Books like Bangalee
By Stephen Cosgrove
For the kid who needs a nudge (or ten) to pick up their toys, this is a gentle push toward tidying up wrapped in a story, not a lecture. Playful, a little spooky, cautionary in the best bedtime-story way.
Bored with ordinary weather, a king orders his royal magicians to invent something new to fall from the sky — and gets a sticky green goo called Oobleck that soon overwhelms his entire kingdom.
A witch and her cat fly happily on a broomstick until the wind blows away her hat, bow, and wand — and the animals who return them all want a ride, leaving no room to spare when a hungry dragon attacks.
A gang of robbers plots to steal every toy in London on Christmas Eve, but brave Officer Pugh springs into action to catch them — all except one crafty escapee, Grandma Swagg.
A private-eye detective takes on a numerical mystery: word on the street says 7 ate 9, and if that's true, a nervous 6 might be next on the menu.
A fun-loving king climbs into his bathtub and simply refuses to get out, no matter who arrives to plead with him to come rule his kingdom.
Give a hungry little mouse a cookie and he'll ask for milk, then a mirror, then scissors — one small request tumbling into the next until the whole day spins out of control.
A little girl gives a pig a pancake, and one request leads to another — syrup, then a bubble bath — spinning into a chain of demands that circles right back to where it started.
An old woman known for her magic entrusts her helper with an everfull pasta pot but not its secret verse, so he sets it going alone — and can't make it stop.
A witch grows the biggest pumpkin ever but can't pull it off the vine — and neither can the ghost, the vampire, or the mummy — until the tiniest creature of all comes up with an idea.
A boy who loves animals introduces his fifteen pets one by one — and names almost every single one of them Bob, except for one very formally named turtle.
Two kids stuck inside on a rainy day get an uninvited visitor — a tall cat in a striped hat who promises fun and games while their mother is away.
