Good Books for Little Friends

This Is the Farmer by Nancy Tafuri In a chain of events as in “the house that Jack built” (but without all the repetition), an ordinary farmer, who has an ordinary wife, goes to milk the cow. Simple and delightful.

What Joe Saw by Anna Grossnickle Hines Joe’s class was going to feed the ducks at the park. Joe was last in line. He saw all that the other children saw—and much more. Illustrated with lovely, close-up pictures of all the things that Joe saw.

Darcy and Gran Don’t Like Babies by Jane Cutler Darcy didn’t like her baby brother’s looks or his smell. No one seemed to understand—until Gran came. They did things together and talked a lot about babies. And Darcy started to feel better.

Diamonds and Toads retold by Ellen Schecter This classic fairy story about good rewarded and bad punished is well told and beautifully illustrated.

Dad and Me in the Morning by Patricia Lakin This is a gentle story with glorious art about a boy—who just happens to be deaf—and his father going to the beach to see the sunrise.