Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas
It’s time to hit the hay, and Cowboy, like all good cowboys, is singing a lullaby to his cows. However, Cowboy keeps getting frightened by dark shapes in the night. Is that a huge hairy spider? Is that a slimy slithering snake? The cows do their best to reassure Cowboy that there’s nothing to fear, but maybe there really are things lurking in the dark that cowboys, and cows, should watch out for.
Jan Thomas has a knack for creating fun, whimsical stories with a twist at the end. Be prepared to get your twang on, as well as your best “eeeek!” as you treat your audience with a lullaby with the (somewhat) brave cowboy.
A Boy and His Bunny by Sean Bryan (illustrated by Tom Murphy)
One day
a boy woke up
with a bunny
on his head.
Oh dear, a bunny on his head. What a bother. This can only be seen as a hindrance. Indeed, the boy’s mother seems quite concerned about her son’s unusual predicament; but wait! What’s wrong with having a bunny on your head? As it turns out, you can do all sorts of things with a bunny on your head.* In fact, the boy is able to all sorts of things from spreading peanut butter to building a tool shed with a bunny on his head.
What seems to be a simple story about a boy with a bunny on his head turns out to be a lesson in self-acceptance and perseverance as we discover that not even a bunny on your head can stop you from doing what you set your mind on.
*Extra points for wearing a bunny on your head while you read the story.
More Bears! by Kenn Nesbitt (illustrated by Troy Cummings)
Once upon a time there was a story.
This story was a lovely story with absolutely no bears in it –
not a single bear anywhere. Then one day…
So begins the tale of a story and its author, and the insistence of a group of children who are quite sure that this story should have MORE BEARS! Although the author is a first resistant, he soon breaks under the pressure of the chorus of children who keep crying out for MORE BEARS! Soon the author is filling his story with an absurd and motley group of bears in an attempt to satisfy the children who, of course, demand MORE BEARS!
The great fun of this book is that it is written so that the children you are reading to can act as chorus, calling out time and time again for MORE BEARS! A silly story with great illustrations and a surprise ended, More Bears! is a gem to read, especially to larger groups.
craicmonkey's delight 