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

Tags: surprises

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I want my hat back

Klassen, Jon

A bear almost gives up his search for his missing hat until he remembers something important.

Tags

amphibians, animals, bear, clothing, concepts, deer, fox, frog, investigation, lost, manners, memory, rabbit, snake, surprises, turtle

A little girl describes her wiggly tooth and all the places where she doesn't want it to fall out. Then, while she is eating spaghetti, the tooth falls into her bowl and a giant hole is left in her mouth. That night, she places the tooth that fell out under her pillow, and the Tooth Fairy leaves her a nice little surprise for her in the morning!

Tags

accomplishment, appearance, behavior, body parts, conflict resolution, decision making, excitement, growing up, loss, missing, nonverbal communication, patience, storytelling, surprises, teeth, tooth fairy, verbal communication

Hunter bunny saves Easter

Weaver, Alexis Rae

Hunter Bunny, made fun of because of his limp leg, meets Clark, the duck who has trouble seeing and the two become best friends. The night before Easter, the two find the Easter bunny lying on the ground and it is now up to them to deliver the baskets around town. After successfully saving Easter, the return to the forest to find all the animals praising and cheering for them.

Tags

animals, baby, differences, disability, discrimination, duck, easter, family, feelings, friendship, glasses, handicap, happiness, helping, heroism, holidays, hope, injury, learning, loneliness, moods, parents, playing, rabbit, sadness, siblings, sight, surprises, swimming, teaching, teasing, vision

Hunter bunny learns to ski

Weaver, Alexis Rae

Hunter Bunny is eagerly awaiting for winter to arrive and is determined to take part in all the activities that come along with it. He visits his fellow animal friends who teach him to ski, skate and snowboard, but with Hunter Bunny's shorter leg, he is unable to be successful. With the help of his best friend Clark, the two find a way for Hunter to be able to ski in the animal ski race. Determined to win, Hunter Bunny practices day and night for the big competition and it pays off in the end when he brings home the first place ribbon.

Tags

accidents, activities, animals, anticipation, challenges, cold, colors, competition, confidence, determination, disability, dreams, encouragement, excitement, exercise, family, feelings, friendship, handicap, helping, learning, parents, practice, preparation, problem solving, protection, rabbit, reading, sadness, safety, seasons, skating, skiing, sledding, sleep, snow, sports, support, surprises, teaching, teamwork, teasing, uniqueness, wind, winter, zoo

George hogglesberry grade school alien

Wilson, Sarah

When George begins a new school different from his old planet, he is worried he won't fit in. When the school play comes around, he thinks of a perfect costume to impress his classmates.

Tags

acting, alien, body parts, celebration, differences, encouragement, fear, happiness, moon, play, relief, school, shyness, stars, surprises, uniqueness, worry

Snow day!

Joosse, Barbara M.

Robby awakes to find school is cancelled because of snow. Many fun things happen on his unexpected day off.

Tags

activities, family, fun, parents, school, siblings, snow, surprises, weather

Mac & marie & the train toss surprise

Howard, Elizabeth Fitzgerald

Mac and Marie receive a letter from Uncle Clem which says that he will toss them a package when his train passes their house. They anxiously await the arrival of the train in the field one summer night. When the train passes, they find a package and open it to find a conch shell from Florida!

Tags

anticipation, dreams, family, night, presents, siblings, surprises, train, transportation

Amelia bedelia and the surprise shower

Parish, Peggy

Amelia Bedelia always seems to take everything literally. This only leads to chaos as well as laughter as Amelia Bedelia helps prepare for a surprise bridal shower. From pruning the hedges by placing prunes on the hedges, to icing the fish by covering them in chocolate icing, well-intentioned Amelia causes quite a commotion. After hosing down the guest of honor as part of the shower, Amelia turns the entire party into a disaster, but at least all of the guests leave in laughter.

Tags

accidents, adventures, anger, celebration, conflict resolution, confusion, emotions, helping, humor, imagination, literal interpretation, misunderstanding, nonverbal communication, self esteem, stress management, surprises

Shoo, fly guy

Arnold, Tedd

Fly guy comes home to find that Buzz is on a picnic with his parents. Fly guy is hungry, so he decides to find his family's picnic location by searching for his favorite brown, oozy, lumpy, smelly food. After coming across many food thatfit part of the decription, he finally find his favorite food and the picnic.

