Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Sun mother wakes the world: An Australian creation story | by Wolkstein, Diane

The indigenous people of Australia believe their ancestors created the world through the sun shining on all living things to wake them up, bringing them to life. Sun Mother then creates the Morning Sun and the Moon to watch over ther children living on Earth in this spiritual, emotional, and multicultural story of creation.

Keywords: aborigine, amphibians, animals, australian, beetle, birds, caterpillar, cave, celebration, cricket, direction, earth, emotions, emu, fear, folktale, frog, grub, happiness, insects, kangaroo, life, love, moon, multicultural, nonverbal communication, owl, plants, platypus, reptiles, self esteem, sky, sleep, snake, stars, sun, tree, understanding, verbal communication, walkabout, wind, wombat

Ant and honey bee: What a pair! | by McDonald, Megan

Ant and Honey Bee use their friendship to create a two-things-that-go-together pair of costumes for Cricket's party. As it starts to rain on the walk to Cricket's house, what will happen to Ant and Honey Bees costumes?

Keywords: ambition, ant, anticipation, assertiveness, bee, beetle, butterfly, challenges, communication, conflict resolution, creativity, cricket, critical thinking, determination, feelings, fly, friendship, goal setting, happiness, hard work, imagination, insects, party, persistence, sadness, spider, teamwork, verbal communication

The very quiet cricket | by Carle, Eric

As the little cricket makes his way across the land, he encounters many friends. The little cricket's only problem is that he cannot answer. He tries rubbing his wings together, but they do not make a sound. It is only when the very quiet cricket meets a female cricket that he makes a beautiful sound.

Keywords: cricket, determination, five senses, friendship, frustration, gender, goal setting, insects, self confidence, sounds, verbal communication

The leaf man | by Joyce, William

When the Old Lady is too sick to take care of the garden, the brave bugs realized that they must summon the Leaf Men to save the garden from the destruction made by the evil Spider Queen. The Leaf Men save the garden and the Old Lady's heart returns so she can once again grow her garden.

Keywords: aging, ant, bravery, cricket, environment, flowers, garden, goblins, insects, lost, moon, mystery, nature, spider, storm, toys, weather

All upon a stone | by George, Jean Craig

A mole cricket is lonely and wants to find others. He struggles to the top of a large stone and signals the other mole crickets. In the end he discovers he was happy where he was originally.

Keywords: cricket, dancing, feelings, friendship, goal setting, insects, loneliness, self esteem, separation, verbal communication

Nicholas cricket | by Maxner, Joyce

Nick the cricket plays the banjo every night. All of the critters come out to dance in the still evening.

Keywords: animals, cricket, dancing, exercise, insects, music, night, nonverbal communication, recreation, rhyme, verbal communication

A pocket of cricket | by Caudill, Rebecca

Jay, a six year old boy, finds a cricket and makes him his pet. On the first day of school, Jay takes Cricket to school in his pocket. When Cricket chirps in class, Jay's teacher asks him to take it out for show and tell. Jay is very proud to show off his cricket.

Keywords: cricket, decision making, insects, noise, pets, refusal skills, school, self esteem, verbal communication

Maggie and the pirate | by Keats, Ezra Jack

Maggie has a cricket in a cage that is stolen. Maggie and her friends look for the pirate who stole the cricket and find him but the cricket is dead. The pirate gives Maggie a new cricket, and they all become friends.

Keywords: assertiveness, conflict resolution, cricket, critical thinking, decision making, feelings, friendship, insects, nonverbal communication, pirates, robbery, verbal communication

Cricket boy | by Ziner, Feenie

Hu Sing's father is asked to come to the emperor's palace to fight his champion cricket against the emperor's own champion. In trying to protect the cricket, Hu Sing accidentally kills it, and then kills himself, until he has a strange dream.

Keywords: assertiveness, beliefs, chinese, competition, conflict resolution, cricket, death, decision making, dreams, family, grandparents, grief, insects, loss, multicultural, parents, respect, royalty, self esteem, verbal communication, vision

Lady bird, quickly | by Kepes, Juliet

The message that Lady Bird's house is on fire and her children are alone is sent from insect to insect. Lady Bird hears the news and rushes home to a pleasant surprise.

