Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Mel fell | by Tabor, Corey R.

Today is Mel's first day out of the nest. She tells her siblings "See you soon!" and she jumps, flips, then spreads her wings to fall into the water. Mel catches a fat little fish in the water, then repeats the process flying upward past her neighbors: the snail, the spiders, the bees, and the squirrels. Mel's Mom cheers as Mel enters the nest to receive a big hug.

Keywords: affection, animals, ant, anticipation, arachnids, bee, birds, bodies of water, challenges, direction, fear, feelings, insects, kingfisher, mollusks, parents, persistence, siblings, snail, spider, squirrel

Armadilly chili | by Ketteman, Helen

Billie decides to make armadilly chili. She asks her friends to help her but they are all busy and do not want to help. After Billie makes the chili, all of her friends knock on her door. Billie will not let them eat because they wouldn't help. She soon realizes her chili is missing something: her friends!

One small place in a tree | by Brenner, Barbara

A bear scratches the bark of a tree; beetles form small openings; a woodpecker eats the beetles; bacteria takes over the tree and a small hole is formed. Although the tree is dying, this small hole is still a home for many animals. Both living and dying trees are important as shelter and home to living organisms.

Keywords: aging, amphibians, animals, autumn, bear, beetle, birds, birth, bluebird, change, critical thinking, death, frog, home, insects, mouse, nature, nonverbal communication, rain, safety, seasons, snake, snow, spider, spring, squirrel, summer, tree, weather, wildlife, wind, winter, woodpecker

The shape of me and other stuff | by Seuss, Dr.

Read and explore the uniqueness of everything around us. Everything and everyone has their own shape and we should be proud of the one we have.

Keywords: balloon, bee, bicycle, boat, camel, clothing, colors, comparisons, differences, elephant, fire, fish, flowers, horse, imagination, insects, machines, mice, mountains, poetry, shapes, ship, spider, uniqueness, water

The spider who never gave up | by 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.

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

Paws, claws, hands, and feet | by Hutmacher, Kimberly

We run, jump, hop and rest, just like the critters and creatures featured in Paws, Claws, Hands, and Feet. Go along on the exciting dream journey from morning to night, playing alongside squirrels, monkeys, kangaroos, and penguins. Finally, as the sun sets, snuggle beneath the covers and snooze, with recollections of animals at play.

Keywords: activities, adaptation, animals, birds, dreams, eagle, elephant, frog, habitat, kangaroo, lion, monkey, mouse, panda, penguin, spider, squirrel

On Meadowview Street | by Coles, Henry

Caroline and her family move into a new house on Meadowview street. Much to Caroline's dismay, there is no meadow on Meadowview Street. After Caroline's hard work to create a wild life preserve in her own backyard, there is now a meadow on Meadowview Street, a new home to many.

Keywords: ambition, amphibians, animals, bat, bee, beetle, birds, bodies of water, butterfly, dragonfly, family, flowers, home, hummingbird, insects, mouse, moving, nature, neighbors, parents, plants, pond, reptiles, rescue, spider, swallow, teamwork, tree, turtle, wildlife, wren

Silver threads | by Skrypuch, Marsha Forchuk

Ivan and Anna flee from Ukraine and sail to Canada where they are promised land for farming. They begin a new life, but Canada soon joins World War I. Ivan tries to fight for Canada in the war, but they take him as a prisoner instead. Years pass and Anna waits alone until Ivan finally returns to the farm from an internment camp

Keywords: assertiveness, canada, christmas, conflict resolution, cooperation, escape, farm, food, history, holidays, hope, immigrants, love, loyalty, multicultural, patience, prayer, spider, stress management, ukrainian, war

The any bully | by Nickle, John

Lucas is and ordinary boy with glasses being mistreated by Sid, the neighborhood bully. Lucas copes with the bullying by tormenting ants with water. The ants retaliate and take Lucas to their Queen ant. She has Lucas shrunk so he can live and work as an ant so he can appreciate what they do. Lucas gathered food, defended the colony, and attended to the queen. The queen appreciates the lesson Lucas has learned and rewards him by turning him back into his normal size. When Lucas wakes up, he sees that the ants have decided to teach Sid a lesson, because he has now been shrunk to their…

Keywords: ant, bath, beetle, body parts, bully, conflict resolution, courage, decision making, family, feelings, glasses, hard work, insects, misbehavior, nonverbal communication, nutrition, peer resistance, refusal skills, self esteem, sizes, spider, stress management, wasp, water

Bugs! bugs! bugs! | by Barner, Bob

A child uses rhyme to describe the insects she sees. The actual sizes of the bugs are included, as well as a bug-o-meter, which tells where the bug lives, how many legs the bug has, if it can fly, and if it stings.

