Some of My Favorite New Picture Books

Okay, so if anyone asks me how I spent my summer, I guess I have to say "buying books". I have picked up more than I realized over the last few months. I figured I might as well share a few of my favorites! 

THIS IS THE DREAM by Diane Shore and Jessica Alexander was a "must have" for me. It is an amazing picture book about civil rights. The illustrations are brilliant. One of my new favorites! 

HIPPO! NO, RHINO! by Jeff Newman is a hysterical picture book for very young readers--funny for adults too! There are very few words but the pictures are hysterical. A zookeeper incorrectly puts the Hippo sign by the Rhino and the Rhino is not happy! It is a really fun book. 

FOLLOW THE LINE by Laura Ljungkvist is a great book. Each illustration is made from a single line that kids can follow through the book. It is also a type of counting books with counting questions on each page. A fun book for young readers. 

SHIVER ME LETTERS: A PIRATE ABC by June Sobel is one I have added to my ABC Book collection. It is a great book to help young children identify letters and it is quite funny. The pirates look for all of the letter when they realize that they need more than "R". 

I loved BIG SISTER, LITTLE SISTER by Leuyen Pham. A very sweet book about sisters with fun illustrations. A great author photo on the flap too--with her little sister, of course! 

BEACH by Elisha Cooper is a good one, but one I wouldn't have just picked up. It has great, peaceful illustrations, but what I loved was the surprising language. 

HOW TO BE by Lisa Brown is a cute one for preschool and Kindergarten. It invites kid to think about how to "be" different animals and how to be themselves! 

I think that WALK ON! A GUIDE FOR BABIES OF ALL AGES by Marla Frazee is too much fun! Great fun illustrations and a message for readers of all ages. 

Andrew Clements' new book A MILLION DOTS is an amazing book that can be connected to math and large numbers. It reminds me a bit of the million books but has a different take. Great illustrations made of dots and fun number facts throughout the book. 

I am hoping that Lauren Child's THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA wins the Caldecott this year. I am a huge Lauren Child fan and I love this new version. 

And I love PUMPKINS by Ken Robbins. I am trying to add to my collection of great nonfiction--books that can serve as models for my students in their own writing. This one is a great one for that. Great word choice and great nonfiction writing. The photographs are amazing too! 

I would also tell you about WOLVES by Emily Gravett but Mary Lee purchased the last copy while we were shopping together the other day. So.... I have to wait a few days for mine. It is one that we kind of fought over in the bookstore. I loved it (and had it first) but she somehow took it out of my stack when I wasn't looking.