Browse Items · Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

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Zen shorts

Muth, Jon

One day, three young children meet a panda after his umbrella lands in their yard. The children become friends with the panda, whose name is Stillwater. He passes on folktales to them to help them solve problems they are having.

Zathura: A space adventure

VanAllsburg, Chris

Danny and Walter Budwing have a typical brotherly relationship. It isnﾒt until Danny finds an old game that takes the boys away to another galaxy that the brothers finally reach a new appreciation for one another.

Tags

accidents, adventures, alien, anger, apology, challenges, change, chaos, conflict, decision making, destruction, earth, family, fear, feelings, fight, robot, sounds, stars, verbal communication

Yonder

Johnston, Tony

Vivid pictures depict the cycle of seasons while the story of a pioneer's life is told. The story begins with the pioneer's marriage then ends with the lives of the pioneer's children.

Tags

adventures, aging, challenges, change, decision making, family, generations, goal setting, growing up, marriage, parents, pioneers, seasons, verbal communication

Why a disguise?

Numeroff, Laura

A disguise can help you avoid doing things you don't like. Wear one to the dentist, when you have to take a bath, or when you get ready for school so no one will know it's you!

Tags

appearance, bully, challenges, deception, dentist, family, food, hygiene, identification, imagination, trick

Who's whose?

Ormerod, Jan

Three families come together every day of the week to do activities help each other out. Some observe activities, do chores with others, or run errands with their friends. With so many people doing things together it is hard to keep track of who's whose!

Tags

acceptance, activities, african american, animals, behavior, cat, challenges, child care, community, cooperation, correspondence, Days of The Week, dog, exercise, family, food, grandparents, helping, multicultural, nutrition, parents, play, responsibilities, school, sharing, siblings, television

White wash

Shange, Ntozake

Helene-Angel is the only person in her class to have to wait for her brother, Mauricio to walk her home. On their walk home, a group of boys decide to pick on her. Her brother is out-numbered so the boys paint her white. She is devastated and refuses to leave her room. Find out how her grandma helps her overcome her fears.

Tags

acceptance, african, aggression, american, apathy, appreciation, awareness, behavior, beliefs, bravery, challenges, chaos, family, feelings, frustration, mischief, multicultural, persistence, racism, resentment, stereotypes, support, uniqueness

Whistle for willie

Keats, Ezra Jack

Peter wants to learn how to whistle to make his dog, Willie, come.

Tags

animals, challenges, conflict resolution, decision making, determination, discovery, dog, goal setting, learning, pets, self esteem

When jessie came across the sea

Hest, Amy

Jessie and her Grandmother are very close family to each other because there are no other relatives. Grandmother teachers Jessie to sew and Jessie teaches Grandmother to read. One day, Jessie is requested to travel to America by the rabbi. Her journey by ship is hard, but she meets a young man, Low, who she finds again in America and marries. Grandmother travels to America on the money that Jessie earned sewing lace for three years.

Tags

american, challenges, communication, correspondence, decision making, english, family, friendship, illness, immigrants, Jewish, language, marriage, money, monuments, multicultural, religion, school, sewing, ship, spiritual, stress management, transportation, travel, work

What planet are you from, Clarice Bean?

Child, Lauren

Clarice Bean is having a hard time coming up with an idea for her project on the environment. To make matters worse, she is paired up with her tag-along neighbor, Robert Granger. Her situation looks hopeless until her brother becomes an ecowarrior in an effort to free the tree from being cut down in their neighborhood. Robert and Clarice become ecowarriors themselves, saving the tree and their project.

Trouble with trolls

Brett, Jan

Treva takes her dog with her to visit her cousin in the mountains. Unfortunately, nasty trolls, who want to steal Tuffi, confront Treva. Treva refuses to give up, which leads to quite an adventure.

Tags

adventures, animals, assertiveness, challenges, conflict resolution, coping, critical thinking, decision making, dog, goal setting, nonverbal communication, persistence, pets, refusal skills, stress management, trolls, verbal communication

Tough cookie

Wisniewski, David

After discovering that his long time partner, Chips, has been eaten by Fingers, Tough Cookie travels to the Top of the Jar to find Fingers and put him away for good. Pecan Sandy shows how she can be a smart cookie in the end.

Tags

adventures, body parts, bravery, challenges, community, confidence, conflict resolution, courage, death, feelings, food, friendship, humor, imagination, prejudice, problem solving, revenge, teamwork

Timothy turtle

Graham, Al

A turtle is tired of the everyday routine of life, and decides to try and climb a hill. He goes through many struggles and failures to get to the top of the hill, but finds happiness once he succeeds.

