Read Aloud with Mommy & Maggie

When it comes to a family feast, it’s all hands on deck! Big Ma and Pops have been up early in anticipation of everyone’s arrival. Aunts, uncles, and cousins gather from all over to help prepare their big meal. Clanging pots, chopping vegetables, sharing recipes, and swiping little treats are part of the fun! After the cooking is done, all of the relatives come together to pray, eat, and enjoy their special moment as a family.

Every year Grandmother invited a guest for Thanksgiving dinner and allowed Maggie to do the same. “Ask someone poor or lonely,” she always said. Thanksgiving was Grandmother’s favorite day of the year. The cooking was done and her famous cranberry bread was cooling on a wooden board. But she wasn’t happy to find out Maggie had invited the unsavory Mr. Whiskers to dinner. Would her secret cranberry bread recipe be safe with him in the house?

I know an old lady who swallowed a pie, a Thanksgiving pie, which was really too dry...

What's left over after cats, mice, and ants have had their fill? 

An apple pie is easy to make...if the market is open. But if the market is closed, the world becomes your grocery store. This book takes readers around the globe to gather ingredients for a delicious apple pie.

Two young sisters follow the progress of their apple tree through the seasons, from a bare tree in the winter, through the pink blossoms of the spring, to the apple picking in the autumn.

Meet the master puppeteer who invented the first balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Melissa Sweet brings to life the inspirational story of the puppeteer who invented the giant balloons floating in the sky during the annual parade celebrating Thanksgiving.

In November, the air grows cold and the earth and all of its creatures prepare for winter. Animals seek food and shelter. And people gather together to celebrate their blessings with family and friends.

Join author Rhonda Gowler Greene and illustrator Susan Gaber on a journey back to the very first Thanksgiving Day, when two societies came together to feast and honor the earth's bounty in peace.

For Katie, nothing compares to Thanksgiving at Grandma's. There are the aunts and uncles, whom Katie loves to see each year. But a cherished object is broken at dinner, and Katie blames herself for spoiling the day.

What better way for Bear to say thanks, than to have a big dinner with all his friends!

A timeless lilting poem

From drawing jack-o-lantern faces to choosing a pumpkin and carving it, this treasured childhood ritual is joyfully captured in an accessible and lively book.

"Listen! Hush! Oooh, what's that sound? The midnight spooks are coming round." Tony Mitton and Guy Parker-Rees team up again to create another fun-filled book. Halloween is the setting as kids rhyme their way through the night and to a spook-filled birthday party. Emphasized sounds such as "CLICKETY CLACK" and "HISSSSS!" will allow younger children to enjoy the fun of reading.

Everyone knows most young saplings dream of becoming Christmas trees. But one grumpy, old tree who doesn't like lights, decorations, or people is determined to be different. Get ready to meet the Halloween Tree!

Jasper Rabbit is NOT a little bunny anymore. He’s not afraid of the dark, and he’s definitely not afraid of something as silly as underwear. But when the lights go out, suddenly his new big rabbit underwear glows in the dark. A ghoulish, greenish glow. If Jasper didn’t know any better he’d say his undies were a little, well, creepy. Jasper’s not scared obviously, he’s just done with creepy underwear. But after trying everything to get rid of them, they keep coming back!

Jasper Rabbit has a problem: he is NOT doing well in school. His spelling tests? Disasters. His math quizzes? Frightening to behold. But one day, he finds a crayon lying in the gutter. Purple. Pointy. Perfect. Somehow…it looked happy to see him. And it wants to help.

Jasper Rabbit loves carrots—especially Crackenhopper Field carrots. He eats them on the way to school.He eats them going to Little League.He eats them walking home.Until the day the carrots start following him...or are they?Celebrated artist Peter Brown’s stylish illustrations pair perfectly with Aaron Reynold’s text in this hilarious picture book that shows it’s all fun and games…until you get too greedy.

When this book begins, the trombone is playing all by itself. But soon a trumpet makes a duet, a french horn a trio, and so on until the entire orchestra is assembled on stage. Written in elegant and rhythmic verse, this unique counting book is the perfect introduction to musical groups.

This book tells the story of Tony, a little boy who helps his father in the family pizzeria. 

"Follow the Drinking Gourd" sounded like a simple folk song sung by slaves, but it was really a map to freedom--for hidden in the lyrics were directions to the escape route known as the Underground Railroad. In glowing paintings and simple text, Winter tells the story of one brave family who followed the drinking gourd north to freedom.

It's Christmas time in the jungle, and Jim just can't get into the holiday spirit. Then Jim eats a "festive" green banana that makes him feel sick. Now everything seems worse. While all the other animals in the jungle are ready and eagerly awaiting Christmas, Jim can't stop feeling that this time of year stinks. But with his good friend Norman's help, Jim discovers that focusing on the good things around him instead of his own problems, is a reason to celebrate.

Bear’s friends are determined to keep Bear awake for Christmas! So they wake Bear up and have him help them find a Christmas tree, bake cakes, hang up stockings, and sing Christmas songs. Bear stays up—by discovering that giving is one of the best Christmas presents of all!

Part of the magic of the Christmas season stems from the traditions that families and friends take part in every year: hanging up stockings; putting lights in the windows; and, one of the most important of all, picking out and taking home the Christmas tree. 

The classic Christmas poem!

The bear cubs awake from their deep winter slumber. What can it be? they cry, breathless with wonder. Where has the mysterious start come from? What can it be? The animals follow the star through the pages of this magical story to find a very special surprise at the end.

