It's How You Play The Game! Win or Lose I Love You! by Lysa TerKuerst

"Today is the field day competition to choose the leader of the forest," Lulu explained. "We get to be the judges!

"But," she said, "we might have to help them. The winners will be doing happy dances, but the losers might be sad, and maybe a little mad."

Lulu is right to be concerned about personal problems. As soon as Coyote wins the costume contest for the best feathery wing, he shows off, with "excessive celebration." Goosey logs her protest.

"My wings are real!" Goosey wailed.

Coyote is the perfect example of a poor winner, and Goosey is the model of a sore loser. Bear-Bear stops the meltdown in its tracks by quickly congratulating Coyote and praising Goosey for providing the inspiration for Coyote's wings.

Everyone anticipates the pie-tasting contest, but Lulu moves things along to the obstacle race. Coyote starts a bit of trash talk with his opponents, pointing out that he's been practicing for ages, and besides, he always been the fastest in the forest anyway. In fact, he's so busy bragging that he misses the Ready, Set, GO!

"No fair! I wasn't ready!"

But even with his bad start, Coyote is swift, and Goosey barely manages to waddle across the finish line first.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Howling loudly, Coyote has a full-fledged tantrum. He stomps over and kicks over the table holding the five prize pies. Everyone is aghast!

But again Bear-Bear steps in to help, urging everyone to pitch in and clean up the mess and enjoy the picnic Lulu and Max have made for them. But Coyote is seen slinking away from the scene.

Lulu found coyote, "I'm the worst animal in the Forest," he moans.

But Lulu has the last word.

"You may not win, but you must try.

Sometimes you'll lose, but there's no need to cry.

Win or lose, one thing that's true--No matter what, I love you!

Helpful Bear-Bear is clearly the Leader of the Forest, in Lysa TerKuerst's tribute to sportsmanship, Win or Lose, I Love You! (Lulu and Her Tutu) (Thomas Nelson, 2015), which makes well the point that bad winners and poor losers spoil the fun for everyone, and peacemakers can be winners in the game of life. TerKuerst's rivalrous characters ring true, and artist Jana Christy's delightful little watercolor illustrations tell the story all on their own. Win some, lose some, it's how you play the game!

Gettin' In The Game! Charlie Plays Ball by Ree Drummond

CHARLIE LIVES ON A RANCH.

EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT LIVING ON A RANCH IS REALLY HARD WORK. ESPECIALLY FOR RANCH DOGS.

It's true, Charlie is a ranch dog. Does he herd cows? Does he guard the stock from coyotes all night without a wink of sleep?

Not so much. Watching cows graze all day makes Charlie sleepy. Watching cows graze all night makes Charlie sleep.

Charlie needs a lot of naps.

But Charlie has a job--an important job. He's a narrator.

That's right! That's Charlie's authentic voice that tells us what goes on down on the ranch. And without Charlie, no one would have a clue what a ranch dog has to do.

Today the kids are all home, and after a hearty ranch breakfast and some chores, they're all ready to play ball (Yep. We work hard and we play hard down here.)

A football comes out and the two teams chase up and down the meadow. The quarterback puts the ball in the air. It's a long pass, and the receiver goes for it. So does Charlie.

HE DROPS THE BALL. (SNIFF! SNIFF!).

DOES THAT MEAN IT'S MINE?

UH OH!!

Charlie is tackled from all sides. OOOFF! What was he thinking?

But Charlie is soothed by belly rubs from all the tackles and by the sight of a tray of time-out snacks.

YEP! FOOTBALL IS MY FAVORITE, ALL RIGHT!

But when the soccer ball and the baseball come out of the equipment bag, Charlie's got game--for both of them. . . until Mama calls them all in to eat. What's on the menu, mom? Spaghetti and....

MEATBALLS?

MY VERY FAVORITE BALL OF ALL.

Ranch Woman Ree Drummond's Charlie Plays Ball (Charlie the Ranch Dog) (Harper, 2015) gives her floppy-eared narrator a chance to do the play by play in her latest picture book, illustrated  again by Diane deGroat, whose adorable Basset hound Charlie gamely tags along after the ballplayers while trying to keep his eyes open. Nobody does appealing animal characters with more personality than De Groat, and chef Drummond dishes up an appended recipe for spaghetti and homemade meatballs with all the fixin's and passes the (meat) balls with the best of them.

Fans of Drummond's Charlie picture books should sniff out his I-Can-Read stories, such as Charlie the Ranch Dog: Stuck in the Mud (I Can Read Book 1), Charlie the Ranch Dog: Charlie's New Friend (I Can Read Book 1), Charlie the Ranch Dog: Where's the Bacon? (I Can Read Book 1), and Charlie the Ranch Dog: Charlie Goes to the Doctor (I Can Read Book 1).

Rainy Day Clue Quest: Max & Ruby's Treasure Hunt by Rosemary Wells

"LET'S HAVE A TEA PARTY!" SAID MAX'S SISTER RUBY. "GOOD IDEA!" SAID RUBY'S BEST FRIEND LOUISE.

The sun is shining brightly, and the two girls and Max and his friend Lily decide to take their fun al fresco for a picnic. They pack up their tea set and a perfect blue gingham picnic cloth. Ready?

Not so fast. The sunny day has quickly turned to showers. Their tea party is a washout! 

But Grandma has an alternative.

"LET'S HAVE A TREASURE HUNT!

THERE ARE SEVEN CLUES HIDDEN IN SEVEN PLACES IN THE HOUSE.   FOLLOW THE CLUES ONE AFTER ANOTHER, AND YOU WILL FIND A TREASURE!"

The kids can't resist the quest. Each clue is a well-known rhyme with a key word missing. Guessing the word supplies the place to find the next hidden rhyme, and the four youngsters race through the house to locate the clue that follows. Some of the items are partially hidden and it takes all four sets of eyes to spy them out. Some of the clues take a bit of thinking outside the box:

"LITTLE BOY BLUE, COME BLOW YOUR ...."

The secret word "horn" comes quickly, but where is there a horn in Grandma's house? She doesn't play trombone! "Garage!" shouts Max, and he gets to honk the horn in the car when they find the note taped to the steering wheel. Finally they are down to the last clue:

"HICKORY DICKORY DOCK. THE MOUSE RAN UP THE ...."

"BLOCK? LOCK? SOCK?" SAID LOUISE.

"CLOCK!" SHOUTS MAX.

But there are flocks of clocks in Grandma's house, a bedside alarm clock, a kitchen clock, the guest room clock.....

But there is one BIG clock, one with a little door on the front that opens! Can the timely treasure be there?

With Rosemary Well's beloved sister-and-brotheract leading the way with their friends Louise and Lily joining the hunt, Well's new large format lift-the-flap book, Max and Ruby's Treasure Hunt (Max & Ruby) (Viking, 2012) provides an engaging (and possibly inspiring) rainy-day read all on its own. Wells' illustrations are as charmingly portrayed as ever, and the youngest of the treasure seekers, Lily and Max, find themselves full partners in the puzzle with the older kids. The fun of the flaps, larger versions of Grandma's hidden clues inside sealed envelopes, will give little fingers something to do, while completing the clue rhymes will keep all of their heads in the game with this rainy-day fun from Rosemary Wells.