20 Terrific Books To Read With Your Kids This Spring

20 Terrific Books To Read With Your Kids This Spring

Is it spring yet? Please say it's spring! Promise, no more snow? HuffPost blogger Devon Corneal can't tell you that we've said goodbye to winter chills for good, but she can provide a few good reads to help you pass the time until the summer sun returns. Whether you're looking for a way to make math fun, inspiration for taking over the world or a plan to create your own gorgeous feathered friends, there's something for everyone on this list -- including those of us who need to be reminded what grass and flowers look like.

Bedtime Math 2: This Time, It's Personal by Laura Overdeck
Anyone else have math phobia? Anyone else worried your kids will be math-illiterate because of it? Laura Overdeck is here to save us. With stories and colorful pictures and a variety of word problems for kids young and old, Bedtime Math 2 (like the original Bedtime Math) makes math an engaging and challenging part of our nightly routine. Everyone will enjoy this "fun excuse to stay up late."
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Aviary Wonders Inc. Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual by Kate Samworth
With the rate of deforestation and habitat destruction, it probably isn't long before many of the gorgeous birds we know and love go the way of the Dodo or the Roc. But never fear, Aviary Wonders Inc.'s Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual is here to help! Design your own birds (mix 'n' match wings, bodies, beaks and tails), and Aviary Wonders will provide you with parts, assembly instructions and troubleshooting should your new bird fail to perform as expected. Pointed, wry and completely original, Kate Samworth's debut picture book is as disturbing as it is memorable.
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The Promise by Nicola Davies
When a young girl in a hard, dark city steals a bag of acorns from an old woman one night, she has no idea the changes she'll unleash. By keeping a promise to her victim, this young girl brings beauty and life back to a world that had forgotten the magic of growing things.
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The Good-Pie Party by Liz Garton Scanlon
Posy Peyton is moving. She is not happy about it. Neither are her friends. Instead of throwing her a goodbye party, they throw her a good-pie party. Now that's a party I'd like to attend, because when something gets you down, there's nothing like baking with friends to cheer you up again.
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Books Always Everywhere by Jane Blatt
Toddlers and preschoolers will love this celebration of books, with its humorous illustrations and rhyming repetition.
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The Odd One Out by Britta Teckentrup
The real beauty of this book isn't its clever rhymes or its fabulous illustrations -- although both of those would be enough. What captivates me is the subtlety of the author's choices. On each page, when children are asked to find the odd or different animal, the distinctions are not always obvious, but they're always intriguing.
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Poor Doreen: A Fishy Tale by Sally Lloyd-Jones & Alexandra Boiger
Doreen, an extremely rare Southern Belle Ample Roundy Fish, is going to visit her second cousin twice removed who just had 157 babies. Before the day is out, Doreen will be hooked by a fisherman for dinner, captured by a heron for lunch and dropped from an extreme height. Doreen, however, thinks her journey has just been speeded up by some very helpful traveling companions. Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.
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Queen on Wednesday by Gabi Swiatkowska
I have often said that things would be different if I were queen. Apparently, Thelma agrees with me, because on Wednesday, when she was bored, Thelma decided to become a queen. Appointing royal pets, assistants and choosing royal gowns is all well and good, but as Thelma learns, being royal involves more than that. With great art and a reminder to be careful what you wish for, Queen on Wednesday is a wonderful new addition to your bookshelf.
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Lily the Unicorn by Dallas Clayton
Lily the Unicorn is BURSTING with energy, FILLED with excitement and READY TO HAVE NEW EXPERIENCES. Roger the Penguin is not. He is worried about scary things, afraid to fail and nervous about new experiences. When Lily and Roger become friends, wonderful things happen.
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It's an Orange Aardvark by Michael Hall
Busy carpenter ants living in a stump provide a whimsical introduction to colors for young readers. When one ant decides to drill a hole in their home to see what the outside world holds, their assumptions about the red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple things they see lead to amusing results.
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I Spy in The Sky By Edward Gibbs
In this magical "I spy" book, children are encouraged to guess what colorful, exotic and unusual birds are hidden on the next page. The spy-holes cut in each page give just a glimpse of the birds in question, and the book's riot of bright colors and clever clues will entice even the smallest children.
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The End (Almost) by Jim Benton
We all know what it's like to read a story we don't want to end, but what happens when it's your story? Donut the Bear is not happy when his story is abruptly over after a single burp and spends the rest of this book trying to prolong it. Procrastinating kids will appreciate Donut's determination as he finds ways to get the story he wants.
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Weasels by Elys Dolan
If you loved "Pinky and the Brain," you should rush immediately to your local bookstore and get Weasels. If you like the idea of megalomaniac animals plotting world destruction (while drinking copious amounts of coffee), this book is for you. Because, honestly, there are days when I'm convinced the weasels would do a better job.
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E-I-E-I-O: How Old MacDonald Got His Farm by Judy Sierra
Every farmer has to start somewhere, and when you live in the suburbs, your options are limited. But when Old MacDonald meets a clever hen, together they turn a simple lawn into something extraordinary. It's rare that a reinterpretation of a classic turns out to be so much fun, but rhymes and worms and nosy neighbors coalesce to create a lovely twist on this old favorite.
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What's Your Favorite Animal? by Eric Carle and Friends
Take your favorite children's book authors and illustrators, ask them an age-old question, let their imaginations run wild and you'll get this -- an eclectic, colorful, engaging exploration of the animal kingdom. From ducks to elephants to penguins, discover what these artists like best.
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The Noisy Paint Box by Barb Rosenstock
Art is supposed to be about more than what you see -- it's supposed to be about what you feel, or so thought Vasily Kandinsky. Before abstract art was acceptable or understood, Kandinsky bucked convention and painted not what the world looked like, but what it sounded like. His creations were reflections of music and emotions and bright colors in riotous harmony. The fantastic illustrations in this book will speak to the creative child and the story of breaking free from convention and finding your own path will speak to the child who dreams of things not yet seen.
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Tippy and the Night Parade by Lilli Carré
A gorgeous toon book for beginning readers. Tippy has no idea how all these animals got into her room... unless, perhaps, she went sleepwalking last night.
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Penguin in Peril by Helen Hancock
Speaking of animals and nighttime excursions, nothing good comes of hungry cats without enough money to buy dinner, especially when they live near a zoo. Look out, penguin!
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Birdie's Big-Girl Hair by Sujean Rim
I'm generally against little girls going to the hair salon or for manicures or pedicures. This may be because I went to Supercuts until I was 14 and got my first official pedicure as an adult. So I was skeptical about a book that seemed to encourage the elementary school crowd to scour fashion magazines for just the right look. With all of our concern that girls are too focused on their appearance, I wondered what there was to like in a story about a girl going to the beauty parlor. Birdie's Big-Girl Hair, however, balances frivolity with the sweet reminder that our hair has nothing to do with who we are and that beauty is determined by what we do, not by how we look. It's happy and light and little girls everywhere will be charmed by its fun illustrations.
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When the Beat Was Born by Laban Carrick Hill
What I know about hip-hop would fit on the head of a pin, so When the Beat Was Born, a story about the life of DJ Kool Herc and his role in the birth of this new genre, was a 17-page education. While it may not be the whole story, its insight into hip-hop is an accessible introduction for kids and adults -- and Theodore Taylor III's illustrations are powerful and bold.
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