Fiction Books

Olivia Helps with Christmas (Olivia Series)

Amazon Price: $11.61 List Price: $18.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Atheneum Amazon Marketplace: 75 new & used starting at $7.90

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Everyone's favorite Caldecott honor-winning porcine and #1 Kris Cringle enthusiast is helping to make the season brighter than ever. Christmas is coming, and Olivia is incredibly busy. She has to wait for Santa, make sure dad sets up the tree, wait for Santa, watch mom make the Christmas dinner, wait for Santa, oversee the care with which the stockings are hung and, of course, OPEN HER PRESENTS! Do you see how hard it is to be so helpful during the holidays! A lovingly-told and lavishly-illustrated Olivia Helps With Christmas is the perfect stuffing for any stocking, and the newest star atop the Olivia series.

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Amazon.com Exclusive
Olivia's Family Traditions
It did not matter how much discussion there was to be had with his editors during the process of creating Olivia Helps with Christmas, there was one thing that Ian Falconer was absolutely certain about... Santa Claus would appear NOWHERE in the book. Olivia and her brothers and sisters would do everything they could to get ready for Santa, and they sure would be anticipating Santa's arrival, but readers would not see the fabled Kriss Kringle. With all the ideas that were put on the table for this book, that was one Falconer would not stray from.

And with good reason.

This was to be a different type of Christmas book. A book about how a family celebrates Christmas, and how a lot of family holiday traditions really revolve around preparations. In fact, the reason the book has such a personal feel to it is because many of the traditions that Olivia and her family celebrate were taken straight from Ian's childhood memories: Being asked to set the Christmas table was a big honor for Ian (as it is for Olivia in the book). The caroling by the piano, the "Santa watch," the order in which things were done (tree up Christmas Eve, dinner, caroling, hanging stockings), even the phrase "warming your trotters by the fire"--all of it has roots in the Falconer home. And since Ian never did catch a glimpse of Santa at Christmas, neither could Olivia. It's for the best, really. Olivia likes to be the true star of her books--Santa would have met his match.

For your viewing pleasure: A bonus illustration of Olivia not available in Olivia Helps with Christmas!

Pete & Pickles

Amazon Price: $11.67 List Price: $17.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Philomel Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $10.77

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Gorgeous Illustrations 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Have always loved Bloom County. So when I was looking for children's books for my nieces I found this and the artwork is fabulous and the story is too cute for words. Great for someone tired of fairy tales and little princesses. The girls loved it very much!

Sweet, funny and touching 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book. I gave it as a baby gift to a die-hard Bloom County fan, and it is Berke Breathed at his finest. The illustrations are beautiful (of course they would be), and the story is touching without being cheesy. It is funny, too, in true Bloom County fashion. I recommend this to anyone (kid, adult, whatever)!

Editorial Review:

Pete is a perfectly predictable, practical, uncomplicated pig. At least, he was . . . before a runaway circus elephant named Pickles stampeded into his life, needing a friend. Pickles is larger than life and overflowing with imagination. She takes Pete swandiving off Niagara Falls. (Sort of.) And sledding down the Matterhorn. (Sort of.) Pete goes along for the wild ride and actually begins to enjoy himself . . . until Pickles goes too far. And Pete tells her she must leave.

Yet sometimes the simple life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Pulitzer Prize–winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed offers two new irresistible characters and a heartfelt, hilarious look at the rarity of true friendship.

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Jon Scieszka

Amazon Price: $7.99 List Price: $7.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Puffin Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $3.87

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 149 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Did the story of the three little pigs ever seem slightly biased to you? All that huffing and puffing--could one wolf really be so unequivocally evil? Finally, we get to hear the rest of the story, "as told to author Jon Scieszka," straight from the wolf's mouth. As Alexander T. Wolf explains it, the whole Big Bad Wolf thing was just a big misunderstanding. Al Wolf was minding his own business, making his granny a cake, when he realized he was out of a key ingredient. He innocently went from house to house to house (one made of straw, one of sticks, and one of bricks) asking to borrow a cup of sugar. Could he help it if he had a bad cold, causing him to sneeze gigantic, gale-force sneezes? Could he help it if pigs these days use shabby construction materials? And after the pigs had been ever-so-accidentally killed, well, who can blame him for having a snack?

As with The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, (another stellar collaboration by Scieszka and illustrator Lane Smith), children who know all the old stories by heart will delight in reading impudent new versions. Here, Scieszka's text is clever, savvy, and tabloid-quick, and Smith's stretchy-strange illustrations complete this funny, irreverent, thoroughly original tale. (Ages 4 to 8)

If You Give a Pig a Party (If You Give...)

