Prairie Bud Nominees 2012-2013

Baker, Jeannie

An innovative, two-in-one picture book follows a parallel day in the life of two families: one in a Western city and one in a North African village.

Somewhere in Sydney, Australia, a boy and his family wake up, eat breakfast, and head out for a busy day of shopping. Meanwhile, in a small village in Morocco, a boy and his family go through their own morning routines and set out to a bustling market. In this ingenious, wordless picture book, readers are invited to compare, page by page, the activities and surroundings of children in two different cultures. Their lives may at first seem quite unalike, but a closer look reveals that there are many things, some unexpected, that connect…

Grade Level: K-2
Publisher: Candlewick Press

Baker, Keith

Get ready to roll through the alphabet with a jaunty cast of busy little peas. Featuring a range of zippy characters from Acrobat Peas to Zoologist Peas, this delightful picture book highlights a variety of interests, hobbies, and careers-each one themed to a letter of the alphabet-and gives a wonderful sense of the colorful world we live in. Children will have so much fun poring over the detailed scenes that they won't even realize they're learning the alphabet along the way!

Grade Level: PK-2
Publisher: Beach Lane Books

Brown, Peter

Check out this rollicking, humorous, and heartwarming twist on the classic "first pet" story about a young bear and her favorite pet boy!

When Lucy, a young bear, discovers a boy in the woods, she's absolutely delighted. She brings him home and begs her mom to let her keep him, even though her mom warns, "Children make terrible pets." But mom relents, and Lucy gets to name her new pet Squeaker.

Through a series of hilarious and surprising scenes, readers can join Lucy and Squeaker on their day of fun and decide for themselves whether or not children really do make terrible pets.

Grade Level: K-2
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

DiCamillo, Kate and Alison McGhee

Meet Bink and Gollie, two precocious little girls — one tiny, one tall, and both utterly irrepressible. Setting out from their super-deluxe tree house and powered by plenty of peanut butter (for Bink) and pancakes (for Gollie), they share three comical adventures involving painfully bright socks, an impromptu trek to the Andes, and a most unlikely marvelous companion. No matter where their roller skates take them, at the end of the day they will always be the very best of friends.

Grade Level: 1-3
Publisher: Candlewick Press

French, Vivian

Here's to nature's recyclers! Kids will burrow right into this book about the industrious — and danger-filled — life of the delightfully yucky earthworm.

Who would want to be friends with a wiggly, slimy worm? You can't even tell which end is which! But there's more to these lowly creatures than meets the eye. Kids are invited to find out where worms live, see how they move, and understand why gardeners consider them friends with the help of this humorous and informative look at an unappreciated — and fascinating —creature.

Grade Level: K-3
Publisher: Candlewick Press

Galbraith, Kathryn O.

In this fictionalized retelling of the origins of Arbor Day, Katie and Papa struggle to make their growing frontier town feel like home, following Mama's death. What's missing? Trees—trees for climbing, trees for shade, trees for fruit or warm winter fires. And trees for beauty.

Grade Level: K-3
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.