The Magician's Hat by Malcolm Mitchell

 In this delightful story, children gather to the library for a day filled with exciting events; including a visit from a magician.

The magician shows the children the power of books and that they can do anything and be anything they want to be through the magic of books.

This is a wonderful book demonstrating to children how books can help them fulfill their dreams. 

Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson

Karma Wilson has a whole series on Bear but "Bear Says Thanks" is one of my favorites.

Bear misses his friends and wants to make a feast to share with them but his cupboards are bare. One by one his friends show up with food to share.

In the end there lots of foods for all the friends to share. Bear is sad because doesn't have any food to contribute.

His friends cheer him up and let him know it is okay because he has plenty of stories to share. They all gather round to eat and listen to bear's stories.

This is such a delightful story about friendship, sharing, and gratitude.

That Fruit is Mine! by Auska Allepuz

 This is such a delightful book. There are 5 elephants who love to eat fruit. Each eats a different kind of fruit. One day they discover a fruit that they all want. Try as they might, they can not get the fruit for themselves. It is too high up in the tree.

In the meantime, five little mice are working together to get the fruit to share. They elephants finally notice the mice once they has successfully taken the fruit off the tree.

This act of teamwork inspires the elephants to work together so they can share and enjoy the fruit, too.

This is an excellent book about teamwork versus selfishness.

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

 This is such a fun book! All the penguins do everything perfectly. All the penguins, except for Tacky. Tacky does things his own unique way, and far from perfectly.

One of the great things about this book, are the illustrations by Lunn Munsinger. When the penguins are marching, swimming, or singing perfectly, the other penguins include Tacky in their play. Yes, some of the things Tacky does bothers them, but they don't say anything and they aren't cruel to him.

One day the penguins are all in danger but thanks to Tacky's unique style, he saves the day and all the penguins are grateful for their odd little friend.

Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus

 I love reading this book to my students. Leo (a tiger) is not learning at the same pace as the other animals. He can't read, write, draw, or even talk like all the other animals. His father is worried about him but his mother is not. Then one day, Leo is able to do all of those things!

This is a great story to teach kids that note everyone learns at the same pace, but with continued patience and practice, they can learn to do all the things the others kids can do.

The illustrations (by Jose Aruego) are great, too! They show Leo doing all the things the other animals are doing, though not as well. No one is mean to him and they still include him in their activities even though, he doesn't do things as well as the others. Then they celebrate with him when he is able to.

I really enjoying reading this book to my students. It is a great way to show them that we are all on our own path to learning and that is okay.