kiddieliter

The Mouse and the Motorcycle is about a mouse named Ralph who lives in a hotel in California with his family.  Ralph is an adventurous mouse who wants to go out and see his world, but he can’t because he is kept in check by the housekeepers who want to keep the place clean and mice free. Then Keith and his family arrive. Keith has many fun toys but most importantly he has a motorcycle.  He teaches him how to ride his motorcycle and lets Ralph ride around in it at night.

This is a book in which a grandfather tells his grandchildren the tall-tale of a town called “Chewandswallow”. The weather of Chewandswallow was unlike any other. It came three times a day, but instead of rain and snow, soup and mashed potatoes would fall. Whatever came from the sky, the people ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, the weather finally took a turn for the worse, and the people of Chewandswallow had to react immediately…..

In this book a rabbit is told to go outside to play while his mother makes lunch.  The rabbit asks his mother what can he do and she tells him  to follow his nose, so he does.  He goes walking and meets a bee who is lets the bunny sniff his flowers.  He then runs into a mouse picking strawberries.  The mouse tells the rabbit he can have some of his mothers strawberry jam, the rabbit then goes walking through the forest.  In the forest he meets squirrel and smells the fresh scent of pine needles.  Rabbit goes on to meet a bird who has peaches and a raccoon with pickles.  Afterwards he goes back home to tell his mom he enjoyed following his nose. 

 A little boy wears a wolf costume and is misbehaving so his mother calls him “Wild Thing”. She sent him to bed without eating so he dreamed up a forest where the wild things live. The wild things were big monsters that roared and showed their big claws. Max became the leader and they listened to everything he said. They danced and played together throughout the night. Then he smelled something good to eat so he left the land of the wild things to go back to his room where he found his dinner waiting for him at a table in his room.

This story is about Babar and his wife. They soon find out that she is expecting a child. Come to find out, she is expecting three! They were both nervous and scared, but both quickly learned to deal with what they were given.

This is a story about a seemingly “lazy” mouse who sits around while the other mice are preparing for winter. As they gather corn and nuts, Frederick sits on a rock and says that he is gathering “sun rays for the cold dark winter days.” As the story continues, the mice are still gathering things for winter, however Frederick says that he is gathering words and colors. Winter finally comes along and when the mice begin to run out of food, they question Frederick about his “supplies.” It is assumed that the mice thought that Frederick had nothing to offer them since he didn’t do any physical work, but much to their surprise, Frederick offers them the gift of imagination and poetry.  

   When the sun had been missing for three days, some little chicks became worried because it was sad and cold without sunshine.  They wanted to know where the sun was and sought to find it.  The mother hen prepared them for their journey by giving each chick a grain of rye and a poppy seed.  Their trek led them to encounter other cooperative animals and their places of habitat.  Each animal encountered would suggest another animal which might be able to help them find the sun.  It then would join the chicks on their quest.  The delightful ending to this colorfully illustrated book (which is an adaptation of a Slovenian folk tale) emphasizes how each helping the other leads to the desired, but surprising, outcome.

The librarian and keeper of the rules, Miss Merriweather, has an unexpected guest to her library in the form of a lion. The assistant Mr. McBee seems intent on making the beautiful lion leave the library. However, since it is declared that the lion is actually breaking no rules, he is welcome to stay.  The huge cat seems to love story time and at the end of the reading session decides to roar loudly, which is noise in the library and is breaking a rule!  Displeased, Miss Merriweather’s reprimands the lion. The children stick up for the lion saying he only wants to hear more stories! He is allowed to stay as long as he follows the rules. The lion does follow the rules and he actually becomes quite helpful and liked at the library, dusting with his tail, licking envelopes, and serving as a stepstool for the smaller folk. Everyone appreciates him–except Mr. McBee. When Lion lets out another tremendous RAAAHHHRRR!, Mr. McBee knows he has the perfect excuse to have the lion ousted!. He rushes into Miss Merriweather’s office to tattle on the lion only to find that Miss Merriweather lying on the floor, hurt. The lion had actually only RAAAHHHRRRed to get Mr. McBee’s attention in order to help Miss Merriweather. The lion knows he broke the rules and leaves the library. He is greatly missed. In the end, even Mr. McBee realizes the joy the lion brought and is the one to find the lion and persuade him to come back, to everyone’s delight. This is just a feel good story with wonderful water colored pictures.

Little Raccoon wants to know when it is that his mother loves him most.  Is it at feeding time? Or could it be when he is swimming? Or could it be in the morning or evening? Little raccoon goes on to ask about different times his mom could love him the most? This book shows the raccoons in a house, wearing clothes of bright colors. It is a warm, and wonderfull feeling type book. It is delightful to find out when his mommy loves him most!