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

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It was a dark and stormy night

Ahlberg, Janet//Ahlberg, Allan

An eight-year-old boy named Antonio is kidnapped by thieves. The chief orders Antonio to tell a story, which he cleverly uses for his escape. His story includes all sorts of adventures.

Tags

adventures, animals, bear, courage, critical thinking, deception, escape, imagination, storytelling, verbal communication

Brothers of the knight

Allen, Debbie

Twelve brothers magically disappear every night even though their door is locked. Their father hires a housekeeper to figure out the mystery of his boys. She learns to listen, which turns out to be more powerful than simply solving a mystery.

Tags

african american, bedtime, careers, church, conflict resolution, dancing, deception, exercise, family, generations, hard work, magic, multicultural, music, mystery, parents, relationship, secrets, siblings, stress management

Mary alice returns

Allen, Jeffrey

Mary Alice is a switchboard operator on whom everyone depends. She completes her job perfectly until one day, when Karen squirrel plays dangerous games with her.

Tags

animals, chicken, communication, deception, duck, misunderstanding, mystery, squirrel, teasing

Peeping beauty

Auch, Mary Jane

Poulette, the dancing hen, dreams of becoming a ballerina someday. A hungry fox tries to trick Poulette onto his dinner plate by appealing to her dreams of dancing in a New York show. It is Poulette that ends up deserving the applause in the end.

Tags

animals, birds, chicken, conflict resolution, critical thinking, dancing, deception, dreams, exercise, food, fox, self esteem, stress management, trick

Henry possum

Berson, Harold

Young Henry Possum has so much energy that he'll never learn to play dead. He makes many friends, but one is a wolf, so he soon discovers what his mother has been trying to teach him all along.

Tags

adventures, animals, assertiveness, critical thinking, deception, decision making, family, learning, music, nature, nonverbal communication

How the amazon queen fought the prince of Egypt

Bower, Tamara

The land of Khor was a peaceful place free of men, in which woman could live side by side in harmony. One day, Pedikhous, of Egpyt decides to test the strength of the women through various attacks. To his surprise the women are stronger and more determined than he ever imagined. Instead of fighting against them, de decides to live in peace and love beside them.

Honey...honey...lion!

Brett, Jan

A badger and a honeyguide work together to find bee hives for honey. One day, the badger betrays the honeyguide and uses his help to eat all the honey himself. The honeyguide decides to get even and provides a twist in the end.

Tags

anger, animals, appreciation, assertiveness, badger, bee, birds, communication, conflict resolution, deception, decision making, hippopotamus, insects, lion, nature, nonverbal communication, overeating, termite, trick

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 true francine

Brown, Marc

Francine and all of her friends, including the new girl, Muffy, get the meanest teacher for third grade. Francine gets in trouble for cheating when it was really Muffy who cheats. Francine is kept from playing in the big softball game until at the last minute Muffy tells the truth.

Tags

conflict resolution, deception, decision making, exercise, feelings, friendship, nonverbal communication, peer resistance, self esteem, softball, sports, stress management, teamwork, telephone, television, truth, verbal communication

Arthur's first sleepover

Brown, Marc

Arthur is having his first sleepover in a tent in his backyard. Arthur and his friends Buster and Brian plan to watch for spaceships and aliens during the night. Arthur's sister plays a trick on the boys, and they come up with a plan to get her back.

Tags

bedtime, camping, critical thinking, deception, excitement, family, fear, fun, night, parents, recreation, shadows, siblings, sounds, teasing, verbal communication

Stone soup

Brown, Marcia

Three hungry soldiers walk down the road. They stop at several houses to ask for food, but nobody has any extra to share. One of the soldiers tricks the townspeople and says he can make stone soup. By the time the soup is finished, all of the townspeople contribute some type of food to the soup.

Tags

community, deception, folktale, food, nutrition, sharing, teamwork

A day's work

Bunting, Eve

Fransico takes his grandfather out to look for work. His grandfather does not speak English, so Fransico must translate. Fransico accepts a gardening job for his grandfather by telling the man he is a great gardener. When the man comes at the end of the day, he finds the job done incorrectly. Fransico's lie teaches him an invaluable lesson.

Liar, liar, pants on fire!

Cohen, Miriam

A new boy in the first grade boasts and tells lies to impress his classmates. It backfires and the kids will not play with him because he is a liar. He makes friends at the Christmas party by being himself and telling the truth.

