A Beautiful Girl by Amy Schwartz. 

Amy Schwartz is one of those authors who has created books that will live on forever, like Bea and Mr. Jones.  With A Beautiful Girl, she has created a simple story where Jenna encounters an elephant who says that she has a very funny trunk!  Jenna replies, “I am not an elephant.  I am a big girl and this is my NOSE.”  The elephant then explains what he uses his trunk for, and then Jenna tells the elephant what she uses her nose for.  Then they travel on together until they come to the next animal who asks her questions about another part of her face. 

This book is simply charming.  I enjoy that Jenna clarifies that she is BIG girl, because most children want that clarified as well.  There are so many opportunities for audience participation as well as discussion afterwards where children can list what they do with their senses.  The text is just the right length and the illustrations will work well with a crowd.

Share this for a preschool unit on the senses or just because it is a great book that children will enjoy.

An Island Grows by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Cathie Felstead.

Lovely, lovely, lovely.  This is a great volcano book for toddlers and preschoolers, many of whom are fascinated by volcanoes.  And to top the whole thing off, volcanoes are not portrayed as scary and destructive, but rather as the geological force that creates islands.  Schaefer’s text is inviting and easy to read, while Felstead’s paper-crafted illustrations are at once visually exciting and very child friendly. 

Perfect for a unit about the earth in preschool, a great read-aloud for a science storytime, or just the perfect book to read if you have a child interested in science.  I would recommend this one especially for those children who appreciate nonfiction more than story picture books.  It is a treat.

Snow Sounds: an Onomatopoeic Story by David Johnson.

Through onomatopeoic words and evocative watercolors, Johnson perfectly captures the morning of a deep snowfall.  The book opens with the extreme hush of falling snow, and readers glimpse a house covered in white with more snow in the air.  Then as a child wakes up, the sound of the snowplow approaches.  As the morning routine progresses inside, the outside world is revealed as roads and driveways are cleared, reconnecting the house and family.  Finally the school bus pulls up with a honk, taking the kids off. 

This is such a lovely book, especially effective because it uses only the sounds of the morning to really provide a mood.  As someone who lives in Wisconsin and adores those hushed winter mornings that signal a snowfall, I know this is a book that will speak to many northern readers.  It is amazingly easy to read aloud, given that it is all sound words.  Children will also be able to follow the storyline easily. 

Recommended for classes doing onomatopoeia, but also for new readers and anyone who loves snow.