Tags

animals, birds, colors, dog, fly, food, frog, horse, hunger, insects, lost, mountains, nature, persistence, picnic, reading, repetition, surprises, vulture

The mystery of eatum hall

Kelly, John//Ticknell, Cathy

Dr. Hunter invites Horace and Glenda Pork-fowler over to his house, Eatum Hall, for a weekend of gourmet food. They come over and realize Dr. Hunter won't be joining them until Sunday, so they eat and eat all weekend. In their cluelessness, they don't realize Dr. Hunter is a wolf.

Tags

animals, art, correspondence, decision making, exercise, food, goose, humor, mystery, overeating, overweight, pig, refusal skills, surprises, survival, swimming, trick, wolf

The red book

Lehman, Barbara

A friendship forms when two boys from different parts of the world find a magical red book. The boy from the urban city decides to use balloons to fly to the island where his new friend lives, but he accidentally drops the red book along the way. The boy on the island is disappointed when he can no longer view his city companion in the pages of the book, but is relieved when he lands on the beach instead! Back in the city, the red book is discovered by a man riding his bike on the street (A wordless book).

Tags

adventures, balloon, beach, bicycle, bodies of water, books, cold, correspondence, decision making, disappointment, discovery, emotions, excitement, feelings, fly, friendship, goal setting, happiness, island, maps, nonverbal communication, photograph, relationship, sadness, sand, school, sight, sky, snow, sun, surprises, transportation, travel, walking, weather

The useful moose: A truthful, moose-full tale

Robinson, Fiona

Molly loves moose so much that her family vacationed in Alaska, so that she could see them up close; except when they got there the moose had left for a vacation in the city. Once in the city, she saw moose everywhere and befriended three young moose who were tired and needed rest. She invited the moose to stay with them when they cooked, cleaned, and became part of the family. The moose became homesick for their own family, so they went back to Alaska. Molly was sad when she invited the moose to her birthday party and they didnﾒt respond, but they surprised her by jumping out of an airplane at her party and promised to come back often.

Not norman: A goldfish story

Bennett, Kelly

When a boy gets Norman, a goldfish, for his birthday he is disappointed. He wants an energetic pet with which to run and play. He makes a plan to take Norman back to the pet store and get another pet. After show and tell at school, he decides to keep him. Norman likes his music and makes him laugh; besides any other pet just wouldnﾒt be the same, they would not be Norman.

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

Monster goes to the circus

Blance, Ellen & Cook, Ann

Monster takes a trip to the circus. While there, he sees many different circus performances. To everyone's surprise, Monster has an act to include himself into the circus ring.

Tags

acrobat, animals, circus, clowns, feelings, food, fun, juggling, monsters, nutrition, performance, safety, sports, success, surprises, worry

Pierre's dream

Armstrong, Jennifer

Is it all a dream? Pierre thinks so. He is the star of the circus, daring to do things he wouldn't do if he was awake. Pierre tames a lion, walks on a high wire, and all sorts of other scary or dangerous things. As the star of the circus, Pierre proves to the people of Apt that he is not just a lazy, foolish man.

Tags

acrobat, animals, circus, dreams, excitement, feelings, french, fun, happiness, horse, laziness, lion, multicultural, self esteem, sleep, surprises

The duchess of whimsy: An absolutely delicious fairytale

de Seve, Randall

The Duchess of Whimsy is very well known to be extravagant, through her celebrations, clothing, and conversation. The Earl of Norm is quite the opposite; in fact the Duchess thinks he is rather ordinary. However her father tells her, their two kingdoms have to be friends. The Earl of Norm loves the Duchess of Whimsy and goes to extraordinary lengths to try to impress her, but none of them impress her. One night at supper the cook becomes sick, so all the Duchess' guests try to impress her with their cooking. However the one food that impresses her is the one ordinary food. Cooked by whom?

Tags

animals, assertiveness, attention, celebration, clothing, colors, conflict resolution, cooking, decision making, fairy, fantasy, feelings, food, friendship, giraffe, goal setting, humor, opposites, party, peer resistance, poetry, refusal skills, surprises

Tyson the Terrible

Fox, Diane//Fox, Christyan

Tyson is rumored to be the most terrible dinosaur in all of Stone Valley. So, when three friends hear him coming they head for cover...until they see a tiny tyrannosaurus emerge. But is their new friend really Tyson the Terrible?

Tags

acceptance, animals, anticipation, beliefs, bias, comparisons, dinosaur, fear, feelings, loneliness, repetition, sadness, soccer, sounds, sports, surprises

Hello baby!

