A prequel to all the Belinda picture books!

Young, Amy (2008). Belinda Begins Ballet.

Belinda was born with large feet that just kept growing. Her feet were useful in some ways--for playing soccer or skiing, but a hinderance in others--jumping rope or buying shoes! When Mrs. Rhino, the drama teacher, selects Belinda to play the clown, she is mortified. But after watching another girl perform on stage, Belinda stumbles upon her true talent, ballet!

Silly Picture Books

In Alethea Kontis’ Alpha Oops! The Day Z Went First, the alphabet is interrupted by the letter ‘Z’ and Zebra who are tired of going last. ‘Z’ gets his way and begins the alphabet, but he doesn’t get very far when ‘P’ interrupts him! Soon the middle letters want a change too and the alphabet is completely out of order with ‘D’ following ‘R’ and ‘B’ after ‘G’! Children who know their ABCs will find this book extremely funny.



Children will love Victoria Kann’s Pinkalicious in which a young girl has one too many pink cupcakes and becomes pink herself! At first she enjoys being pink, but when she turns red after eating sneaking one more cupcake she decides to take the doctor’s advice and eat her vegetables. This is a silly and imaginative lesson in what might happen if you over indulge in sweets.

Another silly book is David Shannon’s A Bad Case of Stripes in which Camilla Cream who worries about what others think of her begins to turn different colors until an older woman helps her discover her true colors.

In Alan Durant’s Burger Boy, Benny only eats hamburgers and when his mother warns him that he will turn into a burger if he does not eat his vegetables, the prediction comes true! It is then up to his mother to turn Benny back into a regular boy by feeding him vegetables. A perfect and very funny book for picky eaters!

Staake, Bob (2006). The Red Lemon.
When Farmer McPhee goes out to collect his lemons, he finds a red one! What do you do with a red lemon? Rhyming text and bright illustrations will make this a fun read for young children.

Sans Souci, Daniel (2006). The Amazing Ghost Detectives. (PreS - Grade 2)
A mystery story for young listeners! Someone has broken into the clubhouse and made a big mess. A group of friends must find out who it was and what they were after. Young readers or listeners will enjoy following the clues and figuring out the mystery.

Mannis, Celeste Davidson (2006). Julia Morgan Built a Castle. (Gr. 1 and up)
A 19th century California girl, Julia Morgan, always dreamed of building homes and structures. She was the first woman to study architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France and became California's first female architect. Read about her fascinating life and how she made important strides for women in the field of architecture.

Transportation Picture Books

Bee, William (2007). And the Train Goes...
This is a great read-aloud book filled with rhythmic text, such as "clickerty click, clickerty clack" and colorful pictures with lots of details. Each page shows different passengers boarding while the station parrot listens to the variety of sounds.

Hubbell, Patricia (2006). Cars: Rushing! Honking! Zooming!
Another book filled with many sounds and rhymes about vehicles. Vivid pictures and illustrations accompany the text.

Mitton, Tony (1997). Dazzling Diggers.
Animals on digging machines move, scoop, lift, and build.

Stoeke, Janet Morgan (2002). Minerva Louise and the Red Truck.
Join silly Minerva Louise on an adventure outside the farm where she sees people doing different things, including using different vehicles.

Picture Books for Chinese New Year

Katz, Karen. My First Chinese New Year.

Your child will enjoy reading about how a little girl prepares for her first Chinese New Year. This book is full of colorful illustrations, which vividly portray the celebration.

Low, William. Chinatown.

Experience the sights and smells of Chinatown as you read about a boy and his grandmother who take a walk on Chinese New Year's Day.

Thong, Roseanne. Round is a Mooncake.

Simple shapes in her home and neighborhood remind a girl of her Chinese-American heritage.

Wong, Janet. This Next New Year.

Read about the many ways that a Chinese-Korean boy and his friends celebrate the "lunar new year."

More books about Chinese New Year and Chinese-Americans:

• Compestine, Ying Chang. The Runaway Rice Cake.
• Hall, Bruce Edward. Henry and the Kite Dragon.
• Lin, Grace. Fortune Cookie Fortunes.
• Nunes, Susan. The Last Dragon.
  

Picture Books about Friendship

Bloom, Suzanne. A Splendid Friend, Indeed.
Can a goose and a polar bear be friends? Find out how a curious goose wins over a polar bear who can't be bothered.

Dunrea, Olivier. Gossie & Friends: A First Flap Book.
Your child will enjoy reading about Gossie, Gertie, BooBoo, and Peedie. Lift the flaps to learn about colors, seasons, countings, and more!

Ford, Miela. Bear Play.
Two polar bears have a great time playing in the water.

West, Colin. "Buzz, Buzz, Buzz," Went Bumblebee.
The bumblebee buzzes from one animal to the next, hoping to find a friend. He finally lands on a butterfly who doesn't mind a bumblebee on his wing.

Counting Monkeys and Crocodiles

Alborough, Jez. Tall.
This is a great picture book for infants through preschool. Using very few words, Alborough depicts how various jungle animals help a very little monkey to feel that he is tall.

Christelow, Eileen. Five little monkeys jumping on the bed. Your little one will enjoy reading or singing this silly story about five monkeys who jump on the bed until they fall off and bump their
heads.

Ochiltree, Dianne. Ten Monkey Jamboree.

Rhyming text and colorful pictures show how many monkeys it takes to make a jungle jamboree and how many combinations of numbers will add up to ten.

Sierra, Judy. Counting crocodiles.
Find out how one monkey outsmarts hungry crocodiles with her counting ability and gets to a banana tree on an island across the sea.

Books to Read on a Winter's Day

If it’s too cold to go outside, read a book! Here are some books about winter that we read in past Storytimes.

Berry, Lynne. Duck Skates. Follow five little ducks who skate, romp, and play in the snow.



Downing, Julie. White Snow, Blue Feather. A little girl goes for a walk in the woods where she finds a blue feather and can’t wait to give it to her mother who is waiting at home.


Seuling, Barbara. Winter Lullaby. What do animals do during the cold winter months? Read about bats sleeping in caverns to fish swimming deep in the lake where the water is warm.

Thompson, Lauren. Mouse’s First Snow. Join mouse on a winter day while he finds different ways to play in the snow with his father.


Wilson, Karma. Bear Snores On. On a cold night several animal friends find shelter in bear’s cave. While they have a party and share food bear continues to sleep. When he wakes up he feels like he missed out on the fun.


Brett, Jan. The Mitten. Read Brett’s version of an old Ukranian folktale about a boy named Nicki who loses a white mitten and the animals that find shelter in it.

Carr, Jan. Frozen Noses. Playing in the snow with friends is always fun! The children in this story make snowmen, throw snowballs, and go ice skating.

Denslow, Sharon Phillips. In the Snow. What do animals eat when it is cold? A child scatters seeds for the animals that live nearby. After a freshly fallen snow the animals come out to eat.

George, Kristine O’Connell. One Mitten. What can you do with one mitten? Help the girl find her other mitten so that she can go and play outside.


Henkes, Kevin. Oh! After a snowfall, children and animals go outside to play.

Schertle, Alice. All You Need for a Snowman. Children build two large snowmen. Follow along page by page as they list everything you need for a snowman.


Shulevitz, Uri. Snow. As snowflakes slowly come down, one by one, people in the city ignore them, and only a boy and his dog think that the snowfall will amount to anything.