Tags

assertiveness, challenges, conflict resolution, critical thinking, determination, feelings, goal setting, happiness, reptiles, self esteem, stress management, success, turtle

Tim and ginger

Ardizzone, Edward

Tim and Ginger are best friends. One day Ginger goes off on his own. Tim realizes that something is wrong. He searches to find Ginger. After Tim saves him, Ginger saves Tim. Both boys are heroes.

Tags

adventures, boat, challenges, decision making, friendship, heroism, stress management, transportation, verbal communication

Thumbs up, rico!

Testa, Maria

Rico, a boy with Down Syndrome, overcomes many obstacles. See how he does it in three different stories.

Tags

art, basketball, challenges, coping, creativity, differences, disability, diseases, down syndrome, family, friendship, siblings, sports

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.

The watertower

Crew, Gary

Two friends, Bubba and Spike, go for a swim in the Preson Water Tower. Bubba's clothes are blown away so Spike has to go get some more clothes, leaving Bubba alone. The water tower seems to hold some power over the whole town, so what will happen when Bubba is left alone to face the tower?

Tags

australian, bodies of water, challenges, community, critical thinking, exercise, fear, feelings, friendship, multicultural, seasons, summer, swimming

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!

The unbreakable code

Hoagland Hunter, Sara

A young boy is insecure about moving away and leaving what is familiar to him. His grandfather tells about the time when he felt the same way and how he grew proud of his accomplishments.

The truck on the track

Burroway, Janet

A circus truck is stuck on railroad tracks. The circus animals and people try to push the truck off the tracks. They are unable to and the train hits the truck.

Tags

challenges, circus, rhyme, safety

The tale of Willie Monroe

Schroeder, Alan

Willie isn't a smart man, but he sure is strong. He decides to enter a contest to prove it. However, Delilah and her granny have to get him in shape first. Now Willie's reputation and Delilah's love depend on his winning the contest. Do you think he can do it?

Tags

accomplishment, animals, appalachian, author's note, barn, celebration, ceremony, challenges, competition, confidence, cow, determination, encouragement, exercise, family, farm, feelings, folktale, food, friendship, grandparents, hard work, horse, love, marriage, multicultural, nutrition, preparation, pride, self esteem, travel, walking, wedding

The story of the three little pigs

Brooke, L. Leslie

A Mother pig sends her three little pigs out to seek their fortune. In the process, two little pigs are eaten by a wolf. The third little pig outsmarts the wolf, then eats him for dinner.

Tags

adventures, animals, assertiveness, challenges, critical thinking, deception, decision making, food, fortune, pig, problem solving, stress management, surprises, wolf

The spider who never gave up

Flores, Travis

Sparkey the spider tries hard to overcome his inability to spin a web. With encouragement from his mom and his friends and a strong will to never give up, Sparkey finally achieves his goal of spinning the perfect web. Read about the real life struggle of Sparky, as he tries one medicine after another in hope of beating Cystic Fibrosis.

Tags

author's note, bravery, challenges, determination, diseases, dreams, encouragement, family, feelings, insects, parents, pride, self confidence, spider, trust

The shepherd boy

Franklin, Kristine L.

A child has a huge summer job monitoring fifty sheep. Ben takes the sheep to their feeding grounds and saves a lost lamb in the process.

Tags

animals, challenges, courage, seasons, sheep, summer

The say-with-me abc book

Carle, Eric

Learning the letters of the alphabet can easily be accomplished with this book. The letters are boldly presented throughout the story. A child is able to learn the capital and lower case forms of all the letters in the alphabet with this story. (A Wordless Book)

Tags

accomplishment, challenges, confidence, determination, identification, letters, self esteem, understanding

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.

Tags

animals, barn, birds, bodies of water, cardinal, challenges, critical thinking, decision making, excitement, farmer, hunger, mice, poverty, seasons, self confidence, snow, spring, stream, stress management, toys, verbal communication, walking

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.

Tags

art, assertiveness, bravery, challenges, chinese, community, conflict resolution, courage, critical thinking, culture, dragons, heroism, love, loyalty, multicultural, neighbors, verbal communication

The never-ending greenness

Waldman, Neil

A young boy plants trees to cope with the separation and loss he feels from his father who is at war. In doing this he single handedly turns a gloomy countryside destroyed by war back into the beautiful, alive place it once was. He also starts a holiday known today as Tu b'Shvat.

Tags

ambition, author's note, bravery, challenges, change, courage, dedication, dreams, escape, exploration, family, goal setting, hard work, hebrew, history, hope, israelian, Jewish, loss, mountains, multicultural, parents, plants, separation, war

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?

Tags

animals, birds, celebration, challenges, cleanliness, decision making, dinosaur, fear, feelings, food, friendship, happiness, history, loneliness, museum, owl, presentation, sadness, snail, squirrel

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!

