Geisel Award and Honor Winning Books

Ackerman, Judy Ann. (2008). Chicken said “Cluck!”. New York: HarperCollins
            Publishers.

            Two kids, Pearl and Earl, decide to grow a pumpkin patch one day. Throughout the process of growing their pumpkin patch they receive some unwanted help from a chicken. Pearl and Earl spend their days telling the chicken “shoo shoo” until their garden becomes infested with grasshopper. With the chicken’s help they manage to get rid of the grasshopper plague. Pearl and Earl give the chicken a grand reward for its help.

Beaumont, Karen. (2006). Move Over, Rover. Florida: Harcourt Books.  

            Rover finds himself lonely and bored one day. Suddenly a thunderous storm comes in and one by one all the animals in his yard start to barge into his doghouse to save themselves from the rain which Rover is not too pleased about. This book is great for rhyming and sequencing which helps when having young children reading along with you. It would also make a great book to use with puppets or flannel board pieces.

 

Bloom, Suzanne. (2005). A Splendid Friend, Indeed. Pennsylvania: Boyds Mills
            Press, Inc.

            This sweet and charming book is about an eager-for-attention goose and a studious yet slightly annoyed polar bear. The goose tries to interact with the bear while he is studying and he looks slightly aggravated by the distracting goose’s attempts. It is not until the goose describes the bear as his friend that the bear obliges and joins the goose for a snack between friends. Bloom’s book, although a children’s book,  is great for adults as well as it serves as a reminder that sometimes our young ones want to share their world with us and we’re sometimes too busy in ours. 

Henkes, Kevin. (2013). Penny and her marble. New York: HarperCollins Children’s
            Books

            You may find “Penny and her marble” quite familiar due to the illustrations. “Chrysanthemum” author Kevin Henkes delights with yet another sweet little mouse named Penny. On a walk with her doll Rose, Penny finds the most beautiful blue marble in neighbor’s yard. She takes it home but she start feeling guilty because she feels like she may have stolen it. The guilt makes her noticeably uneasy throughout the story. At the end of the story she returns the marble only to have it properly given to her as a gift from her neighbor.

 

Klassen, Jon. (2011). I want my hat back. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press

            A big brown bear is heartbroken after losing his hat. He goes around asking all the animals he runs across to but nobody has seen his hat. A fellow animal friend sees the big brown is just so sad and asks what has him so down. It isn’t until he is asked what the hat looks like that he recalls that it is not lost but that it was stolen instead. He not only realizes it was stolen but knows exactly who did it. A funny story with an even funnier ending.

Litwin, Eric. (2012). Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. New York:
            HarperCollins Children’s Books.

            Oh so positive Pete the cat is quite chipper about his four groovy buttons on his shirt. As the day goes by he starts to lose his buttons, one by one. Instead of crying and being sad about the loss of his buttons he continues to sing his button song. This book offers a lot of repetition that is useful for choral reading or beginning readers. It is also helpful when going over math skills such as numbers and basic subtraction.

Long, Ethan. (2012). Up, Tall, and High. New York: Penguin Young Readers Group

            “Up, Tall and High” features three short stories: one for up, one for tall and one for high. The characters are all birds and they are comparing themselves throughout the story by who is up, who is taller and who is higher. It also features open and close flaps that add more to the up, tall and high of the story. The frequent use of sight words throughout the story make this an excellent beginners’ book.

Pizzoli, Greg. (2013). The Watermelon Seed. New York: Disney Hyperion Books.

            In the story, a crocodile absolutely loves eating watermelon. He eats it all day, every day ever since he can remember. One day he accidentally eats a seed and he goes into a panic, imagining all the dreadful things that can happen while the seed grows into a watermelon in his stomach. The vocabulary is simple and the font is big and clear which makes for a great for a beginner’s reading book.

Willems, Mo. (2011). I Broke My Trunk. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

            One of many “Elephant and Piggie” books from Mo Willems and this time Elephant ends up breaking his trunk. When Gerald the Pig looks at his bandaged trunk he immediately asks what happened to it. Elephant explains it will be quite a long story but Pig is still eager to know what happened. Elephant’s story is indeed but still so funny and crazy like their usual adventures and stories.

Willems, Mo. (2007). There Is a Bird on Your Head! New York: Hyperion Books for
            Children.

            “There Is a Bird on Your Head” is just one of many books from Willems’ Elephant and Piggie series. In this particular book Elephant keeps asking Piggie if he has a bird on his head which Piggie delightfully responds with a yes. Throughout the course of the story Piggie informs Elephant of all other things that start to make a home on his head. Willems’ comical writing is sure to bring a chuckle to anyone, especially if you already like his Pigeon series.