and Clara work very hard all day, but they have no children to love. One night Clara finds two little white stones and brings them home with her. When they came home the next night all of the chores had been done, and John and Clara must find out who their helpers are and how to help them!

The secret in the matchbox
Willis, Val
Dragons and secrets are two things every child loves to read about. Bobby wants someone with whom to share his secret. When his secret is finally let out...so is the dragon.

The secret box mystery
Nixon, Joan Lowery
Michael John brings in a secret science project that makes wierd noises. It gets loose and a new classmate helps him catch the mystery animal. The new boy gains acceptance by the students.

The seashore book
Zolotow, C.
A mother's story helps a little boy imagine the sights and sounds of the seashore, even though he's never seen the ocean.

The scrambled states of america
Keller, Laurie
The fifty states decide to hold a party so that they can meet the other states in the country. The states decide that they are bored with their places on the map and want to switch to new locations. At first, everything is new and exciting, but eventually the states realize where they really belong.

The santero's miracle: A bilingual story
Anaya, Rudolfo
Don Jacobo and his grandson carve a figurine of a saint from wood for the Christmas season. A large snow storm comes and closes the roads. This creates problems for Don Jacobo's family who wants to visit their family. It is also a problem for his sick neighbor who needs to to go the the hospital.

The santa clauses
Broger, Achim
The newspaper publishes an article that states that there is no Santa Claus.

The saint and the circus
Piumini, Roberto
A circus acrobat loses his balance on the tightrope, and a saint in Heaven comes to his aid in ways that are more harmful than helpful.

The ridiculous story of gammer gurton's needle
Lloyd, David
Gammer Gurton's servant loses her needle while sewing Gammer's pants. One of Gammer's friends accuses the neighbor of stealing the needle. After duking it out with the neighbor, Gammer realizes his friend is lying and insists on his punishment.

The remembering stone
Russell, Barbara Timberlake
As Ana holds the speckled lava stone (the remembering stone) that her mother has given her, she falls asleep and dreams of being able to fly like the blackbirds in their garden to her mother's homeland of Costa Rica to see their family. She awakens in the morning and joins her mother as they greet the blackbirds in their garden. Ana can almost feel herself lifting off the ground as they take flight.

The remarkable plant in apartment 4
Maestro, Giulio
Michael buys a plant from a man who says it will grow overnight. Amazingly, it does and takes up the whole apartment building. At first the neighbors do not like the plant, but eventually they come to enjoy their new life.

The relatives came
Rylant, Cynthia
Lots of fun and excitement occurs when Virginia's relatives come to town. They have a reunion of food, conversation, naps, and hugs.

The red comb
Pico, Fernando
Vitita discovers a runaway slave under her porch. Vitita is determined to save the slave woman from the slave catcher. Vitita and sina Rosa furnish the woman with supplies through a mango tree. Vitita and sina Rosa come up with a plan to get the slave catcher out of town. After the slave catcher leaves, Vitita and sina Rosa introduce their new friend to the neighbors.

The red bird
Lindgren, Astrid
A brother and sister who live a very poor and hard life find a secret doorway to a モperfect worldヤ. The children leave it to go back to their lives after being told if they shut the door they can never return. But, one cold hard day they entered the モroomヤ again and face the decision, モDo we shut the door?ヤ.

The real-skin rubber monster mask
Cohen, Miriam
A little boy wants to be as scary as he can be, so he gets a monster mask. But while out trick or treating, he scares himself and sheds his mask to be him.

The rattlebang picnic
Mahy, Margaret
Jack and Marion McTavish decide to get an old car and have 7 children instead of 1 new car. They go on a picnic adventure with their children and Granny McTavish who always cooks everything too long.

The rain came down
Shannon, David
The rain creates unexpected chaos one Saturday morning. The endless arguments in houses and on the street turn into disaster, until the rain finally stops.

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.

The rabbits' wedding
Williams, G.
A little black rabbit and the little white rabbit always play together. The little black rabbit wants to stay with the white rabbit forever. Finally his wish of living with the white rabbit comes true when they get married.

The rabbit's revenge
Wiese, Kurt
Old man Shivers planned on killing rabbits for a coat. The rabbits found out and made a plan to stop him. The rabbits, with the help of nature, caused the old man's house to float away and they never saw him again.

The quiet mother and the the noisy boy
Zolotow, C.
Sandy is a boy who talks loud all of the time. One day, he meets a boy Roger who talks even louder. This bothers Sandy so he has a talk with his mom about when noise is okay.

The queen always wanted to dance
Mayer, Mercer
A queen who likes to dance is forbidden by the king. She then begins to sing and is forbidden to do that as well. Finally, the king realizes he is wrong and allows the whole kingdom to sing and dance.

The quarreling book
Zolotow, C.//Lobel, A.
The inclement weather causes a father to be in a bad mood. He takes his feelings out on the mother, then the mother takes it out on the children. The quarreling continues with other characters, but is resolved at the end of the book.

