Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

The greedy triangle | by Burns, Marilyn

A triangle gets bored doing the same old thing every day. He decides to take up a different shape, so he visits the shapeshifter to add on a few more angles. After a life of being a quadrilateral, pentagon and hexagon, the shape returns to its old self of being a triangle.

What are you so grumpy about? | by Lichtenheld, Tom

A little boy has the most horrible life that makes him grumpy. He gets weird food to eat, boring presents to open, and too many chores to do. He gets up on the wrong side of his bed, has to pick up his room, and go to somebody's house and listen to grown-up boring junk. His grumpy mood eventually is forgotten.

Keywords: boredom, cleanliness, emotions, family, feelings, food, grandparents, history, humor, idiom, injury, moods, museum, nonverbal communication, nutrition, parents, responsibilities, siblings, verbal communication

Who wants to be a poodle I don't | by Child, Lauren

Trixie Twinkle toes, a poodle, lives a very pampered life with Mademoiselle Verity Brulee. She has a maid, a cook, and a butler! No one understands that Trixie Twinkle Toes doesn't like any of the pampering and special treatment; she wanted to be like other dogs. She decides to act out, but every time she does Mademoiselle Brulee calls the vet, the pet psychic, or the pooch psychiatrist. no one can understand Trixie, until finally one rainy day, Trixie sees a dog drowning in a puddle and jumps in to save her. When Mademoiselle saw how daring her poodle was, she let her run with the other dogs.…

Hill of fire | by Lewis, P. Thomas

Bored of his day-to-day lifestyle, a farmer complains to his wife and son how nothing ever hannpens. One day while plowing, the farmer comes across an explosion coming from his field. It turns out to be a volcano erupting and the farmer's field becomes a place in history.

Keywords: beverage, boredom, bull, bus, church, dancing, depression, farm, fire, food, helping, market, mexican, mountains, night, noise, ox, party, prayer, rocks, running, sadness, safety, school, spanish, toys, truck, volcano, work

The dog who cried wolf | by Kasza, Keiko

Feeling bored and trapped with his current life, Moka the dog runs away. Moka then questions his decision as he becomes homesick.

Keywords: affection, animals, appreciation, assertiveness, boredom, consequences, critical thinking, curiosity, dog, feelings, freedom, happiness, homesickness, loneliness, running away, self esteem, wolf

Fair monaco | by Cole, Brock

Three sisters go to stay at their grandma's house. They ask to do things, but their grandma won't let them do anything but eat dinner and go to bed. She is too worried about all the horrible things outside. While the girls are dreaming, they end up in their grandma's horrible dream. The only way they can change it is to dream of their own good dreams. When their grandma wakes up, she is happy because of the good dream she had, since it was the same as her grandchildren.

Keywords: assertiveness, bedtime, boredom, conflict resolution, critical thinking, dancing, decision making, dreams, exercise, family, fear, feelings, food, grandparents, happiness, nonverbal communication, nutrition, parents, relief, siblings, sleep, verbal communication, worry

Grey mouse | by de Vries, Anke

Grey Mouse is feeling lonely, so she decides to change her color in order to feel better about herself. However, all of the other animals laugh at her each time she does this. She finally realizes that she is happiest with her natural grey color when she finds other mice friends that look like her.

Keywords: acceptance, amphibians, animals, appearance, art, bee, birds, body image, boredom, change, colors, critical thinking, differences, feelings, flowers, frog, goal setting, goose, happiness, identity, images, insects, insecurity, ladybug, loneliness, mouse, nonverbal communication, racism, sadness, self confidence, self esteem, zebra

Leo in the library | by 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.

The village in the valley of darkness | by 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!

Monster at school | by 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?

Keywords: allergies, boredom, feelings, fun, happiness, health, helping, monsters, nonverbal communication, playing, reading, sadness, school, self esteem, verbal communication, walking

Duck for president | by Cronin, Doreen

Duck gets tired of doing chores on the farm, so he holds an election to change the way things are run. Duck wins the election, but gets bored and runs for Governor. He wins again and does not like the stress, so he runs for President and wins. Being President is even harder work than being on the farm so he returns to the farm to write his autobiography.

