This book for me was full of the tropes that romance readers love. Cute meet cute. Forced proximity. Male character grumpy, female character full of sunshine. Enemies to lovers. Opposites attracts. Misunderstandings. Break-ups. Right in front of you all along. Happy ever after.
It was a rollercoaster ride of all of these tropes and it worked absolutely brilliantly. I was rooting for them to get together right from the start, but then I changed my mind. But then I changed it again! LOL! It was a really fun read, that just left me grinning with a wonderfully romantic ending that I adored. Another one that left me with a heart full of hope and joy!
When we were doing research for Dora the Explorer (I’m one of the show’s three creators), we read picture book versions of the episodes to preschoolers. The researcher would always begin by saying, “I’ve got a story to tell you.” The preschoolers would clap, cheer, and sometimes even hug the kid next to them. Then, my story would begin. At least with group 1, before we made a lot of changes, the children would invariably fall on their backs and beg to be taken back to class. Everyone longs to be told a great story. So, for my list, I picked some of the greatest read-aloud children’s books ever “told.”
E.B. White wrote this book to explain death to children, and while death may be impossible for anyone to understand or accept fully, Charlotte the Spider makes a pretty good attempt.
If you read this book to your kids, you will all have Charlotte (and Wilbur and the rest of the farm animals) in your hearts forever.
Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child.
On foggy mornings, Charlotte's web was truly a thing of beauty . Even Lurvy, who wasn't particularly interested in beauty, noticed the web when he came with the pig's breakfast. And then he took another look and he saw something that made him set his pail down. There, in the centre of the web, neatly woven in block letters, was a message. It said: SOME PIG!
This is the story of a little girl named Fern, who loves a little pig named Wilbur - and of Wilbur's dear friend,…
After college, I studied economics and law. Working in antitrust lets me use what I’ve learned about both fields. I’ve been a professor at a law school and a business school and worked on competition issues while serving in senior government positions in multiple federal agencies, including both antitrust agencies. I also like working in antitrust because fostering competition is important to our economy. Competition encourages firms to pursue success by developing and selling better and cheaper products and services, not by coordinating with their rivals or trying to exclude them. And I like antitrust because the cases can involve any industry—I might learn about baby food one day and digital platforms the next.
This is the tenth in a charming series of children’s books about Freddy the Pig and the other talking animals on the Bean farm that began in the early 20th century, two decades before Orwell’s Animal Farm.
Freddy has been called a renaissance pig—a detective, poet, pilot, newspaper editor, and much more.
In this story, the rapacious owner of the local newspaper employs various underhanded tactics to shut down the rival paper edited by Freddy. The scheme is thwarted when Freddy’s lawyer, Old Whibley the owl, convinces a judge that the would-be monopolist engaged in “kidnapping, theft, and conspiracy in restraint of trade.”
As is evident, by the 1940s, when the book was published, antitrust was recognized in popular culture as the legal tool for protecting the victims of unfair competitive tactics—which is still how we see it today.
Pete is content living a simple life in the remote Montana town of Sleeping Grass, driving the local garbage truck with his pot-bellied pig Pearl and wondering about what could've been. Elderly widow Wilma is busy meddling in Pete's life to try and make up for past wrongs that he knows nothing about. Yet.
When the sister Pete was separated from as a child shows up, Pete must confront a past he buried long ago, and Wilma discovers her long-awaited chance at redemption may cost more than she’s willing to pay.
For the first time in his life, Pete has everything to lose.
After years of drifting, fifty-year-old Pete Ryman has settled down with his potbellied pig, Pearl, in the small Montana town of Sleeping Grass--a place he never expected to see again. It's not the life he dreamed of, but there aren't many prospects for a high-school dropout like him.
Elderly widow Wilma Jacobsen carries a burden of guilt over her part in events that led to Pete leaving Sleeping Grass decades ago. Now that he's back, she's been praying for the chance to make things right, but she never…
During the Covid years, Grandpa James
read to our granddaughters online every day.
