Carole Lexa Schaefer

"Monkey and Elephant are very good friends who have a lot in common. They both like morning time. They both like shiny rocks. And they both like to hear their own voices: "TAH. TAH. TAH." But Monkey is Monkey and Elephant is Elephant. They are not exactly the same. So when Elephant starts to sneeze--achoo!--Monkey has her own ideas of what will make him feel better. And when Monkey gets the sniffles, Elephant has his own ideas of what will make her...

Monkey and Elephant are very good friends, very good friends who look too nice to just stay at home. So they decide to go gadding. "Gadding?" said Elephant. "What's that?" "Gadding," said Monkey, "is walking along, looking around, finding something fun, stopping awhile, then moving on." Along the way, Monkey and Elephant meet up with some old friends, and three new ones, too. You never know what fun surprises you'll discover when you decide to go...

Youngsters explore the sights, smells, sensations, and tastes of growing their own food in a community garden. Story based on the Children's Garden in Seattle, Washington.

A group of children pretend that they are a dragon to celebrate their classmate's birthday.

When Monkey tells Elephant a secret--it's Monkey's birthday but he doesn't like birthdays--Elephant has a hard time keeping the secret.

A day at preschool has leaping frogs, dancing ponies, flapping wings, eating like tigers, and all the things that children can dream.

A girl describes how sometimes she sees the changing moon as thin and silver like Grandpapa's dory boat, sometimes as a half circle like Mama's knitting basket, and sometimes round and chubby like the baby's cheeks.

Lindsay reluctantly wears a dress to Aunt Fiona's fancy party but discovers the fun of twirling in it when the dancing begins.

When Little Monkey decides to venture out into the jungle alone, beyond the gaze of his watchful Mama, he discovers that other animals are not as friendly and warm as his own family and that independence is not altogether a good thing.

While visiting Iowa in 1893, the Czech composer Anton Dvorak hears the song of a scarlet tanager and is inspired to create a new piece of music.