Just Call Me Mama! Duck, Duck, Dinosaur by Kallie George

MAMA DUCK'S EGGS HADN'T HATCHED YET.

BUT ALREADY SHE FELT LIKE THE LUCKIEST DUCK IN THE POND.

Mama Duck is a doting mother. She admires the two white eggs and the one large, green, spotted one that she had found and diligently pushed up hill with her bill the day before. Everything is ready for the big event.

Crrrr--rack! The first white egg crazes and then cracks open and out comes a yellow duckling.

MAMA NAMES HER FEATHER!

And as siblings will do, Feather and Flap begin to show off and outdo the other.

"I AM BIG," SAID FEATHER.

I'M BIG, TOO! I'M BIG, TOO! COUNTERS FLAP.

Not to be topped, Feather ruffles up her feathers and stands tall on her tiptoes.

"BUT I AM BIGGER!" SHE SAID.

But before the two siblings can top each other further, there's another, mightier CRRR-AAACK!

The green egg splits massively and out comes a very large and very green baby dinosaur!

Mama Duck names him Spike and gives him a kiss on his spiny head and settles down to admire her sweet family.

But the ducklings are not done competing. When Feather and Flap try to outdo each other with their funny dives into the pond, Spike hits the water in a humongous belly buster and wins that round.

"FUNNY!" HE PROCLAIMS.

But when the new hatchees are all cold and wet from their watery exploits, Mama knows best! Stretching out as far as she can, she nestles all three under her warm, feathery wings.

"HAPPY!" SAYS SPIKE.

It's all in a mama's day in Kallie George's Duck, Duck, Dinosaur (HarperCollins, 2016). George's narration takes it step by step with plenty of repetition, making this one easy listening and easy reading for storytime or beginning emergent readers. Oriol Vidal adds the simple and vivid illustrations, making this a funny and happy spring duckling tale.

Copycat! Oh, My! Oh, No! by Lisa Charrier.

ONE DAY I SEE MOMMY DRINKING SOME COFFEE.

I GO TO DRINK OUT OF IT, TOO.

"OH, MY, OH, NO! YOU DON'T DRINK THAT, SWEETIE!

IT ISN'T GOOD! IT'S COFFEE!

IT'S YUCKY!"

BUT IF IT ISN'T GOOD, WHY DOES SHE DRINK IT?

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but Mommy doesn't quite get that.

When her mommy emerges from the bathroom, all coiffed and beautifully made-up, her daughter slips in there and tries out all of her mother's cosmetics on herself! She thinks she looks as gorgeous as Mommy.

"OH, MY! OH, NOOOO!"

Mommy is appalled, scrubs her little daughter's face, and grumbles over the mess on the dressing table.

When Mommy mops the floors, leaving them all shiny clean, her daughter decides to do the same for another room.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THERE'S WATER EVERYWHERE!"

Mom doesn't get it when she makes a delicious chocolate cake and presents her daughter with the first slice, only to watch her give it to the cat.

"DOESN'T MOMMY KNOW KITTY-CAT IS HUNGRY?"

Maybe Mommy is just too tall to see it her way, the girl thinks. It's all in the point of view, in Lisa Charrier's Oh My, Oh No! (RP Kids, 2014). The cat and an observant mouse follow mother and child through the day, as the daughter tries to follow her mother's example, with humorous outcomes. Even preschoolers will see the difference between Mommy's results and her daughter's and appreciate the admiration behind her efforts, if not the actual efforts, as indeed Mom does at last.

Always Room For...: Just One More by Jennifer Hansen Rolli

RUBY WAS ALWAYS ASKING FOR JUST ONE MORE....!

One more minute of sleep after the alarm goes off, one more ride on the coin-operated horsey, one more penny to toss in the wishing pool!

Obviously, Ruby is an only child, the only kid on the page, and for her fond mother, what's one more hair thingy in the do, one more sip from her sippy cup, one more.... well, whatever there is to want?

...until the two decide to top off a day's doings with an ice cream cone. Will Ruby be happy with a single scoop of (you guessed it!) tutti frutti?

