Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Jack & Jim | by Crowther, Kitty

An adventurous blackbird wants to venture out, beyond his home in the forest, to explore the beach. He meets a white seagull and the two quickly become friends. However, their outward appearances quickly cause some adverse reactions from others in town. These friends stand fast to their friendship and overcome adversity. Eventually, the village of seagulls accepts Jack for his gift of stories.

Keywords: acceptance, assertiveness, birds, blackbird, bodies of water, community, conflict resolution, curiosity, friendship, ocean, peer resistance, prejudice, seagull, self esteem, travel

Muriel's red sweater | by Dokas, Dara

Muriel Magee's party invitations are very late because her birthday is today! She runs around town handing out invitations to her friends. What she doesn't realize is that her sweater unravels with each person she invites. By the time she gets home, she sees that her sweater is all gone, but she is in for a surprise! Her friends are all there to wish her a happy birthday, and they give her a present. When she opens it she realizes it's just what she needed - a new sweater!

Keywords: animals, balloon, beaver, birds, birthday, bridge, celebration, clothing, duck, excitement, feelings, friendship, hedgehog, mystery, nonverbal communication, otter, owl, park, party, presents, rabbit, river, squirrel, travel, verbal communication

Minnie and moo go to paris | by Cazet, Denys

Minnie and Moo go to see Africa, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and a monsoon in China all in time to be milked in America by five. Moo's delighted to see new places and new faces during her journey.

Keywords: adventures, africa, america, animals, bus, china, companion, confusion, cow, culture, curiosity, determination, farm, food, france, friendship, glasses, multicultural, reading, recognition, transportation, travel, verbal communication

I have an olive tree | by Bunting, Eve

On Sophia's seventh birthday, her grandfather gave her an olive tree. Sophia is a little disappointed by the gift and doesn't understand why her grandfather would give her an olive tree that she can't even see. After all, it is Greece and she lives in California! It isn't until her grandfather passes away that Sophia truly understands the importance and meaning of the gift when she and her mother visit the olive tree in Greece.

Keywords: appreciation, birthday, communication, community, culture, customs, dedication, disappointment, emotions, exploration, family, feelings, generations, geology, giving, grandparents, greece, greek, grief, immigrants, instruments, language, learning, loss, love, memories, memory, misunderstanding, music, parents, plants, presents, resentment, sadness, traditions, travel, tree, understanding, verbal communication

When Catherine the Great and I were eight! | by Best, Cari

Sara, her mother, and Russian grandmother Catherine the Great, pile into Mr. Minsky's car along with a few of their other neighbors. They make their way to the beach to escape the heat of the hot summer day. Although they find it takes longer than planned to reach the beach, everyone has fun along the way.

Keywords: anticipation, beach, bodies of water, car, closeness, community, companion, conflict, conflict resolution, culture, dancing, exercise, family, food, friendship, games, grandparents, immigrants, language, neighbors, newspaper, ocean, patience, picnic, problem solving, recreation, relationship, russian, summer, swimming, travel, verbal communication

Things that sometimes happen | by Avi

This collection of short stories are exaggerated to intrigue your imagination. The stories are full of odd events involving animals, traveling, and much more.

Keywords: acceptance, accomplishment, adventures, animals, appearance, bear, beverage, camel, car, cat, critical thinking, decision making, dragons, elephant, excitement, feelings, friendship, goal setting, happiness, hard work, hippopotamus, home, humor, illness, imagination, individuality, kindness, monkey, repetition, self esteem, storytelling, success, teamwork, tiger, transportation, travel, verbal communication, water, weather

Little polar bear | by De Beer, Hans

A baby polar bear wakes up to find himself in a world surrounded by color. He makes many friends, but becomes homesick. His friends help him develop a plan to get back home where everything is white.

Keywords: animals, baby, beach, birds, bodies of water, chameleon, climbing, critical thinking, eagle, exercise, family, friendship, goal setting, hippopotamus, homesickness, jungle, ocean, parents, polar bear, seasons, snow, summer, swimming, travel, whale, winter

Elena's serenade | by Geeslin, Campbell

Elenaﾒs father is a glassblower. Elena wants her father to teach her how to blow glass. He refuses to teach her because she is a girl. After disguising herself as a boy, she learns how to blow glass. She shows her father she can blow glass and then reveals that it is her.

Keywords: animals, assertiveness, business, conflict resolution, day, decision making, discrimination, disguise, family, goal setting, mexican, Mexico, multicultural, music, night, nonverbal communication, spanish, travel, verbal communication

My librarian is a camel: How books are brought to children around the world | by Ruurs, Margriet

Examine many different kinds of libraries from all around the world. Unlike the typical library room or building, many libraries are a bus, boat, train, or camel. Each type is different, but they all serve the same important purpose of delivering books to people, no matter where they live.

