Browse Items · Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Tags: pretend

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The key from Spain: Flory Jagoda and her music

Levy, Debbie

Just as her ancestors were forced to leave Spain during the Inquisition, Flory flees Europe for a new life in the United States, bringing with her a precious harmonica and a passion for Ladino music.

Tags

american, Bosnian, christians, Croatian, dancing, generations, gymnastics, history, instruments, Jewish, ladino, language, multicultural, music, muslim, neighbors, numbers, prayers, pretend, refugee, sewing, ship, singing, song, spain, storytelling, time, train, transportation, war

A house that once was

Fogliano, Julie

Two boys find a house that is abandoned and old. They wonder who might have lived there and where they had gone. Although it remains a mystery, the boys return to their home and enjoy a warm dinner with their family while leaving the abandoned house alone.

Tags

adventures, architecture, art, buildings, colors, courage, curiosity, dancing, disappearance, exploration, prediction, pretend, rhyme, singing, technology, time, transportation

Home for Navidad

Cohen, Santiago

Rosa has not seen her mother in three years. Rosa's mother works to save money in America until she is finally able to come home for Navidad. The whole family can now celebrate the Christmas holiday in the small town in Mexico.

Tags

america, christmas, correspondence, dreams, family, farm, food, goal setting, grandparents, hard work, holidays, hope, language, market, math, mexican, Mexico, money, multicultural, nonverbal communication, numbers, parents, plants, poverty, pretend, routine, school, secrets, singing, sleep, song, spanish, sun, telephone, transportation, travel, truck, verbal communication, writing

Franklin has a sleepover

Bourgeois, Paulette

Franklin and Bear are excited for their first sleepover at Franklin's house. It's fun to play games, have a campfire, and campout in the livingroom with your friend. However, when it's time to go to bed, Bear and Franklin realize how scary sleepovers can be.

Tags

animals, anticipation, bear, bedtime, camping, conflict resolution, critical thinking, emotions, excitement, fear, feelings, food, friendship, games, growing up, happiness, health, homesickness, parents, playing, pretend, sadness, safety, separation, toys, traditions, turtle

Oliver the mighty pig

Van Leeuwen, Jean

Oliver gets a new cape for his birthday and becomes Mighty Pig to the rescue in four short stories adout his adventures. Oliver fights fires and braves dragons during his quest to save everyone from danger until he has to conquer the hardest task of all which is to have patience while his cape is being washed.

Tags

adventures, baby, birthday, bravery, celebration, clothing, disguise, dreams, family, feelings, fire, identity, imagination, jumping, parents, patience, pig, pretend, rescue

The great fuzz frenzy

Stevens, Janet & Grummel, Susan Stevens

When a dog drops a tennis ball into a Prairie Dog hold, it travels down, down, down to their home. Once they've overcome their fear, the Prairie Dogs begin to collect the fuzz from the ball to adorn themselves. When word of this gets out, more prairie dogs come in search of fuzz, and a fight begins. The fight is ended by the largest of the Prairie Dogs, Big Bark, as he takes all of the fuzz to adorn himself. Just as the prairie dogs are about to get mad at Big Bark, Eagle swoops down and picks him up by the fuzz to carry him off. Big Bark then uses his loud bark to scare the eagle and protect the other prairie dogs.

Tags

acceptance, animals, ant, appreciation, birds, bully, community, dog, eagle, feelings, fight, imagination, insects, investigation, prairie dog, pretend

Odd velvet

Whitcomb, Mary E.

Velvet is different from all her other classmates. After thinking she is quite odd, that students decide she's not reall that different after all. They admire Velvet's picture of an apple and love going to her unique birthday party.

Tags

art, birthday, celebration, collection, creativity, differences, dolls, envy, flowers, food, friendship, imagination, jealousy, party, plants, presents, pretend, rocks, school, teaching, uniqueness, volcano

Danny and the dinosaur

Hoff, Syd

Danny visits a museum one day and comes across a dinosaur who begins to speak with Danny. The two spend the day together playing and having fun. By the end of the day it is time for the dinosaur to go back and Danny, although sad, admits he had a wonderful day.

Tags

animals, baseball, bear, boat, bus, car, climbing, communication, dinosaur, dog, elephant, friendship, fun, giraffe, helping, hippopotamus, imagination, indian, lion, monkey, museum, neighbors, noise, play, pretend, rocks, running, sadness, seal, sports, swimming, teaching, teeth, trick, walking, water, wish, zoo

Dog blue

Dunbar, Polly

A young boy named Bertie loves the color blue. Bertie also loves dogs, but he does not have a blue dog. He pretends that he has a blue dog, until he actually finds a real dog! Although his new dog is black and white, Bertie loves him and decides to name him Blue.

