A cast of little green peas build, climb, camp, and race through all the letters in the alphabet. There are lots of small details to pour over in this action packed alphabet. The big bold letters are shown in caps on the pages, but the words that match the letters are written in lower case. What the peas do is told in rhyme, such as: "We're gardeners, gigglers, givers and takers. We're hikers, inventors, and investigators." The language is more appropriate for older preschoolers and early grade children. In fact, they might be inspired (with a little nudge) to make their own versions of this book, activating a batch of peas with the letters of the alphabet or maybe they will switch to carrots or some very active cherry tomatoes.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2010. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Both a color concept and counting book, this starts off easy and gets more complex as it moves along. After counting the bears from 1-2, they mix it up with sets of two, three and more. There are some equations written out that are likely to go over the heads of young students. McGrath finishes her book with the typical device of reducing the crowd as the story comes to a close. 4 & up.

Age: Preschool. Award Year: 2010. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Did you ever think of the many kinds of quiet? This charming little concept book is mossy green and the little creatures that tip toe though are illustrated in muted tones that match the gentle text. There are some amusing kinds of quiet, as in "thinking of a good reason you were drawing on the wall" or "making a wish quiet." A good book for getting children to dream up their own examples of quiet? This just may inspire some original books of quiet or how about noisy?  5-7

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2010. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

One of a new series of bilingual knowing and naming books. If you are raising a bilingual child, your toddler can learn Spanish with Maisy. Familiar objects are illustrated in bold primary colors and ready for talking about in Spanish or English or both. There is no story here, just plenty of action as Maisy and her friends play ball, ride a trike, paint, and push their toy trucks about.  Also in the series of sturdy cardboard dual-language books, look for Maisy's Animals, Clothes, and Food. 

Age: Toddlers, Preschool. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Learning the months of the year takes time. This charming book about a puppy’s first year is a good way to introduce or reinforce the names and order of the months. It is also a book that reflects the seasons as they are lived in the northern part of the country where snow is familiar. Ashley Wolff’s playful illustrations have a quiet charm. 

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Unlike so many counting books, this one really focuses on the beginning of counting from 1 to 3 and introducing the concept by touching the objects pictured. Designed for the youngest counters, this is printed on cardboard and is small in scale for little hands. This one to one relationship is different from the kind of rote counting that little children often do without understanding the meaning behind the words. As the book suggests at the end, there is no substitute for counting real things and while you’re at it…keep the number of things you count with beginners under five items.

Age: Toddlers, Preschool. Award Year: 2009.

An original look at the alphabet. Each animal pictured from A to Z is composed with a variety of a particular letter in lowercase and upper and in bold and light for shading. The featured creature fills the page and other small examples of items that start with the same letter are found in blocks at the bottom or side of the page. While some of the hard to fill letters, such as U, Y and X are a bit of a stretch, this is a book for older preschoolers and early school years kids who will enjoy the esoteric choices on these few pages. They might even like making other alphabet collections inspired by this beastie collection. A great way to get kids to practice writing the same letters in a playful way.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

An amusing concept book that contrasts things that dogs do and don't do. Using photographs and the digital magic of Photoshop, they created some truly LOL images.  The only text here is "Dogs do" or "Dogs don't" so for beginning readers the text is all in the photos. An entertaining choice for kids who like to think they can read long before they really can. It’s also a fun way to conceptualize how the same word can mean very different things in context…a very big concept. 4-7

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

A color concept book with only four colors and an interesting novelty format. Each color is introduced on a page of its own with a pocket that holds a color card. Look at the image, name the object and color.  Now, pull the card out and when you have all the cards they can be fitted together in a puzzle. There are just four colors but this is a playful idea for toddlers.  No guarantee that the cards will not get lost, but the book will still work without them.

Age: Toddlers, Preschool. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Age: Preschool. Award Year: 2001.