Lavelle Carlson

Corky the Quirky Cow and the Cuckoo Concert is a whimsical storybook in the genre of Shel Silverstein introducing young readers to Corky, a not-so-ordinary cow with a very special talent. She can mimic the sounds of any farm animal! Her extraordinary gift brings joy and laughter to the farm, as she teaches her fellow animals to sing in each other's voices. Together, they create a symphony of animal sounds so enchanting that Farmer Ken begins hosting concerts for his friends. Just when it seems their performances couldn't get any better, the audience starts to yawn. The novelty of the animal concerts wears off, leaving Corky wondering how to keep the magic alive. Determined to find new inspiration, Corky wanders into the forest, where a chance encounter with Sue the cuckoo bird opens her world to the melodious call of the cuckoo. "Hello, how do you do. My name is Sue the cuckoo bird. I can cuckoo. Can you cuckoo too?" Sue's friendly challenge sparks a bright idea in Corky's mind. With renewed enthusiasm, Corky returns to the farm, ready to take their shows to the next level. Farmer Ken is thrilled with Corky's plan, and soon, they're performing for the delighted neighbors, sharing their unique talents far and wide again. But the story doesn't end there. A heartwarming surprise awaits the children as they are allowed to turn the final page.

Can the Farting Four-Toed Troll carry out his kind deeds secretly, so no one hears him? Will he inspire others to help feed the hungry animals? Poop! Fart! These are the words that can be so embarrassing for parents and grandparents. And, it is certainly a headache for preschooler and early elementary teachers to try to instill appropriate language in their young students. Well, Farting Four-Toed Troll gives a great opportunity for parents and teachers to talk about these words in a way that is more appropriate. Using this book is a pleasant way to teach children the use of "good" words vs. "bad" words.

This book, written by a speech-language pathologist and illustrated by artist and speech/language pathologist Jenny Loehr, is a delightfully humorous book that children will beg to have read to them night after night. It is a great book for teaching early literacy because it contains many of the components recommended by early literacy specialists; i.e. dialogue set in bubbles for print awareness, rhyming, colorful pictures, repetition and predictability, counting, and interactive dialogue for language development. It is a good book for introducing all the fairy tales with the count of three. It is a great introduction to playing with sounds.

Is it just a dream? Does Baby Bunny love or hate carrots? Are they Yucky or are they Yummy Carrots? Baby Bunny hates them then she loves them. What makes Baby Bunny change her mind when she hates carrots? How can the bees help to convince Leni ? This delightfully illustrated book will keep children enthralled as they dream along with Leni about the bunnies and the bees to see how Baby Bunny changes her mind about carrots. Will this also help Baby Leni love carrots as she dreams about Baby Bunny and the carrots and bees?

Toucan? Kinkajou? Great Potoo? Just what can a toucan do? And, what can all the other rainforest animals do? All children love animals. There is so much to learn from animals. The best children's early storybooks are written to entertain and to also provide educational skills that will help the children learn pre-literacy skills, animal facts, and environmental facts (rainforest). The children in Can a Toucan Hoot Too are searching for answers to just exactly "WHAT" a toucan can do. In the reading of the book the children learn more than information on toucans. They learn important easy literacy skills during repeated readings of the book. They learn rhyming, rainforest animals and other environmental animals.