Tags

animals, closeness, colors, conflict resolution, dreams, excitement, feelings, friendship, goal setting, happiness, humor, imagination, nonverbal communication, pets, play, pretend, relationship, verbal communication

My parents are divorced, my elbows have nicknames, and other facts about me

Cochran, Bill

Ted's parents are divorced but that doesn't make him weird. His elbows have nicknames and he sleeps with a sock on one foot, and he admits that may make him weird. Ted lists off many other facts about himself that may seem weird to others, but that's him and he is happy the way he is! He is sad though when his parents can't hug him at the same time.

Tags

attention, body parts, cleanliness, comparisons, coping, divorce, feelings, halloween, happiness, holidays, hygiene, pretend, sadness, self esteem, separation, stress management, uniqueness

Nicky and the big, bad wolves

Gorbachev, Valeri

Little Nicky is having a bad dream when his cries for help wake everyone up. After telling his mom about the dream, Nicky realizes it wasn't as bad as it seemed. He scared his brothers and sisters though, so mom has to go outside and pretend to get rid of the scary wolves so everyone can sleep.

Tags

animals, caring, counting, dreams, family, fear, feelings, night, numbers, parents, pretend, rabbit, siblings, sleep, storytelling, verbal communication, wolf

Willie and the all-stars

Cooper, Floyd

Willie is a young African American boy who learns about discrimination against black baseball players. Willie's fear of prejudice will prevent him from being a famous baseball player. Willie receives tickets to attend a Negro league game and realizes that maybe his dream is possible.

Tags

accomplishment, african american, baseball, bat, body parts, buildings, car, celebration, creativity, discrimination, dreams, friendship, games, grandparents, history, hope, imagination, multicultural, neighbors, practice, prejudice, presents, pretend, radio, relationship

Wash day

Cole, Barbara H.

Every wash day, Granpa plays his trumpet, keeping the children entertained while Miss. Ett does the wash. This music tradition stays strong until grandpa becomes ill and a tragedy occurs, causing grandpa to pass on his beloved trumpet to begin a new tradition.

Tags

clothing, family, feelings, fire, friendship, grandparents, happiness, helping, illness, instruments, loss, memories, multicultural, music, neighbors, parents, president, pretend, respect, sadness, traditions, train, work

Once upon an ordinary school day

McNaughton, Colin

An ordinary boy has no idea what is in store for him one fateful, ordinary day. Everything appears to be normal until his new school teacher; Mr. Gee walks through the door. The once ordinary day turns into a whirlwind of adventures

Tags

adventures, animals, bedtime, change, dreams, fantasy, imagination, magic, music, preparation, pretend, routine, self esteem, surprises, teaching, writing

Sometimes my mommy gets angry

Campbell, Bebe Moore

When Annie wakes up in the morning, she is relieved to find her euphoric mother in the kitchen. They share a healthy breakfast, then her mother helps her get ready for school. After a fun day at school, Annie comes home to an angry and yelling mother. Annie copes by calling her grandmother to talk about her feelings. She takes care of herself and maintains a positive attitude with happy thoughts. She uses effective strategies to accept her motherﾒs bipolar disorder.

Dog biscuit

Cooper, Helen

Bridget ate a biscuit, but it was a dog biscuit. Her babysitter, Mrs. Blair, found out and told her she would turn into a dog. The rest of the day, Bridget could feel things changing and she even starts acting like a dog, but even her mom did not notice. During the night, she goes out and plays with other dogs and is finally happy about eating the dog biscuit until she thinks about her family. She starts howling, until she finds herself back in her bed with her mom by her side. When she confesses, her mom assures her Mrs. Blair was teasing and the next day Mrs. Blair agrees and gives her human treats instead!

Tags

animals, decision making, dog, dreams, family, fear, feelings, food, guilt, hunger, mischief, pretend, recipe, relief, verbal communication

The talking cloth

Mitchell, Rhonda

Aunt Phoebe has a collection of many wonderful things, each having an interesting story. The little girl's favorite thing is an adinkra cloth from Ghana. It has many colors and symbols to represent feelings, faith, power, and love.

Amy unbounded: Belondweg blossoming

Hartman, Rachel

Through comic book style illustrations, Amy of Eddybrook Lodge encounters many exciting adventures with her best friend. During the summer between her ninth and tenth birthday, Amy and her friend learn many lessons about life. The most important ones are that love does not solve everything and even heroines sometimes need help.

