Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton

Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1943.
Hardcover edition, 44 pages, pre- ISBN.

This depiction of life in a small town buried by a huge snowstorm may not seem terribly unrealistic to those of us from northern climes. Katy, an anthropomorphic snowplow reserved for only the deepest of snows, saves the day by carving out a route to rescue trapped people and restore essential services to Geopolis. The meandering pathways she cuts through the snow provide an overall layout of the town, giving small children an early sense of mapping and overall geographical layout. The pages are bordered with repetitive minipics of Katy at work, some with blue to frame and relieve the unrelenting whiteness of the snow. This book also serves to teach young ones about the components which make up a community--police, hospitals and ambulances, schools, post offices, airport, etc.--as well as the oft overlooked highway department of which Katy is the heroine.

This book can be read in small groups to children with more of an attention span. The detailed borders demand close-up inspection most suitable for individual reading. Great for winter or snow-themed storyhours.

Narrative skills may be enhanced by the sequencing of each subsequent rescue.

The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort

Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. Henry Holt and Company, New York. 2000.
Hardcover edition, 32 pages, ISBN 0-8050-5952-0.

The story begins long before this song parody of "Wheels on the Bus" rolls into action. The illustrations commence on the title page where a seal is laughing and playing ball at a bus stop. A hand lettered sign reads, "Come to the *BIG PARTY* everyone invited!" More pics of the bus stop with a waiting family of people adorn the copyright page, and the dedication page shows the bus carrying folks away into town.

"The seals on the bus go
ERRP, ERRP, ERRP,
ERRP, ERRP, ERRP,
ERRP, ERRP, ERRP.
The seals on the bus go
ERRP, ERRP, ERRP,
All around the town."

The mayhem begins, as the tiger, the geese, the rabbits, the monkeys, the vipers, the sheep, and the skunks all have their verses before the people on the bus go, "HELP, HELP, HELP!" The bus arrives at the party in the nick of time, and a good time is had by all.

Karas captures the hilarity of the crazy bus ride in colored pencil with a few newspaper shapes stuck on. The animal sounds move all over the pages, adding to the sense of chaos.

Most kids know the tune and can easily pick up the repeated chant with a few motions thrown in. A rowdy time will be had by all at this story time.

Easy memorization of the chant leads to picking out simple words of text. Animal recognition and onomatopoeia of their vocalizations aids in phonological awareness.

Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw

Illustrated by Margot Apple. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1986.
Hardcover edition, 32 pages, ISBN 0-395-41105-X.

With only 2-8 rhyming words on each page, Shaw weaves a hilarious tale of sheep on the road. After jubilantly pushing their jeep free from a "gooey" mudhole, the inattentive sheep crash into a tree and total the vehicle. "Sheep weep."

Apple's whimsical colored pencil drawings portray the mayhem in an endearing manner.

The sheep's misadventures continue in a series: Sheep Take a Hike; Sheep Out to Eat; Sheep in a Shop; Sheep on a Ship.

Great for toddler story hour. Available in 26-page regular or lap-sized boardbooks.

Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough

HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2000.
Hardcover edition, 32 pages, ISBN 0-06-028685-7.

Duck's truck becomes stuck in the muck in this funny, rhyming story. Sheep, frog and goat join forces to push, all the while becoming more and more covered in slurpy, squelchy, sucking, mud. Inventing an alternate method of extraction, goat finally frees the truck by means of a tow rope attached to a boat. Duck blithely drives off leaving his friends "STUCK IN THE MUCK!" Alborough's paneled illustrations occasionally run off the page giving the reader a sense of being "in" the story. The body language of the sheep tiptoeing through the mud, and the alternately perplexed, angry, and expressive exertions of the animals add realism and humor to the simple plot line.

Great for toddler storytime. Large close-up pictures, simple rhyming text with engaging descriptors. There is a 16 page boardbook version available for the individual very small child.

Rhyming words and onomatopoeia increase phonological awareness. The sequential nature of the action in the paneled pictures fosters left to right awareness.

One of Junior Magazine's Top 100 Picture Books of All Time.