Winnie the Poodle
Written and illustrated by Lois Simon
High Pitched Hum Publishing
$12.95
Ages 3 - 103
Lois Simon’s latest book, her fourth children’s book, is charming, and has had much praise. The drawings of Winnie, her brothers Luke and Clyde, and their parents are amusing but never overly "precious." Mom and Dad poodle tell their offspring they need to plan for their future. They are proud to find Luke wants to be a police dog, and that Clyde, is preparing to be a fire dog, but Winnie wants to be ... a Yo Yo, and has been practicing high jumps. Her parents are less than thrilled.
When the older dogs leave for their "careers," Winnie is soon left with just Mr. Witherspoon as his wife has died. One day a fire breaks out in the kitchen, but Winnie jumps high enough to pull the fire alarm handle and saves the home, and Mr. W, from disaster. The message "be what you want to be" is always a good one for little ones. Order it through www.highpitchedhum.net
Little Snuggly Bunny
Scholastic
$9.99
Ages 0 - 2
Did you wash your new Snuggie and all the so-called fleece came off and stuck to your dryer’s lint trap? Well, the removable bunny, who sits in a carrier on the cover, won’t disappoint. The board book and plush bunny joins other Scholastic titles that feature cuddly animals — piggies, dalmatians, and more. You won’t be able to wear the bunny, but the little rabbit will please babies in their cribs for months and months. Check out www.littlescholastic.com
Almost
Story and pictures by Richard Torrey
HarperCollins
$17.99
Ages 4 - 8
In this beautifully illustrated book, Jack is almost a lot of things. He is almost six, therefore almost grown up, he says. He can almost wear his brother’s clothes and ride his bike. And he almost makes breakfast (but slops the milk everywhere). The energy in this book comes from the writing and the illustrations. And though Jack is a disaster at many things, he is diligent in his attempts. This is not an almost good book; it is a good one.
