11. The Great Gracie Chase: Stop That Dog!, written by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Mark Teague. This exuberant romp stars Gracie Rose, a little dog who loves a quiet home, who leads an entire town on a massive chase. Rylant's innovative text explodes with energy as Gracie, a dog who is good every day of her life (except for one! the day the house painters came!), causes chaos. Mark Teague's vibrant illustrations offer wonderful POV shots of the incident. It all leads to a wonderful ending that feels just right. Kids yell "again! again!" as soon as you read the final page.
12. Five Little Monkeys Play Hide-and-Seek, written and illustrated by Eileen Christelow. This fun addition to Christelow's Five Little Monkeys series works as an effective counting book. The tricky quintet pull little pranks on their very patient babysitter Lulu who plays increasingly complicated games of hide and seek with them. Christelow's bouncy prose does a great job repeating key words, allowing children to anticipate the rhymes (they love shouting them out). Her illustrations are joyous and funny (kids love spotting where the monkeys are hiding--the one hiding with a garbage can on her head gets the biggest guffaw). It all leads to an ending that truly does surprise young listeners.
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