Basic Concepts

Big Words for Little People

I know some Big Words.
I'll teach them to you.
Although you are small,
you can use Big Words too.

Big Words aren't scary.
They're big fun to learn.
I was taught once
and now it's your turn.

The eighth hilarious picture book by the #1 New York Times bestselling team of Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell helps little people communicate in a big person's world. With grown-up words like cooperate, respect, patience and considerate, a big, boisterous and zany family celebrates the power of language and discovers that words—big or little—are the bridge that connects us all.

Jamie Lee Curtis loves big words but doesn't know how to spell many of them. She adores her family life, which includes the amazing Annie, the miraculous Tom and the hilarious and loving Christopher. She advocates for children around the world and appreciates her friends, family and colleagues. She lives in stunning and sunny southern California with her rotund dog, Frances.

A Look Inside Big Words for Little People (Click on Images to Enlarge)

"I Know Some Big Words..."	"Perseverance Is to Try and to Try..."

I know some Big Words.
I'll teach them to you.
Although you are small,
you can use Big Words too.

Big Words aren't scary.
They're big fun to learn.
I was taught once
and now it's your turn.

The eighth hilarious picture book by the #1 New York Times bestselling team of Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell helps little people communicate in a big person's world. With grown-up words like cooperate, respect, patience and considerate, a big, boisterous and zany family celebrates the power of language and discovers that words—big or little—are the bridge that connects us all.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar board book

As a tiny green caterpillar eats his way through the book, he is transformed into a beautiful butterfly, in a board book edition of the classic picture book.

"In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf." So begins Eric Carle's modern classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. More than 12 million copies of this book have been sold in its original, full-sized edition, and the beloved tale of science and gluttony has been translated into 20 languages. This five-by-four-inch miniature edition is truly tiny, with tiny type, but it is a nice size for small hands to hold and flip through the pictures. Despite its diminished state, the book is complete in every detail, following the ravenous caterpillar's path as he eats his way through one apple (and the pages of the book itself) on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, and so on, through cherry pie and sausage--until he is really fat and has a stomachache. And no doubt you know what happens next! Kids love butterfly metamorphosis stories, and this popular favorite teaches counting and the days of the week, too. A fun gift package for caterpillar fans. (Baby to preschool) --Karin Snelson

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Children will immediately respond to Eric Carle's flat, boldly colored collages that are combined with Bill Martin's singsong text to create unforgettable images of endearing animals. Author: Bill Martin Jr Illustrator: Eric CarlePublisher: Holtzbrinck Publishers

The gentle rhyming and gorgeous, tissue-paper collage illustrations in this classic picture book make it a dog-eared favorite on many children's bookshelves. On each page, we meet a new animal who nudges us onward to discover which creature will show up next: "Blue Horse, Blue Horse, What do you see? I see a green frog looking at me." This pattern is repeated over and over, until the pre-reader can chime in with the reader, easily predicting the next rhyme. One thing readers might not predict, however, is just what kinds of funny characters will make an appearance at the denouement! Children on the verge of reading learn best with plenty of identifiable images and rhythmic repetition. Eric Carle's good-humored style and colorful, bold illustrations (like those in The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Grouchy Ladybug, and Have You Seen My Cat?) have earned him a prominent place in the children's book hall of fame. (Baby to Preschool) --Emilie Coulter

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake (If You Give... Books)

If you give a cat a cupcake, he'll ask for some sprinkles to go with it. When you give him the sprinkles, he might spill some on the floor. Cleaning up will make him hot, so you'll give him a bathing suit . . . and that's just the beginning!

The lovable cat who first appeared in If You Give a Pig a Party now has his very own book! Written in the tradition of the bestselling If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond's newest story will show everyone that Cat is where it's at!

