Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivasan

Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivansan is about an owl who makes his rounds to all of his nocturnal animal friends. He partakes in lots of nightly activities with various different animals. In the end he asks his mom what the end of night is like. She describes the coming of dawn beautifully and when she's finished she realizes that little owl has fallen asleep, so now he still doesn't know what the end of night is like!

This book is great for a bedtime story. It interests curious children who wonder what animals do at night while they are sleeping, just as owl wondered what it was like when he is sleeping. I really enjoyed reading this book. I love the illustrations with the black backgrounds throughout the book, it really makes the images pop. The story is simple and told in such a way that you can't help but like little owl. The ending when you find out he's fallen asleep is my favorite part.

Zoo Girl by Rebecca Elliot

Zoo Girl by Rebecca Elliott is the story that is told with no more than a few words per page. Elliott's illustrations really tell the story. There is so much texture in the illustrations and this is what got my attention in the first place. 

Zoo Girl is about a little girl who lives in an orphanage. She feels alone because she doesn't have any friends or family. The orphanage takes a trip to the zoo and she accidently gets left behind. She makes the best of a bad situation and starts to make friends with all of the animals and she has a great time. She ends up getting found by the zoo keepers and she pleads with them not to take her back to the orphanage. In the end the zoo keepers adopt her and she gets to keep her animal friends and have a family.

This book is great for toddlers and up. It is simple since it only has a few words per page and it would be a great way to introduce adoption. What I really liked about this book is the illustrations. Elliott put so much texture and detail into each page, it's really nice. Even with such few words, she really makes you feel for the poor little zoo girl who has no family. She does this all with illustrations and it really works.

One of My Favorite Picture Books

In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories
retold by Alvin Schwartz 

I first read In a Dark, Dark Room when I was in the 2nd grade. I still enjoy reading this book to this day. It has several short "scary" stories within that are entertaining and appropriate for children. My favorite story in this book is called The Green Ribbon. It's about a young girl who goes through life with a ribbon around her neck. When she gets older, a boy becomes curious and he unravels the ribbon and her head falls off. I recommend this book as good story to read around Halloween time.