Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

My big brother | by Cohen, Miriam

A little boy idolizes his big brother and wants to be exactly like him. They do everything together. When his family cannot pay for college, the older child joins the army. His little brother then takes his place being big brother to their youngest sibling.

Keywords: african american, basketball, car, church, correspondence, family, feelings, food, happiness, loss, love, multicultural, nutrition, sadness, siblings, sports, television, transportation, writing

A bad case of stripes | by Shannon, David

Camilla Cream absolutely enjoys eating lima beans. She is afraid, though, that her friends will make fun of her for eating them. After getting dressed one morning, she looks in the mirror to find herself covered in stripes! If she thought eating lima beans was embarassing, what will her peers think of her stripes?

Keywords: appearance, careers, colors, doctor, embarrassment, emotions, feelings, food, medicine, nutrition, parents, relief, school, television, uniqueness

Monsoon | by Krishnawami, Uma

A young girl in India waits with her family and friends for the monsoon season to begin. The importance of the monsoon in her culture is revealed to the radio, television, newspaper, and stories of the people.

Keywords: animals, author's note, cow, exercise, faith, family, feelings, food, games, hindu, india, language, market, monsoon, multicultural, newspaper, ox, radio, rain, seasons, taxi, television, temple, transportation, weather

I was born to be a brother | by Michels-Gualtieri, Zaydek G.

A big brother describes the duties he has when teaching his little sister. He has many responsibilities to uphold and for the most part gets along well with his baby sister. There are times, however, when siblings get in the way, but in the end a little sister is the best thing in the world. (With music CD)

Keywords: anger, baby, careers, caring, child care, closeness, companion, family, feelings, food, friendship, growing up, helping, injury, learning, music, pets, play, relationship, responsibilities, role model, safety, siblings, song, teaching, technology, teeth, television, toys

Sergio and the hurricane | by Wallner, Alexandra

A young boyﾒs family prepares for a hurricane in San Juan, Puerto Rico. At first, Sergio is excited, but after a whole day of getting ready for the storm, he falls asleep exhausted. The hurricane hits in the middle of the night so Sergio joins his parents in their bed, Papa tells him a story to ease his fears. For many weeks after the storm, the San Juan community clears the damage left by the wind and flooding. When school resumes, Sergioﾒs teacher gives a science lesson on hurricanes.

Keywords: author's note, beach, bedtime, cleanliness, community, destruction, family, fear, feelings, flood, hurricane, maps, parents, plants, preparation, puerto rico, radio, safety, school, shopping, storm, storytelling, technology, television, tree, water, writing

Hurricane watch | by Branley, Franklyn M.

This informational text describes the relationship of air over land and oceans. When wind speed reaches 74 miles an hour, a tropical storm becomes a hurricane. Explains the sequence of weather events and how weather planes fly into the eye of a storm to take measurements of temperature, pressure, and precipitation. People prepare safely for the storm by securing homes, gathering supplies, and moving inland.

Keywords: bodies of water, careers, destruction, direction, earth, geography, hurricane, maps, nonfiction, numbers, ocean, preparation, prevention, radio, safety, satellite, science, sequence, storm, technology, television, weather, wind

Saturn for my birthday | by McGranaghan, John

Jeffrey wants Saturn for his birthday, and he wants the moons too- all 47 of them! But he's not selfish: he'll share the rings with some of his friends at school and with his teacher, Mrs. Cassini. Facts about Saturn are woven seamlessly throughout this funny story as Jeffrey explains just what he'll do with his present and how he'll take care of it.

Keywords: anticipation, bedtime, birds, birthday, cat, celebration, colors, communication, excitement, family, feelings, food, history, holidays, moon, mouse, numbers, nutrition, parents, pets, planet, presents, radio, sizes, space, technology, television, temperature

Hattie the bad | by Devlin, Jane

Hattie had a reputation for being bad. All her school classmates love her because she does exciting bad things, but her parents don't agree. When her friends aren't allowed to play with her anymore, she decides to be good. But just when she is about to get an award for the Best-Behaved Child ever, she does something that shocks everyone.

Keywords: assertiveness, behavior, competition, decision making, excitement, feelings, goal setting, misbehavior, mischief, nonverbal communication, peer resistance, recognition, sadness, self esteem, technology, television

Don't take a snake for a stroll | by Ireland, Karin

A little boy talks about taking a variety of animals into public places. Using his imagination he describes what could possibly happen. In the end, he advises to just take people along and leave the animals at home.

Keywords: animals, bodies of water, coyote, critical thinking, decision making, duck, elephant, exercise, fantasy, humor, imagination, kangaroo, moose, ocean, pets, pig, rabbit, rhyme, rhythm, shopping, skunk, snake, swimming, television, walking

Grandpa, is everything black bad? | by Holman, Sandy Lynne

Montsho struggles with the dark color of his skin. Everything around him that is black is considered bad. Thankfully, Muntsho's grandfather teaches him to appreciate his black skin by telling him stories about his African heritage.

