It’s got a decent message it’s trying to get across: don’t get so wrapped up in the future that you miss the present.  But I had a hard time getting especially excited about either the plot or the illustrations — both seem a bit under-developed.  Stewart is a rather ugly little monster who is having a hard time waiting for his first camping trip, and he terrorizes his parents trying to speed up time, until he talks things over with a classmate who is dreading vacation because she’ll miss school; then they both agree to enjoy the present, and before he knew it he was camping.

Henry is a very tidy little pig who likes the comfort of knowing that everything is in its place.  To ensure a nice, tidy farm, Henry sets out to draw a map of all the animals in the farmyard.  As he ventures around the farm, explaining what he’s doing, all the other animals get so excited about being included that they start trailing around after Henry.  Once the map is completed, Henry leads all of his companions to the top of a hill so he can show them how the map represents the farm, only to be dismayed to find the animals are no longer where the map indicates, and they must all scurry around and return order.

Another nearly wordless tale told almost exclusively through the artwork of David Wiesner — a great tool for pre-readers to begin reading pictures, and likewise as a writing prompt for older students.  Mr. Wuffles is a house cat, with a multitude of store-bought toys in which he seems to show little interest, but as the page zooms, we see that amidst these toys is a small alien spaceship, inhabited by tiny green people.  As Mr. Wuffles starts batting this new “toy,” the tiny aliens are sent for quite a tumble and and apparently important part of their vessel is damaged. Along their quest to find replacement parts for their ship, the little green people make the acquaintance, and gain the assistance, of the household insects who must also hide from Mr. Wuffles.

Though the audience may be limited to the youngest students, and the story consists of only three sentences, describing a snail’s journey, the illustrations are simply gorgeous, and it serves multiple purposes, from launching a discussion about perspective, to finding prepositions and adjectives.  Highly Recommended!

Young Dodo is out on a walk with Mom, but he seems to run into one problem after another, from his singing waking up the baby chicks, to collecting rocks that aren’t really rocks, to making friends with a skunk.  He bravely powers through all catastrophes and is rewarded with a beautiful vista when he and Mom make it to their destination.  Unfortunately one last problem awaits him when he finds the day has worn him out too much to walk home again.  The illustrations are cheerful and inviting and young readers will enjoy commiserating with someone else getting into scrapes they could probably imagine for themselves.

A trickster tale!  When Elmer’s friends ask for Snake’s guidance in tricking Elmer, Snake gives them an idea, but then goes to Elmer with an idea to turn the tables and trick his friends instead.  A great story to share on April Fool’s Day, there’s nothing malicious about any of the tricks, and everyone ends up laughing.  Elmer fans will enjoy the familiar characters and colors of McKee’s bright jungle world.

A delightful tale, told in rhythm and rhyme, about the joys of including one and all.  Panda starts out planning a panda party, until he realizes he is the only panda at the zoo.  He decides to expand the guest list to include all bears, until his friend Koala Bear points out that he’s not really a bear, but a marsupial.  And so the party expands to include all mammals, until Rhino RSVPs that he won’t attend without his bird.  And so things go until the party is open to all creatures at the zoo, and just as the party is about to begin, a new creature arrives — another panda to join the fun.  An author’s note in the back provides additional scientific information about many of the animals mentioned in the story.

A beautiful Christmas story, told from the perspective of the birds.  Old owl is reminiscing about the song heard by birds at the first Christmas, and looking out on a world that seems to have stopped listening.  All the birds gather and hatch a plan to share their song with the children, who have more open hearts, ready to listen to it.  Bird to bird, child to child, they share their song of Peace on Earth.  The illustrations are soft and wintery.  The final page includes a montage of the word Peace in a multitude of languages.

Both story and illustrations are absolutely charming.  A forest full of assorted animal friends are doing their best to cheer up Mouse, who seems to be in a bit of a slump.  Each tries to offer a solution that s/he would like best: Crow tries to take him for a ride in the sky, Frog for a dip in the pond, etc. In the end, Chipmunk’s simple hug is what finally does the trick, and everyone gathers around for a group hug.  It just makes you go, Ahhh!

We all know kids like Suki:  the one who makes up all the games and always seems to have the lead part, telling others what to do.  And everyone likes hearing the story of what happens when a new bunny comes to town who doesn’t give in to the queen (that would be Mirabella).  When Suki’s usual followers start trailing around after Mirabella, the inevitable round of one-up-manship ensues, until a formal contest is proposed, with a daisy crown to go to the winner.  Sure enough the two contestants find they can only manage together, and when the crown splits in two, they declare  both to be winners, each with a tiara instead of a single crown.