Jamela's dress

Daly, Niki

Jamela's mama has just bought some beautiful fabric for a new dress. While she's watching it dry outside in the South African air, Jamela wraps it around herself and starts parading down the street. Everyone is watching her, she is so proud. When she gets home, Jamela finds her mama very upset because her fabric is ruined. With the help of a friend, Jamela buys her mama more fabric. At this South African wedding, both Jamela and her mama are beautiful in their new dresses.

Tags

african, animals, birds, celebration, chicken, clothing, conflict resolution, critical thinking, dog, forgiveness, friendship, games, helping, language, love, market, money, multicultural, parents, photograph, pretend, sewing, shopping, verbal communication, wedding

I wish I had glasses like Rosa/ Quisiera tener lentes como Rosa

Heling, Kathryn & Hembrook, Deborah

Abby goes to elaborate and comical lengths to get glasses like Rosa. She realizes that she might have something that is just as desirable as the longed-for glasses. Abby gains appreciation for her own uniqueness.

Tags

art, beach, body parts, comparisons, friendship, glasses, humor, imagination, jump rope, jumping, language, pretend, recess, safety, spanish, swimming, vocabulary

Molasses man

May, Kathy L.

A young boy and his family make molasses every summer. This summer the sourghum turns into a recipe that the boy's Grandfather has perfected. The boy spends his summer days helping his family make molasses and playing outside during the cooking process. While some molasses is cooling, Mama and her sisters pour it into glass jars and set up a stand near the road for passers-by.

Tags

african american, animals, author's note, books, community, cooking, family, farm, five senses, food, games, generations, glasses, grandparents, happiness, hard work, horse, moving, mule, neighbors, noise, observation, parents, plants, playing, pretend, recreation, sequence, smell, teamwork, traditions

I was born about 10,000 years ago

Kellogg, Steven

A young boy tells some tall tales by claiming that he's been alive for 10,000 years. He explains how he ate part of the apple with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, how he married Queen Elizabeth, and how he flew to the moon. Even though he stretches the truth quite a bit, it's fun to learn about some important events in history.

Tags

adventures, creativity, faith, history, imagination, learning, moon, pretend, pride, royalty, storytelling

I need a snake

Jonell, Lynne//Mathers, Petra

Robbie tries to convince his mommy to get him a pet snake. His mommy tries to discourage Robbie many times. He eventually finds an good solution to please himself and his mom.

Tags

decision making, family, imagination, parents, pets, pretend, problem solving, reptiles, snake, verbal communication

Silly willy nilly

Weisgard, Leonard

Willy Nilly is a silly elephant, because he keeps forgetting everything that an elephant is supposed to know. As he wanders through the jungle he pretends to act like the animals he sees, but they scold him for this. When he meets a lion, Willy Nilly finally remembers what an elephant is supposed to know.

Tags

alligator, animals, elephant, forgetful, jungle, lion, memory, monkey, pretend, reptiles

Going to my nursery school

Kuklin, Susan

Heath describes his day playing with his classmates at nursery school. The children play with the water table, the class rabbit, and the blocks. After their snack, they run, climb, ride, slide, bounce balls, play chase and pretend games on the rooftop playground.

Tags

accidents, animals, cleanliness, climbing, exercise, food, games, injury, music, nutrition, play, pretend, rabbit, running, school, self esteem, sharing, song, storytelling

No dinner! The story of the old woman and the pumpkin

Souhami, Jessica

An old woman is on her way to her granddaughter's house for dinner, but meets many animals on her way. In order to escape the animals, she promises to come back all fat and fed. The animals are outwitted when the old woman is disguised as a pumpkin.

Tags

adventures, aging, animals, author's note, bear, body image, bravery, critical thinking, deception, decision making, fable, family, food, forest, fruit, goal setting, habitat, heroism, hunting, intelligence, nature, nonverbal communication, nutrition, overeating, pretend, protection, relief, sly, sounds, tiger, verbal communication, wolf

Monkey-monkey's trick

McKissack, Patricia C.

Monkey-Monkey needs help to build a new house. Hyena is the only one that offers a hand to help. But Hyena is always playing tricks. Just wait though. Monkey-Monkey has a trick of his own.