Rockwell, Lizzy

It is such a special time when there's a new baby on the way. This little boy has been involved in his new sister's life since the beginning. He went to the doctor with his mommy and helped unpack baby clothes. When his baby sister is born, he is the happiest boy in the world!

Tags

baby, bath, birth, body parts, clothing, doctor, excitement, family, feelings, grandparents, happiness, memories, numbers, parents, photograph, pregnancy, rhythm, sequence, siblings, surprises

Nine for California

Levitin, Sonia

A family travels across country to go live with their dad in California. Their trip is long but full of interesting adventures and surprises.

Tags

adventures, cowboys, critical thinking, family, parents, surprises, transportation, travel, verbal communication, wilderness

A river dream

Say, Allen

Mark is sick in bed. He opens a box from his uncle and finds many wonderful things to prepare him for a boat trip with his uncle.

Tags

boat, family, goal setting, illness, nature, presents, recreation, surprises, transportation

Breakfast with my father

Roy, Ron

When David's mother and father are separated, David and his dad only see each other during their special Saturday morning breakfasts. All winter, David's dad comes every Saturday except for one. After sulking all morning, David goes downstairs in his house and is pleasantly surprised to see his mom and dad eating breakfast together.

Tags

change, coping, disappointment, divorce, family, feelings, food, happiness, love, nutrition, parents, sadness, seasons, separation, siblings, surprises, winter

Zorina ballerina

Gianni, Enzo

Zorina is considered too young to dance with the other elephants at the circus. The clowns, realizing how much Zorina wants to dance, teaches her. Modoc, the star elephant, becomes sick from eating too many peanuts. Zorina surprises everyone and dances so well that she becomes a star.

Tags

animals, circus, clowns, dancing, elephant, exercise, performance, persistence, surprises

Hometown hero

Aiello, Barbara//Shulman, Jeffrey

Scott Whittaker recounts the events between Thanksgiving and Christmas in his diary. He starts a karate club at school and meets Bill Walters, a homeless man who was the quarterback of the local high school football team in 1967 The book ends with questions and answers about asthma.

Tags

accomplishment, appearance, assertiveness, asthma, community, decision making, diseases, exercise, football, friendship, holidays, karate, kindness, peer resistance, school, shelter, sports, surprises

Kenny's window

Sendak, Maurice

Kenny has a dream one night while he is sleeping. He dreams that if he answers seven questions correctly, his dream will come true. There is an unexpected ending to the story when Kenny changes his mind.

Tags

adventures, critical thinking, decision making, dreams, fantasy, garden, night, sleep, surprises, travel

The surprise garden

Hall, Zoe

Three children eagerly wait to discover what marvelous plants will grow from the seeds they sowed.

Tags

animals, author's note, bee, birds, bluejay, butterfly, celebration, colors, dog, family, flowers, food, garden, health, helping, insects, ladybug, nature, nonverbal communication, nutrition, party, pets, plants, rabbit, seasons, siblings, summer, sun, surprises, teamwork, verbal communication, water

A fine, fine school

Creech, Sharon

Mr. Keeene knows he has a fine school with great teachers and students. Since everyone is learning so much, he decides to have school on Saturdays, then Sundays, and then eventually all summer. Eventually, one student named Tillie tells Mr. Keene that they are not learning anything outside of school. Everyone is relieved when Mr. Keene announces the return of a normal school year.

Tags

careers, colors, Days of The Week, decision making, dog, family, happiness, holidays, learning, loneliness, play, pride, reading, repetition, school, shapes, siblings, skipping, summer, surprises, teaching, tree, worry, writing

Surprise box

Weiss, Nicki

A girl explores her indoor and outdoor surroundings. She finds ants, dandelions, and a surprise present. She puts all of these things in a box to give to her Grandma as a present.

Tags

ant, family, goal setting, grandparents, insects, nature, nonverbal communication, plants, presents, surprises

Pablo's tree

Mora, Pat

When Pablo is adopted as a baby, his grandfather buys a tree in his honor. Each year on Pablo's birthday, his grandfather decorates the tree in a special way to surprise Pablo.

Tags

adoption, birthday, family, five senses, grandparents, holidays, multicultural, music, plants, sight, sounds, spanish, surprises, toys, travel

Mrs. merriwether's musical cat

Purdy, Carol

Mrs. Merriwether gives piano lessons to neighborhood children. Their ordinary lives are transformed when a cat joins the piano lessons and helps keep the beat of the music. The cat even brings her three kittens to the lessons.

