The Toughest Cowboy or How the Wild West Was Tamed

The Toughest Cowboy or How the Wild West Was Tamed by John Frank

This very clever book of how one very rough and tough cowboy yearned for a companion is great for all young children. With Grizz Brickbottom wanting a dog to help with the cattle driving, he goes to town to find the best dog for the job. It turns out that the dog he brings back is a miniature poodle named Foofy. She is not much help in herding the cattle or chasing away mountain lions but she does keep the cowpokes entertained. This book has some of the best descriptive language, similes, metaphors and many jokes kids will love. The illustrations really do depict a Wild West of the past and help to show us what it was really like.

The Invisible Moose

The Invisible Moose by Dennis Haseley

This heartwarming tale of love has an invisible moose saving his one true love from the bad guys. As you learn in the beginning, he has always loved her but because he could never bring himself to talk to her, she never noticed him until the day she was captured by Steel McSteal. He wanted only to save her and he didn’t care what it took. With the help of his friend Owl McFowl, he was given a potion to make himself invisible and save her with the other invisible potion. This timeless tale of true love is a great way for children to see that love and compassion does exist in a world that might not show it.

Bartholomew and the Bug

Bartholomew and the Bug by Neal Layton

Bartholomew is a great big bear that wonders what the bright lights off in the distance might be? He isn’t the only one however, a tiny little bug also wonders just what is past the horizon and so the two begin a journey. Once there they experience things they had never thought would happen and they don’t want it to end. In this book, the author does a great job of using many descriptive words that give the reader a perfect visual into what is really going on. Along with this he also uses the words to help tell the story by arranging them in swirly, twirly ways, that make the reader have to turn the book in all sorts of different directions. This fun story is great for children that always think the grass is greener on the other side, until they realize just what they really have.

Hungry Hyena

Hungry Hyena by Mwenye Hadithi

Hungry Hyena always seems to have a trick up his sleeve and Fish Eagle is determined to teach him a lesson. After he steals her fresh fish she intended on eating she decided that he must learn a lesson of his own. With the help of all the plains animals, she tricks hyena into thinking the best meal ever is up in the sky high, high up above. Hyena experiences an injury that forces him to no longer be fast and steal others food. This great book includes many animals that show just how bullying and tricking your friends is not very nice. Young children can learn a lot about how to treat others through great illustrations.

Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm

Harvey Potter’s Balloon Farm by Jerdine Nolen

This imaginative story of a farmer named, Harvey Potter, growing balloons on his balloon farm is quite a jump for most but perfect for young children. What child and even adult hasn’t sat around thinking of fantastic things of this sort and wondered if they could ever come true. One little girl did just that, she had wondered for some time how he had grown a crop of balloons and so she made it her goal to find out how he did it. Through much work of getting to know her new friend and staking out in her tree, she found her answers. The illustrations in this book a very bright and exquisite, which help to show you, just how great this balloon farm really is.

Cam Jansen and the Mystery at the Monkey House

Cam Jansen and the Mystery at the Monkey House by David A. Adler

This Cam Jansen mystery is great for beginning chapter book readers. With just under 60 pages it has great deal of appeal to young readers. With this particular book in the series, a few monkeys have gone missing from the zoo and Cam knows just how they might have gotten out of their cages. With the help of her best friend and amazing photographic memory, Cam must find a way to stop the monkey thieves. Along with a very easy font size to read this book includes many illustrations to help you further visualize what you may already know going on with Cam. With many new books added the this Cam Jansen series, I remember reading these books when I was younger over and over as many times as I could just because I loved them, it' hard not to.

Silly Billy

Silly Billy by Anthony Browne

This book is a great read for young children especially at a 2nd grade reading level. Billy starts out in the book by not being able to go to bed at night because he is worrying about anything he can. Like a lot of kids, Billy lets it get to him to much, even when his mom and dad try and help him understand that its okay to worry about things and that it doesn't need to keep him up at night. His grandma tries to help him sleep at night by giving him dolls called "worry dolls". Billy then just has to tell his worries to the dolls and stick them under his pillow. This helps him be able to sleep and wake up worry free. This book had large type and was easy to read because of this. The author did a great job at using different fonts to emphasize certain words to help the reader understand their importance. Along with the great story the illustrations went along really well with detailing the story and the worry dolls, something most children may not know about.

Frozen Noses

Frozen Noses by Jan Carr

Frozen Noses uses a mixture of great stand alone words. This makes it an easy read for a first to second grade child. The book follows a few children through their adventures during winter while playing in the snow, sledding and other various activities. By using what I would call stand alone words, it gives the reader a chance to work word by word through the descriptions, while still being able to understand the story without all of the clutter in confusing sentences. A few difficult words are thrown into the story but can easily be worked through with the help of an experienced reader. The illustrator, Dorothy Donohue, makes the pictures come to life for the reader because they appear to be torn up pieces of paper that when layered together create just the right images for the child.

Big Pig

Big Pig by Malachy Doyle & John Bendall-Brunello

Big Pig is a heart warming tale of a pet pig named Big Pig. In this hardcover book Big Pig has gotten to BIG to stay inside the house where he had been since he was a tiny pig. His owner finally decided that it was time for him to go back outside where he belonged but every time he took Big Pig out to his new house he would come right back in at night. The man tried several new homes in several different places and every time Big Pig would return home shortly. It takes until the end for the man to realize that he really does need to help show his pig that he needs to grow up and do things on their own, but sometimes grown-ups need a bit of help, too. With brightly colored and detailed pictures, it ties the entire story together.

The Boy Who Wouldn't go to Bed

The Boy Who Whouldn't go to Bed by Helen Cooper

This book has a great story of how one little boy just did not want to go to bed. He said NO every time his mother would try and before he knew it he was driving his car to far away places looking for someone to play with. It wasn't until he realized that everyone was going to bed including his car that he may need to head back home. Only to find his mother ready to "stay up all night" but after seeing that no one else would be up, he too was ready for bed, and off he went. The pictures in this book are done in such great dark colors and creates such a fairy tale land that the boy travels through. I think this would be a great book for young children especially those that are struggling to get to bed when their parents tell them to.

Where's My Teddy?

Where's My Teddy by Jez Alborough

Where's My Teddy is a great story about a little boy named Eddie who has lost his teddy named Freddy in the woods. When he goes back to search for this teddy he runs into a giant teddy that he thinks is way to big for his bed. As he continues to worry about his teddy being lost a big bear comes along with a tiny teddy. With both little Eddie and the bear scarred of each other they both grab the right size bear for them and run home to cuddle with their teddy's. With a silly book like this every child is sure to relate with misplacing their favorite stuffed animal, but will only end up giggling when they see the giant bear and his teddy too.

Little Rat Makes Music

Little Rat Makes Music by Monika Bang-Campbell

With just 8 chapters to this book Little Rat makes a definite mark on any young readers life. This early reader breaks down the story and makes it a great first chapter book for students in first through third grade. This particular book is about how Little Rat wants to play an instrument because she comes from a very musical family. There seems to be one little problem though, she isn't really interested in practicing because she finds it boring. With the help of a few people she soon finds out that anything might be possible. I found this to be a great book because of the age it is directed towards, and the lesson it teaches. With music and sports and practicing becoming what children do it can become easy to let it fall to the wayside but with this great easy reader, children can see how important these practicing, accomplishing and achieving goals can be.