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Just some random goodies this weekend! Enjoy!

Duck Tents, written by Lynne Berry and illustrated by Hiroe Nakata is I think the third in the ducky series by the pair, all centering on an adorable quintet of ducks having all sorts of adventures. In this particular adventure, the ducks are going camping and having all sorts of fun while in the wilderness. Fishing, toasting marshmallows, and sleeping under the stars are all in the plans but scary noises threaten to ruin their evening!

The illustrations are quaint and the rhyming flow of the story is really cute. Ducks Tents would make a nice read aloud for the younger kiddos.

Duck Tents
Lynne Berry
32 pages
Picture Book
Henry Holt
9780805086966
April 2009

The Girl Who Wanted to Dance, written by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Rebecca Walsh is definitely a picture book for your older children, only because of the length and intensity of the story.

Clara lives with her father and her grandmother in a small village and wants nothing more than the ability to dance and dance and dance. Unfortunately, her father is a very sad man and doesn't allow Clara to pursue her dream. When a group of dancers comes to her village, Clara is enchanted and follows them deep into the woods one evening, introducing her to a woman that lights a fire in Clara...not only for dancing, but to bring her father happiness.

This makes for a really nice fairy tale and will definitely appeal to fans of the genre. The illustrations were beautiful and the writing superb. Again, mainly for the older kiddos though. Younger ones aren't going to sit through it.

The Girl Who Wanted to Dance
Amy Ehrlich
40 pages
Picture Book
Candlewick
9780763613457
February 2009

Funny Farm, written and illustrated by the incredibly talented Mark Teague, is so cute in such a subtle way. Edward (who appears to be a French Bulldog) is visiting Hawthorne Farm for the first time, in a tuxedo no less, and manages to get himself into lots of interesting antics while going about a farm's daily business.

There's the mud issue when feeding the pigs, the attacking hens while attempting to gather eggs, and of course the angry sheep being tended. The illustrations truly tell the story here, as the text simply reads as if Edward is going about his farm adventure as any normal dog would. Very cute!!

A perfect book to chat your way through with your kids. Have them point out the silliness in each picture as you go along.

Funny Farm
Mark Teague
32 pages
Picture Book
Orchard Books
9780439914994
April 2009

And finally, we have Prudence & Moxie: A Tale of Mismatched Friends, written by Deborah Noyes and illustrated by AnnaLaura Cantone. Now, I've read a lot of books about friends being different from each other and the ways in which they are compliments of each other, which is basically what this book is. However, the illustrations set Prudence & Moxie far apart from other "mismatched friends" books.

Moxie is a daredevil and Prudence is the sensible one. Prudence dares Moxie to do something that is waaay out of her comfort zone and Moxie doesn't know if her daredevil ways will stand up to this task...enough said. An adorable book with fantastic, hilarious, illustrations.

Prudence & Moxie: A Tale of Mismatched Friends
Deborah Noyes
32 pages
Picture Book
Houghton Mifflin
9780618416073
April 2009

I hope you found something that peaks your interest! To learn more about any of the titles or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon.