From Good Morning, Chick to Goodnight
Moon
The best in books for preschool children selected by the children's staff at the Berkeley Public Library
Traditional Classic Favorites (Books Published Up To 1965) |
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| Author | Title | |
| Bemelmans, Ludwig | Madeline (1939) | |
| The littlest girl in a Paris boarding school regularly bumps into trouble. Several Sequels. | ||
| Brown, Margaret Wise | Goodnight Moon (Clement Hurd, Illus.)(1947) | |
| As the illustrations change to night, a little bunny says goodnight to familiar things in his world. | ||
| Brunhoff, Jean de | The Story of Babar: The Little Elephant (1933) | |
| Babar is the baby elephant who is eventually crowned king of the elephants. Sequels. | ||
| Burton, Virginia Lee | Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (1939) | |
| Mike Mulligan and an old fashioned steam shovel, Mary Anne, prove their worth to Popperville. | ||
| De Regniers, Beatrice Schenk | May I Bring a Friend (Beni Montresor, illus.)(1964) | |
| A boy brings zoo animals to meet the Queen and King. | ||
| Flack, Marjorie | Ask Mr. Bear (1932) | |
| A boy asks all the animals to help think of the perfect birthday present for his mother. | ||
| Gag, Wanda | Millions of Cats (1928) | |
| Hundreds of cats, Thousands of cats, Millions and billions and trillions of cats! | ||
| Hoban, Russell | Breand and Jam for Frances (Lillian Hoban, Illus.)(1964) | |
| Frances' love for bread and jam wanes when her mother feeds her nothing else. | ||
| Keats, Ezra Jack | Whistle for Willie (1964) | |
| Peter wants to learn how to whistle so he can call his dog, Willie. | ||
| Krauss, Ruth | Carrot Seet (Crockett Johnson, Illus.)(1945) | |
| When a boy plants a carrot seed his family say it will not come up. | ||
| Leaf, Munro | Story of Ferdinand (robert Lawson, Illus.)(1936) | |
| When the quiet Ferdinand is stung by a bee, everyone assumes he is the fiercest of bulls. | ||
| McCloskey, Robert | Make Way for Ducklings (1941) | |
| Mr. and Mrs. Mallard set out to raise a family of ducklings in the middle of Boston. | ||
| Potter, Beatrix | Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) | |
| Disobeying his mother, Peter heads straight for Mr. McGregor's garden and into trouble. | ||
| Rey, H.A. | Curious George (1941) | |
| The irrepressible little monkey gets into a series of mischievous scrapes. Several sequels. | ||
| Sendak, Maurice | Where the Wild Things Are (1963) | |
| Sent to his room without supper, Max imagines a voyage to the land of the wild things. | ||
| Seuss, Dr. | Horton Hatches the Egg (1940) | |
| Horton, an elephant, agrees to sit on a bird's egg. | ||
| Slobodkina, Esphyr | Caps for Sale (1947 ) | |
| A peddler wakes from a nap to discover monkeys have taken the caps he sells. | ||
| Udry, Janice May | A Tree is Nice (Marc Simont, Illus.)(1956) | |
| Trees make everything beautiful. | ||
| Ungerer, Tomi | Crictor (1958) | |
| Madame Louise Bodot receives a pet snake from her son in Africa. | ||
| Yashima, Taro | Umbrella (1958) | |
| A mother remembers the time her daughter received her first umbrella. | ||
| Zion, Gene | Harry the Dirty Dog (Margaret Bloy Graham, Illus.)(1956) | |
Harry, who hates baths, gets so dirty his family can't recognize him. There's only one solution. |
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| Author | Title | |
| Allen, Pamela | Who Sank the Boat? (1983) | |
| Four friends go for a row in the bay. Do you know who sank the boat? | ||
| Asch, Frank | Happy Birthday, Moon (1982) | |
| A mountain echo helps Bear communicate with the moon as they celebrate a mutual birthday. | ||
| Bornstein, Ruth | Little gorilla (1976) | |
| No matter what his size is, Little Gorilla is loved by a community of friends. | ||
| Burningham, John | Mr. Grumpy's Outing | |
| Children and animal friends join Mr. Grumpy for a row on a river. | ||
| Fox, Mem | Hattie and the Fox (Patricia Mullins, Illus.)(1987 ) | |
| Hattie the hen senses something in the bushes, but the other barnyard animals are unconcerned. | ||
| Freeman, Don | Corduroy (1968) | |
| If Corduroy, a stuffed bear, can replace a missing button, perhaps a certain girl will purchase him. |
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| Ginsburg, Mirra | Good Morning, Chick (Byron Barton, Illus.)(1980) | |
