Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

All the cats in the world | by Levitin, Sonia

Mikila, a poor old woman, goes down to the seaside cliffs each day to feed scraps to many hungry cats. She encounters harassment from the old man who controls the lighthouse. The man taunts her, claiming she will never feed all the cats in the world. But Mikila's faithfulness and determination teach the man a lesson.

Keywords: aging, animals, beach, bodies of water, cat, companion, food, friendship, geography, giving, helping, hunger, kindness, sea, teaching

Gullible's troubles | by Shannon, Margaret

Gullible believes everything he hears when his aunt, uncle, or cousin tells him stories. For example, he believes that there are monsters in the basement. When his family tries to trick him again, the joke ends up being on them.

Keywords: animals, beliefs, clothing, critical thinking, deception, family, garden, gerbil, helping, monsters, relationship, shadows, soccer, sports, storytelling, trick

Something queer at the ball park | by Levy, Elizabeth

When Jill's lucky baseball bat is stolen at practice, her best friend Gwen uses her detective skills to help her recover the bat.

Keywords: baseball, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, friendship, helping, robbery, self esteem, sports, teamwork

The bell ringer and the pirates | by Coerr, Eleanor

Pio is a young Indian who lives on a mission. The people at the mission discover that pirates will arrive in two days so they hide in the hills. Pio stays behind to ring the bells so his friends and family know when the pirates come and leave.

Keywords: assertiveness, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, family, friendship, helping, multicultural, native american, pirates, refusal skills, sounds

Beep beep, vroom vroom! | by Murphy, Stuart J.

Molly wants to play with her big brother's brightly colored toy cars just like him. But her family thinks she is too little to share Kevin's cars and besides, he likes to keep them in a special order. Each family member catches Molly playing with Kevin's cars and they help her put them back the way Kevin likes them. In the end, Molly gets a surprise of her own!

Keywords: animals, author's note, birthday, car, colors, disobedience, dog, family, fun, helping, parents, playing, sequence, siblings, sizes, sounds, transportation

Grandpa's song | by Johnston, Tony

Grandpa is the loudest, happiest singer there is. But when he forgets the words to his favorite song, his granddaughter helps him to remember it.

Keywords: aging, conflict resolution, depression, family, feelings, grandparents, helping, memory, music, self esteem, senility, song, verbal communication

Molly and the strawberry day | by Conrad, Pam

Molly and her parents pick strawberries at a farm early in the morning. For the rest of the day, Molly's thoughts are only on strawberries. She puts strawberries on her cereal for breakfast, helps her mother make strawberry jelly and jam, has a strawberry and bologna sandwich for lunch, and even dreams about them during her nap.

Keywords: excitement, family, farm, feelings, food, happiness, helping, nutrition, parents, plants, sleep

Bear and mrs. duck | by Winthrop, Elizabeth

Nora loves Bear. They eat lunch, read stories, and sleep next to each other. Bear gets sick so Mrs. Duck comes to babysit. Bear and Mrs. Duck become friends.

Keywords: animals, bear, birds, caring, child care, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, duck, food, friendship, helping, illness, nutrition, reading, sharing, sleep, verbal communication

Don't forget the bacon | by Hutchins, Pat

A boy is sent to the store for bacon and other items. As the boy walks to the store, he repeats over and over what he is supposed to get. He becomes thoroughly confused and forgets about the bacon. Once he gets home, he is sent back to the store for the bacon.

Keywords: confusion, food, forgetful, helping, nutrition, responsibilities, self esteem, shopping

The sea view hotel | by Stevenson, James

Hubert and his family go on vacation to a beach. Hubert expects to play with other youngsters, but there are none. He never expects a grown-up could be fun too!

Keywords: activities, animals, friendship, fun, goal setting, helping, mouse, play, shelter, stress management, travel, vacation

The surprise garden | by Hall, Zoe

Three children eagerly wait to discover what marvelous plants will grow from the seeds they sowed.

