A towering ice-cream cone makes Baby HAPPY. But when that delectable treat goes splat, it makes Baby SAD. And how quickly HAPPY turns to SAD when a favorite red balloon flies away! Even the littlest listeners will relate to this playful look at a pair of emotions that are part of every baby’s day.

Clementine, a not-so-common third grader, knows her way around the principal's office as well as she does the art-supply closet. Daily rituals take on a different view when seen from her eyes. She's constantly being told that she needs to pay attention, but to her mind she is paying attention and making astute observations." — School Library Journal

Many science books for kids condescend to their readers. Not this one. The author is obviously a frog lover, and his passion for the creatures rubs off.

When Fancy Nancy's class takes a field trip to an art museum, readers gets a gentle lesson on what a gallery is; the difference between a still life, a landscape and a portrait; and what it is like to go on a field trip.

A celebration of imagination and independence. When Charlie's little bitty sister Lola insists on doing 'anything that's everything all on my own,' problems arise with a computer, a coat buttoned wrong and pink milk on a counter instead of in a cup.

All of Leslie Patricelli's board books are primers on how to behave. Call them required reading for Toddler 101. With acrylic artwork, bold black outlines and colorful backgrounds, "No No Yes Yes" is perfect for its audience.

Preschoolers will recognize themselves in Pigeon, a big-eyed blue bird that really, really, really wants a puppy. He's wanted it 'forever! At least since last Tuesday.'

Skippyjon has an overactive imagination. And he is pretty active himself. Here he shapes up with shapes: he runs in a circle, tap-dances on a square, orbits an oval. And then the great sword fighter shows his muscles.

This sophisticated hardback retells the famous fairy tale in a spare, evocative style, and illustrates it with the 1950s watercolors that artist Mary Blair created as conceptual pieces for the classic film.

This colorful boardbook uses some charming drawings of four birds to illustrate the concept of opposites. There is a yellow duck, a gray duck, a blue songbird and a white goose. The words for the opposites are on each page.

This hardcover picture book took my breath away. Not since last summer's "Walt Disney's Cinderella" (see above) has a children's title so impressed me with its marriage of visuals and story.