Books like Madeline's Christmas
By Ludwig Bemelmans
For the kid who wants to be the one taking care of everyone else, Madeline's Christmas hands the smallest girl in the house the biggest job in it. Wintry, whimsical, and full of Bemelmans' loose, painterly Paris streetscapes, with a current of Christmas magic running underneath the everyday.
When a Czar promises his daughter to whoever brings him a flying ship, a young man dismissed by everyone as a fool sets off to try his luck and gathers a band of strange companions along the way.
A tiny snail longing to see the world hitches a ride on a humpback whale's tail, and together they sail to icebergs and volcanoes — until the whale gets stranded and needs the smallest friend to save her.
A small boy is invited to tea at the palace and always asks the same question — may he bring a friend? — and each time, a surprising animal guest shows up beautifully behaved.
An aging donkey, dog, cat, and rooster, each cast off by masters who no longer want them, set out together for Bremen-Town to become street musicians and find a robbers' cabin standing in their way.
The smallest of twelve little girls living in a Paris house under Miss Clavel's care, one fearless girl isn't scared of tigers or mice — until one frightening night changes everything.
A dragon-like creature called the Funny Thing has a habit of eating children's dolls, until a kindly old man named Bobo invents a strange new treat to change its appetite for good.
A beautiful young princess with skin white as snow and lips red as blood becomes the target of a jealous queen's rage, and must find refuge and courage far from the castle.
A girl named Treva notices her family's Christmas decorations and presents mysteriously vanishing, and when she tracks down the culprit, she finds two trolls who have never had a Christmas of their own.
A bush grandmother uses magic to make a young possum invisible, but when Hush longs to see herself again, the two possums journey across Australia in search of the food that will bring her back into view.
Seven sisters, each with her own special talent, must join forces and race to rescue their baby Seventh Sister after a hungry dragon snatches her away.
A jealous queen orders a princess killed for being more beautiful than her, but a hunter spares the girl, who finds refuge with seven dwarfs — until a poisoned apple nearly finishes what the queen started.
An imaginary friend waits and waits to be chosen by a child, and when no one picks him, he does the unimaginable — he leaves his island to find his perfect match himself.