Tags

appearance, conflict resolution, deception, friendship, honesty, nonverbal communication, party, school, self esteem, truth, verbal communication

Mother goose and the sly fox

Conover, Chris

Mother Goose leaves her seven goslings with Mr. Mouse while she goes to town. Although the goslings have been warned not to let anyone in, the sly fox tricks them into opening the door and catches all but one. Mother Goose rescues her goslings by playing a trick on the fox.

Tags

animals, birds, conflict resolution, critical thinking, deception, fox, mouse, play, responsibilities, rules, trust, verbal communication

The foolish giant

Coville, Bruce//Coville, Katherine

Harry the giant may not be very bright, but he is definitely very kind. When a wizard threatens to take over the town, Harry risks getting turned into a stone toad. Instead, the wizard's plan backfires and he turns himself into a stone toad.

Tags

appreciation, conflict resolution, critical thinking, deception, friendship, giants, greed, kindness, mythical, rocks, self esteem

Tom

dePaola, Tomie

Tommy and his grandfather share the same name. At the same time they enjoy sharing time together and playing jokes on one another. One day, Tom gives Tommy some chicken legs because he is a butcher. He takes the chicken legs to school and gets in trouble for scaring a girl.

Tags

careers, deception, disobedience, family, food, grandparents, nutrition, school, verbal communication

The gruffalo

Donaldson, Julia

A cunning mouse is able to deceive a fox, owl, and a snake into thinking he has a gruffalo as a friend. Things look bad for the mouse when the gruffalo actually appears and wants him for a meal. Using his wits, the mouse is able to convince the gruffalo that he, the mouse, is the scariest creature in the woods.

Tags

animals, birds, bodies of water, communication, critical thinking, deception, dishonesty, fear, food, fox, interpretation, mischief, monsters, mouse, owl, perspective, sly, snake, stream, trick, wilderness, wildlife, wind, woods

Seven sillies

Dunbar, Joyce

Six barnyard animals are tricked by a frog to jump into a pond.

Tags

amphibians, animals, bodies of water, deception, farm, frog, mouse, pig, pond, self esteem, sheep, verbal communication

Lucky and the giant

Elkin, Benjamin

Lucky, the little boy, has to outsmart the giant, Elmo, in order to get his parents back. He does three tasks to get them back as well as the brook that the giant stole. In the end, the family is together again, and Elmo becomes their friend.

Tags

conflict resolution, cooperation, critical thinking, deception, forgiveness, friendship, giants, mythical, stress management, verbal communication

When bluebell sang

Ernst, Lisa Campbell

Bluebell the cow is on her way to stardom because of her wonderful singing voice. Yet once she hits stardom, she becomes homesick. After tricking her nasty manager, Bluebell spends the rest of her days singing with the other cows.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, cow, critical thinking, deception, homesickness, peer resistance, stress management, success

Miss penny and mr. grubbs

Ernst, Lisa Campbell

Mr. Grubbs is tired of Miss Penny winning first prize for her vegetables. This year will be different though. This year, Mr. Grubbs plans on sabotoging Miss Penny's garden with hungry rabbits. So instead of winning first prize for her vegetables, she wins first prize for her rabbits.

Tags

animals, critical thinking, deception, garden, neighbors, rabbit, stress management

Longbeard the wizard

Fleischman, Sid

A young king is bored so he decides to dress as a wizard and perform magic tricks for his village. A neighboring kingdom hears of this wizard and kidnaps him. The wizard has to outsmart the neighboring king to escape and get some treasure for himself.

Tags

acting, conflict resolution, critical thinking, deception, decision making, magic, poverty, royalty, verbal communication

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.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, chicken, critical thinking, deception, exercise, farm, goal setting, running, seasons, self esteem, spring, winter

When agnes caws

Fleming, Candace

Agnes Peregrine has always loved birds and has recently found out that she has a true talent for bird calling. She goes to the Himalayan Mountains with her mother in search of the rarest bird of all. Little does she know that an evil colonel has followed them and wants this rare bird for his own collection!

Tags

accomplishment, africa, assertiveness, beauty, birds, boat, careers, collection, conflict, conservation, critical thinking, deception, decision making, duck, hummingbird, hunting, jungle, maps, mischief, mountains, pheasant, refusal skills, rescue, sounds, train, travel, verbal communication, wilderness, yak

The bakers dozen

Forest, Heather

Jan Van Amsterdam is a well known baker. People travel from all over to buy his goods. When he begins to get greedy, he starts to use less ingredients in his cookies. When a woman asks for a bakers dozen, he only gives her 12 She puts a curse on him and his baked goods. When he finally realizes that a bakers dozen is 13, the curse is broken.

