Books like Roberto the Insect Architect
By Nina Laden
For the kid who's been told their big idea doesn't fit the family mold, Roberto's story says: go build it anyway. Witty, urban, and quietly inspiring — a bug's-eye view of chasing an unlikely dream.
A folk hero grows so fast he bursts through the porch roof, then grows into a legend — swinging two sledgehammers to build roads and racing a steam drill through a mountain.
An anxious squirrel refuses to leave his nut tree, keeping an emergency kit ready for tarantulas, sharks and killer bees — until an accident finally knocks him right out of it.
A Siamese cat who imagines he's a bold Chihuahua bounces into his closet and lands in a snowy make-believe forest, where the seven Chimichangos dare him to kiss a frozen princess awake.
Five mischievous lads named John, Paul, George, Ben, and the rarely-around Tom keep getting into trouble for taking a few too many liberties — until they help secure America's freedom.
A small green inchworm proves his worth by measuring the tails, necks, and beaks of birds who'd otherwise eat him — until a nightingale demands he measure something no ruler ever could: her song.
After a dragon smashes her castle, burns all her clothes, and kidnaps her fiancé Prince Ronald, a quick-thinking princess sets off wearing only a paper bag to outwit the dragon and win him back.
A collection of twenty original poems, each one paired with a different technique for performing it out loud — from tongue twisters to whispers to poems built for a whole class to shout together.
In 1783 France, a wildly ambitious crowd readies the very first hot-air balloon flight — except the passengers turn out to be a duck, a rooster, and a sheep, not people.
A young parakeet in the Australian Outback decides to become a superhero after watching a human family enjoy Superman, but her rescue attempts keep backfiring on animals like Kangaroo and Mr. Anteater.
A little brown bird gets tired of chirping the same old song as every other bird, dog, and cat in the neighborhood, so she invents a brand-new sound — and it spreads.
A dachshund teased for his hot-dog shape gets dressed as an actual wiener for Halloween — then a brave act on the scariest night of the year turns the neighborhood's biggest tease into its hero.
