In my position as a technical processing assistant at the DeWitt Community Library, I catalog a lot of new picture books. Unfortunately, I cannot review them all, but I do read them all and have assigned a 🙂 to my favorites. Finley Frog’s favorite is marked with a 8). Below are a few I’ve cataloged recently. (Whenever possible, summaries have been taken directly from the books.)

🙂 Baby Henry is ready to talk, but first he must search for the perfect first word.

A successful but unhappy baseball player finds companionship in the pet walrus he adopts but is soon faced with the great challenge of balancing his responsibilities and maintaining the costly upkeep of his new friend.

🙂 Big Brown Bear is curious about what the little bears are up to in the kitchen. Could they be baking something special for his birthday?

Illustrations and simple text follow a dog as it chases a ball at the beach.

Do you ever wonder what your friends, enemies, brothers, sisters, and children are doing in the hours when you’re not there? This kooky 24-hour tour of a day in the life of 23 different children will reveal answers you’d never expect.

8) Andrew finds a mysterious box in the hallway with a talking stuffed elephant inside! The two friends set off on an adventure. It’s a wonderful afternoon–until Mommy interrupts. It turns out the box was meant for someone else.

It’s blue, it’s big, and the animals all agree that it HAS TO GO.

🙂 As their mamas and dads listen, preschoolers describe favorite things to do.

Once upon a time, there was a large brown bear who found a book lying under a tree…