Keywords: ant, art, assertiveness, bee, bug, butterfly, caterpillar, colors, counting, critical thinking, graphing, grasshopper, habitat, insects, ladybug, math, nonverbal communication, rhyme, rhythm, science, spider, verbal communication

Yuck! | by Granstrom, Brita & Manning, Mick

Yuck! shows us some of the animal world's most interesting babies, along with what they love to eat for supper! Let's look at what human babies eat!

Keywords: amphibians, baby, beetle, birds, comparisons, critical thinking, decision making, family, food, insects, nutrition, spider, toad, worm

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

Pick a pumpkin, Mrs. Millie! | by Cox, Judy

Silly Mrs. Millie is at it again. In the fall, she takes her kindergarten class on a trip to pick pumpkins for their harvest party. The class has fun guessing the meanings of their favorite teacher's nonsense words. They go on a dragon (wagon) ride, pet the boats (goats), and drink apple spider (cider). Coupled with hilarious artwork in pen, pencil, and colored dyes by Joe Mathieu, this lighthearted text sets a class trip on its ear with subtle lessons in wordplay.

Keywords: animals, bus, clothing, farm, food, garden, goat, holidays, humor, mule, nutrition, play, scarecrows, school, sheep, spider, transportation, vocabulary

The busy tree | by Ward, Jennifer

Spectacular illustrations rendered in oil paint, and a rhyming text that describes tree's activities from its roots to its branches, introduce young readers to the amazing activities that go on in a tree. See acorns nibbled by chipmunks, ants scurrying across a trunk, and a spider spinning a web. Everything adds up to a busy tree for all to come and see.

Keywords: animals, ant, autumn, birds, chipmunk, cocoon, cycle, habitat, insects, mole, moon, moth, nature, owl, plants, rhyme, seed, spider, squirrel, swinging, tree, woodpecker

I know an old lady who swallowed a fly | by Rounds, Glen

During this familiar folksong, an old lady swallows all sorts of animals. In each instance, she swallows another animal in hopes of catching the previously swallowed animal.

Keywords: animals, birds, cat, dog, five senses, fly, folktale, goat, horse, humor, sequence, song, spider, taste

The lady and the spider | by McNulty, Faith

A spider lives peacefully in a head of lettuce in a lady's garden. The lady sees the spider when she cleans the lettuce and returns the spider to the garden.

Keywords: critical thinking, decision making, food, garden, insects, kindness, nutrition, spider

The spider who created the world | by MacDonald, Amy

Nobb, the spider, needs a place to set her egg but the sun, moon, and cloud don't want her around. Her only friend, Air, offers her a place but Air can't hold an egg so Nobb uses her net to catch the sun, moon, and cloud and uses pieces of them to create a home for her egg. When she had created the world the egg hatched and from it came all the creatures of the world.

Keywords: animals, assertiveness, astronomy, birds, birth, bodies of water, clouds, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, fish, friendship, goal setting, insects, moon, mythical, ocean, shelter, spider, sun, verbal communication

A web in the grass | by Freschet, Bernice

A lonely spider spins a web in order to catch some food. The spider is careful not to be caught by a toad or an owl. She lays an egg sac and hundreds of spiderlings are produced. The babies, like their mother, spin webs and wait to capture food.

Keywords: amphibians, assertiveness, birds, birth, conflict resolution, food, insects, loneliness, nature, nonverbal communication, reproduction, spider

Little miss spider | by Kirk, David

Families are different. Miss Spider knows best -- when finding her mother, love is the truest test.

Keywords: acceptance, adoption, affection, beetle, birds, caring, caterpillar, colors, critical thinking, family, feelings, happiness, insects, ladybug, loneliness, love, perspective, sadness, self esteem, spider, understanding

Roberto the insect architect | by Laden, Nina

Being an architect is tough when you are a termite. But with hard work and dedication, Roberto is determined to become one.

Keywords: acceptance, accomplishment, ambition, ant, architecture, assertiveness, bee, beetle, bias, buildings, butterfly, careers, caring, creativity, critical thinking, dedication, determination, disappointment, discrimination, dreams, flea, fly, friendship, goal setting, habitat, hard work, insects, ladybug, museum, newspaper, patience, photograph, self confidence, self esteem, spider, technology, termite, tick, time, tools

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