Keywords: animals, australia, books, camel, canada, communication, community, creativity, critical thinking, crowd, culture, diversity, donkey, education, elephant, england, excitement, feelings, geography, happiness, horse, indonesian, kenyan, kindness, library, multicultural, nonverbal communication, pakistani, poverty, reading, thai, transportation, travel, verbal communication, village, zimbabwe

Ste-e-e-e-eamboat a-comin'! | by Esbaum, Jill

A steamboat that travels along the Mississippi River comes to a small quiet town. The passengers have goods to sell and places to travel. This beautiful boat helps people to accomplish their tasks.

Keywords: boat, bodies of water, careers, decision making, diversity, immigrants, nonverbal communication, rhyme, stress management, travel

Three cheers for catherine the great! | by Best, Cari

A family moves from Russia to America. The grandma of the family has a birthday and she does not want presents. Her grand-daughter spends hours trying to figure out the perfect no present for her grandma.

Keywords: baby, birthday, celebration, conflict resolution, critical thinking, dancing, decision making, exercise, family, food, goal setting, grandparents, holidays, language, multicultural, music, nutrition, opera, parents, party, poetry, presents, russian, self esteem, song, stress management, travel, verbal communication

The remembering stone | by Russell, Barbara Timberlake

As Ana holds the speckled lava stone (the remembering stone) that her mother has given her, she falls asleep and dreams of being able to fly like the blackbirds in their garden to her mother's homeland of Costa Rica to see their family. She awakens in the morning and joins her mother as they greet the blackbirds in their garden. Ana can almost feel herself lifting off the ground as they take flight.

Keywords: birds, blackbird, celebration, costa rica, culture, dreams, family, feelings, food, friendship, grandparents, hispanic, hope, jewelry, language, multicultural, nutrition, parents, travel, vocabulary

Look what i see! Where can i be? Visiting China | by Michels, Dia L.

A baby takes a trip to China with her family and learns and sees many things related to the Chinese culture. The baby visits a market, the opera, the countryside and the famous Great Wall.

Keywords: adventures, author's note, bicycle, chinese, culture, customs, Days of The Week, exploration, family, food, geography, history, market, sight, sleep, traditions, travel

Three days on a river in a red canoe | by Williams, Vera B

A boy and his brother Sam take a canoe trip with their mother and aunt and engage in a variety of adventurous activities along the way.

Keywords: birds, boat, bodies of water, camping, car, cat, family, fire, fish, fishing, fog, food, heron, island, listening, maps, moose, morning, mosquito, preparation, rainbow, recipe, recreation, rescue, river, safety, shelter, shopping, sky, sleep, stars, storytelling, sun, swimming, travel, water, weather

Oh say can you say? | by Seuss, Dr.

Oh say can you say is filled with tongue twisters to make the reading fun yet challenging. The story features pages of rhymes ranging from animals to people.

Keywords: beach, birds, boat, bones, books, christmas, colors, dinosaur, dog, duck, family, fish, island, money, monkey, music, parrot, pig, poetry, rain, reading, storm, travel, umbrella, water, whale

Girl wonder: A baseball story in nine innings | by Hopkinson, Deborah

Alta's dream of becomming a professional baseball player comes true. She proves that it doesn't matter if you're a girl, you can still be just as talented. After pitching for an Ohio semipro baseball team in 1907, Alta goes on to become a doctor like her dad.

Keywords: accomplishment, ambition, author's note, baseball, careers, confidence, determination, discrimination, doctor, gender, history, memories, practice, skills, sports, travel

Bubba and beau go night-night | by Appelt, Kathi

Baby Bubba and his puppy Beau love going for truck rides with Big Bubba. After a long day they return home, but still are not ready for bed. When they drive around at night they finally fall asleep in the truck after seeing the Feed & Seed Store, Ice cream store and the fruit and vegetable stand.

Keywords: baby, bedtime, car, dog, flood, music, preparation, radio, sleep, transportation, travel, truck

God bless the child | by Holiday, Billie & Herzog, Arthur Jr.

Each day is a work day for which to be thankful and grateful. There's a lot of work to be done on this land. It's time to go and experience the city life up north where things are different. Dream on, my child!

Keywords: closeness, community, education, emotions, exploration, family, feelings, hard work, migration, parents, playing, reading, separation, siblings, skills, transportation, travel, wealth, work, worry

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

Monster goes around the town | by Blance, Ellen // Cook, Ann

Monster goes for a trip around the town with a little boy. The little boy brings his camera and takes pictures at all the places they visit together.

Keywords: assertiveness, basketball, boat, bodies of water, bus, car, disappearance, environment, excitement, feelings, friendship, fun, goal setting, happiness, hobby, monsters, nonverbal communication, photograph, river, self esteem, sharing, shopping, teamwork, travel, verbal communication

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