by Chihiro Nakagawa, illustrated by Junji Koyose; Front Street/Boyds Mills, 2008; $16.95; www.boydsmillspress.com. Hundreds of funny little people make a giant birthday cake using all sorts of interesting machines.

$12.99; www.skjp.com; for newborns and up. When hanging like a mobile, this toy tugboat spins when one of the two plush sea creatures dangling below it is pulled. Rattles, squeaks and wiggles accompany each touch to the adorable crab and fish. It includes a connector ring with which Tug-a-Boat can be attached to activity arches, play gyms, strollers and more.

by Denise Brennan-Nelson and Rosemarie Brennan, illustrated by Cyd Moore; Sleeping Bear Press, 2008; $16.95; www.sleepingbearpress.com. Willow is an independent and spunky little artist who inspires her art teacher in this wonderful story about creativity and imagination.

Deep Rooted Music, 2008; $14.50; www.ericode.com; for ages 3 to 8. This witty CD moves Eric Ode up a weight class, with interesting and appealing pop compositions driven along with tons of scrapers, shakers, noisemakers and handclaps. Ode’s goofy and friendly, half-spoken and half-sung, vocal style captivates kids. “Poor Planet Pluto” is a catchy, piano-driven parable about how Pluto’s demotion from planet-hood shouldn’t get you down, while the hilarious “Soggy Sneaker Parade” is a squeaky march down the school corridor in wet shoes.

 

For more odes from Eric Ode, check out:

When I First Held You: A Lullaby from Israel, by Mirik Snir, illustrated by Eleyor Snir; Kar-Ben Publishing, 2009; $9.95; www.karben.com.  

This book is a lyrical lullaby in rhyme in which a parent describes the beauty of the happy day when the young child was born. There’s a place to affix the child’s baby photo and note the birth date. Translated from Hebrew by Mary Jane Shadow, the book features a quote in English and Hebrew from Rabbi Nachmna of Breslov, “The day you were born is the day God decided that the world could not exist without you.” Snir, the illustrator, is the fourth daughter of the author. This charming book captures the love and joyous emotion of a baby’s birth.
 

Slug Music, 2008; $15; www.bananaslugstringband.com; for ages 3 to 10. Did you know that you can tell how clean and healthy a stream or pond is by looking for the bugs that should live there? Learn cool facts about clean water, why it’s important and what fun, “green” things you and your family can do in this musical “class” on environmental issues. On this album, the Banana Slugs dip their toes in a wide range of musical styles, including country, reggae and gospel.

 

For more tunes from the Banana Slug String Band, check out:

For more environmentally conscious fun, check out: How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate
Generation Green
Globe Hugger Diaper Bag

Winston the Wide Mouth Frog and Other Fantastic Folktales, Glenda Bonin, Story Works Group; $15; www.storyworksgroup.com.

 

Good stories, well told – what more do you need? Good values? This CD covers that, too. Travel the world with stories from Mexico, Wales, Paraguay, Greece, Brazil, Alaska, and more. Gentle humor. 

Susan Danoff, 2008; $15; www.susandanoff.com. Storyteller Susan Danoff weaves fairy tales at their sophisticated and enchanting best. Stories are drawn from traditional Korean, Hindu, Native American and French sources, along with an original creation of the storyteller herself. Let the soft, dreamy and elegant words draw you in and cast a magic spell.

Teacher’s comment: “My high school students really were captivated.” – English literature teacher, Calif.
 

Family Fun!

White Noise, by David Carter; Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2009; $22.99; www.simonandschuster.com.  

Leave it to this amazing artist to top himself as he concludes the elegant, five-volume, pop-up series that includes One Red Dot, Blue 2, Yellow Square and 600 Black Squares. In this volume, Carter adds the concept of noise to his stunning graphics: each pop-up has been artfully designed to make a sound. “Rainbow bubble blast … and crackly white noise,” for example. Each turn of a page will provoke gasps of “how did he do that?”
 

Wag!, by Patrick McDonnell; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009; $15.99; www.lb-kids.com.  

Mooch the cat tries to explain what makes Earl’s tail wag. Sparse illustrations and just a few carefully selected words bring out the fun in this charming offering. Patrick McDonnell is the creator of the award-winning comic strip Mutts and a member of the Board of Directors of The Humane Society of the United States. His Web site is www.muttscomics.com.