The House In The Night - Susan Marie Swanson (2008)

                                      (Caldecott Medal - 2009)

       Have you ever held the key to a magical night, that just goes endless in an enchanted way? If no, hold this book and you can get a peek of that night.

Key To A Magic Portal

       It all starts with a child, being handed the key to a house. The house, where a light burns. In the light's warmth, there lies a bed. On the bed, there is a book, which pictures a bird. In the soul of the bird, a song is playing, about the dark. In the dark, the moon is glowing with the lights from sun.

Green - Laura Vaccaro Seeger (2012)

         (Caldecott Honor - 2013)

         Emerald? Shamrock? Mint? Basil? Any kind of green is a green. And, that is the very concept of this book, illustrated with various kinds of green in various environments, in each two-page spreads.

A Green Album
       
          What is that luscious colour that covers the top of a forest? It is forest green. And, what about the color of a sea turtle, that swims swiftly underwater? Yes, sea green. When the green color extends all the way into foods, we get lime green and pea green. Explore more green with jungle, khaki and fern greens. Is that it? No.

Andrew Drew And Drew - Barney Saltzberg (2012)

          Noodling or doodling, anything can start an art for Andrew. But, the pages in this book show only some scribbles. So, where do his imaginative illustrations are hiding? Well, maybe, under those surprising flaps.

An Art Journey

        Andrew was a doodle boy. Andrew drew and drew and drew. He drew stairs and a mighty dinosaur emerged out of it. (The normal page spread of the book shows only the stairs. Open the side flaps to see that stairs extend into the scales of the double-page sized dinosaur). He just started a line, but ended up with a rocket-y kite and clouds.

    

My Teacher Is A Monster (No, I Am Not) - Peter Brown (2014)

          Monsters are not really out there. It's just our eyes and minds that makes monsters. Here, a boy says that his teacher is a monster. But, what she is, really?

A Monster Problem

       
          Robert (aka Bobby) has one monster problem, his teacher, Ms. Kirby.  She stomps, roars and she is a real monster when Bobby throws airplane in the class. Unfortunately, he meets Ms.Kirby, when he was going to his favorite spot in the park, on a Saturday.

The Umbrella - Jan Brett (2004)

        Lush rainforests are quite a sight to see. Don't worry, if you can't see one up close. Open this book and you will be right there.

An Animal Safari

        A boy (Carlos) walks into cloud forest, with his umbrella (Not just any ordinary umbrella, it's a picturesque umbrella, with a sturdy, curvy wooden stem adjoined with stitched huge green leaves). Carlos climbs up a tree, leaving his umbrella down, in the hope of seeing the animals.

Officer Buckle And Gloria - Peggy Rathmann (1995)

                 Caldecott Winner - 1996

         Safety Tip #1 : Never tell a safety tip, without some fun added to it. Well, this book followed this tip to a T, and it is a grand success with kids.

Safe Fun

        Officer Buckle, of Napville town, knows many safety tips. But, safety tips are not fun to hear. So, no student in Napville school listens to the officer's 'safety tip' speech. But, things change, when Officer Buckle brings a new police dog, Gloria, along to his speech.

Jack Frost - William Joyce (2015)

        Snow, ice, sleet, frost... science can have many names for winter phenomenon. But, mythology has one name... Jack Frost. And, here is the tale behind Jack Frost. This book is part of the 'Guardians of Childhood' series.

A tale of cold and warmth


         Jack Frost is one of the guardians of childhood among Santa, Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy. But he has an another life too, a life with the name "Nightlight".

The Adventures of Beekle : The Unimaginary Friend - Dan Santat (2014)

               Caldecott Winner - 2015

     What comes before imagination? All we know is, imagination comes first in mind and then people work on them. But, the author and illustrator, San Dantat has this special imagination, where "imaginations" are waiting for someone to be imagined.

Yet-to-be-befriended

       He is a not-yet-imagined creature (not-yet named too), born in a faraway island, where all imaginary friends of  every "Earthling" kid is born. Day after day, he waits under stars, waiting for a kid to imagine him, along with his fellow island-mates. But his turn doesn't come yet.

It's An Orange Aardvark - Michael Hall (2014)

          With five carpenter ants and some peep holes, what story could you possibly write? But Michael Hall can write an amazing story with an outstanding moral in it.

Is it really an aardvark?

       
           Five carpenter ants living in a wood stump, hear a rumble outside. An ant with 'red hat' (The ants are color-coded with carpenter hats) is sure that it is an aardvark. The three 'blue hat' ants are scared to death now, as aardvarks prey on ants. But the brave 'yellow hat' ant drills a peep hole in the stump to see the outside. When orange color appears in the peephole, the 'blue hat' ants are relieved. (It's just orange color like orange). But, the 'red hat' ant scares everyone that it could be an orange aardvark.

Daylight Starlight Wildlife - Wendell Minor (2015)

         When the sun and the moon swap their places in the sky, there is a whole scenario of changes happen in the animal kingdom. While the diurnal animals return to their cozy home, all the crepuscular and nocturnal animals start their active life.

Nature's balance
       
        The concept of this book expands into "For every animal that rules the world by day, there is equally an animal, active at night". When a red-tailed hawk soars through sky by day, a barn owl swishes through by night. If cotton tail rabbit and her kits bustle through a field by day, night is the time for pink-nosed opossum and her family. At night, Luna moth takes the place of a butterfly in the morning. Nature has a perfect balance of everything.

If You're A Robot And You Know It - David A.Carter & Musical Robot (2015)

         If you are happy and you know it, obviously you know what to do. But, what if you are a robot? Maybe, this techno twist of the classic nursery rhyme could tell you.

