Good Books for Little Friends

Sing Me a Window by Elizabeth Lee O’Donnell “Sing me a night song, a soft song, a dream song.” The bedtime poem celebrates catching the wind, dancing in puddles, following rainbows, and other childish joys in a way that will help lull any child to sleep.

Just a Little Bit by Ann Tompert While playing in the park, Elephant and Mouse decided to seesaw. When Elephant got on, Mouse couldn’t get his end of the seesaw down. One by one their friends climbed on Mouse’s side, but no matter how hard they pushed down, nothing happened. Then a small brown beetle landed on Mouse’s head and became the “just a little bit” of needed help.

The Escape of Marvin the Ape by Caralyn and Mark Buehner After his escape, Marvin did all sorts of fun things: He went to a baseball game, a fancy restaurant, a toy store, a park, and much more. Great silly fun!

Can I Be Good? by Livingston Taylor Although he’s big, he’s lovable—and he tries hard all day to be good. Ted Rand’s wonderful pictures show him in all his difficult situations with just the right expressions of his face, and on the faces of all the people around him.

The Toymaker by Martin Waddell The toymaker’s daughter was not strong enough to play outside with the other children, so he made dolls that looked like them. The dolls made Mary so happy that she grew strong. Many years later, she brought her granddaughter to the shop and found the beloved dolls. What happened then shows the love of all the people in the story for each other. A tender, easy-to-read story.

Illustrated by Taia Morley