PET RESCUE WITH AN ATTITUDE

Move over, Grumpy Cat and make room for The Grumpy Pets written and illustrated by Kristine A. Lombardi. Billy is not like most of the other kids he sees around him--he can't seem to shake his permanent frown. In the hopes of buoying his spirits, his mom takes Billy and his sister to the pet rescue in town. Everywhere he looks he sees plenty of adorable and excitable animals charming their equally effervescent soon-to-be owners, but Billy just can't relate... until he makes his way to the back of the shelter and finds a different group of pets waiting there. This ragtag bunch of animals are definitely more moody, scruffy, and just downright grumpier than the others, but will Billy finally meet his perfect match? 

The simple and compelling story paired with the pitch-perfect illustrations, makes a great read for preschoolers through first graders, and will win over even the most grumpy of readers with its doggedly genuine heart. 

FINDERS KEEPERS?

A warm red scarf lies at the center of this clever and deceptively simple winter picture book. In Lost. Found. by Marsha Diane Arnold and illustrated by Matthew Cordell, the two titular words are repeated over and over again as the story progresses, and readers must pay close attention to the details in Cordell's charming pen-and-ink-with-watercolor art, where the true story unfolds. When bear loses his cozy red scarf in the cold winter breeze, it finds and loses several other woodland animal successors, each time being reinvented to serve many a varied purpose--hat! rope swing! trampoline!--along the way. But trouble ensues when all the animals try to claim the scarf for their own and it becomes unraveled. Can they possibly put it back together and discover a way for all the animals to use it together? 

This delightfully inventive picture book is wonderful to share with preschoolers through first graders in a group, but even more so in a one-on-one setting, where they will have the chance to really pore over all the finer details of this lovely story. Either way it's the perfect find. 

DO YOU HAVE A GARDEN?

“I have a garden” a playful dog announces on the first page of the book. And as the reader goes on to discover all the variety of the different animals that the garden has, the pages of the book become filled with more animals and flowers. Showing even more illustrations of lushes flowers and animated animals and insects.  

However, all the flowers and the animals belong to him because the garden is HIS.  But can this be possible?  Beautiful things are to be shared, so how can the dog be convinced that the garden belongs to everyone?  

This particular picture book is so colorful and vibrant that after reading it, I wanted to literally jump inside the pages and smell all the flowers and play with all the animals.   It is a fun and easy book that will even be great for a read aloud.  I Have a Garden by Bob Barner

Pre-k to 1^st grade 

ZOOZICAL MUSICAL

Zoozical by Judy Sierra pictures by Marc Brown.

It's winter time and families are staying in their homes and the usual field trips are no longer taking place at the local zoo.  The animals are getting rusty and restless, no one to entertain and no one to take pictures with…”Owls did not give a hoot, pandas quit being cute.”  And so begins the ever fun production of an animal show at the zoo, put together by none other than the animals themselves, hence zoozical…

The illustrations are deep in colors with vibrant and colorful characters that dance, sing and entertain one another until summer arrives.  One of the things that you will learn from this beautifully crafted book is that a person should never feel bored, because no matter what, we can always find ways to entertain us, we just need to look  around us for a little bit of inspiration… Pre-k to 1st grades.