—Stephen Gammell

A burger and a hot dog
One day had a nasty spat.
The burger got insulted
'Cause the hot dog called him flat...

So what happened after that? Well, you'll have to look inside this book to find out. Because, you see, there is a whole world out there in which burgers, hot dogs, sticky buns, ice-cream bars, bologna, popcorn, and all sorts of other food folks exist together and do and go through all the daily stuff we all do. But it's only folks like Jim Aylesworth, together with artist Stephen Gammell, who can bring to us that world in a collection of hilarious rhymes and pictures. After all, what happens when a bunch of sugar cookies give a bagel a hard time, or an ice-cream bar gets stranded on a beach, or a couple of pickles go out dancing?...Well, come on in and see! And when you're done, try to invent some food folks of your own.

Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones
by Alvin Schwartz
HarperCollins 2001
HC 978-0-06-021794-5
Trade paper 978-0-06-440418-1

Storytellers know—just as they have for hundreds and hundreds of years—that everyone enjoys a good, scary story! Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories 3 joins his other popular collections of scary folklore, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark and More Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, to give readers spooky, funny and fantastic tales guaranteed to raise goose bumps. Who is the Wolf girl? Why is a hearse filled with men with yellow glowing eyes? Can a nightmare become reality? How do you avoid an appointment with Death? Stephen Gammell's splendidly creepy drawings perfectly capture the mood of more than two dozens scary stories— and even a scary song—all just right for reading along or for telling aloud in the dark.

Ride
by Stephen Gammell
Harcourt/Silver Whistle, 2001
HC 978-0-15-202682-0

Anyone who has ever taken a trip in the family car knows about backseat battles, but has there ever been a boundary war like this one? Road warriors of all ages will see themselves in this riotous picture book.

Twigboy
by Stephen Gammell
Harcourt/Silver Whistle, 2000
HC 978-0-15-202137-5

Twigboy has everything a twig could wish for...except a best friend. Then one morning, when a rolling rock saves Twigboy from a gang of menacing bullies, he finds the friend he has always wanted. Together Twigboy and Rockwell have a fine time, visiting Granma and Granpa, and dining on Mud Pebble Pie. But when trouble strikes, watch out-with a friend, anything is possible!

The Great Dimpole Oak
by Janet Taylor Lisle
BT Bound, 2000
HC 978-0-613-21637-1
Trade paper, Puffin 978-0-698-11805-8

The Great Dimpole Oak is a massive tree hundreds of years old. Generations have carved their names in its trunk, and dug for buried treasure at its base. When a town matron decides to celebrate Dimpole Oak Day, events and lives are set in motion—including those of two boys, two young lovers, the old farmer whose land the tree is on, and a swami from India!

Is That You, Winter?
by Stephen Gammell
Harcourt/Silver Whistle, 1997
HC, Trade paper, 978-0-15-202434-5

It’s winter. The wind blows and the ground is blanketed in snow. Who’s behind it all? Old Man Winter wakes up in a bad mood, as usual. He has taken care of winter once more, but who is taking care of him?

The Wing Shop
by Elvira Woodruff
Holiday House, 1996
HC 978-0-8234-1260-0
Trade paper 978-0-8234-1260-0

After his family moves to a different part of town, Matthew tries to get back to his old house by trying on different pairs of wings in an unusual wing shop.

Monster Mama
by Liz Rosenberg
Philomel Books, 1993
HC 978-0-399-21989-4
Trade paper, Puffin 978-0-698-11429-6

Despite the fact that his beloved Mama is a monster, Patrick Edward adores her, until, one day, when Patrick Edward is attacked by three bullies, he discovers that he might be more like his mother than he had thought.

Old Black Fly
by Jim Aylesworth
Holt, 1992
Trade paper 978-0-8050-3925-2
Board 978-0-8050-5840-6

Reading Guide available through Minnesota Storytime

Nothing drives a family crazy faster than an old black fly on a hot summer day, especially when the family's a little crazy already. And this fly is as bad as they come. He knows every low-down trick in the book—and won't rest until he's gone through them all.

Come A Tide
by George Ella Lyon
Orchard Books, 1990
HC 978-0-531-05854-1
Trade paper 978-0-531-07036-9

A girl provides a lighthearted account of the spring floods at her rural home.

Wing-A-Ding
by Lyn Littlefield Hoopes
Little Brown, 1990
HC 978-0-316-37237-4, at your library

Jack's efforts to free his toy wing-a-ding from the branches of a tree soon involve the increasingly outrageous efforts of friends, neighbors, and passersby.

Dancing Teepees:
Poems of American Indian Youth
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve
Holiday House, 1989
HC 978-0-8234-0724-8

An illustrated collection of poems from the oral tradition of Native Americans.

Will’s Mammoth
by Rafe Martin
Putnam, 1989
HC 978-0-399-21627-5
Trade paper 978-0-399-22603-8

Though his parents explain there have been no mammoths for over 10,000 years, Will goes out in the snow one day, certain he will meet some.

Halloween Poems
by Myra Cohn Livingston
Holiday House, 1989
HC 978-0-8234-0762-0, at your library

Eighteen poems celebrate the holiday of pumpkins, black cats, witches, and ghosts.

Airmail to the Moon
by Tom Birdseye
Holiday House, 1989
Trade paper 978-0-8234-0754-5

When the tooth that she was saving for the tooth fairy disappears, Ora Mae sets out to find the thief and send him "airmail to the moon!"

The Old Banjo
by Dennis Haseley
Macmillan, 1988
HC 978-0-02-743100-1
Aladdin paper 978-0-689-71380-4

A hardworking farmer and his son succumb to the enchantment of some very special musical instruments that have been abandoned on their farm.

Song and Dance Man
by Karen Ackerman
Knopf, 1988
HC 978-0-394-89330-3
Trade paper 978-0-394-89330-3
Dragonfly Books, 978-0-679-81995-0

In this affectionate story, three children follow their grandfather up to the attic, where he pulls out his old bowler hat, gold-tipped cane, and his tap shoes. Grandpa once danced on the vaudeville stage, and as he glides across the floor, the children can see what it was like to be a song and dance man. Gammell captures all the story's inherent joie de vivre with color pencil renderings that leap off the pages. Bespectacled, enthusiastic Grandpa clearly exudes the message that you're only as old as you feel, but the children respond--as will readers--to the nostalgia of the moment. Utterly original.

Old Henry
by Joan Blos
Morrow, 1987
HC 978-0-688-06399-3
Trade paper, Harper Trophy 978-0-688-09935-0

The neighbors aren't too happy about Henry and his beat-up old house. Why doesn't he clean it up, and weed his garden and sweep his walk? Henry's got better things to do. Tired of being bothered, he finally gets fed up and moves away. The funny thing is, nobody's really happy when he does—not the neighbors, and not Henry. Here is a wise and witty tale about different kinds of people learning to get along.

Thanksgiving Poems
by Myra Cohn Livingston
Holiday House, 1985
HC 978-0-8234-0570-1, at your library

A collection of poems expressing thanksgiving from a variety of sources including American Indian and the Bible.

The Relatives Came
by Cynthia Rylant
Bradbury, 1985
HC 978-0-02-777220-3
Atheneum 978-0-689-84508-6
Trade paper, Pearson Learning 978-0-689-71738-3

In a rainbow-colored station wagon that smelled like a real car, the relatives came. When they arrived, they hugged and hugged from the kitchen to the front room. All summer they tended the garden and ate up all the strawberries and melons. They plucked banjos and strummed guitars. When they finally had to leave, they were sad, but not for long. They all knew they would be together next summer.