The little scarecrow boy

Brown, Margaret Wise

The little scarecrow boy anxiously awaits the day when he can go into the fields and frighten crows like his father does every day. As he grows and grows, he becomes even more determined to become an actual scarecrow. The day finally comes when he has to put his courage to the test.

Tags

accomplishment, ambition, assertiveness, birds, body parts, challenges, confidence, courage, crow, determination, family, farm, goal setting, growing up, nonverbal communication, scarecrows

The little engine that could

Piper, Watty

A train needs an engine to carry toys to good boys and girls. The little engine tries to help, but does not think he can get a this large hill with all the toys. With much persistence, he proves that he can do it.

Tags

assertiveness, challenges, confidence, conflict resolution, decision making, determination, helping, self esteem, toys, transportation

The hare and the tortoise: A fable from aesop

Ward, Helen

Just like Aesop's original folktale, the hare and the tortoise are going to race. The quick but lazy hare takes his speed for granted when he challenges the tortoise. However, when the hare becomes too confident, the tortoise creeps past him to win the race.

Tags

accidents, animals, author's note, bodies of water, caring, challenges, competition, decision making, exercise, folktale, food, garden, goal setting, hard work, intelligence, laziness, nutrition, rabbit, river, running, swimming, tortoise, walking

The hallelujah flight

Bildner, Phil

James Banning fixes up an old plane to fly across the country from California to New York. James's courage and perseverance allows him to overcome many challenges during his 1932 trek across the United States (e.g., California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York).

Tags

accomplishment, adventures, african american, airplane, anger, bias, biography, bodies of water, celebration, challenges, community, courage, crowd, day, determination, direction, discrimination, dreams, feelings, food, geography, hard work, helping, heroism, kindness, machines, maps, monuments, mountains, multicultural, night, numbers, performance, prejudice, relationship, sky, storm, transportation, tree

The golden rain

Mashiri, Pascal

A young child learns from his mother's stories about decision making and choices. He comes to understand that choices make some people happy and leave some disapointed. The child also realizes that help is sometimes needed for the decision making, but ultimately it is up to the individual.

The frog who wanted to be a singer

Goss, Linda

Frog wants to do something no frog has ever done before; sing!He practices and practices until he gets so tired of keeping his talent to himself, he decides to go out into the forest to sing. What he finds is no one believes a frog can sing, so frog has to keep going until someone gives him a chance.

Tags

amphibians, challenges, dreams, fear, feelings, frog, frustration, music, persistence, practice, racism, stereotypes

The enormous potato

Davis, Aubrey

A farmer plants a potato eye to grow a potato. It grows so enormous that the whole family has to work together to pull the potato from the ground. They then cook the potato for the whole town to eat it.

Tags

careers, challenges, conflict resolution, cooperation, critical thinking, decision making, determination, family, farm, food, garden, neighbors, nutrition, plants, problem solving, sequence, sizes, teamwork, verbal communication

The day they put a tax on rainbows

Valentine, Johnny

In a magical land far away, there is a girl who has a magic ring which leads her to discover an undersea kingdom. In this kingdom, a boy who likes to feed birds comes face-to-face with a dragon. A king decides to put a tax on rainbows because his throne is lumpy. Throughout each of these adventures, lessons are learned.

Tags

adventures, awareness, beliefs, bodies of water, bravery, challenges, community, discovery, dragons, fairy, fantasy, love, magic, mermaids, mythical, rain, rainbow, royalty, sea, weather, wedding, wish

The day I had to play with my sister

Bonsall, Crosby

A boy has a hard time dealing with his younger sister while teaching her the rules of hide-and-seek. She just won't listen! Uggh...being a big brother can be tough!

Tags

animals, attention, autumn, behavior, challenges, communication, counting, determination, dog, family, feelings, frustration, games, individuality, learning, listening, numbers, patience, play, playing, relationship, resentment, seasons, sequence, siblings, teaching

The cow that went oink

Most, Bernard

All of the animals on the farm laugh at the cow that says oink and the pig that says moo. This makes the animals feel badly about themselves. The cow and the pig decide to work together and teach each other what they know. In the end, they become the envy of all of the other animals on the farm.

Tags

animals, barn, cat, cattle, challenges, chicken, comparisons, conflict resolution, cow, critical thinking, dog, duck, farm, feelings, goat, learning, pig, self esteem, teaching, teamwork, teasing, verbal communication

The boy who would be a hero

Lewis, Marjorie

A boy grows up in a small village and trains to be a hero. After growing up he leaves the village to become a hero, but instead of rescuing a princess he is caught by a witch. He outwits the witch and returns to the village to be a farmer.

