The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

The Bear Ate Your Sandwich, by Julia Sarcone-Roach “By now I think you know what happened to your sandwich.  But you may not know how it happened.  So let me tell you.  It all started with the bear.” The narrator tells of a happy bear in a forest who finds a truck with baskets of…

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No

No by Claudia Rueda No is a fun picture book that celebrates a child’s independent spirit.  Of course, in this case, the child is a brown bear cub. “It’s time to go to sleep,” said mother bear. “No,” said little bear.  “I don’t want to go to sleep.” So begins the story….with mother bear telling…

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Don’t You Feel Well, Sam?

Don’t You Feel Well, Sam? by Amy Hest, illustrated by Anita Jeram Everyone knows how it feels to be sick with a cold.  And, parents know how they feel when their child is ill.  Ideally, we’d like to drop everything and just hold the sick child, comforting them, and spending quiet time with them.  Sometimes…

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Thinking of Maurice Sendak

Thinking of Maurice Sendak This week marks what would have been Maurice Sendak’s 85th birthday.  Google even did a little animation showing some of his well-known characters.  Sendak was born June 10, 1928.  He died on May 8, 2012.  Sendak was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1964 (Where the Wild Things Are); the Hans Christian…

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Bear Snores On

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman This was one of my children’s favorite books when they were toddlers.  It has a little of everything they loved:  animals, suspense, friendship, and text that flows along with rhymes. “In a cave in the woods, in his deep, dark lair, through the long, cold…

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Henry Climbs a Mountain

Henry Climbs a Mountain, by D.B. Johnson This is a story of Henry David Thoreau and of slavery.  It is a story of hope and freedom.  In this picture book, D.B. Johnson portrays Henry David Thoreau (and other characters) as a bear. On a trip to town to get a shoe that was being repaired,…

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Jacob’s Tree

Jacob’s Tree by Holly Keller Jacob is the smallest in his family.  He is too little to reach the table and see into the bathroom mirror.  Jacob’s mother tells him he’ll be bigger soon.  Jacob’s father measures Jacob on a big elm tree outside their house, painting a mark so Jacob can see how much…

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Leaves

Leaves by David Ezra Stein A young bear enjoys summer flowers and late summer blueberries.  Life is good. “Everything was going well until the first leaf fell.” The young bear is worried, and wonders if the leaf is okay.  When colorful leaves begin falling all over, the bear tries to catch them and put them…

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Orange Pear Apple Bear

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett This is a sweet, simple picture book for the youngest audience, or for beginning readers. The story is presented through just five words:  apple, pear, orange, bear, and there. This book explores the concepts of color, food, and shape. The lively illustrations convey much about the bear’s playful…

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Row Row Row Your Boat

  Songs like Row, Row, Row Your Boat, the ABC song, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider are among the first songs that young children learn.  When my son was turning two, he loved all forms of music and rhythms.  This was one of his favorite books – perhaps because he could sing along with it.…

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