Keywords: acceptance, animals, assertiveness, boredom, challenges, conflict resolution, cooperation, cow, decision making, duck, farm, five senses, goal setting, hard work, parade, pig, politics, self esteem, sheep, smell, speech, stress management, verbal communication

So happy! | by Henkes, Kevin

A magic seed was planted, a rabbit wandered, and a little boy just wanted something to do. Just before it began to rain the seed became thirsty, the rabbit was lost, and the little boy was bored. The rain brought happiness to the boy and left the rabbit wet and scared. As the seed grew, the boy built a bridge to reach it and the rabbit used it to cross the creek to return to his family. The little boy returned home with the flower that grew from the seed as a present to his mother.

Keywords: animals, bodies of water, boredom, creek, family, fear, feelings, happiness, imagination, magic, multicultural, native american, nonverbal communication, parents, plants, rabbit, rain, seed, sun, weather

Vacation in the village: A story from west africa | by Njeng, Pierre Yves

A boy discovers and takes pride in the customs of his people when he visits his family's village in West Africa.

Keywords: affection, africa, books, boredom, buildings, construction, customs, discovery, dreams, family, fear, feelings, fish, fishing, forest, friendship, games, grandparents, happiness, history, hunting, multicultural, parents, reptiles, school, siblings, storytelling, traditions, train, transportation, travel, turtle, vacation, village, work, worry

Gift of the sun: A tale from south africa | by Stewart, Dianne

Thulani is a South African farmer who keeps trading his animals in order to please his wife, until all he has is a pocket full of sunflower seeds. They produce many more seeds however, which are used to feed the animals and eventually lead to more wealth for the family than ever before.

Keywords: africa, animals, boredom, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, excitement, family, farm, feelings, garden, multicultural, self esteem, sheep, stress management, symbols, verbal communication

Grandpa's gamble | by Michelson, Richard

A brother and sister are tired of always having to be quiet so as not to interrupt Grandpa Sam while he is praying. The children think they have a very boring grandfather. Grandpa Sam overhears the children and tells them the story of his life. He was born a Jew in Poland and to escape persecution he came to the United States. He learns to gamble to make a living but when his daughter becomes very ill he decides to lead an honest, humble life and pray every morning and night. The children are now amazed by their Grandpa Sam's story and respect his prayer time.

Keywords: author's note, boredom, culture, faith, family, forgiveness, grandparents, holidays, immigrants, Jewish, multicultural, parents, passover, photograph, prayer, religion, siblings, storytelling, stress management

John Willy and Freddie Mcgee | by Meade, Holly

Two guinea pigs, John Willy and Freddy McGee, are bored of sitting in their cage where nothing ever changes. One day, when their cage door is left open, the guinea pigs decide to go exploring throughout the house. They end up traveling through the tunnel of a pool table and run for their lives when pool balls start rolling through the tunnel. The guinea pigs run for the safety of their cage but when they get there and see how everything is the same, they leave to start a new adventure.

Keywords: adventures, animals, boredom, cat, colors, courage, discovery, dog, escape, exploration, games, guinea pig, independence, recreation, sounds

Henry and mudge and the long weekend | by Rylant, Cynthia

Henry and his dog Mudge are having a boring weekend until his mother comes up with an idea. They build a castle in their basement, which turns a boring weekend into something great.

Keywords: animals, boredom, creativity, decision making, dog, family, parents, play, seasons, verbal communication, winter

Fox on stage | by Marshall, James

Fox and his friends are bored, so they decide to put on a scary play for the neighborhood. The play goes wrong and instead of being scary it is the funniest play the neighbors have ever seen.

Keywords: actor, animals, boredom, careers, fox, fun, humor, neighbors, performance, play, rain, weather

The other side | by Woodson, Jacqueline

A fence not only divides two properties -- it segregates two families because of their different cultures. Initial fears from the parents cause them to set rules that will forbid the friendship of their young daughters. Little did they know that their daughters would break the barrier as they climbed the fence together to see the world as it should be, not as it is.

Nothing to do | by Hoban, Russell

Walter is bored, so his father gives him a magic stone that will make him think of fun activities when rubbed. However, after Walter loses the stone, he realizes that he is capable of entertaining himself. He gives his sister a magic stick so she will stop bothering him.

Keywords: boredom, critical thinking, family, imagination, imitation, magic, parents, play, recreation, siblings

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