Books
Grandma’s Little Love Bug
Highlights Press, Dec 9, 2025 Available for preorder anywhere you get books!
Illustrated by Ana Zurita
ISBN 9781639623525
The best gift for new grandmas! Nanas, Gigis, and Mimis alike will delight in reading this sweet rhyming story to their precious grandbabies. Babies will love touching (and chewing!) the soft crinkle material safely fastened to the sturdy board book.
Celebrate Grandma’s unconditional love! This delightful keepsake board book captures the special bond between Grandma and her new grandbaby with bright, humorous illustrations. Perfect for reading aloud, it’s designed to be held in one hand while snuggling a baby with the other. With space for a personalized dedication on the back cover, this book is a cherished gift that’s grandma-tested and parent-approved!
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fictionWho Am I? Pandas and Other Bears
Highlights Press, October 7, 2025
Illustrated by Travis Foster
ISBN 9781639623839
Take a walk on the wild side with mega-fun bear riddles!
Get ready for a bear-y cool adventure! Who Am I? Pandas and Other Bears is packed with playful, fact-filled riddles about adorable giant pandas, strong polar bears, acrobatic black bears, and more. But here’s the twist: each riddle is a fun guessing game that challenges kids to figure out which amazing animal is being described. Plus, all the fascinating facts are vetted by an expert, ensuring accuracy and credibility for young learners.
With jaw-dropping facts, mind-bending visual puzzles, and stunning artwork, this book is a must-have for curious kids and aspiring zoologists. As they dig into the pages, they’ll find fascinating information on bears, spark their imaginations, and sharpen their thinking skills. Who Am I? Pandas and Other Bears delivers endless fun and learning for young animal lovers!
Download Pandas printables here. Download Pandas bookmarks here.
#4 on the Oklahoma Bestseller List!
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nonfiction, picture booksWho Am I? Sharks and Other Ocean Animals
GREAT NEWS!! Sharks and Other Ocean Animals has been named to Missouri’s 2026 Dogwood List for recommended nonfiction books for children! I’m grateful to the Missouri Association of School Librarians for including Sharks on this list!
Highlights Press, October 7, 2025
Illustrated by Travis Foster
ISBN 9781639623600
Dive into a Sea of Fun with Ocean Animal Riddles!
Get ready for an ocean adventure like no other! Who Am I? is packed with playful, fact-filled riddles about the coolest ocean creatures—like speedy sharks, clever dolphins, and dazzling sea stars. But here’s the twist: each riddle is a fun guessing game that challenges kids to figure out which amazing animal is being described. Plus, all the fascinating facts are vetted by an expert, ensuring accuracy and credibility for young learners.
With jaw-dropping facts, mind-bending visual puzzles, and stunning artwork, this book is a must-have for curious kids and aspiring marine biologists. As they splash through the pages, they’ll soak up fascinating information, spark their imaginations, and sharpen their thinking skills. Who Am I? delivers endless fun and learning for young ocean explorers!
Download Sharks printables here. Download Sharks bookmarks here.
#3 on the Oklahoma Bestseller List!
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early reader, nonfiction, picture booksBEAR AND FRIENDS PUZZLE READER COLLECTION
Highlights Press, March 3, 2025
Illustrated by Clair Rossiter
6 books in 1! This bear-y exciting collection of Level P stories is perfect for kids just beginning to read simple sentences.
Highlights Puzzle Readers offer an innovative approach to learning that integrates puzzles and stories to develop motivated, confident readers.
Young kids will feel confident practicing their new reading skills with this collection of six beginning readers! Join Bear and his friends Mouse, Squirrel, and Fox on six fun forest adventures. In these Level P Highlights Puzzle Readers, young readers can interact with the stories by finding hidden letters in the illustrations. Simple text with picture support will keep readers turning pages. With bonus matching activities to reinforce vocabulary, kids will be on the way to being readers in no time!
The book includes Where Is Bear?, A House for Mouse, A Scarf for Squirrel, Fox Wants a Pet, Pup Is Lost, and Wake Up, Bear!
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fictionTOO MUCH TOUCH
Picture Window Books/Capstone, August 1, 2023
Illustrated by Gal Weizman
ISBN-10: 1484684400
ISBN-13: 978-1484684405
Taylor is back from summer camp, and he’s excited to see all his friends and family. So excited, in fact, that he forgets to keep his hands to himself. One by one, his friends become upset with him, and he cannot figure out why. Will Taylor come to realize that he’s invading their personal space?
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fiction, picture booksSOMETIMES I AM HOT LAVA
Beaming Books, April 2, 2024
Illustrated by Amelie Videlo
ISBN: 1506493459
Sometimes when I get mad . . . Bubble . . . Boil . . . Erupt!
Most of the time, Buddy is a regular kid. He has ups and downs. But when things don’t go his way, he can feel the magma bubble and boil inside of him until he erupts like a volcano. Fortunately, he knows a few ways to return to feeling as calm and cool as igneous rock.
Sometimes I Am Hot Lava shows kids like Buddy how to manage feelings of anger and frustration through mindful breathing techniques. Backmatter teaches readers about anger and helps us identify what we’re feeling, why we’re feeling it, and what we can do about it.
School Library Journal: “VERDICT Everyone gets mad, and this highly relatable story shows what to do when it happens. Recommended for all collections.” Full review here
Nicole Garnett’s Picture Books, Printables, and Play–OH MY! here
FREE printable coloring page and “I’m a Little Angry” song
How to Make a Volcano:
- Outdoors or on a protected surface, place a plastic cup with a wide base (graduation-type cups work well)
- Fill it 2/3 full with water
- Add 3-4 Tbs of baking soda
- Add 1 tsp of dish soap
- (Optional) add a drop or two of food coloring or 1/2 oz to 2 oz of washable paint
- Stir
- Add up to 1 cup of white vinegar
- Watch your volcano erupt!
Order SOMETIMES I AM HOT LAVA here!
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fictionCREEP, LEAP, CRUNCH! A Food Chain Story
Creep, Leap, Crunch! A Food Chain Story was a *2026 Bill Martin Jr. Picture Book Award finalist! Download free bookmarks and poster here!
Knopf Books for Young Readers/Random House, December 12, 2023
Illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
ISBN: 0593565525
Follow along as a day in the life of the food chain begins. From the sun that shines on the grass and trees to the animals that feed each other, each element in nature has its place. But what happens when the food escapes? This cumulative, lyrical story will delight, with a surprise ending that all science lovers will enjoy.
Download the FREE Discussion Guide and Activities here
Download “This is the Food Chain” Song lyrics here
Salina Public Library highlights the 2026 Bill Martin Jr. Picture Book Award nominees
*CYBILS Award Finalist, Elementary Nonfiction 2024
*Missouri Show Me Award preliminary nominee 2025-2026
*Crystal Kite Award Winner 2024, SCBWI
*Best of 2023 K-12, Pennsylvania School Librarians Association
*Finalist for Oklahoma’s 2025 Donna Norvell Award for “a book that has made a significant contribution to the field of literature for children through second grade
*Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12″ NSTA 2024 (National Science Teaching Association)
*Starred Review, School Library Journal “VERDICT: This is an excellent introduction to the food chain, and will be especially popular among elementary science teachers.”
*Kirkus “A good and read-aloud-ready way of introducing an important natural process.”
*Publishers Weekly “In this useful look at the food chain, readers see predator and prey together but never the moment of devouring, making for a STEM portrait suited to even sensitive readers. Back matter provides more about the featured flora and fauna.”
*Find out about the book’s cumulative structure, back matter, and how the title came to be in this Interview on Picture Book Builders
*Interview about Jody’s and illustrator Christopher Silas Neal’s processes on Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s blog
*Imagination Soup says, “This is a perfect STEM read aloud introduction to food chains and forest biomes” here.
*We Are Teachers “Best New Books for Kids and Teens in December 2023” here
*Author Chat with Jody Jensen Shaffer, YA and Kids Book Central here
*Book review with Sal here
*Book review with YA (and kids’)Books Central here
*Youth Services Book Review here
*Listen to my interview on The TeachingBooks Blog here
*Book review on Frog on a (B)Log here
*Creep, Leap, Crunch! A Food Chain Story: Making a Science Topic Accessible for Kids GROG Blog here
*Creep, Leap, Crunch! A Food Chain Story is on the Missouri Association of School Librarians’ Recommended Show Me Summer Reading List!
*Wonderfully thoughtful review on Unpacking the Power of Picture Books about Cumulative Picture Books here
*Creep, Leap, Crunch! A Food Chain Story highlighted in this article about developing readers by reading to them
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nonfiction, picture books911 DISPATCHERS ON THE CALL
The Child’s World, January 1, 2022
ISBN: 1503855880
Provides an inside look at the fast-paced, important, and stressful job of 911 dispatchers.
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911 dispatchers, emergency services, nonfiction, picture booksZEBRA MUSSELS (Animal Invaders)
Kaleidoscope, August 1, 2021
ISBN: 9781645195184
Zebra Mussels have taken over the rivers and lakes. Who will stand up to these invaders? This title tells the story of how Zebra Mussels invaded, their impact, and what can be done to remove them.
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invasive species, nonfiction, picture books, zebra musselsPUP IS LOST
Highlights Press, March 15, 2022
ISBN-10 : 1644726823
ISBN-13 : 978-1644726822
Fox can’t find his black-and-white puppy–where could Pup be? In this Level P Highlights Puzzle Reader, kids can join in the search and then find hidden letters throughout the book. The simple text has lots of picture support that will keep readers turning the pages. With a bonus matching activity to reinforce vocabulary, kids will love playing along in this forest adventure.
Highlights Puzzle Readers offer an innovative approach to learning that integrates puzzles and stories to develop motivated, confident readers. These Level P books are perfect for kids just beginning to read simple sentences.