What Color is Caesar?
Caesar is very confused about his color. He is a Dalmatian, who does not know if he is white with black spots or black with white spots. Nobody else in his house seems to think it is a big deal, but Caesar is very concerned. He sets out on a journey to seek the truth about his identity.
What Color Is Caesar? is a great story to illustrate that skin color is not the best way to identify yourself. It is more important to evaluate others by what is under their skin and not what you see on the surface.
Recommended by: Lindsay Haddix, Nora Branch Library
- Amazon Look Inside: What Color is Caesar?
- GoodReads: What Color is Caesar?
- GoogleBooks: What Color is Caesar?
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Aunt Flossie’s Hats (and Crab Cakes Later)
Sara and Susan share tea, cookies, crab cakes, and stories about hats when they visit their favorite relative, Aunt Flossie.
Sarah and Susan enjoy spending time at their Aunt Flossie’s house. It’s like a step back in history. They like playing dress up in her fancy hats because her hats come with their own stories…and Aunt Flossie tells them these stories each time the girls try on a different hat. Most of the stories are from a time before the girls were born, when she was a girl. But one of the hats has a story the girls know and help tell. It involves a lake, a boy, a dog and their dad’s very funny accident.
Recommended by: Claudine Polley, African American History Committee
- Amazon Look Inside: Aunt Flossie's Hats
- GoodReads: Aunt Flossie's Hats
- GoogleBooks: Aunt Flossie's Hats
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Two Nests
Two birds build a nest together and hatch a baby bird, but when they fail to get along the father bird moves to a new nest, and though baby bird is unhappy at first, when he learns to fly from nest to nest he sees that the situation isn't that bad.
There are so few good books on divorce that are not didactic and can be used with very young children. Two Nests is at once both light-hearted and honest. Two little birds fall in love, build a nest and hatch an egg. “But the birds were large, and the nest was small” and it is decided that another nest is needed. Everyone is sad when Daddy moves to the other side of the tree. Baby Bird now has two homes and when she grows wings, everyone celebrates.
Recommended by: Daniell Wilkins, College Avenue Library
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Andrew Drew & Drew
If you love to draw, if you love to imagine, you will love Andrew. Follow him has he doodles his way through the flaps and folds of this unusual book.
Any young person will love this picture book about Andrew and his love of drawing. Most preschoolers love to draw and in this story titled Andrew Drew and Drew the book unfolds before their eyes with Andrews’s drawings. He takes a blank paper and turns it into something fabulous. Stairs become dinosaur; a simple line becomes a kite and then a spacecraft. Children will learn that their doddles can turn into something magical. Barney Saltzberg author and illustrator do a fantastic job of capturing their minds.
Recommended by: Denyce Malone, Flanner House Branch
- GoodReads: Andrew Drew & Drew
- Official Website: Barney Saltzberg
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Please Papa
Alice learns the importance of saying "please" as well as that this magical word will not lead to everything she wants.
Please, Papa by Kate Banks, illustrated by Gabi Swiatokowska and Wait! Wait! By Hatsue Nakawaki , illustrated by Komako Sakai are two charming new picture books that celebrate imaginative play and playful interactions between young children and parents. Please , Papa even gently encourages good manners.
Both books have large text, and simple, evocative language that invites the most important feature of read aloud time – conversation about the stories. Children and adults will certainly want to talk about the slightly surreal, stylized illustrations in Please, Papa. The images of the little Alice and her parents look like paper dolls cut out from a turn of the century prints and on one page a small dog, a bat on what might be an owl, hang upside down from the top of the page. Alice is pretending to have a farm and is reminded to say “please” as she requests various animals. When Papa is tired of being her horse, a frowning Alice is convinced to give her horse a rest when he in turn, uses the magic word please.
Wait! Wait! follows a small child as he encounters various neighborhood animals on the sidewalk – a butterfly, a lizard, pigeons, cats – they all fly, wiggle or leap away. But when he is scooped up and placed on his father’s shoulders, the exploration of the park continues. “Here we go!”
Recommended by: Mary Sullivan, Decatur Branch
- Amazon Look Inside: Robot Dreams
- GoodReads: Robot Dreams
- GoogleBooks: Robot Dreams
- Official Website: Sarah Varon
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What Is Part This, Part That?
Song-like rhyming text invites readers to guess what different components add up to. For example, a secret's part whisper, part keeping mum, and a certain kind of fruit is part peach and part plum (a nectarine).
A book that combines rhyme with reason, shapes with colors, and with great word play? That is hard to find. This picture book also has surprise fold-out parts! The description in the inner cover describes it this way: “Just like dancing is part step and part swing, when you put parts together you get a new thing!” This book also offers plenty of opportunities for an interactive storytime.
Recommended by: Joseph Fox, Wayne Branch Library
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Read Right Now! PATIENCE This Monster Cannot Wait!
The Read Right Now! books below you can read online, right now, with no waiting! Also don't miss the Early Readers Club - your child can pick up a free book at participating IndyPL branches from Sep. - May each year until age six. Really! Books to Keep! Details.
More Read Right Now! Free eBooks for Kids
Read Right Now!
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Read This Monster Cannot Wait - Stewart is so eager to go with his parents on his first camping trip ever that he will do anything to make the time pass more quickly.
Stewart the monster has a camping trip in five days and he cannot wait. How can he speed time up? Stewart learns an important lesson in this book that we all need to learn. Don’t miss the hilarious last page surprise. This is a great picture book to enjoy reading with children ages 3-7. The art work is colorful cartoon monsters. Patience is difficult (a school –readiness skill) and Stewart discovers how to cope with his excitement. Recommended by: Tamera Coolman, Fountain Square Library Try these activities at home:
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More Books About Patience:
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Chocolate Me
Relates the experiences of a dark-skinned, curly-haired child who wishes he could look more like the lighter-skinned children in his community until his mother helps him realize how wonderful he is inside and out.
Actor Taye Diggs uses his own childhood experiences to write Chocolate Me! It’s the story of a boy who’s teased by other kids at school because he looks different. He feels left out and wants to be like everyone else—what little kid wouldn’t? Thanks to his wise and loving mom, the boy learns to love the beautiful, chocolatey skin he’s in. This heartfelt picture book has big, bold, colorful drawings and simple, child-friendly text.
Recommended by: Denise Malone, African American History Committee
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Superman Day! 75th Anniversary
DC Comics has designated June 12thas Superman Day to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the legendary superhero. What better day to remember your own imaginary adventures being the Man of Steel than by reading a Superman adventure and then putting together a costume for your own little Superboy or Supergirl! You can use an old towel or try one of the more involved costumes below - either way, the imagination will take over.
- DC Comics: Superman
- Infographic: A Brief History of Superman
- IndyPL Ready to Read Pinterst Board: Easy Costumes (Several for Superheroes!)
- Online Game: Justice League Training Academy - Superman
- Printable: Superman Coloring Page
- Printable: Superman Coloring Page #2
- Printable: Superman Coloring Page #3
Picture Books
Early Readers
Selected by: Janet Spaulding, Selection Services
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Press Here – Staff Recommend
In this world of ever changing technology it is nice to come across the simplest style of interactive entertainment in a small book that children of all ages can enjoy. The book Press Here by Herv’e Tullet needs no plugs, no accessories, no “apps” for that. All it requires is a willing reader. It will make you smile, it will make you laugh, it will amuse you as you follow along with the instructions printed on every page.
Recommended by: Susan G. Barhan - Southport Branch
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Here are some more stories that encourage you to play along as you read:
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Get Ready to Read
Preschool Practice
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