Tags

author's note, careers, celebration, christmas, community, deception, folktale, food, greed, holidays, magic, nutrition, poverty, seasons, winter

The funny thing

Gag, Wanda

A wise mountain man uses his wisdom to outsmart a mean dragon.

Tags

conflict resolution, critical thinking, deception, dragons, mountains, verbal communication

The three little pigs

Galdone, Paul

When three little pigs leave home to seek their fortune, each builds a house made of various materials. A mean wolf blows down the houses of the first and second pigs, then eats them for dinner. The wolf is outsmarted by the third pig who cooks the wolf for dinner.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, conflict resolution, critical thinking, death, deception, food, fortune, pig, refusal skills, shelter, verbal communication, wolf

Oink

Geisert, Arthur

Baby pigs sneak away and get into mischief while their mother sleeps. Eventually they are rescued from their troubles.

Tags

animals, conflict resolution, deception, decision making, disobedience, family, nonverbal communication, parents, pig, rescue, safety, sleep

Roger takes charge

Gretz, Susanna

Roger is left in charge of his little brother Nelson. Their neighbor, Flo, decides to take care of both of the boys. In the end, the two brothers trick her into getting in trouble.

Tags

assertiveness, child care, conflict resolution, critical thinking, deception, decision making, family, neighbors, play, responsibilities, self esteem, siblings

Jack, skinny bones, and the golden pancakes

Helldorfer, M.C.

An orphan boy befriends Skinny Bones, the dog of a hot-tempered old lady named Granny Trick. Together the boy and the dog must not only out smart Granny, but even the devil himself!

Kitten's first full moon

Henkes, Kevin

A little kitten sees a full moon for the first time. He thinks it is a bowl of milk and tries to reach it. Then he sees the full moon reflecting in a pond and thinks it's a bowl of milk. After getting wet and sad, he goes home to find his very own bowl of milk.

Tags

animals, bodies of water, cat, deception, feelings, food, injury, moon, night, pond, sadness

A bargain for frances

Hoban, Russell

Frances saves money to buy a real china tea pot. Thelma swindles Frances out of her money and buys the tea pot. Frances then tricks Thelma out of the tea pot and they are friends again.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, awareness, conflict resolution, critical thinking, deception, friendship, goal setting, honesty, play, refusal skills, self esteem, verbal communication

Henry's baby

Hoffman, Mary

Henry wants to be a part of the in crowd at his school. They want to come over to Henry's house, but he is afraid for them to see he has a baby brother. However, all the guys think the baby is neat.

Tags

baby, conflict resolution, critical thinking, deception, family, feelings, friendship, happiness, multicultural, self esteem, siblings, stress management

Which witch is which?

Hutchins, Pat

Ella and Emily, a pair of identical twins, dress up as witches for a Halloween party. No one can tell which witch is which. Eventually, their choice of food, games, and colors help to tell them apart.

Tags

celebration, colors, conflict resolution, confusion, deception, differences, family, food, games, halloween, helping, holidays, nonverbal communication, party, siblings, uniqueness, witches

Robin goodfellow and the giant dwarf

Jennings, Michael

Robin Goodfellow likes to get into mischief. One day he decides to play a trick on a slow-witted giant. The giant appears to be smaller and goes to others for advice and help.

Tags

assertiveness, conflict resolution, deception, differences, giants, helping, self esteem, sizes, stress management

Sidney

Jeschke, Susan

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

Tags

animals, birds, critical thinking, deception, fox, self esteem

The cow who wouldn't come down

Johnson, Paul

Miss Rosemary has a problem when her cow, Gertrude, starts flying and won't stop. Miss Rosemary has to use some clever tricks to get Gertrude to act as a cow should, including using a help wanted sign.

Tags

animals, cow, critical thinking, deception, humor, problem solving

Whose cat is that?

Kahl, Virginia

A white cat curiously roams one house after another and every house names the cat who visits. When a committee comes to town to make sure every household has a cat, the children change the cats to look different in order to fool the committee.

Tags

animals, cat, community, conflict resolution, confusion, deception, neighbors, pets

The perfect pancake

Kahl, Virginia

A Good Wife makes only one perfect pancake for each person in town until one day a beggar comes along and tricks her into cooking enough until everyone was satisfied.

