Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann; this one is new to me, but I was attracted by the Caldecott Medal on the cover, and a vague familiarity with the author's name. It's turns out she's behind Good Night, Gorilla, which I adore. (Jackson, however, has never shown the slightest interest.) It's about a nebbishy policeman who only gets the attention of the kids he teaches when he brings along his wild and crazy dog, Gloria. Officer Buckle never notices the dog acting out the dangers that he 'is explaining (doggy hangs in the air, fur afrizzle, to demonstrate the risk of playing golf in rainstorm), but the children in the audience sure see it. Rathmann on her Amazon page explains:

"We have a videotape of my mother chatting in the dining room while, unnoticed by her or the cameraman, the dog is licking every poached egg on the buffet. The next scene shows the whole family at the breakfast table, complimenting my mother on the delicious poached eggs. The dog, of course, is pretending not to know what a poached egg is. The first time we watched that tape we were so shocked, we couldn't stop laughing. I suspect that videotape had a big influence on my choice of subject matter."

A pristine copy of Taro Gomi's Doodle All Year; basically a 365-page coloring book with some emphasis on the seasons. Taro Gomi is something of a mystery to me, I just know (a) I like his stuff, (b) he's Japanese, (c) he's had some crossover success in the United States without ever really having a massive breakout hit book, although Everyone Poops is fairly well-known. We have a copy of his Bus Stops, which is great, and his My Friends is also a popular board book.

Last but not least, a copy of The Authoritative Calvin & Hobbes, which is the second of the eight total volumes of CH. CH is of course (a) generally awesome, (b) supposedly great for emergent readers. Jackson's dad brought a collection of Calvin & Hobbes in to the marriage, and this will be a great supplement to that.


Total cost: $5.97