Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun/ What's Your Favorite Animal?/ Peg and the Whale

Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage to Be Who You Are  by Maria Dismondy, with illustrations by Kimberly Shaw-Peterson

Little Lucy lives with her grandfather and she's a sweet little girl.  But, there's a boy at school, Ralph who is constantly giving her a hard time.  Papa Gino teaches Lucy to treat others the way she wishes to be treated. She believes the most important thing about you is the heart inside you.  

This is a very sweet story. I love that Lucy stays true to herself, and earns acceptance because she's such a good little person.  

The last page of the book contains a very inspirational message to her readers with every lesson little kids should learn about themselves and how to treat each other.

What's Your Favorite Animal?   by Eric Carle and friends

Think of a favorite children's picture book author and you've got a good chance that he/she contributed a page and an animal to this book.

I don't know if I could pick my favorite animal.  I love many of the ones in the book, and then there are the sea turtles, koalas, otters and dolphins.  I guess, at the moment, I'd have to say my puppy, Greta is my favorite animal.  And, I'm not just saying that because she's sitting in my lap watching me type this.

The drawings and descriptions are wonderful. I think that this book with it's anecdotes and one liners, silly entries and more serious make it a great read along book.  I recommend it as a bedtime story, accompanied by a discussion of favorite animals.  Oh, and don't forget to include my little Greta.

Peg and the Whale  by Kenneth Oppel and Illustrated by Terry Widener

Peg is an over-achieving seven year old girl. She's been on her family's fishing boat since birth.  She knows the sea and she's caught every kind of fish you can imagine.  She decides that she needs to up her game and sets her sights on catching a whale.  

So, she leaves home and signs on with a whaling ship where she does, in fact, hook herself a whale.  And, that's just where her story begins.  The two travel together, culminating in Peg's return home to her family's fishing boat, where she is courteously dropped off by the whale.

I really enjoyed this book  It's so cute. The illustrations are wonderful and the story is more silly than sweet.  Peg is extremely Type A for a little kid, but I'm sure there are plenty of small people who can totally relate to Peg.