Published by Farrar Straus Giroux

Summary:  Annie is a race car driver.  One evening she puts on her helmet and gloves, climbs into her car, and goes shooting out her bedroom window.  She explores all kinds of environments from the mountains to the desert to the forest to the city, where she encounters a traffic jam.  Speeding up, she finds herself on a race track, where she wins a race before heading home. Annie’s kind of tired from all her driving, and after roaring through her living room, she settles down for a bedtime story with her dad and little brother.  32 pages; ages 3-7.

Pros:  A celebration of imagination with a strong heroine, beautifully rendered illustrations of a wide variety of settings, and a satisfying ending just right for bedtime.

Cons:  It’s not that easy to leave the traffic behind.

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This book is published by Hyperion Books for Children

And this book is published by Nancy Paulsen Books

Summary:  Well, teachers, we’re halfway through July, and it’s not too early to be thinking about your first-day-of-school reading choices, is it?  Mo Willems has created a new pigeon book that has the pigeon resisting the first day of school: he already knows everything, he’s not really a morning guy, and most of all he’s afraid of the unknown.  But when he learns that going to school involves riding on a bus, he’s all in. The King of Kindergarten relates what his first day of school will be like, riding in a big yellow carriage to the doors of the fortress, sitting at the round table, and displaying courage by asking a classmate to play at recess.  A report of a nice teacher, new friends, and a fun recess ends the day, with anticipation of another fun day for His Royal Highness up ahead. 40 pages (Pigeon) and 32 page (King); ages 4-8.

Pros:  Two upbeat books that address kids’ concern with humor and compassion.  Either one would be a good choice for the first day of preschool or kindergarten, and the pigeon would fly in first or second grade as well.

Cons:  Parents might want to exercise caution on calling their child the king or queen of kindergarten…there’s enough entitlement out there already.

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If you’d like to buy The King of Kindergarten, click here.

Published by Little, Brown and Company

Summary:  The river flows night and day, not realizing it’s a river until Bear falls into it.  He doesn’t realize he’s on an adventure until Froggy hops on his head. As each animal is added to the group, they learn something new about themselves.  Finally, they all go over a waterfall and help one another to have a fun and furious ride. “So many different animals living heir separate lives, but they didn’t know they were in it together…until…the river came along.”  Includes notes from the author and illustrator on the genesis of the book. 40 pages; ages 3-7.

Pros:  The illustrations are gorgeous and fun (I’ve seen this book mentioned as a Caldecott contender); kids will enjoy all the animals and may even get the message about celebrating differences and working together.

Cons:  The author seemed to be trying a little too hard to push his message, even spelling it out in the author’s note.

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Published by Candlewick

Summary: While vacationing with his grandmother at her cottage near the beach, Thomas becomes entranced with sea glass.  He uses his grandfather’s old magnifying glass to study his beach finds, and his grandmother tells him each piece tells a story.  Some of those stories come to life in Thomas’s dreams at night, shown in black and white, where he sees a woman christening a ship with a bottle, and a Mason jar being smashed in a shipwreck.  The summer finally comes to an end, and Thomas is heartbroken when he accidentally breaks the magnifying glass on the ferry ride home. Fast forward to another summer at the beach.  This time a girl named Annie is staying at the beach, and  she, too, is a collector.  When she finds a cloudy white piece of sea glass, she shows it to her Papaw Tom. It feels strangely familiar to him, and he tells her every piece of sea glass has a story. That night Annie dreams about a young boy named Thomas peering through a magnifying glass on the beach.  32 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  A perfect summer story; bring along your sea glass collection to share at story hour, and get the kids imagining where it all came from.  The illustrations of both the present and the past add plenty of realistic detail to the story.

Cons:  What grandfather would willingly go by the name of Papaw Tom?

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