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Mrs. Tully’s puppy, Walter, is friendly and happy. His wagging tail is fine while he’s small but when Walter grows into large dog, the folks in town dread seeing Mrs. Tully and Walter’s tail coming. Sad and despondent, Mrs. Tully and Walter talk a long walk out of town where Mrs. Tully slips into trouble and Walter’s tail becomes an asset. Line and wash illustrations effectively convey the mood and movement of this familiar and appealing story.

As they make cupcakes, a group of messy warthogs count to ten then eat their work and end with zero. Energetic, cartoon-like illustrations and a lively, rhyming text result in a slapstick comedy that may inspire an attempt to try one of the recipes included.

Human kids will understand where little green, freckle-faced Henry P. Baloney is coming from. He’s late again, and is sure to serve detention forever if he can’t come up with a good excuse for his teacher as to why he’s late again. Words Henry uses sound truly alien, but there’s enough context to figure out their meaning — and a funny surprise waiting at book’s end.

Readers will delight in the playfulness of this word romp as they venture beyond the letter Z. Inventive letters and creatures are introduced in this funny, rhyming, alphabetic adventure in typical Seussian style.

Bunny siblings, Max and Ruby, want to get their grandmother the perfect present. Ruby’s full wallet slowly empties as their shopping expeditions require a trip to the Laundromat, a snack and more! Young readers can copy endpapers with funny bunny money to “spend” and count along with the indomitable Max and Ruby.

Tongues will twist and tumble and mouths will turn to smiles as this collection of silly sayings and sentences is read aloud. Full color illustrations further open up an inviting format, ideal for newly independent readers.

Chato and Novio Boy are the coolest cats in their East Los Angeles barrio. When a family of mice moves next door to Chato, he invites them to dinner. He’s going to eat them for dinner, but the mice bring a friend along to surprise Chato and foil his plans. The text and pictures show the funny situation and the satisfying solution. In English sprinkled with Spanish.

Residents of Chewandswallow were accustomed to their predictable weather which kept them in juice and mashed potatoes (and more) three times a day. That is, until the weather took a strange turn; foods falling not only got larger, but so did the portions! This outrageous tale was released as a film in September 2009.

Though he’s pretty ordinary looking (and wears a truly ugly bathrobe), the narrator’s dad can get rid of the Big Bad Wolf and sing like a professional. Most important though, the narrator knows that his dad loves him and he loves his dad! The illustrations are filled with the child’s hyperbole, making the metaphors jump off the page. Also available in Spanish.

A princess is bored by the goings-on at the castle but finds adventure with dragons when she runs away. She willingly becomes the captive of Kazul, a grumpy but good-hearted dragon, and the two of them save the other dragons from mean-spirited wizards. Sequels are equally light and engaging and include: Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons.

When Duck decides to try riding a bike, the other farmanimals scoff at him – that is, until a group of kidsleave their bikes unattended. Expressiveillustrations use different perspectives to show theanimals gleefully riding the bikes around the barnyardin this imaginative and funny romp.

When Farmer Brown leaves his brother in charge, hewarns Bob to keep an eye on the duck, because “he’s trouble.” Bob follows the farmer’s written instructions to the letter, but are they authentic? Astute readers willknow who’s really writing them from the animated,cartoon-like illustrations. The animals were firstintroduced in Click, Clack, Moo (Simon and Schuster,2000), another barnyard chuckler.

Sam-I-Am tirelessly tries to convince the other guy that he’ll just adore green eggs and ham. Resistance is futile. However, to the nameless fellow’s delight, he discovers that he indeed likes the delicacy and will eat them everywhere! Readers — new and experienced — appreciate the silliness and verve of this rhyming adventure.

This book made me want to be a reader! I caught on to the first few pages quickly. But the back section, with multiple words per page, was a challenge. And I couldn’t wait to be able to read them! I could feel Dr. Seuss pulling me along with his dynamic creatures bouncing from page to page: “Don’t you want to know what happens?” “Oh, I do, I do!”

Enter a world inhabited by the “slithy tove” and other unique beings and wonder, what exactly is the Jabberwock any ways? A new generation can decide for themselves in this handsome and not too scary version of Lewis Carroll’s offbeat, dreamy, imaginary world.

Lilly is sick and tired of hearing about the wonders of Julius, her new baby brother. Because she wants him to go back to where he came from, Lilly spends a lot of time in the “uncooperative chair.” But when a cousin criticizes Julius, Lilly learns just how protective a big sister can feel. Deceptively simple line and wash illustrations show the intense emotions of Lilly and her mouse family.

Knock, Knock! “Who’s There?” “Olive” “Olive Who?” “Olive you so much!” Only ten knock-knock jokes are in this gentle and pun-filled book, subtitled “My First Book of Knock-Knock Jokes.” Sturdy and colorful and designed for preschoolers, the set up for each joke is on one page and the answer is beneath the flap on the other. Youngsters will soon be telling these jokes on their own.

After becoming ill from eating too many tarts, Princess Lenore is certain that only possessing the moon will cure her. However, none of the king’s lofty advisors can figure out how to capture it. Only when the court jester consults the princess herself is the solution found. Soft illustrations decorate this timeless fable.

The narrator’s curse begins when she is told by her math teacher that math is all around. And so it is — including every part of this very funny book as it examines math and its functions. Text and illustration are seamlessly one allowing the book to be appreciated on several levels.

No matter how hard Ruby tries to get her baby brother to say the names of the objects around him, Max will only say “Bang!” One day, however, Ruby gets a big surprise from Max’s first real word. Understated humor and bright, bold illustrations appeal to children and their adults.

Bovine buddies Minnie and Moo are inspired afterreading about Zorro. Moo decides that there are justnot enough heroes and so she and her friend don disguises to become Juanita del Zorro del Moo andDelores del Zorro del Minnie. The heroic team set off to save thechickens and the farmer, providing lots of laughsalong the way. Young readers will enjoythis installment of the humorous series about twoloveable, laughable, and valiant cows.

The engaging pig first met in Olivia (Atheneum, 2000)introduces counting from one to ten. Youngchildren will enjoy Olivia’s mischief and silly posesin this simple but appealing counting book.

While you’re on the beach, you can count from 1 to 10 by feet — combining numbers of feet and then multiplying them all the way to 100, which is ten crabs … or 100 snails if you really count slowly! Colorful, bug-eyed, cartoon-like critters further enliven this jaunty approach to numbers.

Seven-year old Ramona tries to take charge when her dad loses his job and her mother goes back to work out of the house full-time. Readers will see themselves in the Quimby household and are sure to chuckle at Ramona’s antics.