There is nothing like Mercy
Watson, a joyful “porcine wonder,” and her love of “hot toast with a great deal
of butter on it” to brighten a day! Although I hadn’t intended to listen to the
story, at the mere mention of that toast, I was hooked. I still smile whenever
I think of Mercy and her lovably eccentric neighbors on Deckawoo Drive.
Now
that we feel like part of their community, of course we had to read every book
in the series. Although Mercy probably prefers “toast with a great deal of
butter” to reading, there’s room in life for both.
The first adventure of this NEW YORK TIMES best-selling porcine wonder is now available as an e-book. (Ages 6 - 8)
To Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Mercy is not just a pig – she's a porcine wonder. And to the portly and good-natured Mercy, the Watsons are an excellent source of buttered toast, not to mention that buttery-toasty feeling she gets when she snuggles into bed with them. This is not, however, so good for the Watsons' bed. BOOM! CRACK! As the bed and its occupants slowly sink through the floor, Mercy escapes in a flash – "to alert the…
I’ve never forgotten the thrill of my first ballet! My grandmother and I went to see The Nutcracker when I was five, and that first ballet experience inspired a lifelong love of dance. As a child, I adored dressing up and twirling around the house with my sisters, and I went on to study dance along with English Literature in college. Years later when my own daughters adored dressing up in pink tutus, I started writing about a determined little mouse who loves to dance, and so Angelina Ballerina was born. Children naturally love music and dance, and I hope the picture books I’ve chosen will inspire you and your family with the magic of dance!
Peppa is an adorable little pink pig, and the Peppa Pig books are full of family fun and laughter. In this 8x8 storybook, slightly older children will delight in Peppa’s very first ballet lesson as she learns some graceful dance steps with all her friends. When Peppa comes home and decides to teach her parents how to do ballet she gets quite a surprise! Wonderful humor and colorful, lively illustrations contribute to all the dancing fun.
A ballet-themed 8x8 storybook featuring Peppa -- a lovable, slightly bossy little piggy! Includes a poster of Peppa and friends!
Peppa Pig goes to her very first ballet lesson where she learns a graceful dance routine. But when Peppa decides to teach Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig how to dance, too, she finds out they might just have some dance moves of their own! Includes a poster of Peppa and friends!
I’m the author of funny-bone tickling and heartwarming picture books, Halloween Hustle and Prince and Pirate. My newest book, Dream Submarine, is a lyrical bedtime story that blends fiction and nonfiction and invites young readers on a journey through the world's oceans (Candlewick, 2024). Language Arts teacher turned writer, I'm passionate about literacy and love visiting schools and libraries to connect with my favorite people—kids! My books and all the perfectly piratey tales on this list are best when read aloud!
“Arrrh! No pigs on pirate ships!” growls
Captain Wibblyshins when Rufus, a perky little pig with a backpack full of
books, tries to board the Scurvy Dog. If you enjoy puns and fun-to-say phrases
(like “pigs play on the poop deck” and “picnic in the crow’s nest”) as much as
I do, you’re going to enjoy this book. Kids of all ages will root for Rufus as
he creatively convinces everyone that he’s an excellent addition to the crew.
Ink and watercolor illustrations are entertaining and endearing.
Ahoy-Pirate Pig on board! What does a book-loving pig like Rufus do when school's out for summer? He turns to his favourite stories for inspiration, of course! And before long, he's dreaming of days filled with adventure and nights under blankets of stars. It's the pirate life for him, matey. But Captain Wibblyshins says: "no pigs on pirate ships!" After all, pigs get tangled in the rat lines, they picnic in the crow's nest, and worst of all, they even wipe their chins with the Jolly Roger. Can Rufus convince the Captain that he's no landlubber swine? And could his…
I teach writing for children and I’ve analyzed the elements that make a winning story. One of these elements is the magic of three. My idea for Finley Finds his Fortune, was sparked by a desire to write a folk tale with the magic of three and also by my visit to Whitechurch, the last working watermill in England. I was awed by the power and beauty of its water wheel so I wove a water mill into my story. To do this, I had to first study how a mill works. That’s what I love about writing children’s books―that I can explore my own personal interests and passions.
