Book Finder

Benign-looking, cheerful creatures love playing with color as they lend red, blue, and yellow to make new colors for gray monsters. Energetic lines and lively language swirl and dance across the pages of this spirited homage to color and creativity.

While Mama Duck and her five ducklings left their pond for a trip to town, the ducklings fall into trouble. With help from the townspeople, the Duck family is reunited in this handsomely illustrated, touching story based on an actual event.

Look! Watch various animals in their own environment with a young dreamer. Here, expressive but realistic watercolor illustrations are truly worth a thousand words. They are accompanied by brief, repeating language just right for new readers.

Starting in space, an alien family bids adieu to their offspring (they look a lot like octopuses) who then head for earth landing in the ocean. When read the other way, he journeys home. The vertical format and strong design create a sophisticated literary and visual jaunt.

A child travels to visit her grandmother, “practically on the other side of the world” on a lime green train with orange doors. The scenes from urban to rural to imagined are depicted in delicate black and white line drawings narrated by a confident, perceptive child.

While at the library, Isabella imagines herself in the lead role of several children’s classics. The Yellow Brick Road she follows as Dorothy brings her back to reality where she checks out as Isabella. Textured illustrations and an overview of the works cited conclude the book.

There are things to do indoors and outside. But the inside goes outside and the reverse with cutouts on pages in this attractive wordless book. Simple lines and flat colors are appealing on brown paper, and encourage careful — and multiple — examinations.

If a whale is what you want to see — as does the boy in this expressive, delicately illustrated tale — then patience (plus an ocean) is needed. Images combine with poetic language to create a quiet, deeply satisfying book rich enough for multiple readings.

A mother humpback whale and her calf travel from the Caribbean Sea to the coast of New England and back over a year. Informative text is formatted to be read as a whole or in chunks and illustrated with luminous pastel illustrations. Additional information is included.

The animals of Sunny Acres farm try to befriend its newest arrival, but goat remains grumpy until he discovers a beautiful dandelion. They remain by goat as he grieves the flower’s loss and are revived when yellow dots appear on the hillside. Lush illustrations enhance the tale.

The frumpy Frazzle family is very forgetful. They forget most things including pants and umbrellas — until Aunt Rosemary comes to help them out. Watercolor illustrations appear slapdash but complement the laugh-filled, list-filled telling for a satisfying saga.

Whenever an emergency happens, there are vehicles staffed by trained people to help. Photographs and brief information are presented for both familiar and unique vehicles and situations. Additional material includes access to a digital book.

Lazlo is afraid of the dark but gets unexpected help from The Dark when his nightlight goes out. Illustrations enhance the tension as Lazlo slices through inky night to overcome his fear and find a replacement bulb. And the dark isn’t so frightening any longer.

Chu, a young panda, could hold his havoc-causing sneeze while at the library and even while dining but not at the circus. Expressive illustrations and few words are needed to highlight the chaos, its humorous results, and Chu’s continued warm place in his family.

Search and find each intricate photograph to identify toys and other familiar play objects. Ultimately, a space traveler and a princess come together in a toy room in this latest installment by Wick.

The oldest child narrates the family’s move from the city to build their own house on farm land. How the family works together planning and building while living in a tiny trailer pays homage to the author’s parents who are introduced in photographs and a note at the end.

Jesse wants a book from the floating library/bookstore that visits his town. Though he has worked and saved money, Jesse wonders if it will be sufficient. Art evokes the story’s 19th century setting, inspired by an article about early barges from the author’s hometown.

There’s something for every member of the family in this carefully selected and expertly performed poetry by a well-known mother-daughter team.

The four easy readers, modern classics, are effectively read by their author and sprinkled with music and sound effects.

Who’s hiding? Lift the flap to find out! Sturdy pages and flaps combine with simply shaped, brightly colored illustrations for a playful game even for the youngest child.

Fast and sluggish, over and under, in and out as well as other concepts are simply demonstrated by a cheerful, quick duck and a comical, slow snail in companion board books. Also see Quick Duck (opens in a new window) by the same author.

Carefully placed holes create eyes for different creatures, real and imaginary, in a series of questions and answers. Young readers are sure to respond aloud as they finger the die-cuts.

Meet marine animals in lush photographs and informative, straightforward text. Count familiar and lesser known sea animals from 1 to 10 and learn more from factual back matter.

Taylor loves her tutu so much she wears it every day and everywhere — that is until she trades it in for pink bunny slippers. Sprightly illustrations and text present a familiar family occurrence.