Best Children’s Books of the Year Under Five 2014 Edition *= Outstanding Read Aloud (2-4) Suggested Graphic Board Book Merit age range format 1, 2, 3. By the Sea: A Counting Book Baby Parade by Dianne Moritz, illustrated by Hazel Mitchell by Rebecca O’Connell, illustrated by Susie Poole (Kane/Miller/EDC, P $6.99) 978-1-935279-94-5 (AlBert Whitman, $15.99) 978-0-8075-0509-0 A mother, young boy, and his dog spend a day at the Babies ride, crawl, stand, and walk with their families in ocean identifying different sights and counting them. this happy parade. Cheerful miXed-media illustrations. Lively mixed-media illustrations. (3-6) (birth-3) Ball *Ah Ha! written and illustrated By Mary Sullivan written and illustrated By Jeff Mack (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $12.99) 978-0-547-75936-4 (Chronicle Books, $16.99) 978-1-4521-1265-7 Expressive, humorous illustrations and just one Two little letters tell a Big tale in this lively read-aloud repeated word convey a dog’s single-minded devotion full of drama, surprise, and loads of fun. Boldly colored and a young girl’s adoration. Digitally colored pencil watercolor illustrations. (3-6) drawings. (2-5) Alphabet Trucks by Samantha R. Vamos, illustrated by Ryan O’Rourke Bella Loves Bunny (CharlesBridge, $14.95) 978-1-58089-428-9 written and illustrated By David McPhail Twenty-siX familiar and unusual truck names are (Appleseed/ABrams, $8.95) 978-1-4197-0543-4 presented through simple rhymes and whimsical oil and Follow a little girl and her stuffed Bunny from morning acrylic illustrations. (3-5) light to sleepy time. EXpressive illustrations. (1-3) *Animal ABC Big Snow written and illustrated By Marcus Pfister written and illustrated By Jonathan Bean (NorthSouth Books, $17.95) 978-0-7358-4136-9 (Farrar Straus GirouX BFYR/Macmillan, $16.99) Easy-to-read couplets about 26 amazing animals, most 978-0-374-30696-0 real, two imaginary. Bold color prints. (3-6) David “helps” his mother with indoor chores and regularly dashes out to check on the arrival of snow. Soft colorful illustrations. (3-6) Animal Opposites: A Pop-Up Book written and illustrated By Petr Horáček, paper Bobbo Goes to School engineering By Richard Ferguson written and illustrated By Shirley Hughes (Candlewick Press, $15.99) 978-0-7636-6776-4 (Candlewick Press, $16.99) 978-0-7636-6524-1 Behind each colorful flap, discover the dynamic pop-up Lily is having a “bad day.” She tosses her Beloved animals that are in contrast to the visiBle ones. MiXed- stuffed toy up in the air and it lands on top of the school media illustrations. (3-5) bus. Will she get it back? Colorful gouache illustrations. (3-5) Baby and Me written and illustrated By Emma Dodd Boom! Boom! Boom! (Nosy Crow/Candlewick Press, $14.99) by Jamie A. Swenson, illustrated by David Walker 978-0-7636-6544-9 (Farrar Straus GirouX BFYR/Macmillan, $16.99) Simple daily routines of Baby care provide an interactive 978-0-374-30868-1 touch-and-feel eXperience. Brightly colored Bold digital During a thunderstorm, a Brave Boy tries to make room illustrations. (3-5) in his bed for all of his friends. Fun rhymes and gentle full-page paintings. (3-5) Children’s Book Committee Bank Street College of Education Page 1 Best Children’s Books of the Year Under Five 2014 Edition *= Outstanding Read Aloud (2-4) Suggested Graphic Board Book Merit age range format *Bully The Children Who Loved Books written and illustrated By Laura Vaccaro Seeger written and illustrated By Peter Carnavas (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan, $16.99) (Kane/Miller/EDC, $11.99) 978-1-61067-145-3 978-1-59643-630-5 A family that loves reading discovers that they don’t A little bull who has been bullied finds out that he is also need to own books in order to love them. Enhanced acting like a Bully. Can he change? Bold, expressive with whimsical, colorful illustrations. (4-6) illustrations. (4-6) Colors for Zena written and illustrated By Monica Wellington *Busy-Busy Little Chick (Dial BFYR/Penguin, $16.99) 978-0-8037-3743-3 by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Brian Pinkney Zena takes a walk and sees many colors. She loves them (Farrar Straus GirouX BFYR/Macmillan, $15.99) all and finds that miXing some of them creates new 978-0-374-34746-8 ones. Bright, simple illustrations match the text. (3-5) Little Chick’s work ethic rivals Little Red Hen’s. While his family feasts, he makes them a new home. Dynamic Construction Kitties brushwork. (3-5) by Judy Sue Goodwin Sturges, illustrated by Shari Halpern Bye-Bye Baby Brother! (Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt BFYR/Macmillan, written and illustrated By Sheena Dempsey $16.99) 978-0-8050-9105-2 (Candlewick Press, $15.99) 978-0-7636-6241-7 Construction kitties are hard at work building a Sometimes it’s hard to share Mom, especially with a playground with their loaders, eXcavators, dump trucks, siBling. Gentle illustrations reveal the frustrations and and Back hoes. Simple Brightly colored gouache the joy of having a new baby around. (3-5) illustrations. (2-4) Catty Jane Who Loved to Dance Cub’s Big World written and illustrated by Valeri GorBachev by Sarah L. Thomson, illustrated by Joe Cepeda (Boyds Mills Press/Highlights, $16.95) (Harcourt Children’s Books/HMH, $16.99) 978-1-59078-982-7 978-0-544-05739-5 Although she is a wonderful ballet student, Catty Jane There’s an eXciting world beyond the comfort of isn’t a good friend to Froggy when she rejects his vaults home—but is it too big and is mom too far away to and somersaults. Large, expressive multimedia keep cuB safe? Dynamic oil and acrylic illustrations. illustrations. (4-6) (4-6) Cheer Up, Mouse! written and illustrated By Jed Henry Daisy Gets Lost (Houghton Mifflin/HMH, $12.99) 978-0-547-68107-8 written and illustrated By Chris Raschka Beautiful watercolors depict mouse’s concerned friends (Schwartz & Wade Books/Random House, $17.99) who go to great lengths to make him smile. (3-5) 978-0-449-81741-4 When Daisy chases a squirrel deep into the woods, she doesn’t know how to get home. Will the dog and her distraught owner reunite? Watercolor illustrations in this almost wordless Book. (3-6) Children’s Book Committee Bank Street College of Education Page 2 Best Children’s Books of the Year Under Five 2014 Edition *= Outstanding Read Aloud (2-4) Suggested Graphic Board Book Merit age range format The Dark by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen Dinosaur Rescue! (Little, Brown and Company/Hachette, $16.99) written and illustrated By Penny Dale 978-0-316-18748-0 (Nosy Crow/Candlewick Press, $15.99) Simple, yet elegant line drawings with splashes of light 978-0-7636-6829-7 capture a child’s fear of the dark. (4-6) What happens when dinosaurs are involved in a transportation emergency? Discover the delightful, The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten action-packed solution. Bold colorful watercolor and by Maureen Fergus, illustrated by Mike Lowery pencil illustrations. (3-6) (Kids Can Press, $16.95) 978-1-55453-698-6 When she tags along with her daughter, Mom learns Dog Loves Counting that kindergarten is hard work, But worth it. Colorful written and illustrated By Louise Yates cartoon art. (4-6) (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House, $17.99) 978-0-449-81342-3 Dee Dee and Me Dog couldn’t fall asleep until he started counting with written and illustrated By Amy Schwartz his creature friends. Soft watercolor illustrations. (4-6) (Holiday House, $16.95) 978-0-8234-2524-2 Will Hannah Be aBle to find herself or will she remain Don’t Eat the Baby dominated by her big sister’s bossy personality? written and illustrated By Amy Young Expression-filled gouache and pen and ink illustrations. (Viking/Penguin, $16.99) 978-0-670-78513-1 (3-5) Tom’s new Baby Brother is “cute enough to eat,” But that is eXactly what Tom is afraid of. Colorful acrylic Dig, Scoop, Ka-boom! illustrations. (4-6) by Joan Holub, illustrated by David Gordon (Random House, P $3.99) 978-0-375-86910-5 Don’t Sneeze at the Wedding Mighty trucks and sight words in rhyme capture the joy by Pamela Mayer, illustrated By Martha Avilés of building in a playground. Bright watercolor (Kar-Ben/Lerner, P $7.95) 978-1-4677-0429-8 illustrations. (3-5) Will the little flower girl spoil Aunt Rachel’s wedding By sneezing at the wrong time? Appealing colorful illustrations. Jewish wedding rituals are explained in an Digger, Dozer, Dumper afterword. (4–6) by Hope Vestergaard, illustrated by David Slonim (Candlewick Press, $15.99) 978-0-7636-5078-0 Don’t Spill the Milk! The character and use of construction vehicles are by Stephen Davies, illustrated by Christopher Corr depicted in lively poetry. Energetic acrylic and charcoal (Andersen Press/Lerner, $16.95) 978-1-4677-2028-1 illustrations illuminate their distinct personalities. (4-6) Can Penda get all the way from her African village to the grasslands and succeed on her important errand? Colorful, vibrant gouache illustrations. (4-6) Children’s Book Committee Bank Street College of Education Page 3 Best Children’s Books of the Year Under Five 2014 Edition *= Outstanding Read Aloud (2-4) Suggested Graphic Board Book Merit age range format Have You Seen My New Blue Socks? Doug Unplugged by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier written and illustrated By Dan Yaccarino (Clarion/HMH, $16.99) 978-0-547-75267-9 (Alfred A.