Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley

The theme for this picture book could very well be, don't let anyone discourage you. When Mouse tells Bear that four leaf clovers are lucky, he is determined to find one. Along the ways his friends give him plenty of reasons to give up. Bear and Mouse do triumph in the end, with a special twist. The simple drawings accompany perfectly the text. Most kids will delight in the ending again and again.

Little Chick by Amy Hest; illustrations by Anita Jeram

Little Chick is lucky to have such a wise, patient and loving aunt. Little Chick, like all young children, wants something, and wants it right now. Told in three stories, Little Chick is frustrated by his carrot not growing, impatient with his kite not flying and disappointed that he cannot put a star in his pocket. His Old Auntie comes each time with words of advice and time to spend. Jeram shows the chickens feelings and expressions by posing them just so. The chickens remain chickens, an extremely nice touch.

Bertie: Just Like Daddy by Marcus Pfister

Bertie the young hippo wants to do all the things his daddy does: drink coffee, shave, shop and cook. Daddy always tells him he can when he gets older. Daddy also finds clever ways to give Bertie a way to take part in all their activities (i.e. he can't cook yet but he can taste). A great father and son story. Children will see themselves as Bertie as the try to fit into the grown up world. Not sure why each spread has the same flowered background but it is not distracting.

Bee and Me by Elle McGuinness

"Gallop" and "Swing" by Seder were clever uses of the new Animotion techniques. This book is using the same technology to tell an environmental story, just not very well. The storyline is dull, the rhyme is blah, and the Animotion does nothing to add to the story. Kids will enjoy the new technology, but the story will be lost to the wow factor.

Celestine, Drama Queen by Penny Ives

Celestine was hard to ignore, from the moment she was born she was destined to be a star. She only ate pink food and thought tiaras a necessary accoutrement for school. When her teacher announces there will be a school play, Celestine cannot wait to shine in front of everyone. But even the greatest divas of all get stage fright. So even though she forgets her only line, she thrills the audience with a jazzy dance. I hope to see more of Celestine. She is just like so many of the children we already know. She's a princess, she's a diva, she is a superstar.

Always in Trouble by Corinne Demas; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones

Toby is a very naughty dog. He digs in the garbage, he runs into the road, and he eats baked goods. Toby's family has had enough and Toby is sent to dog training school. Toby becomes the star of the class and responds to every command. But he is still naughty. He pees on the rug, he messes up the laundry and he digs in the garden. The family decides to send him back to school. A week later Toby is nearly perfect. He takes out the garbage, folds the laundry and bakes his own treats. I think the question I have and all the children reading the story will have is, what happened during the week Toby was away? The author doesn't tell us, and I think that's the real story here. Too bad it's missing.

Super Duck by Jez Alborough

It is hard to be Duck's friend. Nothing ever goes right and his friends always end up in the mud or in the mess. In this installment, Goat wants to fly his new kite with Sheep and Frog. And who comes along to save the day. Superduck. It all goes wrong as each time Duck tries to help the situation gets worse and worse. Frog ends up flying through the air and does end up saving his friend Frog. If you've followed Duck's other adventures, the exasperation from his friends will make sense.

Princess Bess Gets Dressed by Margery Cuyler; illustrated by Heather Maione

Princess Bess must change her clothes for every new activity throughout her day. She couldn't possibly wear the same gown for breakfast as she does for painting. And the pantaloons she wears while climbing a tree will just not do for the ball. But what Bess likes to wear best is her underwear and nothing else. So underneath all the laces and pearls, she is a regular kid after all.

Silly Tilly by Eileen Spinelli; illustrated by David Slonim

Tilly really is a very silly goose. She bathes in apple juice, kisses fish, and tickles frogs. It seems that her silly ways have finally annoyed the barnyard creatures too much and together they all ask her to stop. Until the day they realize how boring the barnyard has become and reminisce on Tilly's silly ways. Together they apologize and Tilly is thankfully back to her old ways. Truly a delightful rhyming picture book. Kids will giggle at Tilly's goofiness and delight at the illustrations full of expression and fun. Bravo Eileen, another great accomplishment.

Good Night, Baby Ruby by Rohan Henry

Ruby's parents want her to go to bed but she keeps coming up with new ways to delay bedtime. The line drawings are simple but the faces lack expression. Kids will likely enjoy the varied ways Ruby stalls. While not destined to be the next Goodnight Moon, this will certainly finds its intended audience.

Two at the Zoo: a Counting Book by Danna Smith; illustrated by Valeria Petrone

A boy and his grandfather visit the zoo and count the animals from 1 to 10. Most of the animals have serene smiles, but a few variations give them personality and keep the it interesting. The grandson/grandfather relationship is nicely portrayed. A good addition to any counting collection.