Laura Joffe Numeroff

Amazon Price: $11.55 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Laura Geringer Amazon Marketplace: 71 new & used starting at $3.47

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Don't Be A Party Pooper, Mommy 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is creative, colorful and easy to follow. I've been reading this with my daughter since age 2, she's almost four and it's still a fast favorite. The storyline follows Pig on her adventure to have a party; along the way you meet her friends snake, mouse, moose, cat and dog (did I forget anyone?). We have fun spotting the friends and picking out which hat we'll 'wear' to the party. I aways pick the same hat, so my daughter says, "Don't be a party pooper, mommy --- Try something new"! Wonderful times.

Editorial Review:

If you give a pig a party,she's going to ask for someballoons. When you give her the balloons, she'll want to decorate the house. When she's finished, she'll put on her favorite dress. Then she'll call all her friends -- Mouse, Moose, and more.

The little pig from If You Give a Pig a Pancake is back, and this time she wants to throw a great big party! Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond have created another winning story for this beloved character in the tradition of the best-selling If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Olivia . . . and the Missing Toy

Amazon Price: $12.23 List Price: $17.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books Amazon Marketplace: 70 new & used starting at $2.74

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 51 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Olivia, like many young pigs, experiences life very intensely. She is utterly obsessed with having her mother make her a red soccer shirt (even though the team color is green), until, of course, she discovers that her favorite toy, her very best toy, is missing, at which point she becomes utterly obsessed with finding it. She looks under the rug, the sofa, and the cat. She shouts accusingly at both her younger brother Ian and her baby brother William, who responds with an unsatisfactory "Wooshee gaga." That night (a dark and stormy one), she hears a horrible sound emanating from behind a closed door, and, in a dramatic scene illuminated by her flaming candelabra and showcased in a fold-out spread, she sees the family dog Perry chewing her favorite toy to bits. As devastating as this is to a passionate young pig, "even Olivia couldn't stay mad forever." She sews up her dismembered toy and falls asleep that very night cozied up with both it and the toy-wrecking Perry. The New Yorker cartoonist and Caldecott Honor artist Ian Falconer (Olivia, 2001) fills his pages with delightful visual stunts, such as the time-lapse drawings of Olivia waiting and waiting and waiting for her mom to sew her soccer shirt and the exaggeratedly scary shadow the toy-eating dog casts on the wall. Olivia fans will rejoice to see their favorite pig being her usual extreme self. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

Toot & Puddle: Let It Snow (Toot and Puddle)

Holly Hobbie

Amazon Price: $11.55 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Little, Brown Young Readers Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $7.94

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Gift from Grandma! 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Who doesn't love Toot & Puddle? This book talks about the two's desire to find the perfect gift for the other. The love the characters show each other gets to the root of what we want children to understand about giving. The art work is, as always, beautiful. I love these characters and this book gave the perfect holiday, sentimental feeling. Every toddler should have the chance to hear this book this holiday season.

Worth the wait! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Super addition to any Toot and Puddle collection! Illustrations are as charming as the text. Another homerun! Adults and children alike will enjoy this one.

Snow fun 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

A beautiful book with gorgeous pictures. Something to treasure forever and make a great addition to a collection.

Editorial Review:

Celebrate the last book in the beloved series with a Christmas story about the gift of friendship and free limited edition Christmas ornaments.

With a nod to previous books in the Toot & Puddle series, Holly Hobbie, shows readers that the best kind of present for the best kind of friend is one that shows just how much you care.

If You Give a Pig a Pancake (If You Give...)

Laura Numeroff

Amazon Price: $11.55 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Harper Collins Publishers - Model: HC-0060266864 Amazon Marketplace: 119 new & used starting at $0.01

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• CHILDRENS BOOKS & MUSIC
• Childrens Books
• Language Arts

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 74 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Dr. Seuss's Successor 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 16 people found this review helpful.

If you could name one factor that helped me to fall in love with teaching once again, it would probably come from reading 'If You Give a Pig a Pancake' to a preschooler. While there were other factors for sure, this is not a hyperbole, for I know of no other top reason to fall in love with teaching better than with Laura Numeroff and her whimsical set of cyclical stories. My only regret is that while becoming winded by laughing out loud during the famous pig show, I may have startled the poor preschooler whom I know wasn't as enthralled as I was with the didactic lunacy of this kiddie book gem.

And I've read a lot of books to kids of many ages. Dr. Seuss comes to mind because of her genius and the hijinx that no one has been able to match. Besides fun and entertainment, there is a message. The children in each of these books are all doting hosts for their wild animal guests. Personification is not present. It is child-onification that takes place. The animal prima donnas are a parents' joy and nightmare. They go from one enthralling messy project to another, leaving the child helpless and exhausted by the end. Both the children and adults get and give the appreciation they deserve.

