Pick of the Decade 1995-2005:
1st Grade

Picture Books

Newsome, Jill. Night Walk , 2003.

Flute, a stay-at-home cat, decides to venture out at night with her canine friend, Daisy, but the walk in the park turns out to be more than dangerous than either expected.

Osborne, Mary Pope. Kate and the Beanstalk , 2000.

Kate encounters an old woman at the top of the beanstalk who tells her she must recover the treasures the giant stole and return them to their rightful owner.

Palatini, Margie. Bad Boys , 2003.

Willy and Wally, two big bad wolves, disguise themselves as sheep to catch their dinner, but Betty Mutton and Meryl Sheep aren't as easy to deceive as the wolves hope. (See also: Mary Had a Little Ham ; The Perfect Pet ; and Earthquack! )

Paye, Won-Ldy. Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile , 2003.

When the crocodile captures Mrs. Chicken, she concocts a story to convince him to let her go.

Radcliffe, Theresa. Bashi, the Baby Elephant , 1998.

When a lioness stalks Bashi, the newborn elephant, his mother and grandmother do what they must to protect him.

Roome, Diana Reynolds. The Elephant's Pillow , 2003.

When the emperor in ancient Peking dies, the imperial elephant is inconsolable. Sing Lo emerges from his selfishness to try to bring comfort to the royal creature.

Root, Phyllis. Kiss the Cow , 2000.

When Annalisa refuses to kiss the cow, the cow refuse to give milk.

Rylant, Cynthia. The Great Gracie Chase , 2001.

Puppy Gracie Rose is not happy when noisy painters disturb her peaceful home, so when they put her outside for barking, she decides to dash through the open gate, causing the whole town to run after her. (See also: The Relatives Came ; Night in the Country ; Mr. Griggs' Work ; The Bookshop Dog ; The Ticky-Tacky Doll ; and The Whale .)

Schachner, Judith Byron. Skippyjon Jones , 2003.

Skippyjon Jones, a Siamese kitten, imagines he is a doggy Zorro with chaotic results. (Sequel: Skippyjon Jones in the Dog House ; see also: Grannyman .)

Schertle, Alice. The Skeleton in the Closet , 2003.

Seeking attire to cover his bare bones, a skeleton stalks a young boy in order to gain access to his closet.

Shannon, David. A Bad Case of Stripes , 1998.

Camilla Cream's concern with what everyone else thinks leads her to breakout into stripes and that is only the beginning of her skin's changing patterns. It doesn't stop until she does something simply because she loves it even though no one else does. (See also: The Rain Came Down .)

Shields, Carol Diggory. Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp , 1997.

When it's time to have fun in the prehistoric era, the dinosaurs all gather to twist and shout.

Simont, Marc. The Goose That Almost Got Cooked , 1997.

Emily the goose decides to stay on a farm for the winter instead of flying South with her flock, until she discovers the plans the farmer has for her. (See also: Stray Dog .)

Simont, Marc. Stray Dog , 2001.

While picnicking a family befriends a charming pup and when they return to the same spot a week later, they decide to adopt him, saving him from the dogcatcher.

Smith, Lane. Pinocchio: The Boy , 2002.

The Blue Fairy has turned Pinocchio into a real boy, but she did it in the middle of the night so no one realizes it, not even Pinocchio. This creates problems for him as he searches the town for some soup for an ailing Geppetto.

Smith, Linda. Mrs. Biddlebox , 2002.

Mrs. Biddlebox wakes up on the wrong side of the bunk, but with a little bit of magic cookery, she transforms the day.

Stanley, Diane. Goldie and the Three Bears , 2003.

Goldie, who likes everything to be just right, is really looking for a friend when she wanders into the house of the three bears.

Steig, William. Potch and Polly , 2002.

Potch and Polly hits some bumps in the road on the way to true love in this slapstick romance.

Stevens, Janet. Tops and Bottoms , 1995.

Inspired, by folklore, Stevens creates a story where Bear and Hare form a gardening partnership, but clever Hare always enjoys the vegetable rewards.

Stewart, Sarah. The Gardener , 1997.

During the Depression, Lydia Grace stays with her dreary Uncle Jim in the city. Determined to cheer-up her surroundings as well as her uncle, she plants a garden in the flower box.

Stuve-Bodeen, Stephanie. Elizabeti's Doll , 1998.

Elizabeti, a Tanzanian village girl, longs for a doll to care for the way her mother cares for her new brother, so she select a smooth stone to be her doll. (See also: Elizabeti's School ; Mama Elizabeti ; and Babu's Song .)

Teague, Mark. How I Spent My Summer Vacation , 1995.

Wallace wows his class when he regales them with tales of Wild West adventures from his summer vacation.

U'Ren, Andrea. Mary Smith , 2003.

Before alarm clocks were invented, people where paid to be "knocker-ups," and this is Mary Smith's job. Early in the morning she makes her way from house to house, shooting dried peas at windows to wake the inhabitants (based on a true story).

Viorst, Judith. Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move , 1995.

Alexander is having a bad day because dad has a new job and wants to move the family 1,000 miles away. (See also: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day .)

Wheeler, Lisa. Old Cricket , 2003.

Old Cricket gets out of his chores by pretending to be ailing but when Old Crow tries to snap him up for dinner, his injuries are real enough. (See also: Turk and Runt ; Sailor Moo ; and Porcupining .)

Willey, Margaret. Clever Beatrice , 2001.

In this folktale, the spirited Beatrice outwits the giant to help her family.

Wood, Audrey. Sweet Dream Pie , 1998.

Ma Brindle makes a sweet dream pie the size of a wading pool which has unexpected results for the folks on Willobee street . (See also: The Napping House ; King Bidgood's in the Bathtub ; and The Flying Dragon Room .)

Yaccarino, Dan. The Lima Bean Monster , 2001.

Sammy hates lima beans and buries them in a vacant lot to avoid eating them. Soon all the neighborhood children do likewise with their unwanted vegetables, but unbeknownst to them, they are creating a monster.