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It’s OK to make mistakes. In fact, mistakes can lead to adventures in creativity. That’s the delightful lesson of Beautiful Oops!

Perfect for: Kids who make mistakes.

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On January 1st, a family is surprised by a delivery: a single penguin from a mysterious sender. What’s more, the delivery continues with one penguin for each day until, by the end of the year, their house is so stuffed with penguins that the family has to celebrate a cold New Year’s Eve out on their front lawn. This picture book is fantastic in more ways than one — the story is imaginative and even includes counting concepts for some educational appeal — and the illustrations really put it over the top; they’re bold and simple with a retro appeal. You could read this book a dozen times and still find a penguin hiding where you’d least expect it.

Perfect for: Kids who like adventure stories.

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This book will appeal to the child who dreams of becoming a ballet star. The illustrated verses, repeated sentence structures, and controlled vocabulary make this lively story accessible to beginning readers.

Perfect for: Kids who like realism.

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One by one, cold and hungry forest animals take refuge in brown bear’s cave. He snores on as they light a fire, pop popcorn, and brew tea. This delightful rhyming book with beautiful full-page illustrations and an unforgettable ending will capture your child’s interest.

Perfect for: Kids who like nature.

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Count the first one hundred days of school with Emily in this fun, fact-filled book. Children will love learning about Emily’s days at school as she learns the alphabet, sings, reads and dances. The oversized format of this book makes the bright illustrations pop off the pages.

Want to see the movie? The Scholastic video collection Emily’s First 100 Days of School… and More Great School Time Stories features more Rosemary Wells stories and If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz.

Perfect for: Kids who like school.

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This Irish folktale of Fin M’Coul, his lovely wife Oonagh and his nemesis, the pugilistic giant Cucullin, is a perfect read-aloud. Fin is busy building a causeway to Scotland (still called the Giant’s Causeway today) when he hears that the bully Cucullin is beating up all the other giants and is on his way to add Fin to his list of victims. Oonagh comes to the rescue and with the help of a fairy charm she tricks Cucullin into deciding that Fin is one giant better left alone. The book’s wonderful artwork, sprinkled with pictures of Irish metalwork, gives plenty of personality to the main characters and both charm and Celtic blarney to the tale.

Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.

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From the moment my mom ripped out the mail-in coupon from Highlights magazine, I loved receiving my monthly mailing from the “Dr. Seuss Beginning Readers” book club. Of all the books I received, I Wish That I Had Duck Feet was my favorite. Written by Theo. LeSieg (Geisel backwards — a charming pen name Dr. Seuss used when he did not illustrate a title), this funny book is a charmer. Now I grin from ear to ear when my first-grader reads it to me.

Perfect for: Kids who like classics.

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This picture book is created from the author’s fond childhood memory of a Spanish play song, and makes a fun game out of getting dressed. The animals in the forest gather and chant “Let’s play in the forest while the wolf is not around” on the left side of the page-spreads, while the wolf is getting himself ready for the morning on the right side. The wolf gets bigger with each piece of clothing he puts on. The animals do play in the forest all the way through the book. When the wolf is finally dressed, his face fills the page and he proclaims, “I am very hungry!” Instead of eating the animals, he eats pancakes his mother made and then goes on his way to school. Rueda includes notes explaining the origins of the song (traditional French and Spanish), as well as the musical notation.

Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.

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Winter Eyes is a beautifully illustrated collection of poems about winter. Each poem celebrates some aspect of winter such as sledding, icicles, woolen socks and the mood of a blustery day. Your child is bound to find at least one poem that introduces her to the joys of a snowy winter or reminds her of a favorite winter activity.

Perfect for: Kids who like nature.

Find at your local library.

This is a special book. Each page-spread is a poem, and together the poems tell the story of a bi-racial, blended family overcoming the trials and tribulations of learning to live and love together. Xavier’s mom has just married Chris’ dad. To Xavier, the house feels too small, the love not enough for two, and just about everything Chris does, Xavier sees as ill-intentioned or competitive. But that makes the book sound heavy when indeed these are witty, moving poems that skip, sink, soar and take unexpected twists, along with the little boy’s emotions. When the brothers work things out and find joy in each other, my 5-year-old daughter in my lap was full of happiness and bounce. The pictures are energetic, expressive and colorful, and more than match the text — they give it life and whimsy.

Perfect for: Kids who like poetry.

Find at your local library.