Tags

animals, birth, cat, community, conflict resolution, goal setting, learning, music, neighbors, nonverbal communication, practice, rhythm, seasons, summer, surprises, verbal communication

The lunch box surprise

Maccarone, Grace

Sam's mother forgets to pack his lunch for school. So Sam's first grade friends come to the rescue.

Tags

anger, feelings, food, friendship, helping, nutrition, sadness, school, surprises, unselfish

Flower garden

Bunting, Eve

A young girl and her father buy flowers at the grocery and prepare a flower box for her mother's birthday.

Tags

african american, birthday, bus, butterfly, caring, celebration, family, food, garden, holidays, insects, ladybug, multicultural, nutrition, parents, plants, shelter, shopping, surprises, transportation

What's in aunt mary's room

Howard, Elizabeth Fitzgerald

Susan and Sarah love to play what's in Aunt Mary's room? All great Aunt Flossie will say is: It's full of things to save, things to keep. One day the girls get to find out what's in Aunt Mary's room, and they get to learn about their ancestors in the process.

Tags

african american, books, death, family, games, imagination, multicultural, spiritual, surprises, traditions

A sweater for Duncan (Un sueter para Duncan)

Malone, Margaret

Little Duncan penguin is proud of his fuzzy coat. He sticks out his chest as he waddles among the other penguins. He knows he is the handsomest one in the frozen south. Trouble jumps in when his fuzz flies off in clumps and floats on the wind like butterflies. His mother agrees to knit him a sweater, but will that solve the problem? The sweater is just too small. What is he to do? Finally, his mother leads him to a mirror like a piece of ice, where a happy surprise awaits. He is all grown up and is again the handsomest penguin in the frozen south.

Tags

animals, antarctica, author's note, clothing, family, identity, knitting, language, mirror, multicultural, nonverbal communication, parents, penguin, problem solving, self confidence, self esteem, sewing, spanish, surprises

Imogene's antlers

Small, David

A young girl named Imogene awakes one morning to find that she has grown antlers. No one can figure out what the cause is?!The next morning, Imogene's antlers have disappeared but her family is in for another surprise!

Tags

acceptance, change, chaos, confusion, family, fantasy, investigation, mystery, surprises

Aunt ceecee, aunt belle, and mama's surprise

Quattlebaum, Mary

Mama's birthday is coming soon and even though she says she doesn't want a big fuss, her daughter knows better. With her aunts' help, she plans a birthday surprise. Planning was the easy part though, actually getting the party ready on time will be difficult, especially if no one does their part. In the end, only a take-charge kind of person will be able to surprise Mama.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, birthday, cat, celebration, cooperation, family, food, goal setting, nutrition, parents, party, preparation, presents, procrastination, secrets, sharing, siblings, storytelling, surprises, teamwork, telephone, verbal communication

Turtle spring

Zagwyn, Deborah Turney

One summer, as young Clee finds herself lost in the shuffle with the arrival of a new baby brother, Uncle Fishtank Hal comes to the rescue when he asks her to care for his special southern-breed turtle. For Clee, caring for the turtle is like therapy to cope with the new changes in her life. That is until the turtle dies due to the harsh cold winter and Clee is forced to bury him out in the yard. Without the turtle, Clee spends time with her new brother and learns to enjoys his company. In spring however, the turtle springs back to like in the compost pile and Clee gains a new outlook on the changes in her life.

Tags

affection, author's note, autumn, baby, caring, change, closeness, cold, coping, disappointment, environment, excitement, family, feelings, friendship, geography, grief, guilt, happiness, hibernation, jealousy, loneliness, nonverbal communication, parents, radio, reptiles, sadness, seasons, siblings, snow, spring, stress management, summer, surprises, survival, technology, telephone, turtle, weather, wind, winter

Truman's aunt farm

Rattigan, Jama Kim

Truman's Aunt Fran sends him an aunt farm for his birthday. Hundreds of aunts appear at Truman's house. He cares for them until he runs out of room. Truman puts a sign in his yard which says that the aunts are free to good homes. Girls and boys line up at Truman's house and each take an aunt home.

Tags

ant, birthday, caring, celebration, family, humor, insects, misunderstanding, presents, surprises

The stars in my geddoh's sky

Matze, Claire Sidhom

Alex enjoys a brief but special visit of his grandfather to the United States from the Middle East. They spend a lot of time together as Alex learns of his grandfather's homeland, customs, religion, and language.