Dasher is an adventurous young reindeer with a wish in her heart. She spends her days with her family under the hot sun in a traveling circus, but she longs for a different life — one where there is snow beneath her hooves and the North Star above her head. One day, when the opportunity arises, Dasher seizes her destiny and takes off in pursuit of the life she wants to live. It’s not long before she meets a nice man in a red suit with a horse-drawn sleigh — a man named Santa. And soon, with the help of a powerful Christmas wish, nothing will be the same.

For most field mice, winter means burrowing down and snuggling in. But not for Lucy! She loves snow crunching under her paws and wearing a fluffy wool hat. And most of all, Lucy loves to skate, and she’s just ACHING to show off her new skill with her friends. After all, a winter wonderland is twice as nice when you have friends to enjoy it with. But the other mice just don’t understand—and after a disastrous indoor snowball fight, it looks as if they never will. Can Lucy find a way to make the other mice come out and “mice skate” too?

One snowy Christmas, a cold little hedgehog wakes from his winter sleep to find a present from Father Christmas. It’s a snug, woolly red hat – just what he needs. But when Little Hedgehog tries to wear the hat his prickles get in the way and it won’t fit. Then Little Hedgehog has a wonderful idea . . .

Have you ever wondered what happens to a snowflake when it falls to the ground? Embark on a whimsical journey of snowflake formation from the sky to the ground in Nature Stories: Little Snowflake.

Stick Man lives in the family treeWith his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three.But one day, Stick Man is carried off by a mischievous dog who wants to play fetch! Things go from bad to worse as Stick Man is carried farther and farther away from home. Lonely and lost, Stick Man wants nothing more than to be home with his family for Christmas. And when he helps Santa Claus out of a bind, he finds the perfect ticket home!

Chrysanthemum is a funny and honest school story about teasing, self-esteem, and acceptance to share all year round.

When Field Mouse and Squirrel find something big, round, and orange in the middle of the road, it looks kind of familiar. Skunk is positive it's a lamp, and Rabbit thinks it looks like a snack, but no one knows for sure. Luckily, there's one thing they can all agree on: it's the life of the party! Discover all of the ways you can use a pumpkin in this adorable fall adventure.

Miss Maple gathers lost seeds that haven’t yet found a place to sprout. She takes them on field trips to explore places to grow. In her cozy maple tree house, she nurtures them; keeping them safe and warm until it's time for them to find roots of their own, and grow into the magnificent plants they’re destined to become.

Day after day, a girl goes to her favorite place in the woods and quietly watches from her tree house as the chipmunks, the doe, the rabbits prepare for the winter. As the temperature drops, sunset comes earlier and a new season begins. Silently she observes the world around her as it reveals its secrets. It takes time and patience to see the changes as, slowly but surely, winter comes.

On a trip to the farmers' market with her parents, Sophie chooses a squash, but instead of letting her mom cook it, she names it Bernice. From then on, Sophie brings Bernice everywhere, despite her parents' gentle warnings that Bernice will begin to rot. As winter nears, Sophie does start to notice changes.... What's a girl to do when the squash she loves is in trouble? 

Chicken really admires Scarecrow's straw hat. Scarecrow would gladly trade his hat for a walking stick to rest his tired arms. Chicken doesn't have a walking stick to trade—but she knows someone who does.

As squirrel searches for, finds, and hides her acorn treasures beneath the shadows of the great oak trees in the forest, little does she know the role she plays in creating the very environment she forages in.

All the animals know not to mess with old Scarecrow. But when a small, scared crow falls from midair, Scarecrow does the strangest thing.…  He saves the tiny baby crow. Soon a loving bond grows between the two unlikely friends. But is it strong enough to weather the changing of the seasons?

Grumpy Monkey and his jungle friends are trick-or-treating on Halloween amid strange noises and mysterious smells. Along the way, they are reminded that nothing can be scarier than returning home with no treats. 

As the leaves fall from his favorite tree, Fletcher worries that something is terribly wrong. But then winter comes, and with it a wonderful surprise. Do you know what it is? Join Fletcher and find out...

Wanting to celebrate when he sees the ripe harvest moon rising over the meadow, Possum throws a harvest soiree and rushes around to invite his guests, but everyone is so busy preparing for the winter that they cannot attend.

Join three friends on a fun leaf-finding adventure! This bouncy new version of the popular song begs to be read out loud.

From #1 New York Times bestselling Loren Long comes a gorgeously-illustrated story that challenges each of us to have the courage to let go and to reach for the sun.

Fall has come, the wind is gusting, and Leaf Man is on the move. Is he drifting east, over the marsh and ducks and geese? Or is he heading west, above the orchards, prairie meadows, and spotted cows? No one's quite sure, but this much is certain: A Leaf Man's got to go where the wind blows.

While tired farmers and their families are in bed, the harvest moon silently climbs into the sky and starts working its magic. For some, it is the nightly signal to rise and shine. It is time to hunt, to work, or to play in the shadows. For a little girl and her cat, it is an invitation to enjoy the wonders of the night and a last flood of light before the short days of winter set in.

Join a young girl as she takes a walk through forest and town, greeting all the signs of the coming season. In a series of conversations with every flower and creature and gust of wind, she says good-bye to summer and welcomes autumn.

When Mimi finds out her favorite words—simple words, like apricot, blackberry, buttercup—are disappearing from the English language, she elects her granddaughter Brook as their Keeper. And did you know? The only way to save words is to know them. 

Jim the chimpanzee is in a terrible mood for no good reason. His friends can't understand it--how can he be in a bad mood when it's SUCH a beautiful day? They have lots of suggestions for how to make him feel better. But Jim can't take all the advice...and has a BIT of a meltdown. Could it be that he just needs a day to feel grumpy?

If you give a pig a pancake, she'll want syrup to go with it. If you give her some of your favorite maple syrup, she'll probably get all sticky and will want to take a bath...