Word of the Month Resources: Reflection

Leonardo is truly a terrible monster-terrible at being a monster that is. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to frighten anyone. Leonardo realizes that he might be a terrible, awful monster-but he could be a really good friend.

An affectionate storybook tribute to that truly wonderful place: the library. Miss Merriweather, the head librarian, is very particular about rules in the library. No running allowed. And you must be quiet. But when a lion comes to the library one day, no one is sure what to do. There aren't any rules about lions in the library. And, as it turns out, this lion seems very well suited to library visiting.

A bug flies through an open door into a house, through a bathroom, across a kitchen and bedroom and into a living room ... where its entire life changes with the switch of a button. Sucked into the void of a vacuum bag, this one little bug moves through denial, bargaining, anger, despair and eventually acceptance -- the five stages of grief -- as it comes to terms with its fate.

A huge bear is wandering through the forest - but wait a minute! Who's that he's hugging? A beaver? And a moose? And a bird? And a tree? One day, the benevolent bear meets up with a human. This human proceeds to do something the bear cannot understand: he raises his axe and begins to cut down a tree.

Titch helps his older brother and sister clean their rooms.

"I am the queen!" Lilly loves all sorts of things. She loves school, she loves dressing up, she even grows to love her stinky baby brother, Julius. In fact, Lilly loves everything. But when Lilly brings her purple plastic purse to school and can't wait until sharing time to show off the purse and her movie star sunglasses, her teacher, Mr. Slinger, has to take away her prized possessions. Lilly's fury leads her to draw a mean picture of her favorite teacher. It isn't until Mr. Slinger gives her belongings back to her with a kind note and snacks that Lilly realizes she owes Mr. Slinger an apology.

Adorably clad in her pink dress and matching headband, Martha is ready to do just about anything-except say those three little words: I am sorry. But when this sweet but stubborn otter learns that niceties like cookies, piggyback rides, and hugs are for people who apologize our mischievous heroine learns the ultimately rewarding feeling that comes with saying she's sorry.

In a beautifully detailed wordless picture book, a tumbledown building becomes home sweet home for a found family. A lonely little girl and her grandparent need to fill the run-down apartment in their building. But taking over the quarters above their store will mean major renovations for the new occupants, and none of the potential renters can envision the possibilities of the space--until one special couple shows up.

In this poignant story, a girl finds it funny when her classmate starts blushing on the school playground. Her friends laugh along with her, but one student takes the teasing too far. Torn between her sympathy for her classmate and her fear of the bully, the girl must make a difficult choice.

When Abaani, a Maasai boy, takes his family's cattle out to graze, he is suprised to see a Kikuyu boy, Haki, tending a new fruit and vegetable stall alongside the road. Aware of the traditional conflict between the Maasai and the Kikuyu, the boys take an immediate dislike to each other. A short while later, as customers surround Haki's stall, a dangerous situation arises...

The Lizsts make lists. They make lists most usual and lists most unusual. They make lists in Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn; they make lists every day except Sunday, which is a listless kind of day anyway. So does their cat. Then one day a visitor arrives. A visitor not on anyone's invite list. How will The Lizsts handle something unexpected arising?

Linda, a little girl who lives in the city, learns about East Africa and the Masai in school, and imagines what her life might be like if she were Masai.

All Jeremy wants is a pair of those shoes, the ones everyone at school seems to be wearing. Though Jeremy's grandma says they don't have room for "want," just "need," when his old shoes fall apart at school, he is more determined than ever to have those shoes, even a thrift-shop pair that are much too small.

Wabi Sabi, a little cat in Kyoto, Japan, had never thought much about her name until friends visiting from another land asked her owner what it meant. At last, the master says, "That's hard to explain." And that is all she says. This unsatisfying answer sets Wabi Sabi on a journey to uncover the meaning of her name, and on the way discovers what wabi sabi is: a Japanese philosophy of seeing beauty in simplicity, the ordinary, and imperfection.

When Abaani, a Maasai boy, takes his family's cattle out to graze, he is suprised to see a Kikuyu boy, Haki, tending a new fruit and vegetable stall alongside the road. Aware of the traditional conflict between the Maasai and the Kikuyu, the boys take an immediate dislike to each other. A short while later, as customers surround Haki's stall, a dangerous situation arises...

This picture book is about pursuing one's passion with persistence and learning to celebrate each failure on the road to achieving one's dreams. And now you can follow Rosie's further adventures-with her friends Iggy Peck and Ada Twist-in. Rosie Revere dreamed of becoming a great engineer. Where some people see rubbish, Rosie sees inspiration. Alone in her room at night, shy Rosie constructs great inventions from odds and ends.