Ladybug Nominees for 2009 are here!

The Ladybug Picture Book Award is designed to promote early literacy and honor the best in recent children's picture books. A committee of children's librarians from around the state selects 10 picture book titles early in the year. Then, during November, New Hampshire children from preschoolers to those in third grade choose the award winner. The winning picture book is announced at the end of the year.
Come read this year's picks! (oh, and if you missed it, last year's winner is "When Dinosaurs Came with Everything" by Elise Broach). See if you can pick next year's winner!

Bear is quite sure he doesn’t like visitors. He even has a sign. So when a mouse taps on his door one day, Bear tells him to leave. But when Bear goes to the cupboard to get a bowl, there is the mouse — small and gray and bright-eyed. In this slapstick tale that begs to be read aloud, all Bear wants is to eat his breakfast in peace, but the mouse — who keeps popping up in the most unexpected places — just won’t go away!


Spencer has too many toys! His father trips over them, his mother falls over them, and the house is overflowing with junk. Now its time to give some of the mountain of goodies away, but Spencer finds it hard. In the end, he fills a box, but decides the one toy he can't part with is the box!





Everyone knows Sleeping Beauty has to be woken with a kiss, except Prince Charming. Every time the fairies watching over her try to tell him, he interrupts with his ideas of how to wake her. Eventually he gets the message, and his reaction is priceless: "One hundred years of morning breath Wow! That could be the kiss of death!"






Old Man Fookwire is a grump. The only thing he likes to do is paint pictures of the birds that visit his backyard. The problem is, they fly south every winter, leaving him sad and lonely. So he decides to get them to stay by putting up beautiful birdfeeders filled with seeds and berries. Unfortunately, the squirrels like the treats, too, and make a daring raid on the feeders. The conflict escalates—until the birds depart (as usual), and the squirrels come up with a plan that completely charms the old grump.
Rex is a tiny tadpole who can't wait to grow up and be big like everybody else. Unfortunately for Rex, he lives in a prehistoric swamp . . . and everybody else is a gigantic dinosaur.
With a little time—and a lot of patience—Rex does grow, gaining arms and legs and, most importantly, a personality big enough to take on even the mightiest of his neighbors.





Beep! Beep! Beep! Meet Blue. A muddy country road is no match for this little pick up—that is, until he gets stuck while pushing a dump truck out of the muck. Luckily, Blue has made a pack of farm animal friends along his route. And they're willing to whatever it takes to get their pal back on the road. Filled with truck sounds and animals noises, here is a rollicking homage to the power of friendship and the rewards of helping others.
The four big chickens who were afraid of everything in their well-received debut, Big Chickens, are now feeling all cooped up, so they set off to find the farmhouse. But where, the hapless hens wonder, is it? First they find a doghouse (loud barking!); then they run into a tractor (ewww, dirty!); and then they stomp into the barn (wild horses!). Who knew the farmhouse was right under their beaks the whole time?


This is the tale of a bear with a creative streak and a mind of his own. Bear is happily painting a picture when two fine, proper gentlemen approach and begin critiquing his work. But Bear knows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the only person that his picture needs to impress is himself.

Splish splash
rumba-rumba
bim bam boom!
It's bedtime at the swamp—except somebody's not ready. Somebody's still splashing in the water and the mud.
Is there a monster on the loose?
Kristyn Crow has taken every child's worst nightmare and transformed it into a frolic through swampland. With funny illustrations and a catchy refrain, this story won't scare little monster too much before bedtime.

Quick, call out! Tell all you can reach: the night is just perfect for bats at the beach!
So pack your buckets, banjos, and blankets—don’t forget the moon-tan lotion—and wing with this bunch of fuzzy bats to where foamy sea and soft sand meet.
Brian Lies’s enchanting art and cheery beachside verse will inspire bedtime imaginations again and again. Come visit a bedazzling world of moonlight, firelight, and . . . bats!
*This one will be available soon--it's still on order!