| A fluffy yellow chick hatches out of his shell and learns about life in the barnyard from his mother. |
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| Holabird, Katherine | Angelina Ballerina (Helen Craig, Illus.)(1983) | |
| A little mouse gets into trouble by dancing at inappropriate times and forgetting her responsibilities, until her energies are directed into ballet lessons. |
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| Hughes, Shirley | The Big Alfie and Annie Rose Storybook (1989) | |
| A charming collection of family stories featuring Alfie and his baby sister, Annie Rose, and their neighbors and friends. |
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| Hurd, Thacher | Mama Don't Allow: Starring Miles and the Swamp Band (1984) | |
| The alligators in the swamp have an appetite for loud music and tasty musicians. | ||
| Hutchins, Pat | Rosie's Walk (1968) | |
| Unaffected by a fox in hot pursuit, Rosie the hen takes a spin around the barnyard. | ||
| Jonas, Ann | The Quilt (1984) | |
| A new quilt made of her old things becomes the setting in a little girl's dream. | ||
| Kellogg, Steven | The Mysterious Tadpole (1977) | |
| As Louis's pet tadpole continues to grow, it becomes clear it will not be turning into an ordinary frog. |
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| Kraus, Robert | Whose Mouse Are You? (Jose Aruego & Arianne Dewey, Illus.)(1970) | |
| A little mouse helps his family out of their many predicaments. | ||
| Marshall, James | George and Martha (1972) | |
| Three stories about two hippos who are great friends. Several Sequels | ||
| McPhail, David M. | Pig Pig Grows Up (1980) | |
| Pig Pig wants to remain a baby until a crisis reveals his maturity. | ||
| Numeroff, Laura | If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (Felicia Bond, Illus.)(1985) | |
| A circular story begins with a boy offering a cookie and then dealing with the consequences. | ||
| Rice, Eve | Sam Who Never Forgets (1977) | |
| Sam never forgets to feed all the animals under his care at the zoo. | ||
| Scott, Ann Herbert | On Mother's Lap (1972, 1992) | |
| A young boy learns there is always room on Mother's lap. Both illustrated editions are good. | ||
| Stevenson, James | Could Be Worse (1977) | |
| Boring Grandpa tells his grandchildren about a preposterously adventurous night. | ||
| Wells, Rosemary | Noisy Nora (1973, 1997) | |
| Nora wants to be noticed so she makes some noise. Recently re-illustrated by the author. | ||
| Wood, Audrey | The Napping House (Don Wood, Illus.)(1984) | |
| A cumulative tale about a house where everyone is sleeping. | ||
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| Author | Title | |
| Barracca, Debra & Sal | The Adventures of Taxi Dog (Mark Buehner, illus.)(1990) | |
| Maxi and John have many adventures in their big city taxi. | ||
| Cauley, Lorinda Bryan | Clap Your Hands (1992) | |
| Readers are encouraged to perform certain movements and make animal noises. | ||
| Cole, Brock | Alpha and the Dirty Baby (1991) | |
| Alpha fights back against two imps who take over her family and demand she dirty everything up. | ||
| Crews, Donald | Shortcut (1992) | |
| An approaching train adds terror to the thrill of taking a forbidden short cut home. | ||
| Dorros, Arthur | Abuela (Elisa Kleven, Illus.)(1991) | |
| A Hispanic girl imagines flying all over New York City with her grandmother. | ||
| Fleming, Denise | In The Tall Tall Grass (1991) | |
| There is an entire world of living creatures to discover in the grass. | ||
| Henkes, Kevin | Julius the Baby of the World (1990) | |
| Lily is thoroughly disgusted by her new baby brother until Cousin Garland expresses the same feelings. | ||
| Ho, Minfong | Hush! A Thai Lullaby (Holly Meade, Illus.)(1996) | |
| A mother pleads with all the nearby animals for quiet so her baby can sleep. | ||
| Howard, Elizabeth F. | Aunt Flossie's Hats (and Crab Cakes Later)(1990) | |
| Nothing in the world tastes as good as crab cakes. But crab cakes taste best after stories...stories about Aunt Flossie's hats! | ||
| Hurd, Thacher | Art Dog (1996) | |
| Art Dog is a great artist who assists the police in tracking art thieves. | ||
| Kasza, Keiko | A Mother for Choco (1992) | |
| A little bird searches for a mother who looks just like him until Mrs. Bear and her unlikely children show him that love is what really counts. |