As author John Scieszka himself says he’s sold “bazilions of books” so he sure doesn’t need my endorsement but this is such a funny book I couldn’t resist. Yes, it tells the familiar story of the three little pigs but it does so in a wildly unfamiliar way—from the wolf’s point of view. Alexander T. Wolf tells the reader what really happened and professes his innocence. Despite having a cold, he was baking a cake for his dear grandmother when he needed to borrow a cup of sugar from the neighboring pig. What happens next he declares was not his fault yet he’s gotten a bad rap ever since. This is an offbeat, fractured fairytale that completely reverses the message of the original tale to give a new one: there are always two sides to every story.
I am no expert on kindness—though more than twenty years at Sesame Workshop, working on a TV show that focuses on kindness, may give me a slight edge. And I am not unfailingly kind, though I try my hardest. But I am passionate about nurturing this quality in children. At the risk of sounding naive, I feel that it’s our last best hope of solving some of the world’s biggest problems.
This charming story showcases kindness pared down to its most basic: Kindness feels great to both the giver and the receiver, and it’s easily passed from one person (or, in this case, animal) to another. Hen is kind to Pig, who in turn is kind to Rabbit, and so on, until the circle is complete. The simple, repetitive text and joyful, brightly-colored illustrations make me smile—and make this book an ideal choice for sharing with very young children.
What goes around comes around in this farmyard tale about the contagiousness of kindness.
Hen gives Pig an unexpected present. "How kind!" says Pig. Pig is so touched, in fact, that he decides to do something kind too. So Pig gives Rabbit a gift. "How kind!" says Rabbit, who does something kind for Cow, who is kind to Cat, who wants to be kind in turn. Where will all of this kindness lead?
Children were seen and not heard when I was growing up in Flushing, Queens, where I had one tree in front of my house. I moved to Connecticut as an adult and now I look out on woods and bears sneaking into my garage. The result of my silent childhood is I’m an excellent listener and an even better eavesdropper—superb traits for a writer. I owned a Connecticut advertising agency for most of my adult life then realized I could make less money if I became an author. My first book was published when I turned 63—which is amazing because I'm only 40.
My family loves to laugh, and we introduce our children to books that build the funny bone. For this reason, I have a copy of every picture book written by the delightful Mo Willems. Hands down, my favorite is Let’s Go for a Drive! Here’s the story: Elephant and Piggie amass the accessories necessary to spend a day tooling around town. We’re talking sunglasses, a map, an umbrella. They are set to go when they realize they don’t have a car. Somehow, the two friends make the best of it. Good news: There are 25 Elephant and Piggie books to enjoy again and again.
I love the experience of reading a book that combines a known (to me or not!) story combined with elements that make it new again. It could be a parody, a “fractured fairy tale,” or a new retelling, funny or serious. For my book Little Red and the Cat Who Loved Cake, I read so many nursery rhymes and fairy tales in order to populate the town with fun versions of recognizable characters for Little Red to encounter, it makes me appreciate these books even more.
This is a very meta version of The Three Pigs, which goes on to additionally be a meta version of a book experience. First, we see the wolf blow a pig right out of the story panel border, and then everything really implodes conceptually from there. The pigs then regroup in a non-book void, despite still being in the book we are holding, and from there devise a plan to return to their original story with a wolf-proof reinforcement they got from a different story. Sounds wild? It is.
Satisfying both as a story and as an exploration of story, The Three Pigs takes visual narrative to a new level. When the wolf comes a-knocking and a-puffing, he blows the pigs right out of the tale and into a whole new imaginative landscape, where they begin a freewheeling adventure as they wander-and fly-through other stories, encountering a dragon and a cat with a fiddle, among others. This familiar tale will never be the same old story again.
