Let’s Play! by Michael Blake.
Toddlers play with candy-colored toys in this fun board book.

The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri.
Leaves begin to fall, the air starts getting colder and Squirrel springs into action. He has no time to talk to a pair of mice eating a pumpkin or cardinals on a high branch or frogs on the edge of the pond. "He was so busy!" is the repeated refrain in this simply lovely book.

Yo, Jo! by Rachel Isadora.
Jomar calls out to friends and neighbors, in hip-hop-influenced patter, but when his Grandfather comes home, he greets him in a different manner.

Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard.
Too grumpy even to fly, Bird plods along. Various animals ask him what he’s doing-- 'I'm walking,' snapped Bird, 'what does it look like?'" So they all decide to walk just like him, creating a hilarious parade.

Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh.
Those mice are at it again, this time they try to scare the cat with “monster mice” built from squares, circles and triangles.

Angels Watching Over Me by Julia Durango.
An African-American spiritual provides the inspiration for this exuberant lyrical lullaby. From sunrise to sunset, the rhyming, repetitive refrain reminds young readers that angels are indeed watching over them.

Today I Will Fly! by Mo Willems.
Piggie's grandiose  announcement is summarily dismissed by Gerald, the elephant -- "YOU WILL NEVER FLY!" -- but Piggie doesn't let Gerald's negativity ground her.

Annie and Snowball and the Dress-up Birthday by Cynthia Rylant.
Annie and her pet rabbit, Snowball, invite Henry and Mudge to a dress-up birthday party, but there is some confusion about what the guests are supposed to wear.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford.
Moxy has been assigned Stuart Little to read over the summer, but although she meant to read it “inbetween” all her summer activities, here it is the last day of summer vacation and the book is still unread. For students who dread the first day of school.

No Talking by Andrew Clements.
Dave is fascinated to learn that for years Mahatma Gandhi did not speak at all one day each week to "bring order to his mind." Dave, an inveterate blabber, tries to keep silent for a day at school, a plan that expands into a school-wide, boys against the girls no-talking contest.

Sneeze! by Alexandra Siy and Dennis Kunkel.
Nine children are about to sneeze, each from a different cause. This book traces the sneeze reflex's complex neuro-muscular pathways. Kunkel's typically riveting micrographs zoom in on pollen grains, a single piece of ground pepper, a dust mite floating in a clout of skin flakes, etc. all beautifully colorized.

Kat Got Your Tongue by Lee Weatherly.
Thirteen-year-old Katherine Tyler knows she's been hit by a car, but her explanation for the accident—as well as memories of family, friends and preferences—has been wiped away due to amnesia. Told in before and after alternating chapters the reader begins to piece together what really lead up to the car accident.

Warriors by James Harpur.
Tools, techniques, and the tales behind fearsome warrior groups like the Greek Spartans, the Japanese Samurai, medieval knights even Zulu warriors. Pop-ups, and fold out pages add extra appeal.

Kimchi & Calamari by Rose Kent.
Fourteen-year-old Korean adoptee Joseph Calderaro is stymied  when his social studies teacher assigns an ancestry essay. Joseph knows nothing about his birth mother (and feels really uncomfortable asking his adoptive parents about her), so he pretends that Olympic marathoner Sohn Kee Chung was his grandfather, and writes his essay. Then his teacher picks his essay to enter in a state contest.

Oprah Winfrey: A Twentieth-Century Life by Ilene Cooper.
This readable entry in the new “Up Close” biography series shows a very human Oprah Winfrey, who never stopped learning—from teachers, obstacles, books, etc.—and used them to make her life richer.

Wind Rider by Susan Williams.
Set on the steppes of Central Asia 6,000 years ago, Fern, the grand daughter of the tribe’s medicine woman, discovers a wild foal trapped in a bog. She keeps her find a secret, because horses are prized food among her hunting and gathering tribe and she has a different purpose in mind for her new pet.