Keywords: activities, africa, african, african american, animals, bedtime, colors, confusion, death, discrimination, egypt, emotions, friendship, glasses, grandparents, greek, history, identity, instruments, inventions, language, playing, pride, relationship, rhythm, royalty, self esteem, sounds, storytelling, television, traditions, understanding, witches

The bionic bunny show | by Brown, Marc//Brown, Laurene Krasny

A bunny is portrayed as a Bionic Bunny on a television show. Follow the steps that show how a real bunny is made to look like an imaginary character.

Keywords: animals, assertiveness, careers, images, rabbit, self esteem, television, verbal communication

Poppleton everyday | by Rylant, Cynthia

Poppleton has several adventures. First, he looks at the stars at night with his friend, Hudson. Next Poppleton buys a new bed to replace the one he has had since he was a boy. Then Fillmore takes Poppleton sailing for the first time.

Keywords: accidents, adventures, animals, boat, books, fear, feelings, friendship, helping, pig, planet, relaxation, shopping, sky, sleep, stars, storm, technology, television, transportation, verbal communication, weather

Winter rescue | by Valgardson, W.D.

Thor wants to stay inside and watch cartoons on T.V. One day his grandfather needs help ice fishing and Thor is volunterred to help. Thor goes with grandfather, and the two ice fish for the entire day in the bitter cold. Thor ends up saving a man who falls through the ice.

Keywords: accidents, bodies of water, clothing, cold, culture, emergency, fishing, food, ice, injury, lake, neighbors, nutrition, recreation, rescue, snow, storytelling, technology, television, weather, wind, winter

A chocolate moose for dinner | by Gwynne, Fred

A girl imagines the things her parents talk about from watching television. What are such things as gorilla warfare, car pools, and fishing tackle?It is a fun play-on-words.

Keywords: creativity, curiosity, family, food, fun, humor, imagination, nutrition, parents, technology, television

Song and dance man | by Ackerman, Karen

When the children go to visit their grandpa, he takes them to the attic to show his three grandchildren what he used to do for entertainment before television was invented. He dresses up in his hat, vest, and cane, then begins to dance and sing for his grandchildren. When they go downstairs, they wonder how much he misses the good old days.

Keywords: aging, clothing, dancing, exercise, family, grandparents, imagination, memories, nonverbal communication, play, recreation, respect, self esteem, technology, television

The day the tv blew up | by West, Dan

A young boy named Ralph uses his television too much for entertainment. Ralph soon discovers that there are other ways to have fun too. Ralph learns what a library is, how to use a library, and how much fun reading a book can be.

Keywords: books, entertainment, fun, library, play, reading, technology, television

Breakout at the bug lab | by Horowitz, Ruth

Two brothers have a favorite pet cockroach, Max, which lives at the bug lab where their mother works. While at a dedication ceremony for the renaming of the lab, the boys accidentally let Max escape. Now they must find him before he ruins the ceremony by scaring all the people. The boys eventually locate Max but they can't get him off the ceiling. With the help of One-Shot Lil, Max is returned to his cage.

Keywords: adventures, careers, disappearance, excitement, insects, lost, pets, presentation, problem solving, television, working mother

A thanksgiving wish | by Rosen, Michael

A family overcomes the loss of their grandmother and run into obstacles when cooking Thanksgiving dinner. All their Thanksgiving wishes come true with a kind, helping hand from their new neighbors.

Keywords: cooking, critical thinking, death, family, food, grandparents, holidays, Jewish, loss, multicultural, neighbors, nutrition, rain, recipe, television, thanksgiving, traditions, weather, wish

Grandpa's teeth | by Clement, Rod

Grandpa's teeth have been stolen!Officer Rate comes to investigate and they put wanted posters all over town. To avoid becoming a suspect, everyone in town begins to smile all the time. Tourists are afraid to get out of their cars because everyone is smiling. The problem is solved with a collection of money to get Grandpa new teeth, and the crime is solved in the process.

Keywords: animals, careers, crime, dog, feelings, grandparents, loss, mystery, robbery, sadness, teeth, television

Sammy and the dinosaurs | by Whybrow, Jan

While helping his grandmother clean out the attic, Sammy uncovers a dusty, old box. He opens the lid and finds that the box is filled with dinosaurs!Sammy proceeds to care for the dinosaurs. He fixes the broken ones, washes them in the sink, and gives them all names. In reply to Sammy's care, the dinosaurs whisper back, Thank you. Sammy does not let his new friends out of his sight, until one day he left them on a train. Sammy and his grandma go down to the train station to find his dinosaurs. He calls them all by their names and Sammy's dinosaur friends come running back.

Keywords: adventures, books, caring, dinosaur, discovery, excitement, family, feelings, grandparents, happiness, nonverbal communication, sadness, siblings, sleep, stress management, technology, television, train, transportation, verbal communication, worry

Browse Abstracts (39 total)