Tags

animals, bully, conflict resolution, critical thinking, goal setting, hyena, jungle, mischief, monkey, pretend, shelter, trick

Milo's hat trick

Agee, Jon

Milo the magician had one more chance to pull a rabbit out of his hat or else he would be fired. While searching for a rabbit, he finds a bear. The bear is able to pretend his bones are made of rubber and agrees to jump out of Milo's hat. The show is a huge success until the bear becomes tired. Milo wonders what he will do until he realizes that he too can pretend his bones are made of rubber.

Tags

anger, animals, bear, bones, careers, clothing, disappearance, disappointment, entertainment, helping, magic, missing, performance, pretend, rabbit, restaurant, taxi, train, transportation

If...

Perry, Sarah

This imaginative book takes you through different If... scenerios that will help you think and learn about new situations.

Tags

animals, cat, creativity, critical thinking, dog, fantasy, frog, imagination, insects, learning, literal interpretation, mice, perspective, pretend, vision, whale, worm

Pumpkin eye

Fleming, Denise

A dark night of Halloween fright brings you colors, sounds, and sensory sights.

Tags

alliteration, animals, bat, cat, celebration, colors, dragons, five senses, halloween, holidays, moon, night, noise, pretend, rhyme, shadows, sounds, tiger, unicorns, witches

Everything to spend the night

Paul, Ann Whitford

A little girl packs her bag full of things she will need for an overnight at her grandparents. She brings, snacks, toys, clothes, a toothbrush, and many other things A through Z. She does forget one very important thing, her pajamas. She borrows some from her grandfather and says I love you!

Tags

alphabet, animals, bedtime, body parts, cat, clothing, dancing, exercise, family, five senses, food, games, grandparents, imagination, love, music, night, nutrition, pretend, rhyme, teeth, toys

Zelda and ivy and the boy next door

Kvasnosky, Laura McGee

A new boy named Eugene has moved in next door to Zelda and Ivy. the three quickly become friends. A romance blooms, they play imaginary games, and go camping. Like all friends, they don't always get along, but they work out their differences.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, bully, business, camping, careers, cleanliness, collection, conflict resolution, family, feelings, fox, friendship, helping, imagination, love, money, neighbors, pirates, playing, pretend, sharing, siblings, sleep, song, stars, verbal communication, wish

Don't eat too much turkey

Cohen, Barbara

It is almost Thanksgiving. The first grade builds a class turkey together, then takes turns pretending to be the turkey. Preparations are also made for the children's turkey dinner at home.

Tags

celebration, family, food, holidays, home, nutrition, preparation, pretend, school, thanksgiving, traditions

Orville's odyssey

Demarst, Chris L.

Orville pretends to go fishing on his front steps of his house. He imagines getting pulled underwater for a great adventure. He barely escapes the mouth of a fish and ends up on his step again. (Wordless Book)

Tags

adventures, assertiveness, conflict resolution, escape, fish, fishing, imagination, nonverbal communication, pretend, recreation

Tom goes to kindergarten

Wild, Margaret//Tegge, David

Tom is anxious and excited for his first day of kindergarten. When he finally arrives, he does not want his family to leave and insists they stay with him. The next day, Tom feels grown up but now his parents do not want to leave kindergarten.

Tags

baby, bear, change, family, fear, feelings, fun, growing up, homesickness, panda, parents, polar bear, pretend, school, security, work

Jessica

Henkes, Kevin

Ruthie did not have a pet but she had an imaginary friend, Jessica. Ruthie's parents tried to tell her that there was no Jessica. When Ruthie went to kindergarten, she met a real friend named Jessica.

Tags

decision making, family, feelings, friendship, imagination, loneliness, parents, pets, pretend, school

A rainbow of my own

Freeman, Don

A little boy fantasizes about his experiences with his own rainbow.

Tags

dreams, fantasy, pretend, rainbow

It's my birthday too!

Jonell, Lynne//Mathers, Petra

It is Christopher's birthday and his family is getting ready for his birthday party. Chirstopher's little brother, Robbie, wants to have a birthday too. Christopher tells Robbie that he can't come to his party and that he would rather have a puppy than a brother. Robbie acts like a puppy during the party and Christopher decides he likes having a little brother after all.

Tags

birthday, celebration, critical thinking, family, feelings, games, holidays, party, patience, pretend, siblings

No such thing

Koller, Jackie French

Howard is afraid to sleep in his new room. He is constantly calling out for his mommy, because he thinks he hears a monster under his bed. When Howard meets the little monster under his bed (who is really afraid of the boy above his bed), Howard is no longer afraid.

