Age: Infant-1st grade

A cute collection of dog-related idioms paired with fun photography. A glossary of the dogs with one sentence descriptions provides for additional reading for dog-lovers.

I had way too much fun saying all the sounds of these animals. And I'm sure my daughter will enjoy my reading this to her soon..sooooooon.

Age: Preschool+
Writing

Such a darling, inspirational book for any young writer that just doesn't know how to start. Perfectly introduces the components of a story including characters, plot, and resolution. Silly without being demeaning. Perfect to be used as a writing prompt in the classroom.

Age: Preschool-Kindergarten
Animal: Elephant
Fantasy: Ghosts

A little girl is having troubles with a pesky Elephantum that refuses to leave or listen to her. Although her parents don't believe her, trusty Grandma has phantom pets of her own, though not quite as bothersome as an Elephant. She gives the girl a card to see Mr. Spectral to find a solution to her very large problem. Beautiful, large scale illustrations accompany this introduction to ghostly stories without being scary.

"Rollrock island is a lonely rock of gulls and waves, blunt fishermen and their homely wives. Life is hard for the families who must wring a poor living from the stormy seas. But Rollrock is also a place of magic - the scary, salty-real sort of magic that changes lives forever. Down on the windswept beach, where the seals lie in herds, the outcast sea witch Misskaella casts her spells - and brings forth girls from the sea - girls with long, pale limbs and faces of haunting innocence and loveliness - the most enchantingly lovely girls the fishermen of Rollrock have ever seen" (Goodreads feature review).

Lyrical and readable language accompany this entrancing folklore about selkies via short stories by different narrators across several generations.

Age: K-3rd grade
Nonfiction: Poetry

I can see this being an instant go-to in many homes for its fun humor, read-aloud rhymes, and intriguing twists on classic rhymes. The original rhymes are included in the back along with history about the rhymes.

Age: Toddler-Preschool
Emotion: Patience

A great book for those wintertime blues when we're left with cold, dreary, blue days full of dead things but still there is no snow. Perfect for classrooms just started units on wintertime and teaching the value of patience.

Age: Infant-Preschool
Concept: Days of the Week

I've never been particularly attracted to Fleming's artwork but I think this book has a lot of winning qualities to it: large format and a songbook for reading aloud, using the days of the week with a familiar tune, and using daddy duck as the main character.