Children's Picture Books
Title: Oliver, The Frog That Couldn’t Croak
Author: Jan E. Culbertson
Reviewer: Jeff Edwards – AAA Member
WINNER OF THE AMERICAN AUTHOR'S ASSOCIATION'S SILVER QUILL AWARD FOR 2009: CLICK HERE
Oliver, the Frog That Couldn’t Croak is the charming story of a little frog’s search for family, identity, and acceptance.
Oliver is a tree frog. He lives with his mother and father near the top of a very tall tree. His life seems perfect until a storm comes along and changes everything. The branch on which Oliver and his family live is struck by lightning. The frogs are separated as they tumble through the air toward the ground. Oliver falls into a bird’s nest that contains a mother bird and her two eggs.
When the eggs hatch, the mother bird treats Oliver as one of her own babies. He has no feathers, and he looks quite different from her other children, but the mother bird feeds him and cares for him without hesitation. Oliver — who has no idea where his own parents have gone — is accepted as a member of the bird family. Living alongside his fellow nestlings, he learns to chirp like a bird. After a while, he completely forgets how to croak. When he realizes that he has forgotten, he begins to cry. If he can’t call to other frogs in his own language, he’ll never find his mother and father again. But through his doubts and his fears, the mother bird continues to love him and care for him.
At last, it’s time for the baby birds to take their first flight. The mother bird urges her other two children out of the nest, but she doesn’t try to make Oliver fly. He has no wings, and she understands that he will never fly. She doesn’t care. She loves him just the way he is.
When Oliver is ready, he leaves the nest on his own, climbing and hopping through the branches of the tree like the frog he was born to be. He rejoins the community of frogs, but he never does find his lost parents. Instead, he meets a girl tree frog who loves his chirp, and doesn’t mind at all that he doesn’t croak like other frogs. Oliver, the Frog That Couldn’t Croak is clever and entertaining, with engaging illustrations that are sure to delight young children. The messages of tolerance and self discovery are woven so seamlessly into the story that the average child will never realize that there might be something important hidden alongside the fun. A new concept in children's books; a story book that is also a coloring book. This is the sequel to Hans Christian Anderson's classic "The Emperor's New Clothes." It tell the story of what happened to the emperor's old clothes that he threw away when he got his new invisible suit of clothes. The illustrations are wonderful, and it gives your child the opportunity to color his own picture story book. To hear the story just click the start button on the player below.
Title: Wilber, the Littlest Pumpkin Wilber, the Littlest Pumpkin is a delightful story of self-discovery and unconditional love. Wilber is a pumpkin, living in Farmer Jones’s pumpkin patch. The farmer takes good care of the pumpkin patch, hoeing the weeds and watering every day, so his pumpkins will grow big and round. But poor Wilber lives at the very end of the vine. By the time all of the other pumpkins have finished drinking, there’s not very much water left over for him. He tries to grow big, like his brothers and sisters, but it just doesn’t work. He’s the smallest pumpkin in the patch. Halloween is coming, and the pumpkins begin to worry. Each of them wants to be chosen as a Jack-o-lantern. It’s the noblest fate that a pumpkin could wish for — to make children happy, and to become the symbol of a major holiday. The other pumpkins whisper that Wilber is too small. He’ll never be a Jack-o-lantern. He’s going to be shipped to a big bakery in the city, where he’ll end up as a pumpkin pie. Wilber doesn’t want that. It’s just about the worst thing that can happen to a pumpkin. October 15th arrives. That’s the day Farmer Jones opens up his pumpkin patch, and lets the local children come in to choose pumpkins for their Jack-o-lanterns. The children rush in and walk up and down the rows, searching for the perfect pumpkin. As each child walks past, Wilber thinks, "Pick me! Pick me!" But the children all choose Wilber’s larger brothers and sisters instead.
At last, a pretty little girl named Alani finds Wilber. She decides that he is perfect for her Jack-o-lantern. Her mother tries to change her mind, but Alani wants Wilber. Amazingly, she can hear Wilber’s voice when he talks to her. She knows his name, and she knows that he wants to be a happy Jack-o-lantern instead of a scary one. When Halloween arrives, Alani gives Wilber a big smile and happy round eyes. The children all love Wilber. He’s the happiest pumpkin they’ve ever seen. He doesn’t have to be big or scary to be a great Jack-o-lantern. He just has to be himself. Wilber, the Littlest Pumpkin, is bilingual, with the text in both English and Spanish. The illustrations are colorful and utterly charming. This book would be a wonderful Halloween gift for any small child. To purchase a copy of Wilber, The Littlest Pumpkin: CLICK HERE
Price: $16.95
To purchase: CLICK HERE
The Emperor's Old Clothes
Price: $6.50 plus S&H
To purchase: CLICK HERE
Author: Jan E. Culbertson
Publisher: XLibris
Reviewer: Jeff Edwards – AAA member
To read a few paragraphs of "Wilber, The Littlest Pumpkin": CLICK HERE