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| Kleven, Elisa | The Lion and the Little Red Bird (1992) | |
| A red bird curiously watches a lion who has a different color tail every day. | ||
| London, Johnathan | Froggy Gets Dressed (frank Remkiewicz, Illus.)(1992) | |
| Froggy repeatedly dresses and undresses as he puts on enough clothes to play in the snow. | ||
| Raschka, Christopher | Yo! Yes? (1993) | |
| The exhilarating feeling of finding a new friend is simply presented in a two character story. | ||
| Rathmann, Peggy | Good Night, Gorilla (1994) | |
| Without his knowing it, the zoo animals follow the zoo keeper home to bed. | ||
| Scott, Ann Herbert | Hi! (Glo Coalson, Illus.)(1994) | |
| A young girl greets everyone in line at the Post Office. | ||
| Shaw, Nancy | Sheep Out to Eat (Margot Apple, Illus.)(1992) | |
| When the sheep try to have tea in a shop, the results are true slapstick fun. | ||
| Soto Gary | Chato's Kitchen (Susan Guevara, Illus.)(1995) | |
| A family of mice outwits Chato, the hungry neighborhood cat, who invites them for dinner. | ||
| Waddell, Martin | Owl Babies (Patrick Benson, Illus.)(1992) | |
| Three anxious babies wait for their owl mother to come home. | ||
| Wells, Rosemary | Bunny Cakes (1997) | |
| Max and Ruby each make a cake for grandmother's birthday. | ||
| Williams, Vera B. | More, More, More, Said the Baby: 3 Love Stories (1990) | |
| Three babies who are given loving attention beg for more. | ||
| Williams, Sue | I Went Walking (Julie Vivas, Illus.)(1990) | |
| During a walk, a young child identifies barnyard animals of different colors. | ||
| Young, Ed | Seven Blind Mice (1991) | |
| Seven blind mice have seven different interpretations for what they think is in front of them in this adaptation of the old Indian fable, The blind men and the elephant. |
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| Young, Ruth | Golden Bear (Rachel Isadora, Illus.)(1992) | |
| A small African American boy imagines his come-to-life bear joining him in all he does. | ||
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| Author | Title | |
| Brown, Marc | Finger Rhymes (1980) | |
| 14 rhymes with instructions for accompanying fingerplays are delightfully illustrated. (Series) | ||
| Caney, Steven | Steven Caney's Playbook (1975) | |
| Projects, constructions, games, puzzles, and other activities organized according to the spaces where children play. |
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| Carlson, Laurie | Kids Create!: Art & Craft Experiences for 3 - 9 Year Olds (1992) | |
| More than 150 art and craft activities for children 3 to 9 years old. | ||
| Cole, Joanna & Stephanie Calmenson | The Eentsy, Weentsy Spider: Fingerplays and Action Rhymes (Alan Tiegree, Illus.)(1991) |
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| A collection of rhymes with accompanying fingerplays or physical activities. | ||
| Delacre, Lulu | Arroz con leche : popular songs and rhymes from Latin America (1989) | |
| Twelve songs for Latin America in a Spanish/English bilingual edition. | ||
| Dyer, Jane | Animal crackers : a delectable collection of pictures, poems, and lullabies for the very young (1996) | |
| This collection of largely traditional rhymes and poems has large colorful watercolor illustrations. | ||
| Glazer, Tom | Treasury of songs for children (1988,1964) | |
| Focuses on North American English-speaking children's favorites. Piano and guitar chords given. | ||
| Greenfield, Eloise | Night on neighborhood street (Jan Spivey Gilchrist, illus.) (1991) | |
| The world of one neighborhood, its good side and its bad, is lovingly captured. | ||
| Hale, Sarah | Mary had a little lamb (Bruce McMillan, illus.) (1990) | |
| Photographs and traditional lyrics follow an African-American Mary and her lamb to school. | ||
| Hamilton, Leslie | Child's play : 200 instant crafts and activities for preschoolers (1989) | |
| 200 crafts, games and activities, including science projects, recipes, and car games. | ||
| Hart, Jane, Comp. | Singing Bee : A collection of favorite children's songs (Anita Lobel,illus.) (1982) | |
| Contains fingerplays and rhymes set to music, bedtime songs, and rounds, of the Anglo-American tradition. | ||
| Hudson, Wade and Cheryl | How sweet the sound : African-American songs for children (Floyd Cooper, illus.) (1995) | |