Tags

community, deception, food, friendship, hunger, neighbors, numbers, nutrition, overeating, rhyme

The wolf's chicken stew

Kasza, Keiko

Mr. Wolf loves to eat, so when he sees a chicken he decides to make chicken stew. He feeds the chicken for several weeks to fatten her up. When it is time to make the stew, his plan backfires and instead he makes dinner for the chicken.

Tags

animals, birds, chicken, deception, food, mischief, nutrition, wolf

Chicken little (Pollita pequenita)

Kellogg, Steven

Chicken Little thinks that the sky is falling so she tells all her friends. They are all tricked by the fox, and he captures them. In the end, the fox is captured and put in prison.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, birds, chicken, conflict resolution, creativity, critical thinking, deception, decision making, fantasy, fear, fox, goal setting, goose, imagination, nonverbal communication, sky, turkey, verbal communication

Five little monkeys

Kepes, Juliet

Five mischievous monkeys are always playing tricks on the other animals in the jungle. After a trick is played on them, they change their ways and even manage to save their new friends from Terrible the Tiger.

Tags

animals, conflict resolution, deception, friendship, jungle, lion, mischief, monkey, stress management, tiger, verbal communication

Four dollars and fifty cents

Kimmel, Eric A.

Shorty Long owes widow MaCrae $450 The widow wants her money for Shorty but no one believes she will ever get that money back. The widow goes to Shorty's ranch but Shorty pretends to be dead so he doesn't have to pay her. The widow is suspicious and Shorty almost really dies just so he won't have to pay the widow her $450

Tags

argument, assertiveness, conflict resolution, cowboys, deception, determination, humor, persistence, pretend, ranch, sly

Hershel and the hanukkah goblins

Kimmel, Eric A.

Hershel spends his Hanakkah holiday in the old town synagoue. his purpose is to ward off the terrible coblins that keep the villagers from celebrating Hanukkah. Hershel restores the holiday to the village by out-smarting the goblins.

Tags

assertiveness, beliefs, bravery, community, confidence, critical thinking, deception, goal setting, goblins, hanukkah, holidays, Jewish, multicultural, mythical, religion, spiritual, traditions

The chanukkah tree

Kimmel, Eric A.

The citizens of Chelm are tricked by a salesman selling Christmas trees. All the citzens of Chelm are Jewish and celebrate Hanukkah. The salesman tells them that Hanukkah trees are the latest trend in America. They believe him, buy the tree, and find out they were tricked. The citizens make the best of it by continuing the Hanukkah tree for the birds to enjoy.

Tags

birds, celebration, closeness, community, deception, disappointment, goal setting, hanukkah, hard work, holidays, Jewish, multicultural, snow, teamwork, weather

The day the rooster didn't crow

Kruse, Max

Spiros is a farmer who depends on his crow to get every day started. One day, the rooster was depressed and wouldn't crow because the world was dark. Finally, Spiros tricks his rooster into crowing again.

Tags

birds, careers, chicken, deception, depression, farm, feelings, nonverbal communication, sun

Nobody stole the pie

Levitin, Sonia

In the town of Little Digby, there is a Lollyberry tree that grows delicious berries. Each year, they have a festival and eat a big lollyberry pie. Everyone takes a little piece throughout the day and think nothing of it. By the time of celebration, there is only one piece left for the mayor. Nobody admits to stealing the pie, but the mayor knows everybody stole the pie.

Tags

assertiveness, community, conflict resolution, deception, decision making, food, nutrition, party, peer resistance, robbery, verbal communication

Something queer in rock and roll

Levy, Elizabeth

A group of young friends start a music group and want to enter a contest. Their dog, Arnold, howls in their song It's a Dog's Life. A boy from another group sabotages them by feeding Arnold so much pizza that he will not howl anymore.

Tags

animals, competition, conflict resolution, deception, dog, food, friendship, music, nutrition, pets, problem solving

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.

Tags

argument, clothing, conflict resolution, deception, friendship, neighbors, verbal communication

Mouse soup

Lobel, Arnold

A mouse tricks a weasel into getting some ingredients he needs from other stories to make a delicious mouse soup.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, conflict resolution, creativity, critical thinking, deception, decision making, food, imagination, mouse, nutrition, problem solving, weasel

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Browse Items (110 items total)