Keywords: animals, author's note, bee, birds, bluejay, butterfly, celebration, colors, dog, family, flowers, food, garden, health, helping, insects, ladybug, nature, nonverbal communication, nutrition, party, pets, plants, rabbit, seasons, siblings, summer, sun, surprises, teamwork, verbal communication, water

It's hard to share my teacher | by Prestine, Joan Singleton

Josh is having a hard time learning to share in school. He is especially frustrated when his teacher is busy helping other students. He wants to share his artwork with his teacher and his classmates. He ends up learning why sharing is so important.

Keywords: art, basketball, colors, conflict resolution, feelings, frustration, helping, nutrition, patience, school, self confidence, self esteem, sharing, sports, teaching

Thank you, mr. falker | by Polacco, Patricia

Trisha loves being read to and loves being at school because she can draw there. When it is Trisha's time to read, she is teased and feels dumb. Thanks to Mr. Falker, one of her teachers, she gains confidence and learns how to read.

Keywords: books, conflict resolution, emotions, family, feelings, frustration, grandparents, helping, learning, nonverbal communication, reading, sadness, school, teaching, teamwork, teasing

Math curse | by Scieszka, Jon

Don't let math overwhelm you!Your teacher can help you so math is not a curse. Or will she?

Keywords: fear, feelings, helping, learning, numbers, school, teaching

Hunter and his dog | by Wildsmith, Brian

A dog is raised by a hunting dog, but refuses to bring back the wounded birds. Instead he brings back sticks. The hunting dog is ashamed at first, but then begins to help the wounded birds fly away to safety.

Keywords: assertiveness, birds, caring, conflict resolution, decision making, disobedience, helping, learning, nonverbal communication, recreation, refusal skills, safety

A safe place | by Trottier, Maxine

As a child, Emily watched her mother endure physical abuse. One night Emily's mom awakens her and she is only allowed to take her teddy bear. They go to a house with many mothers and children. All of them are watched over by a lady named Jane. Emily and her mother stay for awhile, then leave to move into their new apartment.

Keywords: change, conflict, conflict resolution, coping, family, feelings, fight, frustration, helping, parents, protection, running away, sadness, safety, security, self esteem, shelter, stress management, violence, worry

The warrior and the wiseman | by Wisniewski, David

Two sons of the emperor are in competition for the throne. One is a warrior who only thinks of himself, and the other is the wiseman who helps others. The wiseman ends up saving the kingdom and taking the throne.

Keywords: assertiveness, community, conflict resolution, critical thinking, family, helping, responsibilities, royalty, selfishness, siblings, verbal communication

The great white owl of sissinghurst | by Simmons, Dawn Langley

Three young children stay at an English castle and are fascinated by a great white owl who lives there. The owl is shot and the children help to restore its health.

Keywords: beauty, birds, helping, injury, kindness, owl, royalty, sounds, survival, sympathy

Curious George rides a bike (Georges fait du velo) | by Rey, H.A.

Curious George, a monkey from Africa, receives a new bicycle from a man who wears a yellow hat. He has many interesting adventures on his new bike, including riding into a rock when he watches boats travel down the river.

Keywords: animals, assertiveness, bear, bicycle, birds, boat, bodies of water, car, clothing, conflict resolution, critical thinking, curiosity, decision making, duck, excitement, exercise, feelings, fish, friendship, guilt, happiness, helping, heroism, misbehavior, mischief, monkey, nonverbal communication, problem solving, refusal skills, river, sadness, self esteem, toys, transportation, zoo

Calvin crocodile and the terrible noise | by Pickett, Carla

A lion tries to tell Calvin the crocodile that he is king. Calvin does not believe him, so they have a contest to see who can make the loudest noise. The lion makes the loudest noise, which cracks the dam and the river floods the land. The crocodile helps the lion so he will not drown.

Keywords: animals, assertiveness, competition, conflict resolution, critical thinking, crocodile, decision making, goal setting, helping, lion, noise, nonverbal communication, peer resistance, reptiles, royalty, safety, sounds

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