The Moon by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tracey Campbell Pearson. 

The poetry here can’t be beat of course, and the illustrations offer an accessible, warm and lovely way to enjoy the words.  Stevenson evokes the wonder of a moonlit night with his poem and Pearson takes those words and makes them come alive as a father and child go on a night-time boat ride.  The paintings are evocative, often pairing just a line of words with a double-spread of page in a way that really allows children to internalize the words and bask in the beauty of the night. 

Share this with any child at all.  As a bedtime story, on your own moonlit evening, or as a great way to introduce poetry and a love of language.

Chowder by Peter Brown.

Chowder is a bulldog who leads a rather unique life.  He doesn’t fit in with other dog, doesn’t like to take walks and is happy left at home alone to play with people toys like computers.  But he is lonely and wants to make friends.  The other dogs have told him he belongs in a zoo, so when he sees a billboard for a new petting zoo at a supermarket, he finds a way to get there.  But it is still complicated getting the petting zoo animals to be his friend, especially when he kicks their ball high into a tree.  In the end, he manages to make a whole group of new friends.

Peter Brown’s art is a wonderful mix of quirky modern and vintage.  It is eye-catching and a lot of fun.  Children will immediately be caught up in a book that opens with Chowder sitting on a toilet and the words, “Chowder had always been different.”  The book has the perfect amount of words for the story to be well told and complete, but not for small children to be overwhelmed. 

Add this to your dog storytime or share it with children in a discussion of being different and unique.  Chowder certainly is…in a wonderful way. 
You can also visit his website where you too can be tempted by wallpaper for your computer that shows Chowder sitting at his.

Find Anthony Ant by Lorna and Graham Philpot.

Warning!  This is not a book recommended for reading to a group, rather it should be shared with just one or two children while cuddled happily.  A clever book for kids who are just a little too young for Where’s Waldo, children follow Anthony Ant through a maze trying to spot his red backpack, red cap and yellow shirt in one of three spots in the maze.  It is going to be a leisurely read with small fingers tracing the mazes and laughter as ants on toilets are found, and debates about where Anthony is. 

The sense of humor adds a lot of fun to this book, and the maze feature makes it much less frustrating than the Waldo series.  Share this with your Kindergartener or first grader for a good cozy time.

Max’s Words by Kate Banks, pictures by Boris Kulikov.

Max has two brothers.  Benjamin collects stamps and Karl collects coins.  Neither will give Max even a single stamp or coin for himself.  So Max decides to start his own collection, of words.  He starts with small words and moves on to larger ones.  When his brothers boast that they have thousands of stamps and hundreds of coins, Max says that he is saving to have enough for a story.  Max starts to sort through his words, and his brothers are caught up in the joy of creating a story too.

Banks has written a readable, friendly book about the joy of language.  Her word choices are wonderful, and you can tell that she had quite a large collection to choose from herself.  Kulikov’s illustrations add a whimsical, humorous side to the story, especially in the section where the words that Max is collecting are listed.  He uses graphics mixed with the words themselves to create a visual feast of words. 

My youngest son is an emergent reader and loved being able to match the words I was reading aloud with their graphic depiction.  The story is rich and wonderful and begs to be shared with children.  Kindergarteners through second graders should enjoy the story and may be prompted to start their own word lists or even their own stories.