Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

All-of-a-kind family hanukkah | by Jenkins, Emily

Gertie, the youngest of five children, wants to help her mother cook for their family dinner on the first night of Hanukkah in New York City’s Lower East Side. After many attempts of trying to help in the busy kitchen, Gertie is sent to her room by her mother and is eventually called down for dinner by her dad. In order to get her to come downstairs, Gertie’s father asks for her helping to light the candles of the menorah for the first time and Gertie happily accepts the offer.

Keywords: author's note, body parts, books, celebration, cooking, fire, food, freedom, frustration, hanukkah, hebrew, helping, history, holidays, illustrator's note, Jewish, learning, numbers, nutrition, preparation, siblings, singing, traditions

Over the shop | by Lawson, JonArno

A little girl and her grandparent show the apartment over their store to a couple looking for a fixer-upper place to stay. Little by little the place and the neighborhood takes on a fresh new life and love (A Wordless Book).

Keywords: acceptance, cleanliness, cooking, love, multicultural, neighbors, numbers, party, plants, preparation, shopping, signs, sleep

Easy as pie | by Best, Carl

Chef Jacob is known for his happy peach pie. Read the ingredients of his pie recipe and the baking rules that he learns from Chef Monty on television. Lots of sounds comes out of Chef Jacob's kitchen. By the end, Chef Jacob says: "P is for Pie and P is for Peach, and, of course, P is for Parents! Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad". Have fun celebrating this event with the whole family.

Keywords: alliteration, anniversary, baking, celebration, cooking, counting, family, food, ingredients, numbers, nutrition, parents, recipe, rules, television, time

Four famished foxes and fosdyke | by Edwards, Pamela Duncan

A mother fox leaves her four children at home for five days. They must feed themselves. Three of the siblings plan different ways to catch meat. The fourth fox is a vegetarian and saves the day by cooking a feast for all of them.

Keywords: alliteration, animals, assertiveness, chicken, cooking, critical thinking, dog, duck, family, food, fox, french, goal setting, health, individuality, multicultural, nutrition, parents, self esteem, sequence, siblings, verbal communication

The patchwork quilt | by Flournoy, Valerie

Tanya loves spending time with her Grandma. Grandma teaches Tanya the importance of using old scraps of material to make unique and warm quilts. One day Grandma gets sick before the quilt is complete. Tanya must help Grandma finish the quilt.

Keywords: activities, african american, art, cooking, dancing, family, friendship, generations, grandparents, halloween, hard work, holidays, illness, patience, quilt, seasons, sharing, trust

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!

April foolishness | by Bateman, Teresa

The grandkids are excited to visit grandma and grandpa's farm. Today is April Fool's and they want to trick grandpa. The grandkids can't understand why grandpa remains so calm when they tell him all the animals have escaped. Grandma lends a hand to help trick grandpa.

Keywords: animals, april fools, confusion, cooking, cow, family, farm, food, garden, goat, grandparents, humor, nutrition, pig, rhyme, rhythm, sheep, trick

The greatest potatoes | by Stowell, Penelope

Cornelius Vanderbilt sets out on a mission to find the best potato dish ever. He travels around and finds none that are good enough. Vanderbilt goes to Cary Moon's Restaurant, where George Crum is the head chef. Crum makes many dishes that Vanderbilt does not like. Crum decides to make the potatoes so crispy and salty, so he will not like them. Vanderbilt loves them and that is how the potato chip is invented.

Keywords: accomplishment, anger, conflict resolution, cooking, critical thinking, decision making, determination, discovery, feelings, goal setting, happiness, history, restaurant, travel, worry

Grandpa's soup | by Kadono, Eiko

Grandpa is lonely after Grandma dies. He wants to make meatball soup just like his wife use to make. Each day after Grandpa makes the soup, friends come and eat it with him. Grandpa finds that eating the soup with friends helps to ease his loneliness.

Keywords: animals, cat, cooking, critical thinking, death, decision making, determination, dog, family, feelings, food, goal setting, grandparents, happiness, loneliness, loss, mouse, nonverbal communication, nutrition, sharing, stress management, verbal communication

Papa's latkes | by Edwards, Michelle

A Jewish family deals with the recent death of their mother and wife, while trying to keep their Chanukan traditions alive. Each family member deals with their emotions. They work as a single parent family to move on, while embracing their traditions of the past.

Tallulah in the Kitchen | by Wolff, Nancy

Tallulah the cat loves to make pancakes for her friends. She describes the process of cooking pancakes from buying the ingredients to eating them! And the step by step she goes through her recipe.

