Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Angelo | by Macauley, David

A man is repairing when he comes upon an injured pigeon. He nurses the pigeon back to health and a friendship fast emerges. The pigeon helps the man fulfill his lifelong dream and is surprised to find an addition to the building.

Keywords: aging, ambition, birds, careers, church, death, food, friendship, health, italian, kindness, monuments, multicultural, music, pigeon, teamwork, work

Dragon in the rocks: A story based on the childhood of early paleontologist Mary Anning | by Day, Marie

A twelve year old girl loves to find and dig out fossils from the cliffs along the beach. She helps out her family financially by selling the fossils. She uncovers a rare dinosaur and digs it out by herself. Her determination shows as she pieces the puzzle together.

Keywords: beach, bodies of water, bones, critical thinking, death, determination, dinosaur, england, extinction, family, fossil, goal setting, history, loss, market, museum, ocean, parents, rhyme, sequence, siblings

Saying goodbye to Lulu | by Demas, Corinne

A young girl copes with the death of her childhood dog. She loves the dog very much. She remembers when the dog was younger. She overcomes the loss of her dog and remembers him, even shares her memories with her new puppy.

Keywords: aging, animals, blindness, deafness, death, dog, emotions, feelings, health, love, loyalty, memories, parents, sadness, tree

Oh, no! Where are my pants? | by Hopkins, Lee Bennett

Fourteen poems about everyday life tell about friends moving away, forgetting your pants and the death of a class pet. Other poems include Winter Rabbit, Play Ball, Nightmare, and My Friend Is Gone.

Keywords: animals, baseball, beach, birthday, camping, critical thinking, dancing, death, exercise, fair, feelings, friendship, moving, performance, poetry, rabbit, rhyme, sadness, school, self esteem, sports

Our tree named Steve | by Zweibel, Alan

A father writes a letter to his children about the tree that they named Steve years ago, which they has insisted on not cutting down when building their new home. The children had formed a strong bond with Steve and now, years later, the tree has fallen down in a storm. Through the friendship with Steve, the children learned about the importance of home, family and relationships.

Keywords: aging, animals, appreciation, camping, caring, change, closeness, community, correspondence, critical thinking, death, decision making, dedication, destruction, emotions, family, friendship, goal setting, home, rain, relationship, seasons, storm, tree, verbal communication, weather

For sure! For sure! | by Andersen, Hans Christian

Did you know that chickens gossip too? Come read about one chick that plucks out her feathers, supposedly to look good and impress her rooster. After one of her feathers is plucker, an owl sees her actions and spreads the word. The story gets turned around and exaggerated especially when the newspaper prints it.

Keywords: animals, bat, behavior, birds, chicken, death, differences, fable, family, feelings, fly, friendship, gossip, hearing, loss, love, newspaper, owl, peace, play, storytelling, truth

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

Coming on home soon | by Woodson, Jacqueline

A girl says goodbye to her mother who is heading to find work in the city. The girl waits everyday for her mother's letter that says she will be coming home. All the while, the girl remembers her mother loves her more than snow or rain.

Keywords: african american, animals, careers, cat, coping, correspondence, death, disappointment, emotions, family, future, love, money, multicultural, nature, parents, prayer, rain, snow, time, war, weather

The best cat in the world | by Newman, Leslea

Victor's favorite cat Charlie dies. Victor is very sad that his cat died. He ends up getting a new kitten named Shelly. Victor doesn't understand why Shelly doesn't do the same things that Charlie did. Victor soon discovers that even though Shelly is a different cat and is not like Charlie, she is unique and his new favorite pet.

Keywords: animals, behavior, caring, cat, comparisons, crisis, death, family, feelings, friendship, parents, pets, play, sadness, self esteem, uniqueness, verbal communication

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.

Hosni the dreamer: An arabian tale | by Ben-Ezer, Ehud

Hosni is a shepherd who spends his days telling stories to his sheep and his nights dreaming about the city. When he finally has the opportunity to travel to the city, his life changes. He hears some special words of wisdom from a wise old man.

