New Children's Picture Books To Pick Up This Month

Here in the northeast, Spring is finally here which means it's time to clear out the winter cobwebs with picture books! HuffPost blogger Devon Corneal is back with her top recommendations for new reads. So, bring your kids outside to lay on a blanket in the sun and enjoy a Bluebird, a dog playing with a bone, an adventurous robot and some poetry -- it is National Poetry Month after all.

Plus, don't miss Devon's roundups of great children's books from January, February and March 2013.

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This wordless story is an extraordinarily beautiful and moving picture book. Without a single line of text, Bob Staake depicts the loneliness of a child excluded and bullied while simultaneously capturing the joy that a single friendship can bring. When that friendship is tested, Staake takes readers on a profound journey through sadness and hope that readers of all ages will understand. Using muted blues and greys, Staake focuses us on the smallest of expressions and the tiniest of moments, until a burst of color changes everything.

If wordless books aren’t your thing, how about a book that uses only one word? In a story made for dog lovers (or anyone with an ability to focus with laser-like intensity on an object or idea for hours at a time) “Ball” conveys the single-minded devotion a dog has to its favorite toy. Stopping just *this* side of hysteria, Sullivan’s illustrations perfectly capture the insane, but endearing, mind of our canine companions and their special relationship to the kids who never tire of playing with them.

If you liked "Boy + Bot" by Ame Dyckman, you can’t miss "Doug Unplugged". Dan Yaccarino illustrated Boy + Bot, but handles both the story and the pictures in this tale of robot adventure. Every day, Doug’s parents plug him in so he can learn everything there is to know. But when Doug unplugs and explores the city on his own, he discovers that sometimes, the best way to understand the world is to go out and live in it.

So what if sharks eat minnows? Fang isn’t going to let that stop him from being friends with his best friend Nugget. It may take a little effort, but this shark is determined to show that just because he’s toothy and big and scary, it doesn’t mean he can’t be a great friend.

Sometimes it’s good to have a little brother, just so you have someone to practice your bandaging skills on. When Clementine gets a nurse’s outfit and first-aid kid for her birthday, she starts treating patients right away. Her parents and the family dog are willing patients, but her daredevil little brother, not so much. But when Clementine keeps her cool in an emergency, even he realizes that sometimes, you just have to do what the nurse orders.

We’ve hit a stage in our house where leaving for date night requires some extra special ninja skills and massive distractions. So when Tiny Troll gets upset that his mom is going out, I can totally relate. After all, it’s hard to have your mommy leave you with Mrs. Hag the babysitter -- but as Tiny Troll learns, sometimes a night out for mommy means special treats and an extra glass of mudmilk.

As a person who gets thrown by a small change in routine and who has a love/hate relationship with squirrels, I appreciate this tale of two dogs and the havoc that ensues when a squirrel decides to start some trouble. Really, it’s as if this book was written just for me. Brotherly love, tenacity and yes, a little bit of stupid, all wrap together to tell the story of two dogs who refuse to give up on each other.

It’s National Poetry Month, which means I usually pull out my battered copies of Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “A Light in the Attic”, both of which kept me company during my childhood. But this year I also discovered Jack Prelutsky, and before I rave about his poetry, I have to apologize to him for never having read his work before. Pick up either “The New Kid on the Block” or “A Pizza the Size of the Sun” for classics like “You Need to Have an Iron Rear” (involving catci and behinds) and “Do Not Approach and Emu” (consider yourself warned).

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