Action Bots

         Just take the rhythm of "If You Are Happy And You Know It" and change it into "If You Are A Robot And You Know It". Yes, you are all set for a world of robotic actions. This is the lovely theme of the "If You Are A Robot" song by "Musical Robot" band (released in 2013). Now, this book is the next upgradation to that blasting song. The cut-out and pop-up robots in each page of this book clap hands, jump, beep, and shoot laser beams, according to the actions in the modified song (The song is downloadable for free).

Time To Sleep - Denise Fleming (1997)

       When we get ready for winter with our snow gear and other preparations, some animals in the forest are tuning themselves for winter sleep, called hibernation.

A call for winter sleep

     
        It is time for winter. Bear can smell it in air. But before starting her winter routine, she calls up Snail and informs the arrival of winter. Of course, Snail has also seen frost on grass in the morning. One more task before the long sleep, Snail meets Skunk with the news of winter. Not to wonder, Skunk has been also noticing the yellow and red leaves on the trees.

Finders Keepers - Keiko Kasza (2015)

        "Finders are Keepers". Especially, the animals in this book follow this rule. But, though each of the animal find the same object, they keep it in different ways. Confusing? Read further and you will understand.

A hat? A nest? A boat? A nose?

     
          The hat in this story starts as a marker to where a squirrel stores its acorn. Soon the wind lifts the hat and lands it on a tree and a bird uses it as a nest. (Remember "Finders Keepers"). It doesn't stop there, the hat (Or, the nest now) soon becomes a boat and a clown nose. (Yes, it moves in the hands of various animals). After all life is a circle, so the hat finally reaches the place where the squirrel leaves it.

Warning! Do Not Open This Book - Adam Lehrhaupt(2013)

     Oops! Don't misunderstand. That's the real title of this book. But I would say, please ignore the title warning and proceed.

Dangerous fun ahead

         
           You are being warned not to open this book, in the cover image itself. The endpapers post more warnings about the dangers inside the book. But, I know, you are going to proceed, by turning more pages. You are not going to believe what happened to the last guy who read this book. Oh, there comes the monkeys, making a huge mess. Then toucans follow them, making the surrounding more dangerous. The danger does not stop there, as there is an .....
         

The Nearsighted Giraffe - A.H. Benjamin (2013)

ISBN 10 : 1-60992-433-9
ISBN 13 : 978-1-60992-433-1
(Hardcover)

      Will glasses make a giraffe look silly? Well, that's what this nearsighted Giraffe thinks and she refuses to wear one. But, how does she manage to walk through the forest?

A foresight solution

        She wears a bicycle helmet, after she banged her head on a branch. She ties a bell to her tail, after she crashed into a rhino. She starts to wear boots, after she hurt her foot on a rock. Not to stop with that, she adds a pillow, an inflatable ring and a ladder one by one, after every crash, until she looks ..... yes, super silly.

Dollars And Sense - Stan & Jan Berenstain (2001)

ISBN 13 : 978 0 375 97492 2 - First Time Books
(Paperback)

            Money-growing trees and dollar-bill rain are not possible in reality. So, it is a hard-core reality that we need kid-sized versions of money management lessons to teach our kids.

A Check To Check

            The Berenstain bear cubs are in need of money, for buying baseball cards and a doll dress. They do know about money, like how to play with it and how to spend it, but they do not know how to save it (That's true, which kid knows?).

The Boy & The Book [A Wordless Story] - David Michael Slater (2015)

ISBN 10 : 1 58089 562 X
ISBN 13 : 978 1 58089 562 0

             Ripping, folding and tossing a book are no ways to love a book. But, here comes the nightmare to the books and the book lovers.


A Book Lover

             A naughty boy enters the library. He picks a book. Oh, no... he is not reading it. He tosses, tears, folds and stomps on the book. And, then leaves it. The poor damaged book  is helped by his other book friends (Yes, the books are also characters in this story), with glue and clear tape.

Talkin' Guitar : A Story Of Young Doc Watson - Robbin Gourley (2015)

ISBN 10 : 0 544 12988 1
ISBN 13: 978 0 544 12988 7
(Hardcover)

        Being blind, his ears have opened a whole new musical world, to the notorious Grammy-winning guitarist, Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson.

A World Of Sounds

         Born in a place, where the sky meets mountains, young Watson's surrounding is filled with nothing, but music. Mom's lullaby, clucking of chickens, mooing of cows, whistling of train, wind, rain and every other sound is musical to Arthel. 

How Are You Peeling? - Saxton Freymann & Joost Elffers (1999)

ISBN 10 : 0 439  10431 9
(Scholastic 2004 Edition)
Hardcover

           A tomato is happy. An orange is jealous. An onion is sad. Oh, yes, you read it right. Those are all vegetables and fruits, emoting out. And, also they come out with a perfect moral "It's alright to show your emotions".

To Emote Is Your Right
     
      This book talks about emotions, but not in a philosophical way. In a very funny and ingenious way, with the vast array (photographs) of various vegetables and fruits, the authors have showcased emotions from happy, sad, tired, frustrated, angry etc. (The cover shows a smiling bell pepper).

Red : A Crayon's Story - Michael Hall (2015)

ISBN 10 : 0 06 225209 7
ISBN 13 : 978 0 06 225209 8
(Hardcover)

A blue's got the blues     

          Blue Strawberries? Blue fire engine? That's what happens when a blue crayon is wrongly considered as a red crayon. 

          He is blue (crayon), but wrongly labeled as red. He has a whole set of family members and classmates (all are various colors of crayons). As he goes on drawing blue strawberries and blue foxes, everyone thinks he is not good enough to be a red crayon.