Fat chance! She wants one more--a dip of dark chocolate, then a mint chocolate chip, lemon gelato, cherry supreme, and even more. When the scoops total seven, the result is no surprise to anyone but Ruby.

SPLAT!

As most kids learn the hard way, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Ruby reforms (sort of), in Jennifer Hansen Rolli's latest, Just One More (Viking Press, 2014), resolving to have just one from now on, although her one bath toy is a floaty yellow ducky big enough for a swimming pool and her bedtime story book is titled The World's Complete Book of Fairy Tales.

To emphasize Ruby's super-sized self-indulgence, Rolli's illustrations feature only Ruby, up close and personal, a sweet-and-smiley but clearly overreaching preschooler. While Ruby's have-it-all attitude in this story doesn't appear to deprive anyone else, she at least learns that there's just right and then there's too much. Rolli's artwork is perfectly suited to her gentle premise, and kids will predict that telltale Splat! with plenty of giggles.

And for just one more story, double this one with Michael Kaplan's Betty Bunny Wants Everything (Dial Books, 2012). (See review here.)

Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight? Pirate Boy by Eve Bunting

DANNY SAID, "MOM, WHAT IF I WANT TO BE A PIRATE AND SAIL AWAY ON A PIRATE SHIP?"

Mom and Danny have just finished reading a story coincidentally called Pirate Boy.  Sailing under the Jolly Roger looks pretty good to Danny--at first.

"OKAY, BUT MOM," DANNY ASKED, "WHAT IF I DON'T LIKE IT ON THE PIRATE SHIP?

AND I WANT TO COME BACK HOME?"

Mom is calm, as she replies that she'll catch the next friendly dolphin out to the ship and bring him back.

But the more Danny thinks about this buccaneering, the more it seems like risky business. He wonders aloud what will happen if no friendly dolphin is available? What if there a two sea monsters about to eat him?

Mom assures him that she'll swim right out to that ship with magic minty spray and those monsters will be shrinky dinks in no time.

But Danny's "Okay, But, Mom..." scenarios keep coming. What if the pirates on the ship like him so much they won't let him leave, even with his mom. What if....

But Mom has all the answers, even if the two of them have to become the crew and sail that ship to their favorite beach. And... when they get back home, Daddy will probably be there with milk and cookies for his two weary corsairs.

Eve Bunting's inventive mom has it all figured out, despite her worrywart little would-be seafarer, in a bright new edition of her Pirate Boy (Holiday House, 2013). While pirating has its pitfalls, the message here is that pluck and perseverance can go a long way in problem-solving. It's a successful fantasy voyage, illuminated by Julie Fortenberry's charming textured artwork which catches the perky wit and pleasant predictability of this storyline to a P (for Pirate).

Don't Go! Love Waves by Rosemary Wells

BE BRAVE,

AS I LEAVE, I SEE YOU WAVE.

I HAVE TO GO WHERE I MUST BE.

Moms and dads have to go where they must go, and this pair of parents are off to work in the morning, leaving their youngster to wave from the window as they head for their workplaces. This prosaic leavetaking, daily though it is, is a common trauma in many households, and famous author-illustratior Rosemary Wells (Max and Ruby) offers reassurance of a novel kind. She emphasizes, not the sadness of the child, but the recurring thoughts of Mom and Dad, turning again and again to the child at home.

RING! RING! GOES MY TELEPHONE. COULD IT BE YOU?

OUT OF MY OFFICE WINDOW, CAN YOU HEAR ME SING?

Wells connects her parents and the waiting child with a symbolic silvery blue ribbon of thoughts, going back and forth between them until at last Mom and Dad are back at their own door for the daily reunion. Wells' newest, Love Waves (Candlewick, 2011), is a lovely little treatise on leaving a loved one, utilizing her familiar bright palette and stocky, short-eared rabbit figures to tell this evergreen story. Pair this one with Bonnie Verburg's recent hit, The Kiss Box or Anna Dewdney's best-selling Llama Llama Misses Mama for a bit of separation anxiety bibliotherapy for child and parent!