Keywords: animals, cat, cooking, decision making, dog, food, friendship, nutrition, pig, recipe, verbal communication

Chicks and Salsa | by Reynolds, Aaron

The barnyard animals of Nuthatcher Farm are discontent as they grow weary of the same old slop and feed. Their worries are laid to rest when the rooster devises a plan that leads to the first ever barnyard fiesta, complete with chips and salsa, guacamole and nachos. Their celebration is halted however, when they can find no more supplies on the farm. Is someone else on the farm planning a fiesta of their own?

Keywords: animals, barn, celebration, chicken, cooking, critical thinking, dancing, duck, exercise, fair, food, nutrition, pig, smell

The unbeatable bread | by Hoopes, Lyn Littlefield

Uncle Jon is determined to melt away the winter with his unbeatable bread. The wonderful aroma from his bread lures children and wild animals out of the cold winter morning into his kitchen.

Keywords: ambition, animals, cooking, determination, five senses, food, health, moon, music, nutrition, rhyme, seasons, sleep, smell, song, sun, verbal communication, winter

Mama & papa have a store | by Carling, Amelia Lau

Mama and Papa have a store. Day to day the routine is similar. The same people come in to buy the same things. This little girl likes these routines and she shares them with us. From what Mama is cooking to Papa counting on the abacus we spend the whole day with one little girl.

Keywords: author's note, business, chinese, colors, cooking, counting, culture, customs, family, fish, food, guatemalan, indian, language, market, money, multicultural, nutrition, parents, photograph, play, rain, rainbow, shopping, siblings, sounds, spanish, traditions, verbal communication, weather

Up home | by Grant, Shauntay

A young woman of African decent recalls her childhood in her native homeland of Preston, Canada. She remembers long hot days of summer playing with cousins, singing on Sunday mornings, climbing trees and picking blueberries. Gatherings with her family are special celebrations.

Keywords: african american, body parts, canada, celebration, church, climbing, clothing, cooking, family, flowers, food, friendship, fun, garden, glasses, grandparents, history, instruments, love, memory, multicultural, music, nutrition, park, quilt, seasons, song, spiritual, storytelling, woods

Ella sets the stage | by D'Amico, Carmela

Ella wants so badly to be in the school talent show, but she has no talent. She decides instead to join the talent show committee and helps make the show the best it can be. During the show, something unexpected happens and Ella comes to the rescue, finding her true talent: helping others.

Keywords: animals, arabian, art, cooking, dancing, discovery, elephant, exercise, feelings, happiness, helping, heroism, identity, instruments, juggling, jumping, magic, music, performance, poetry, practice, puppets, sadness, school, shyness, song, sounds, support, writing

Waiting for Sipho | by Herbert, Barbara

Two young brothers can hardly wait for the return of their beloved older brother, Sipho, from university. Everything seems in place until the goat to be prepared for dinner escapes! The boys find themselves on quite an adventure as they await Siphoﾒs return.

Keywords: adventures, africa, animals, anticipation, careers, conflict resolution, cooking, escape, excitement, goat, helping, love, maps, multicultural, relationship, school, siblings

The magic rocks | by Herbert, Barbara N.

An African woman struggles to find firewood so that she can cook for her family. While cooking porridge, an old weak man came along asking for food. Because she felt sorry for him, she gave him the porridge. In return, he gave her some magic rocks that would turn to gold. However, the woman couldnﾒt get them to change. When her family came home to realize they had nothing to eat, her husband was angry and threw the rocks in the fading fire. The family fell asleep hungry and cold. In the morning, they woke to a burning fire and porridge cooking. The family found more rocks and called…

Keywords: africa, anger, cold, cooking, decision making, emotions, family, fire, food, fuel, future, giving, hunger, kindness, light, magic, night, nutrition, pollution, verbal communication

This is the matzah | by Levine, Abby

A Jewish family shops, cooks, and prepares for Passover. The traditions and the meanings behind them are explained in a rhyme.

Keywords: alcohol, beverage, celebration, ceremony, cooking, drugs, family, food, grandparents, hebrew, Jewish, multicultural, nonverbal communication, nutrition, parents, party, religion, responsibilities, reunion, shopping, siblings, verbal communication

Going north | by Harrington, Janice N

Goodbye, Alabama, hello, Lincoln, Nebraska! This family moves from the South to the North so that the papa can find a better job. During their trip up North the family endures a couple struggles, such as the children not wanting to leave their home, the baby crying, and getting restless, and lastly, almost running out of gas! They make it to Nebraska and realize they are together and need to be brave and pioneering.

Keywords: african american, car, cooking, decision making, emotions, family, food, goal setting, listening, maps, multicultural, parents, pioneers, refusal skills, sadness, siblings, song, sounds, storytelling, transportation, travel, verbal communication

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