Keywords: adventures, animals, arab, bodies of water, camel, change, critical thinking, culture, death, decision making, desert, dreams, excitement, fear, feelings, folktale, food, love, marriage, money, mountains, multicultural, night, nutrition, peer resistance, rain, river, sadness, sheep, storytelling, travel, verbal communication, weather

Old home day | by Hall, Donald

From the time when only plants and animals lived there, to the modern bicentennial celebration, the people who called the fictional village of Blackwater home remember its history.

Keywords: aggression, aging, american, animals, author's note, autumn, baby, barn, baseball, birds, birth, bodies of water, bones, careers, celebration, change, community, conflict, conflict resolution, cow, death, decision making, deer, family, farm, farmer, forest, future, generations, goal setting, grandparents, hard work, history, hunting, lake, love, marriage, memories, nature, neighbors, nonverbal communication, parade, parents, peer resistance, plants, pond, reunion, seasons, settlers, snow, sports, spring, summer, war, water, weather, wilderness, winter, work

Sweet dried apples: A vietnamese wartime childhood | by Breckler, Rosemary

It is wartime in Vietnam, and a little girl who lives in the country is faced with the prospect of her father leaving for the army. Her father, the village herb doctor, comes to stay with them until he dies. Their village is bombed and the little girl and her family must flee Vietnam.

Keywords: change, community, death, grandparents, language, loss, market, plants, siblings, travel, vietnamese, war

Susan shouted shark | by Smith, Raymond//Schoenheimer, Henry

A little girl tells so many lies about sharks being around that people finally didn't believe her. When she shouted shark and no one believed her, a man is killed by a shark.

Keywords: death, deception, fear, fish, misbehavior, mischief, shark, truth

Silly chicken | by Khan, Rukhsana

Rani is jealous of Amiﾒs affection for Bibi, a chicken. Rani finally learns how to lay an egg - much to the motherﾒs delight. However, when left alone one day, the chicken dies and Ami is sad. An egg from Bibi is found, which hatches a new baby chick.

Keywords: affection, animals, assertiveness, birth, chicken, death, decision making, dog, family, feelings, jealousy, loss, multicultural, pakistani, parents, sadness, self esteem, verbal communication

Desser the best ever cat | by Smith, Margaret

A little girl learns all about the hardships of losing a pet. However, her love for Desser is not lost in his death. Instead, she chooses to keep her memories of Desser alive. Even after Ginger, the new kitten, joins the family the little girl still chooses to remember Desser as the best ever cat

Keywords: aging, animals, cat, companion, death, decision making, family, feelings, growing up, happiness, loss, memories, parents, pets, sadness, siblings, stress management

Death in a nut | by Maddern, Eric

Jackﾒs mother tells him she is dying. He stops the grim reaper from taking her by fighting him. He realizes death has to occur to survive, because he needs to eat. Grim reaper allows Jackﾒs mother to live longer.

Keywords: beach, bodies of water, conflict resolution, critical thinking, death, decision making, exercise, family, farm, food, illness, ocean, parents, sewing, survival, verbal communication, walking

Michael Rosen's sad book | by Rosen, Michael

Michael Rosen discusses sadness. He describes his sadness about the death of his son. Sometimes being sad makes him feel angry. Sometimes, he likes to talk about it. Other times, he wants to keep his sadness to himself. Rosen writes about his personal sadness and the various ways he tries to cope with this feeling.

Keywords: anger, birthday, celebration, communication, conflict resolution, coping, critical thinking, death, depression, emotions, family, feelings, frustration, nonverbal communication, parents, sadness, stress management, verbal communication

Rickie & Henri | by Goodall, Jane

A baby chimpanzee, Rickie, gets shot and taken from her mother in the forest, and taken to a market in the Congo Republic. A man takes her and cares for her, along with his dog, Henri. The man and Henri provide love and food for Rickie until they take her to a chimpanzee sanctuary to live with other chimpanzees.

Keywords: africa, animals, careers, caring, chimpanzee, conflict resolution, congo, critical thinking, death, decision making, dog, fear, feelings, friendship, hunting, love, multicultural, nonverbal communication, peer resistance, rainforest, rescue, sadness, stress management

Browse Abstracts (175 total)