Billie B. Little

Where’s the Baboon? is described as a “super bookgame” by author Michael Escoffier and illustrator Kris Di Giacomo. The story hits the ground running when a pair of mice scamper by, hoisting a pencil with a fellow mouse balancing on top. He calls out, “Let’s go search for hidden words!” and the game is on. Escoffier and Di Giacomo’s clever follow-up to Take Away the A will engage parents and children alike.

School is fun when the classroom is full of Di Giacomo’s cheeky animals. The headmaster is a bell-ringing hamster, and a big, long-armed ape presents an apple to the teacher. Mouse uses paint brushes for stilts, a seal wields one with his flipper, and apron-wearing Pig stands at the easel painting. While all this is going on, leading questions direct the scavenger hunt for words within words.

Later on, Pig seems to be eating school supplies as the three crafty mice rappel up a tower of number blocks. There is a mouse-juggling cow, a snake clipping snowflakes, and much, much more in this playful romp of a book. Call it what you like, but Esoffier and Di Giacomo appear to have another hit on their hands. After all, they put the “boo” in baboon. The excitement of a surprise birthday party flies right off the pages when the missing guest suddenly appears in a shower of bright ribbons, balloons and confetti. Wordplay and fun—what’s not to like?

Billie B. Little is the Founding Director of Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands-on museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Benjamin Fox’s lovely and poignant book The Great and the Grand lends itself well to bedtime readings. Simple language and Elizabeth Robbins’ softly textured, luminous illustrations depict the importance of extended family in a quiet yet meaningful way.

The story begins as dawn breaks over a peaceful valley on an “uncommonly good day.” We meet “The New” and “The Old,” one just waking, one preparing for visitors. The New is surrounded by things to touch; the Old is surrounded by “touching things.” Fox’s gentle repetitions and wordplays permeate the book, and we learn that the young mother is setting out on a long train ride to introduce her new baby to his great-grandfather.

Robbins has created a mesmerizing backdrop for Fox’s words. Each page is a painting, soft-edged and expressive, with the most vibrant image being of the baby splashing his toys about in a bright green tub. The grandfather is portrayed against more muted, serene backdrops, as if he is seeing life through the veil of his experience. And when the Old and the New finally meet, Fox writes, “They are the past and the future. They are family.”

Grandparents and parents may find themselves tearing up over this book, but children will enjoy the story and a chance to talk about their own grandparents. The Great and the Grand is a uniquely evocative book of beauty and substance.

Billie B. Little is the Founding Director of Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands-on museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Parents of young children are obsessed with bedtime. We paint the nursery in calm pastels, pipe in white noise and read soothing stories in hopes of speeding and easing our children’s transition into sleep. From Margaret Wise Brown’s classic Goodnight Moon to Sandra Boynton’s The Going-to-Bed Book, bookstore shelves are full of soporific books. Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep!, written by Todd Tarpley and illustrated by Caldecott honoree John Rocco, offers a refreshingly hip take on the bedtime story.

It’s time for bed, and three rowdy robots wreak havoc, none of them in the mood to power down. Each robot needs the hi-tech equivalent of a human toddler—tweaking of bolts, checking for properly adjusted fan belts, and maybe an extra sip of oil. A boy patiently attends to them, desperately hoping they will fall asleep.

The robot tykes’ final bedtime request for a bedtime story proves to be the magic bullet. The twist at story’s end will give children and adults a chuckle, and Rocco’s clever and lively illustrations, though not remotely sleep-inducing, entertain throughout.

The next time you confront a little one determined to stay awake, grab a copy of Beep Beep! Go to Sleep! Whether or not your child succumbs to sleep, you’ll enjoy a laugh together and end the day in a happier mood.

Billie B. Little is the Founding Director of Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands-on museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Self-confidence is not all it’s cracked up to be, as we learn from ebullient little Poppy in Susan Eaddy’s Poppy’s Best Paper, charmingly illustrated by Rosalinde Bonnet.

When Poppy’s teacher, Mrs. Rose, asks the class to write about what they want to be when they grow up, Poppy’s elated. She wants to be a writer. She dashes off a few quick lines and deems her paper ‘‘pretty much perfect.” But Mrs. Rose doesn’t read Poppy’s essay. She reads her friend Lavender’s paper about becoming a brain surgeon. Poppy takes so many breaks while writing her next assignment that she has to finish it on the bus. When Lavender’s essay on world peace wins, Poppy can’t handle the injustice. She ends up in the Chill-Out chair and, after some rude behavior at home, is sent to her room.

After a good cry and several broken pencils, Poppy has an idea. This time she writes a sentence and takes time to fix it. She doesn’t stop to play with her dog or call Lavender. She focuses. This time, when Mrs. Rose prepares to read the best paper on “How to Do Something,” Poppy is not overly confident. She sits very still.

Poppy’s paper is read aloud! She’s written “How to Get in Trouble,” a topic that plays to her strengths. Bonnet’s lively drawings are endearing and keep the story moving. Thumbs-up to clay artist Susan Eaddy on her debut picture book. She’s created a character readers will gladly visit again and again.

Billie B. Little is the Founding Director of Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands-on museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Beach House is the perfect read-aloud for a beach vacation, or for the middle of winter when a seaside trip is just a pleasant reverie.

It’s a windy day when the family arrives at the beach, and relaxation feels so close as the father stretches out his back after a long drive. But the colorful bags are unloaded and form a mountain on the floor, and no one is going anywhere until they’re all unpacked.

The family is full of anticipation for the sand and the sea, and even the dog clambers onto the windowsill. Finally, with the words “Let’s go!” the whole family parades to the beach, the dog leading the way and the father hidden by bags and inner tubes. Evocative language places readers instantly—“Breathe salt air. Squint at the sun.”—as wind froths the ocean into waves and the family frolics. The dog eyes a sidestepping crab.

As the blue sky darkens into a golden sunset, the parents stroll hand in hand and the children clamber on rocks, digging for clams and spotting starfish and sea urchins. Soon hot dogs are toasted over a seaside fire pit and consumed before bath and bed and dreams of tomorrow.

Author Deanna Caswell’s pleasant rhymes are easy on the ear, and illustrator Amy June Bates brings the pages to life with brilliant colors that are cheerful enough to bring home the beach, even on the rainiest of days.

Billie B. Little is the Founding Director of Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands-on museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

In this bedtime book that begs to be enjoyed over and over again, master writer Jane Yolen and her daughter and fellow birder, Heidi E.Y. Stemple, offer a rhythmic and cozy story that doesn’t disappoint. Rhyming couplets often are a mixed strength in children’s books, but in You Nest Here with Me—part field guide, part bedtime story—the language and refrain are spot on. Unique word choices and lovely depictions of birds and their nesting sites keep the warm and fuzzy story from being too cloying.

Each page presents a bird family settling down for the night. Terns call as they look for a place to settle on high cliffs above the sea, and the mouth of a tiny wren pours out its song as the mother bird perches by the cattail-wrapped nest. Illustrator Melissa Sweet uses mixed media and brilliant, clear shades of watercolor and gouache to create collages that are a feast for the eyes. From seashore to mountaintop, from wetlands to forest, birds find places to nest and rest.

The story’s end is all the reassurance that any child needs, especially at bedtime: It is a wide world, but “till you’re big as big can be . . . You’ll nest right here in our house with me.” Comfort and the opportunity to learn and grow seamlessly combine, appealing to parents and children alike.

Billie B. Little is the Founding Director of Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands-on museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.