Tillie Lays an Egg by Terry Golson with photography by Ben Fink

Tillie and her six henhouse mates share three nesting boxes. The other chickens are content to lay their daily eggs in the nesting boxes and scratch in the yard for corn. Not Tillie. A true free range chicken, Tillie searches for better places to lay her eggs and along the way finds better meals than the same old corn. The other chickens peek in on each spread from the side. The detail in each photo make this a great I Spy book also. Children can figure out which chicken is spying on Tillie and find the chicken memorabilia on each page.

Monkey Monkey Monkey by Cathy MacLennan

Following up on "Chicky Chicky Chook Chook" is the story of a monkey swinging through the jungle searching for monkey-monkey-monkey nuts. Monkey has a similar rhythm to Chicky but doesn't quite read as well aloud. MacLennan plays with alliteration, assonance and rhyme. There is a lot of sound play going on in the story. A few readings would be necessary for the reader to figure out the rhythm and accents. Still, the monkey illustrations are delightful. Good for use in storytime to highlight Phonological Awareness.

A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis

Can it get better than "Not a Box" and "Not a Stick"? Yes it can! On my list of favorite picture books of 2009 is this gem. Edna the penguin only knows three colors: white for snow and ice, black for night and blue for the sea. She decides there must be more and so she goes looking. Edna finds the color orange. Scientists have come to her cold home and they brought orange coats, orange tents and an orange plane. Edna runs and brings all the other penguins. Now her world contains four colors, could there possibly be any more? As Edna stands with an orange glove on her head, you can almost see your audience pointing at the small boat entering from the right and yelling, "green!"

Faith by Maya Ajmera, Magda Nakassis, and Cynthia Pon

A beautiful photographic depiction of faith throughout the world. With the photos, the authors show how our world's many faiths are really much more similar that they are different. All those of faith pray, sing, celebrate holidays, read holy books, etc. A summary of each element of faith is described in greater detail at the end and a glossary is provided. The simple text and photos are truly engaging.

Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms by Julia Rawlinson, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke

Fletcher the fox is enjoying his first days of spring when he thinks he sees snow falling to the ground in the orchard. He is concerned for his friends and starts by warning the birds and encouraging them to fly south again. The birds join him in warning Porcupine and then together they all warn Squirrel and so on. At the end, all the animals figure out it wasn't snow, but apple blossoms falling to the ground. If you read the title, you'd probably already have figured it out. Having already featured Fletcher in a book about autumn, it looks like Rawlinson will complete a whole year of seasons.

Tough Chicks by Cece Meng, illustrated by Melissa Suber

"From the moment Mama Hen's eggs burst open, she knew she was dealing with some pretty tough chicks." And so begins this tale of three wonderfully non-conforming chicks. All the other barnyard animals think Penny, Polly and Molly need to be docile and peck and chirp like good little chickens. No, they would rather swing from the cow's tail, roll in mud and figure out the inner workings of a tractor. And as you can probably guess, the farmer gets into a big mess and it is the 3 wild chicks who must rescue the animals and fix the tractor. Obviously this is a book showing girls in non traditional roles, but it is not heavy handed. Older preschool and young elementary is the perfect audience.

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems

Is anything Mo Willems produces less than brilliant? Nope. In Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, Wilbur, unlike any naked mole rat he know likes to wear clothes. Of course, everyone teases him. Until, Grand-pah, the most naked of naked mole rats makes a proclamation: it's okay to be dressed or naked. Huzzah! A great and clever addition to the "It's Okay to be Different" category.

Same Same by Marthe Jocelyn and Tom Slaughter

An interesting, shall I say, essential addition to a collection of concept books. In simple and sharp cut paper illustrations the reader and child are introduced to classification. On each 2 page spread, 3 objects are shown. For example, on the first page we see an apple, the earth and a tamborine with the caption, "round things." The tamborine carries over to the next spread where we also see a guitar and a bird with the caption, "things that make music." The pattern continues. This book begs to be used for dialogic reading and expanding into a child's everyday world.

Hugging Hour! written and illustrated by Aileen Leijten

Drew, who would rather be called Drool is quite anxious that she has been orphaned at her grandmother's house. She's really only there for her first overnight. Drool has great fun with her grandmother who appears to be a baking genius and the house chicken named Kip. Grandmother makes every delicious thing a child could want and Kip allows himself to be dressed up. Drool is relieved when her parents show up at the end, and is already planning her next visit. The book is really about separation anxiety, however, the illustrations are much more delightful than the story. The story feels long, longer than its intended audience. Also, the title doesn't fit, there is only one hugging hour the whole story and it is never mentioned again.