New Picture Books

The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County - Janice N. Harrinton
A young farm girl tries to catch her favorite chicken, until she learns something about the hen that makes her change her ways. Meet one smart chicken chaser. She can catch any chicken on her grandmother's farm except one - the elusive Miss Hen. In a hilarious battle of wits, the spirited narrator regales readers with her campaign to catch Miss Hen, but this chicken is "fast as a mosquito buzzing and quick as a fleabite." Our chicken chaser has her mind set on winning, until she discovers that sometimes it's just as satisfying not to catch chickens as it is to catch them.

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean - Kevin Sherry
A giant squid brags about being bigger than everything else in the ocean--almost.

Dogs and Cats - Steve Jenkins
Two related works, one about dogs with some comparisons to cats and one about cats with some comparisons to dogs.

Wolf! Wolf! - John Rocco
A crafty old wolf finds a peaceful way to satisfy his hunger in this alternate version of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," told from the wolf's point of view and set in Asia.

Duck, Duck, Goose - Tad Hills
Duck and Goose face a challenge to their friendship when an enthusiastic young duck moves into their neighborhood who wants to play--and win--all sorts of games.

Animal Poems - Valerie Worth
Twenty-three poems in a posthumous collection by Valerie Worth distinguishes one animal from all other creatures and captures it in all of its wonderful singularity - from wasp to snake to wren.

Rainstorm - Barbara Lehman
In this wordless picture book, a boy finds a mysterious key which leads him on an adventure one rainy day.

The Purple Balloon - Chris Raschka
Easy-to-read text reveals that dying is hard work, for the old and especially the young, and how good it is that so many people help when a person dies, from medical staff to clergy and friends to family members.

Nobody Gonna Turn Me 'Round - Doreen Rappaport
Chronicling the struggles of the black civil rights movement from the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott up until the 1965 Voting Rights Bill, this anthology weaves together songs, poems, memoirs, letters and court testimonies of those active in the movement, along with a meticulously researched historical narrative. It tells the stories of as yet uncelebrated heroes, alongside more familiar figures like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks and creates a powerful and moving account of what it means to be free - and what it is to be human.