Another Perfect Day

by Ross Macdonald

My kids LOVE this book.  Not a lot of text to tell a simple story that's guided more with the fantastic pictures than with the words.   

Perfect for a four-year-old boy who thinks it's hilarious to see a grown man in a tutu.

image via us.macmillan.com

How to Scare a Lion

by Dorothy Stephenson

illustrated by John E. Johnson

I guess I'm in a vintage book mood.  

Leonard was the fiercest of all lions and Frederick was the braves of all lion tamers.  Their circus act was fantastic, but the best part was the finale when Frederick would put his head in Leonard's mouth.  

One unfortunate day Leonard got the hiccups!  Every time a hiccup came along Leonard's powerful lion jaws would snap shut.  Frederick knew he had to help Leonard get rid of those hiccups before their performance that night, or the head-in-the-lion's-mouth would not have a happy ending.

image via etsy.com (needleinahaystack)

Pig Pig Grows Up

by David McPhail

Pig Pig was the baby of the family and he liked it that way.  All of his brothers and sisters had grown up and left home long ago, but Pig Pig stayed.  He continued to sleep in his crib, eat in his high chair and get pushed in a stroller by his mother.  

Pig Pig's parents tried make him grow up by packing up his baby clothes and buying him a real bed, but Pig Pig screamed and cried until his parents gave in and never spoke about Pig Pig's growing up again.

It wasn't until a misadventure on the way home from the market that Pig Pig realized it was time to grow up.

A lesson to be learned for kids who still want to be babies...and adult children who want the same thing.

image via plaza.rakuten.co.jp

Harry the Dirty Dog

by Gene Zion

illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham

Harry is a white dog with black spots.  Harry really hates getting a bath.  One day when he heard a bath being prepared, he stole the scrub brush, buried it in the backyard, and set out on a filthy adventure.  Returning home at the end of the day, Harry is now a black dog with white spots.  His family doesn't recognize him!  How can he show them who he really is?!

image via galison.com

Big Max

by Kin Platt

illustrated by Robert Lopshire

Big Max seems to me to be a cross between a detective and Mary Poppins.  Big Max is called to investigate the theft of the king's prize elephant, Jumbo, on the eve of Jumbo's birthday.  Can you solve the mystery before "the World's Greatest Detective" can?

This book would probably fall under my favorites because of my memories of having it read to me.  Reading it now I'm not as impressed by it as I was when I was 5.  Still good, but not a current favorite.

My book is the older edition, like the one below, which happens to be the exact cover I was read from as a child.  

images via fantasticfiction.co.uk and librarything.com

"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"

by Patricia Thomas

illustated by Wallace Tripp

Remembering one vintage book reminds me of another and so on, so I'm just going to give in and go with it.  We'll see how many I can come up with.  Probably no more, now that I'm trying to think of them...

Elephant has such terrible sneezes that the other animals are terrified when he one day announces he feels an itch in his trunk.  His sneezes aren't just bad, they're awful!  He blows the monkeys out of the trees, the stripes off the zebra, and makes the hippopotumus fall on his bottom-us (my kids love that part).  All the animals are devastated when Elephant sneezes.  Fortunately, a little mouse saves the animals from the fate of Elephant's sneeze.  Or does he? 

image via stuartngbooks.com

May I Bring a Friend?

by Beatrice Schenk De Regniers

illustrated by Beni Montresor

One of those books I'm not sure I love because I grew up with it, or if I truly love the story.  I think it's a little of both.  

The queen and king invite their friend to visit.  The friend wonders if he can bring along a friend.  The king and queen are delighted, even when they see the most unusual guests their friend brings along.

One thing's for sure, if you find your own rhymy (?) way to read the book, your kids will soon be "reading" it along with you.

image via coverbrowser.com