Tags

bedtime, conflict resolution, family, fear, feelings, imagination, monsters, night, noise, parents, pretend, sadness, shadows, sleep, verbal communication

Lost!A story in string

Fleischman, Paul

A grandmother tells the story of a mountain girl who is lost in a blizzard. As she tells this story to her granddaughter, she uses string to illustrate it. Even you can learn how to make the string pictures!

Little cliff's first day of school

Taulbert, Clifton

Little Cliff is dreading the first day of school. He has heard that school is all work and no fun. With the continued encouragement of his great-grandmother, Cliff finally heads to school. Upon arrival, he sees all of his friends and discovers that school can be fun too.

Pretend you're a cat

Marzollo, Jean

A series of questions ask children to use their imaginations so they can leap like a cat, beg like a dog, and act like many other animals.

Tags

acting, animals, bear, bee, birds, cat, chicken, cow, dog, exercise, fish, five senses, horse, imagination, insects, jumping, pig, play, pretend, running, seal, snake, sounds, squirrel

Big red truck

Schlossberg, Stephen

Ray pretends that his reliable red tricycle is a big red truck, and he wants to see the wide open country. Along his way, he has to pay for things like lunch at a restaurant, a tow truck for his wrecked truck, and a speeding ticket. Because he has no money, Ray has to do jobs like wash dishes, mow the grass, and pull weeds to pay for these predicaments. Coincidentally, these jobs are exactly the same as the chores his parents want him to do.

Tags

bicycle, biking, community, conflict resolution, exercise, family, food, garden, imagination, nutrition, parents, play, pretend, restaurant, transportation, travel, truck

Someone special died

Prestine, Joan Singleton

A young girl deals with the death of someone close to her. She has many feelings of anger, sadness, and loneliness. She has many feelings of anger, sadness, and loneliness. She finds a way to feel better, though, when she makes a scrapbook to remember everything about this special person. She learns that everything dies.

Tags

acceptance, aggression, anger, art, books, coping, death, feelings, loneliness, loss, memories, play, pretend, reading, sadness, toys

Rachel's recital

Green, Melinda

Rachel's mother thinks Rachel is going to be a famous pianist, so she has Rachel take piano lessons once a week and practice for an hour everyday after school. But Rachel is in trouble when she finds she will be in a recital and doesn't know her piece.

Tags

courage, decision making, disappointment, family, music, parents, practice, pretend, responsibilities, worry

Finding a job for daddy

Maslac, Evelyn Hughes

Things are harder and different since Laura's dad lost his job. Laura wants to help so she pretends to put a want ad in the newspaper, then interviews him for a job. Laura knows that her dad still has to find a real job, but she wants her dad to be a dad forever.

Tags

careers, communication, conflict resolution, coping, critical thinking, decision making, family, helping, loss, parents, pretend, verbal communication, work

In my momma's kitchen

Nolen, Jerdine

This little girl loves to be in her momma's kitchen. There's always something going on. From college announcements, to family dinners, to late nights of singing, everything happens in the kitchen. It is the most special place in the house.

Tags

accidents, african american, animals, birthday, caring, cat, celebration, clothing, cooking, family, food, friendship, love, multicultural, night, nutrition, parents, playing, pretend, school, siblings, verbal communication, wedding

The boy who would not say his name

Vreeken, Elizabeth

Bobby Brown liked to pretend he was other characters in a story, so he always used a character's name when someone asked him his name. One day he got lost and people could not find his family, so finally he said his real name.

Tags

community, conflict resolution, decision making, family, identity, imagination, lost, nonverbal communication, pretend, refusal skills, self esteem, verbal communication

My friend harry

Lewis, Kim

James takes his new stuffed elephant, Harry, everywhere with him. Eventually, when Harry begins to become worn and his ears start to sag, James is old enough to start school. Being separated from a close companion like Harry will take a little more effort than James thinks.

Tags

animals, bath, biking, books, companion, conflict resolution, dog, elephant, exercise, family, farm, friendship, helping, hygiene, independence, love, play, pretend, reading, school, separation, support, toys, vacation, verbal communication

The boy who ate around the world

Drescher, Henrick

Mo thinks his dinner is lizard guts and worms when it is really string beans and cheese souffle. He decides to become a monster and eat around it. Mo eats everything in sight including his parents and the world. When Mo becomes lonely he decides to spit out all that he ate so he can have his parents and friends back.

Tags

community, conflict resolution, creativity, critical thinking, family, food, hunger, imagination, loneliness, monsters, neighbors, nutrition, overeating, parents, pretend, verbal communication

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