Keywords: bee, cricket, critical thinking, dragonfly, fire, insects, shelter

Putting the world to sleep | by Thomas, Shelley Moore

As nighttime falls, bedtime is right around the corner. A soothing lullaby sets the mood for sleep, through a warm stanza repetition. A glowing fireplace, shining stars, and yawning baby signal a farewell to daylight.

Keywords: animals, baby, bedtime, cricket, day, dog, fire, insects, moon, mountains, night, nonverbal communication, owl, repetition, sea, sleep, stars, tree

I wish I were a butterfly | by Howe, James

A little cricket is sad and wishes to be a beautiful butterfly. Through talking to an older cricket, the littlest cricket soon realized, that he too, was beautiful.

Keywords: acceptance, appearance, beauty, body image, cricket, dragonfly, feelings, happiness, insects, sadness, self esteem, spider, verbal communication

One duck stuck | by Root, P.

One duck gets stuck in the muck down by the marsh. Creatures by the marsh try to help him get free. Creatures come first two, then three, then adding one every time. No one can free the duck by themselves but as a team, the duck is freed.

Keywords: alliteration, animals, conflict resolution, counting, cricket, dragonfly, duck, fish, frog, helping, moose, numbers, opossum, rhyme, sequence, skunk, snail, snake, stress management, teamwork, verbal communication

Mice squeak, we speak | by dePaola, Arnold L.

Everyone knows that people communicate through talking. What about animals?How do animals communicate?Looking at different animals we can see that each kind of animal communicates in its own unique way using different sounds.

Keywords: animals, bat, bear, bee, birds, cat, chicken, colors, cow, coyote, cricket, dog, dove, duck, fly, frog, horse, insects, lion, mice, monkey, multicultural, owl, parrot, pig, rhythm, sheep, sounds

Big mama | by 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.

Keywords: animals, cat, community, creativity, cricket, dog, exercise, family, firefly, food, garden, goal setting, grandparents, insects, moth, mule, neighbors, nonverbal communication, parents, self esteem, sports, walking

Country crossing | by Aylesworth, Jim

The sights and sounds of the country railroad crossing during the first part of the twentieth century are recounted. First there is only the wind blowing with animals standing around. As a car approaches the crossing, the gate is lowered to signal the approach of a noisy train.

Keywords: animals, birds, car, cricket, five senses, history, insects, noise, owl, sounds, train, transportation, vision

Little rabbit goes to sleep | by Johnston, Tony

A little rabbit can't fall asleep because he is afraid of the dark. But his grandfather helps him get over his fear by appreciating the moon, stars, and crickets of the night. He is no longer afraid.

Keywords: animals, bedtime, conflict resolution, cricket, family, fear, feelings, grandparents, insects, moon, rabbit, sleep, stars

Feliciana feydra leroux: A cajun tall tale | by Thomassie, Tynia

Feliciana Feydra LeRoux is her grandpa's favorite grandchild, and he lets her do just about anything, except what she most wants to do--go alligator hunting with the boys. Determined to show her grandfather that she can handle the hunt, Feliciana sneaks out only to come face to face with an alligator and become a hero.

Keywords: alligator, amphibians, animals, cajun, courage, crab, cricket, critical thinking, crustaceans, decision making, determination, family, fear, french, frog, grandparents, insects, multicultural, parents, reptiles, verbal communication

Bayou lullaby | by Appelt, Kathi

A young girl is put to sleep by her parents telling a lullaby.

Keywords: alligator, amphibians, animals, birds, boat, bodies of water, cajun, crawfish, cricket, crustaceans, dragonfly, family, frog, heron, insects, language, moon, mosquito, multicultural, nature, parents, rhyme, sleep, stream, tadpole, transportation, verbal communication

Snake alley band | by Nygaard, Elizabeth

The snakes of Snake Alley love their snake band. The snakes hiss and bop their tails to make a great sound together. One summer day, a cricket, frog, fish, bird, and turtle tell the littlest snake that they would like to be in a band and demonstrate their unique sounds. Snake only wants to be with his snake band until he realizes that they never sound different at all and maybe it would be nice to have the other musicians in the snake band too. The other snakes do not like his idea, so the littlest snake starts his own band with the cricket, frog, fish, bird, and turtle.

Keywords: amphibians, autumn, birds, bodies of water, cricket, fish, frog, insects, lake, music, noise, reptiles, seasons, sleep, snake, sounds, spring, turtle, verbal communication, winter, woods

Browse Abstracts (21 total)