Tags

arab, baseball, companion, correspondence, excitement, family, feelings, grandparents, islam, language, market, nonverbal communication, prayer, presents, religion, reunion, sadness, stars, surprises, symbols, teaching, traditions, verbal communication

The hickory chair

Fraustino, Lisa Rowe

Louis is born blind. He and his Gran play hide-and-seek or just sit and tell stories in her favorite old hickory chair. When Gran dies, her memory lives on through the gifts she leaves behind for her family.

Tags

blindness, correspondence, Days of The Week, death, family, feelings, five senses, flowers, games, giving, grandparents, loss, love, memories, nonverbal communication, play, relationship, shadows, smell, storytelling, surprises, touch, verbal communication

The seven silly eaters

Hoberman, MaryAnn

Mr. and Mrs. Peters have seven lovely children but they are all very picky eaters. Each child wants his or her particular food at every meal. Soon they discover a food that all the children will eat - Mrs. Peter's birthday cake made from a combination of everyone's favorite foods!

Tags

assertiveness, birthday, celebration, conflict resolution, differences, family, feelings, food, frustration, happiness, holidays, love, nonverbal communication, nutrition, parents, relief, siblings, surprises, verbal communication

The story of the three little pigs

Brooke, L. Leslie

A Mother pig sends her three little pigs out to seek their fortune. In the process, two little pigs are eaten by a wolf. The third little pig outsmarts the wolf, then eats him for dinner.

Tags

adventures, animals, assertiveness, challenges, critical thinking, deception, decision making, food, fortune, pig, problem solving, stress management, surprises, wolf

Dance, Tanya

Gauch, Patricia Lee

Tanya, the little sister, wants to dance just like her big sister. She watches her big sister during dance class and during a performance. One day, Tonya gets to join her sister at a dance class.

Tags

anticipation, dancing, excitement, exercise, family, feelings, grandparents, observation, parents, performance, siblings, surprises

Noisy gander

Miles, Miska

A gosling spends the day with his father, not understanding why his father honks so loudly. That evening, the loud honking saves many farm animals from being surprised by a coyote attack. The gosling understands the value of the honking and hopes to someday emulate it.

Tags

animals, birds, conflict resolution, coyote, critical thinking, curiosity, family, goose, love, peer resistance, stress management, surprises, uniqueness

Sophie and jack help out

Taylor, Judy

When papa was not able to plant the garden, Sophie and Jack were quick to help. Their garden was full of surprises. The carrots looked like tomatoes, and in the place of corn there were pumpkins. The reader is invited to participate in figuring out what went wrong.

Tags

assertiveness, confusion, family, food, garden, goal setting, helping, nature, nutrition, parents, siblings, surprises, verbal communication

The surprise party

Cohen, Lee

How do you tell Mom and Dad you love them? How about throwing them a surprise party? For Rip Squeak and his friends, Jesse, Abbey and Euripides, it's all part of a nonstop, fun-filled day where cleaning the house, baking a cake, and blowing up balloons becomes an adventure they'll never forget!

Tags

animals, baking, celebration, friendship, love, parents, surprises

The witch's hand

Utton, Peter

George notices a gross, brown, crinkly thing on his father's wall and is surprised to find out it's the hand of a witch who tried to kidnap him. He is also surprised and relieved to find out it is only a story.

Tags

colors, conflict resolution, courage, curiosity, family, feelings, fight, night, parents, storytelling, surprises, verbal communication, witches

Max's christmas

Wells, Rosemary

It is Christmas Eve, Max sneaks downstairs to see Santa Claus but falls asleep by the chimmney. When Santa arrives, he puts his hat over Max's face because nobody is supposed to see Santa Claus. Max peeks anyway and was surprised to find himself surrounded by presents.

Tags

assertiveness, christmas, clothing, goal setting, holidays, nonverbal communication, presents, refusal skills, santa, sleep, surprises, verbal communication

The christmas box

Merriam, Eve

A family awoke Christmas morning expecting to find lots of presents from Santa. Instead, there was only one box under the tree. Inside the box, there were gifts for everyone.

Tags

change, christmas, decision making, family, holidays, nonverbal communication, presents, surprises

Keeping a christmas secret

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds

Michael slips and gives away the secret of what his father's Christmas gift is. He is very upset with himself, so he decides to surprise the whole family with a small but important present.

Tags

assertiveness, christmas, confidence, conflict resolution, creativity, decision making, disappointment, family, goal setting, holidays, parents, presents, self esteem, surprises, verbal communication

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