The birthday child's animal friends bring ingredients and help make a birthday cake

Peter Bently's unique mix of rhyming verse, storytelling, and humor is a surefire hit with young readers. In King Jack and the Dragon, Jack, his toddler brother Caspar, and his friend Zack build a make-believe fort capable of stopping the attacks of fire-breathing dragons and all sorts of other beasties. But as playtime draws to a close and his knights get carried away by marauding parents, Jack discovers that defending a magical fort is more fun...

A toddler plays games with his friends. On board pages

A typically wonderful Oxenbury family sets out with gusto on a bear hunt, and the old story comes to life. Paintings are simply marvelous ... Rosen's retelling is spare, with a driving rhythm, and some new sounds add sparkle to the traditional tale. A predictable story in which brave bear hunters go through grass, a river, mud, and other obstacles before the inevitable encounter with the bear forces a headlong retreat

When a kind and hardworking duck nearly collapses from overwork, while taking care of a farm because the owner is too lazy to do so, the rest of the animals get together and chase the farmer out of town

A baby frog scares the other animals

From jingling keys to grandmother's knees, there are lots of things for babies to discover and see

When Alice and Jack are out playing, they hear a strange noise. Alice wants to know what it is, but Jack is afraid. He thinks it might be the Wicked Wolf with big, bad claws and snap-trap jaws. But Alice takes his hand and they follow the noise, right into the heart of the forest...Just what will they discover there?

Franny B. Kranny refuses to cut her wild hair, despite her family's insistence, and wears a bird in her hair to a family reunion

A kind and hardworking duck suffers at the hands of a lazy farmer. When he nearly collapses from overwork, the rest of the animals come to his aid