And it all wouldn't work nearly as well without the remarkable artwork of illustrator Felicia Bond. While all of the books are worthy (If You Give a Moose a Muffin (If You Give...), If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Mini Book and CD (If You Give...)et al) 'If You Give a Pig a Pancake' was the first I read; the others in the series are also a treat, but this one still stands up as the best for its photo finish.

('The Berenstain Bears' are heartwarming, but I've yet to find a better read for the little ones. Forced in a pinch, this is the one I find to fill in the gaps.)

(This review is dedicated to Judy K. Polhemus and all the other school librarians who give us so much service with a smile.)

Editorial Review:

If you give a pig a pancake, she'll want some syrup to go with it. You'll give her some of your favorite maple syrup, and she'll probably get all sticky, so she'll want to take a bath. She'll ask you for some bubbles. When you give her the bubbles...

Olivia

Ian Falconer

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: INGRAM BOOK & DISTRIBUTOR - Model: ING0689829531 Amazon Marketplace: 143 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 140 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Olivia and Babe are my favorite pigs 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I love a children's book that begins the story on the end pages (located just inside the covers). How creative! What fun! That's just where Ian Falconer begins his story of Olivia, my favorite children's book character.

Olivia is the child you want, but fear having--creative, impulsive, talented, energetic, headstrong, in other words, too much personality, a difficult and gifted child. At the same time you love her anyway!

Falconer has cleverly chosen to draw Olivia in black and white and add touches of one bright color. In this, his first Olivia book, he chose red. One thing about Olivia is that she wears people out with her antics, even herself. One of the best scenes is the one where she tries on ALL her clothes--all red pieces--dresses, purses, hats, undies, tops, muffs, sneakers, backpacks, caps, bikinis, and one pair of gray panty hose.

Today the family goes to the beach where Olivia makes a sand castle that looks like a skyscraper ("She got pretty good"). After Olivia sunburns, they go home. She refuses to nap. Her mother takes her to museums on rainy days where she studies paintings by Degas and, of course, dreams of being the ballerina. At the Jackson Pollock painting, she declares she could do that in five minutes and does so when she gets home (much to Mom's chagrin).

That night her mother reads to her a story about Maria Callas (notice how Falconer works in cultural elements?).

"When it's time to stop, Olivia's mother gives her a kiss and says, 'You know, you really wear me out. But I love you anyway.'
"And Olivia gives her a kiss back and says, 'I love you anyway, too.'" Then dreams of being an opera star.

Editorial Review:

by Ian Falconer. Primary Level

What's Wrong, Little Pookie?

Sandra Boynton

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $5.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Robin Corey Books Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $1.76

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Best children's book ever! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book cheers up our toddler whenever he is blue. He loves to be asked questions and get to answer, "No!" He never fails to giggle at the end!

Our favorite book! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is written in a question & answer format - as soon as our son was able to talk at all he took absolute delight in being able to read it with me! Mom asks questions and Pookie says, "No!" It cheers him immensely to read this when he is grumpy.

above average Boynton book 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

For our family, I would say this is an "above-average" Boynton book.

While my daughter does enjoy reading (or having it read) it, it is not one of her favorites. It is tolerable to read over and over though - which is key for us.

Little Pookie is upset, but will not tell his mother why. As she guesses at the reasons, Pookie is distracted (and entertained) and forgets why he is upset.

Editorial Review:

POOKIE'S UPSET AND POOKIE'S MOM cannot figure out why. And Pookie isn't helping, either. This familiar scenario is told with Sandra Boynton's signature humor, in both story and art. Caregivers and young children will laugh their way out of their sorrow as Mom and Pookie work things out. Never fear, a happy ending is on the way! Perfect for toddlers having a meltdown, or anyone in a plain old bad
mood, this book will come to the rescue for kids and adults for years to come.

There Is a Bird On Your Head! (Elephant and Piggie)

Mo Willems

Amazon Price: $8.99 List Price: $8.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hyperion Book CH Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $3.60

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent toddler book! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

My daughter loves this book! Never fails to get lots of belly laughs. The text in the thought bubbles is really secondary to the telling of the story that goes on via the drawings of Elephant and Piggie. This has been a bedtime favorite for some time and still has not gotten old - highly recommended!

Editorial Review:

Best-selling picture book creator Mo Willems continues his charming Elephant and Piggie first reader series.

The books feature two lovable and funny characters: an optimistic (and sometimes reckless) pig and a cautious, pessimistic elephant. Children who sat on their parents' laps to have Pigeon read to them will eagerly take the plunge with these books to start reading on their own. Each book has been vetted by an early learning specialist. These sweet and surprising stories are a much-needed breath of fresh air in the early reader arena.

In There Is a Bird On My Head!, Gerald discovers that there is something worse than a bird on your head-two birds on your head! Can Piggie help her best friend?