Pat the Bunny (Touch and Feel Book)

"Judy can pat the bunny. Now you pat the bunny." This Golden Book paperback edition is written and illustrated by Dorothy Kunhardt and is one of our classic toddler books. In this beloved classic, Paul and Judy play peekaboo, smell flowers, look in the mi

"Judy can pat the bunny. Now YOU pat the bunny." Sound familiar? Pat the Bunny is a part of childhood, as soothing as cocoa and animal crackers. Dorothy Kunhardt's interactive book for babies and toddlers was one of the first of its kind when it was published in 1940, and it has since sold over six million copies. We pat the soft fur of the bunny, play peek-a-boo, look in the mirror, and then do it all over again. (And again and again and again.) After you Pat the Bunny with your baby, why not Pat the Cat and Pat the Dog? These two sequels were written by Edith Kunhardt, the daughter of the author of the original book. Both use the same tried-and-true Pat the Bunny format: sturdy cardboard pages with eight activities that wee ones can explore, from sniffing some brownies, to squeaking a teddy bear, to unfastening Grandma's tennis shoe. The simple line drawings and pastel colors don't do much for adults, but somehow they are just right for babies. This boxed set is a fine choice for a baby gift or first birthday present, and a lifesaver on a long car trip. (Baby to preschool) --Marcie Bovetz

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (I Can Read It All by Myself)

Description coming soon...

"Did you ever fly a kite in bed? Did you ever walk with ten cats on your head?" Such are the profound, philosophical queries posed in this well-loved classic by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel. While many rhymes in this couplet collection resemble sphinx-worthy riddles, Seuss's intention is clear: teach children to read in a way that is both entertaining and educational. It matters little that each wonderful vignette has nothing to do with the one that follows. (We move seamlessly from a one-humped Wump and Mister Gump to yellow pets called the Zeds with one hair upon their heads.) Children today will be as entranced by these ridiculous rhymes as they have been since the book's original publication in 1960--so amused and enchanted, in fact, they may not even notice they are learning to read! (Ages 4 to 8)

Brown Bear & Friends Board Book Gift Set

The Important Book

"The important thing about rain is/ that it is wet./ It falls out of the sky,/ and it sounds like rain,/ and makes things shiny,/ and it does not taste like anything,/ and is the color of air./ But the important thing about rain is that it is wet."

Goodnight Moon creator Margaret Wise Brown's The Important Book is a deceptively simple exercise--taking familiar things like an apple, spoon, or shoe, and finding the most basic association with those things. The most important thing about an apple? It is round. A spoon? You eat with it. A shoe? You put your foot in it. But why, according to Brown, is the most important thing about grass "that it is green," while the most important thing about an apple is "that it is round"? Why is "that it is white" the most important thing about snow and a daisy? Whether or not you'd distill these things in the same way that the author does, Brown makes us think about the essence of everyday entities in new ways. The illustrations, by Caldecott Medal winner Leonard Weisgard (The Little Island), perform the same function--capturing the spoonness of spoons, the roundness of an apple, the motion of wind.

Happily, Brown went on to create the companion Another Important Book, about the importance of being one, two, three, four, five, and six years old--published for the first time in 1999 with fabulous artwork by Caldecott Honor artist Chris Raschka (Yo! Yes?). Both of Brown's "important books" will endure the test of time as fresh, thought-provoking ways to examine the world around us. (Click to see a sample spread. Text copyright renewed 1977 by Roberta Brown Rauch. Illustrations copyright renewed 1977 by Leonard Weisgard. Permission from HarperCollins Publishers.) (Preschool and older) --Karin Snelson

The important thing about The Important Book -- is that you let your child tell you what is important about the sun and the moon and the wind and the rain and a bug and a bee and a chair and a table and a pencil and a bear and a rainbow and a cat (if he wants to). For the important thing about The Important Book is that the book goes on long after it is closed.What is most important about many familiar things -- like rain and wind, apples and daisies -- is suggested in rhythmic words and vivid pictures. 'A perfect book . . . the text establishes a word game which tiny children will accept with glee.' -- K.

Pinkalicious

Pink, pink, pink. More than anything, Pinkalicious loves pink, especially pink cupcakes. Her parents warn her not to eat too many of them, but when Pinkalicious does . . . she turns pink! What to do?

This sparkling picture book, filled with such favorites as pink bubble gum, pink peonies, pink cotton candy, and pink fairy princess dresses, celebrates all things pink while showing that being yourself is best of all.

Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks from A to Z (A Chunky Book(R))

Illustrated in full color. This car-and- truck-filled alphabet extravaganza that starts with an ambulance and ends with a zippercar, is shaped like Lowly Worm's applemobile.