Tags

accomplishment, assertiveness, careers, challenges, cleanliness, community, conflict resolution, courage, critical thinking, determination, family, hygiene, mythical, parents, problem solving, storytelling, success, witches

The boy in the drawer

Munsch, Robert

Shelly's room is a mess but it is not her fault. A little boy that is living in her sock drawer is causing all the problems. How can she get others to believe her?

The blue ribbon day

Couric, Katie

Ellie and Carrie are best friends in the second grade. They do everything together and this year they are trying out for the soccer team. Carrie does not make the team and feels left out. She finds a new hobby, the science fair.

Tags

challenges, competition, confidence, feelings, friendship, goal setting, hard work, school, science, soccer, sports

The big cheese of third street

Anderson, Halse Laurie

Little Benny is bullied constantly for being so little. It isn't until he wins the pole challenge that everyone cheers and honors Benny.

Tags

bully, celebration, challenges, climbing, community, family, flood, games, music, neighbors, party, play, river, siblings, swimming, teasing, violence

The best of times

Tang, Greg

Rhymes and mathematical strategies invite you to learn your multiplication facts.

Tags

activities, awareness, challenges, counting, critical thinking, decision making, exploration, learning, math, numbers, problem solving, rhyme, sequence

The balloon sailors

Swanson, Diana

When bickering princes take the throne, the kingdom is split in two by a wall so that each brother rules half. The kingdom is divided and it is illegal for people to cross the wall. Since Tamala and Abalon are forbidden to see their grandmother and cousin on the other side of the wall, they decide to float over it in a hot air balloon. They work with their parents to collect materials, build the balloon, and wait for the perfect weather conditions. The family departs during the night, escapes military fire from soldiers, and surprises their relatives in the morning. This adventure is loosely based on the true story of two East German families sailing over the Berlin Wall in their own hot air balloon in 1979.

Tags

accomplishment, argument, balloon, barn, bodies of water, bravery, challenges, church, clothing, conflict resolution, cooperation, correspondence, cow, creativity, crisis, dog, emotions, family, germany, goal setting, grandparents, hard work, helping, history, love, multicultural, parents, patience, pets, politics, pond, prison, quilt, reunion, royalty, rules, sadness, separation, sewing, spy, teamwork, train, transportation, verbal communication, weather, wind, writing

Tarzan

San Souci, Robert

Family is defined differently when Tarzan is raised by a group of apes. Tarzan grows into a curious being. Confused by what he knows and what he is finding out, his confusion builds to power as he rules the apes. Can he forget his past to pursue his future?

Tags

acceptance, adoption, africa, aggression, anger, animals, ape, appearance, assertiveness, author's note, challenges, conflict resolution, dancing, death, determination, differences, exploration, family, fight, growing up, jungle, kidnapped, lion, loyalty, multicultural, orphan, reading, survival, writing

Taking asthma to camp: A fictional story about asthma camp

Gosselin, Kim

Justin is scared to leave his parents for the first time to travel to camp. Asthma camp turns out to be a place he greatly enjoys. He learns about asthma and its effects on his body. By the end of the week Justin leaves camp but he can't wait until the following year to come back.

Tags

asthma, awareness, behavior, camping, challenges, change, decision making, diseases, exercise, family, fishing, food, learning, medicine, nutrition, recreation, rules, school, self esteem

Tadpoles

James, Betsy

Growing up is an exciting process, especially for Molly and her brother, Darvy. Molly discovers frog eggs while she is at the pond and is allowed to bring them home until they develop into frogs. While Darvy experiences developmental changes of his own, he learns how to walk. In the end, Darvy teaches Molly an unexpected lesson.

Suddenly alligator: An adverbial tale

Walton, Rick

A young boy decides it is time to buy a new pair of socks to replace the smelly one's he's worn for three years. He travels to town via the swamp discovering items he's lots along the way. He encounters an alligator and a chase ensues. The alligator gets hold of the boys' shoe and when the shoe cocmes off, the odor from the socks, stuns the alligator. The boy continues on his way to buy new socks. With each step along his journey, he experiences an adverbial action.

Tags

alligator, anger, animals, bodies of water, body parts, bravery, challenges, clothing, fear, feelings, five senses, happiness, language, learning, running, smell, spelling, stream, swamp

Stellaluna: A pop-up book and mobile

Cannon, Janell

After being separated from Mother Bat, Stellaluna falls into a nest of baby birds. The family of birds adopt Stellaluna as one of their own, while Stellaluna does her best to eat bugs without making faces, sleep during the night, and stop hanging upside down. In the end, Stellaluna rejoins her mother.

Tags

acceptance, adventures, animals, bat, behavior, birds, challenges, change, cooperation, determination, differences, discovery, family, friendship, habitat, individuality, kindness, learning, loneliness, lost, missing, obedience, parents, peer resistance, relief, self esteem, shelter, similarities, sleep, survival, verbal communication

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