Cloudette, by the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Duck! Rabbit! Tom Lichtenheld, is a cute story of how even the littlest cloud can make a difference. Cloudette,  “a cute little cumulus” likes being little and the advantages her small size can bring. But sometimes she wants to go with the bigger clouds on their adventures! Then she finds out that little clouds can make a big difference, its all about finding where you can be of the most use. Easily relate-able to small children, especially younger siblings, this cute little story is full of surprising and fun details. Everything from the usually boring copyright page (with a specialRead More →

Scapegoat: The Story of a Goat Named Oat and a Chewed-Up Coat by Dean Hale, illustrated by Michael Slack, is an adorable story about a mischievous young boy named Jimmy Choat and his family’s put-upon goat, Patsy Petunia Oat. Missing coat? Broken boat? Messy tote? Blame it all on the goat! As the week progresses, more and more missing and broken items plague the Choat’s, and Jimmy happily blames everything on Mrs. Oat the Goat. But what happens when someone hears and tells the goat’s side of the story? This absolutely adorable picture book is filled with fun and playful rhymes and alliteration, and is a blast to readRead More →

The Rabbit Problem, by Emily Gravett is not a traditional picture book (in a good way.) Set up like a calendar (complete with a hole for hanging), the story starts with one Lonely Rabbit in a field sending out invitations in January to find a friend. When Chalk Rabbit shows up in February, the two bundle together (in a poorly knit sweater) and in March, Alfalfa and Angora Rabbit show up…can you see where we are going with this? As each month passes, the Rabbit family grows and faces new challenges- dealing with the weather, finding food, findng things to do when they are boredRead More →

Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes, the follow up to the successful Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes is here-Come along with Pete to school, moving and grooving through all kinds of new places like the library, lunchroom, and more! In a rare but always welcome turn of events, the second Pete the Cat book is just as fun as the first. Author Eric Litman and Illustrator James Dean have again created a book and song that is sure to have youngsters singing along. The bright colors, cute characters, and fun story draw young readers (and almost-readers) back for more, whileRead More →

Substitute Creacher– the latest book from Chris Gall– doesn’t disappoint. Substitute teacher days mean goofing off and wreaking havoc, right? Well the students in Mrs. Jenkins class are about to be schooled. Meet the Substitute Creacher! His lesson plan isn’t one the students are bound to forget soon. He tells tales of kids with unfortunate habits (glue-eating, desk-stuffing, and the like) who have met with sad (and funny) tales of woe. But is anyone prepared for the creacher’s story?? Beautifully illustrated in rich jewel tones, every page of this fun new picture book pops. The rhyming speech and lots of action make this book idealRead More →

This week, we Three P’s and B.B.W are in complete agreement about our pick of book & puppet combo: Skippyjon Jones Lost in Spice!  Action, adventure, the Chimichango Gang and bossy Martian-itos… in other words, more fun with Skippyjon Jones!  Our favorite Siamese kitty boy who knows he’s a Chihuahua has an amazing out of this world adventure on the Planet Mars and with a Skippyjon Jones puppet, everyone can have fun going along for the ride! And you can have lots of fun with Skippito Friskito on his website! Posted by B.B.W. & the Three P’sRead More →

If B.B.W. weren’t the toughest, fiercest wolf on the block, he’d be a pirate sailing the 7 seas, living a life of fun, adventure and causing trouble!  Which is why his pick this week for a fun book & puppet combo is Margaret Mahy’s The Horrendous Hullabaloo and the Scarlett Macaw puppet.  When Peregrine the Pirate isn’t out at sea, he loves to attend pirate parties and he has fun, fun, fun! The Three P’s like this story too since Peregrine’s Aunt and his parrot, who aren’t invited to the pirate parties, decide to have a party of their own. When all the parrot’s friendsRead More →

This week the Three P’s recommend Jane & The Magician as a great story about a brave knight, Jane, and her Dragon, who go on a quest through the kingdom to find the Missing Magician.  The Magician has been up to some mischief, making a terrible storm, full of lightning & thunder and gallons & gallons of rain.  His great storm is flooding the kingdom, and it’s up to Jane and her dragon to convince the Magician to make things right. BBW recommends this awesome new dragon puppet from Folkmanis as a perfect accompaniment to this great adventure story.  Who doesn’t love the teeth on this guy?Read More →

Our pick for best book & puppet combo this week is our friend the Scaredy Squirrel.  Life in his tree is safe (“we Three P’s like safe”) but boring.  Look at the view, eat a nut, be afraid of all the scary things in the world (killer bees, sharks, germs); that’s Squirrel’s day in a nutshell (pun intended).  But then something happens and Squirrel has to leave the tree in a hurry and discovers – wow! the world isn’t as scary as he thought!  He will be Ok; heck, he can even have some fun!  We think this is a great book, especially for thoseRead More →