Some of NYT's Bestsellers of 2014

Litwin, Eric. (1999). Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes!. New York:
            HarperCollins Children’s Books

            In this book Pete the Cat owns some white shoes that he is so fond of that he even sings a song about them. He walks down piles of various things, changing the color of his shoes. Although his shoes are no longer white he is still happy and singing his song. The author states the moral of the story at the end that “no matter what you step in, keep walking along and singing your song because it’s all good”.

Long, Loren. (2014). Otis and the Scarecrow. New York: Philomel Books.

            This book is about a happy and cheerful farm tractor named Otis that notices the farmer put a scarecrow in the cornfield. The tractor along with the rest of the farm animals wonder why the scarecrow always has a sour look on his face. Despite differences in personality, Otis and the rest of the farm animals try to befriend the sour-looking and lonely scarecrow anyways. It is a great book to teach children about accepting and respecting other’s differences.

Novak, B.J. (2014). The Book With No Pictures. New York: Dial Books for Young
            Readers.

            Written by writer, actor, director, and executive producer B.J Novak comes the funny and silly book “The Book With No Pictures”. The book itself stands true to its name. It has no pictures or even color and has bright text only in a few pages. The book revolves around the use of silly onomatopoeia. The book is meant to be read aloud by an equally silly adult with an audience of children to really bring out the hilariousness of the book.   

Richards, Keith. (2014). Gus and Me: The Story of my Granddad and my
            First Guitar. New York: Hachette Book Group.

            “Gus and Me” is about Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards as a child and his grandfather Gus. Richards describes his walks around England and visits to musical instrument repair shops to see how instruments of all sorts were made or repaired. These shop visits sparked an interest in music and his first instrument was a guitar given to him by his grandfather, Gus. Richards practiced and practiced with his grandfather until he learned how to play the classic piece “Malagueña” written by Ernesto Lecuona.

Rinker, Sherri Duskey. (2011). Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site.
            California: Chronicle Books, LLC.

            Pieces of construction equipment such as a crane truck, a cement truck, a dump truck and many others describe their days of work and play before nighttime falls and it is time for them to rest and say goodnight. Their days are described using rhyme. This is a perfect book for covering a construction theme since it describes construction equipment and its uses in a construction site.

Rubin, Adam. (2012). Dragons Love Tacos. New York: Scholastic, Inc.

            “Dragons Love Tacos” is about…you guessed it! Dragons that love tacos! The story starts with a boy and his dog who decide to have dragons over for a taco party. The only thing they have to be careful with is that the tacos are not spicy as to not cause any tummy troubles for the dragons. A jar of salsa is overlooked at the party and comical chaos ensues. A taco party would definitely be great after reading this book but be careful with the spicy salsa.

Tullet, Hervé. (2014). Mix it Up!. California: Chronicle Books, LLC.

            From the author of “Press Here” comes “Mix it Up!”, a book about colors and creating even more colors by, of course, mixing them up. This book is great to read aloud during circle time to preschoolers who are learning about primary colors and creating secondary colors. It can also be useful when teaching such subject yet still being mess-free since the book is interactive as the child follows the directions on each page and discovers a surprise on the next.

Tullet, Hervé. (2011). Press Here. California: Chronicle Books, LLC.

            Hervé Tullet’s book “Press here” is an interactive book about directionality, colors, sizes and numbers. The way the author makes this book interactive is so simple but brilliant at the same time. The reader feels like their participation is causing the actions in the following page. This is a great book to read aloud to toddlers or to preschoolers during circle time as a quick and informal type of assessment of skills.

Wiesner, David. (2013). Mr.Wuffles. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
            Publishing Company.

            The very unamused Mr.Wuffles the cat ignores all his toys which come in all colors, prices and sizes. He ignores all but one, a shiny silver little spaceship. Little does he know that the spaceship guards tiny green aliens. His rough play with the spaceship leaves the little aliens in Mr.Wuffles territory for longer than they expected. Luckily the aliens receive some help from some new friends who get them back on the road to their destination. 

Willems, Mo. (2014). The Pigeon Needs a Bath. New York: Hyperion Books for
            Children.

            “The Pigeon Needs a Bath” is just the newest book from Willem’s Pigeon series. In this book the sassy, sarcastic yet funny Pigeon is trying to get away from getting a bath although he noticeably needs one. Just like all the other Pigeon books after pages of arguing (with himself mostly) and denial, it is usually through self-discovery that he learns he should probably do what he was told right from the beginning.