The pumpkin man and the crafty creeper
Mahy, Margaret
Mr. Parkins raises pumpkins and is surprised when a plant talks to him. The plant insists on going home with Mr. Parkins and ends up being unthankful and ungrateful. Mr. Parkins peaceful existence is no longer peaceful.

The puddle pail
Kleven, Elisa
Ernst and Sol, two crocodile brothers, set out for the beach one morning. Sol suggests that they should start collecting various items along the beach. To Sol's disapproval, Ernst decides he wants to collect puddles. By the end of his tale, Ernst finds a creative use for his puddle collection.

The princess on the nut
Nikly, Michelle
A prince searches to find the perfect bride and finds a princess on a nut.

The princess in the kitchen garden (Prinses van de moestuin)
Heymans, Annemie//Heymans, Margriet
Because her mother died, Hannah takes care of her father and brother. Hannah decides to run away because she feels unappreciated. She goes to Mama's old kitchen garden. Her family reunites in an amazing way!

The prince and the pink blanket
Brenner, Barbara
The prince carries an old pink blanket around with him at all times. It makes the prince feel safe, brave, and happy to carry the blanket. The king decides no kids are allowed to carry blankets. The king is shown a film of when he was a kid and that he too carried a blanket. Finally, the king allows the children to have their blankets back.

The present
Emberley, Michael
Arne Hansen has been invited to his nephew's birthday party. His search for the perfect gift creates a problem when he discovers he would rather keep the gifts for himself. He must find something new for his new nephew, and in the end it all works out.

The practical princess
Williams, Joy
A young princess is given three gifts. One of her gifts is common sense. In the beginning, Princess Bedelia saw this as insignificant, because all she needed was charm. After realizing that charm won't fight off a dragon and save her life, Bedelia values her common sense.

The potato man
McDonald, Megan
A young boy steals potatoes and has bad luck. He then meets the potato man he stole from and eventually respects him enough to become his customer.

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.

The porcelain cat
Hearn, Michael Patrick
Sorcerer has a terrible problem with rats. To solve his problem, the Sorcerer changes his porcelain cat into a real cat. In order for this to happen, his apprentice Nickon searches for a bargain is a bargain and uses social interactions to fulfill his sorcerer's request.

The pipkins go camping
Wahl, Jan
Cabin fever strikes the Pipkins and sends them on a journey through the wilderness. Lack of foresight, planning, and common sense is comical throughout the story.

The piggy in the puddle
Pomerantz, Charlotte
When a baby pig is found in a puddle of mud, the family gets upset. However, they soon join in the fun.

The pie wagon
Budd, Lillian
A skinny man sells pies to the people of the town. A little girl buys a pie then his wagon goes to the next town.

The picnic: A frolic in two colors and three parts
Daugherty, James
A mouse family goes on a picnic. While walking they run into a sleeping lion who captures one of the mouse children. When the lion lets the mouse go, the family promises that they will one day return the favor. One day, the lion gets into trouble and the mice come to his rescue.

The philharmonic gets dressed
Kuskin, Karla
The members of the philharmonic get ready for a performance. Their routines and all the things they have to do before the concert are discussed.

The perfect christmas picture
Manushkin, Fran
Mr. Green tries very hard to get the perfect Christmas picture but can't seem to get one. He realizes that the best picture is them being themselves.

The peddler's gift
Schur, Maxine Rose
Shnook the peddler arrives in the town of Korovenko with his assortment of beautiful, hand-carved dreidels. Leibush notices on that is left behind and makes excuses for keeping it. He soon realizes that the peddlers ways may be a cover for wisdom and forgiveness. As Hanukkah approaches, Shnook leaves Leibush a gift that will last a lifetime.

The patchwork path: A quilt map to freedom
Stroud, Bettye
Hannah and her father are slaves who decide to escape to freedom. They use the patterns in the quilt made by her mother, who passed away, to follow the Underground Railroad.

The party
Reid, Barbara
Two sisters leave their friends to go to a family birthday party. When the girls get to the party, they play games with lots of children and eat lots of good food and birthday cake. They have so much fun at the party that they don't want to leave!

The park book
Zolotow, C.
A little boy who lives in the country asks his mother what a park is like.

The paper dragon
Davol, Margueritte W.
Sui-Jen, the dragon, is awakened and begins to destroy everything. Mi Fei is the only person brave and wise enough to put the dragon back to sleep. Mi Fei needs courage, heroism, and wisdom to save his village from the dragon.

The paper bag princess
Munsch, Robert
Prince Ronald and Princess Elizabeth's castle is burned down by a dragon, who then steals the prince. Elizabeth chases after the dragon to free her prince.

The paper bag
Thompson, Colin
A man moves into the town dump after it closes. He watches nature heal itself from the polluted earth.