| Presents lyrics and background notes for twenty-three contemporary and traditional African American songs. | ||
| Little Robin Redbreast : A Mother Goose rhyme (Illustrated by Shari Halpern) (1994) | ||
| Large bright illustrations bring this traditional rhyme to life. | ||
| Edited by Gulalie Osgood Grover | Mother Goose (Frederick Richardson, illus.) (1915) | |
| Known as the Aclassic Volland edition, this collection of traditional Mother Goose rhymes has time-tested child appeal. | ||
| Opie, Iona, ed. | My Very First Mother Goose (Rosemary Wells, Illus.)(1996) | |
| A collection of more than sixty nursery rhymes illustrated with immense child appeal by the creator of the "Max and Ruby" books. | ||
| Orozco, Jose Luis | Diez deditos : ten little fingers and other play rhymes and action songs from Latin America (Elisa Kleven, illus.) (Dutton, 1997) | |
| Both traditional and original songs and fingerplays are accompanied by bright spirited illustrations | ||
| Perry, Susan K. | Playing smart : a parent's guide to enriching, offbeat learning activities for ages 4 - 14 (L.T. Anderson, illus.) (1990) | |
| A parent's guide to dozens of learning games that will spark creativity. | ||
| Prelutsky, Jack, comp. | Beauty of the beast : Poems from the animal kingdom (Meilo So, illus.) (Knopf, 1997) | |
| Birds are hollow-boned singers, snakes are dragons in miniature, and mammals come wrapped in coats of fur in this energetic parade of beasts. | ||
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| Author | Title | |
| Let's-Read-And-Find-Out Science Book Series | ||
| Clear and concise explanations of a wide range of subjects. These books are sure to stimulate the budding young scientist's mind. | ||
| Bang, Molly | Ten, Nine, Eight (1983) | |
| A girl counts down to bedtime. | ||
| Barton, Byron | Airport (1982) | |
| An airport and the inside of an airplane are simply recreated. | ||
| Caines, Jeanette | I Need a Lunch Box (Pat Cummings, Illus.)(1988) | |
| Dreaming about a lunch box, a little boy introduces color concepts and the days of the week. | ||
| Carle, Eric | The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1979) | |
| Color and counting concepts are introduced in this story of a caterpillar who eats for a week. | ||
| Crews, Donald | Freight Train (1978) | |
| Moving down the tracks are train cars of various colors and functions. | ||
| Hoban, Tana | 26 Letters and 99 Cents (1987) | |
| Photographs of shiny plastic letters are paired with commonplace thngs that begin with the letters. After AZ turn the book over and start counting coins! | ||
| Lionni, Leo | Little Blue and Little Yellow (1959) | |
| Two friends, one blue and one yellow, hug so hard they turn green. | ||
| Lobel, Anita | On Market Street (1980) | |
| Shop along Market Street and find items for 26 letters. Brilliant paintings depict shopkeepers whose costumes are composed entirely of their wares. | ||
| Martin, Bill | Brown Bear, Brown Bear (Eric Carle, Illus.)(1983) | |
| When asked AWhat do you see? each animal sees another colorful animal. | ||
| Martin, Bill and John Archambault | Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Lois Ehlert, Illus.)(1989) | |
| Will there be enough room for the alphabet in the coconut tree? | ||
| Mayer, Mercer | There's a Nightmare In My Closet (1968) | |
| A young boy confronts his fear of darkness by asking the creature in his closet to share his bed. | ||
| Miller, Margaret | Who Uses This? (1990) | |
| A question and answer text and accompanying photographs introduce a variety of objects, their purpose, and who uses them. | ||
| Moss, Lloyd | Zin! Zin! Zin! A violin (Marjorie Priceman, illus.) (1995) | |
| A trombone playing solo is joined by a trumpet, becoming a duo, and soon the sound and rhythm of classical music swells to a full chamber orchestra of ten. Bravo! | ||
| Rankin, Laura | Handmade Alphabet (1991) | |
| Colored pencil drawings depicting hands and objects present the alphabet in American Sign Language in a simple, stunning manner. | ||
| Shaw, Charles G. | It looked Like Spilt Milk (1947) | |
| Are these white shapes on a blue background spilt milk or a cloud? | ||
| Walsh, Ellen Stoll | Mouse Paint (1982) | |
| Three white mice explore three jars of different color paints. | ||
These books are available at the Berkeley Public Library. Check our online catalog for availability.