Main Carousel

Curious George®

Back to School

New Books

George is so excited he can barely eat his breakfast. Today is his first day of school—and he’s been invited to be a special helper in Mr. Apple’s class. When George arrives, the other kids are excited to see him. George jumps right into helping: He holds the book during story time, he lets the kids count on his toes and fingers, and he makes sure everyone has a ball at recess.

When it comes time for painting, George begins mixing paints to make new colors. But when he gets carried away, he makes a mess. And when he tries to clean it up, he makes an even bigger mess. What will George do now? Maybe he isn’t such a good helper—or maybe he just needs a little help from his friends.

Based on Margret and H. A. Rey’s timeless character, Curious George's First Day of School shows how teamwork and inclusion can solve problems that we can’t solve on our own. It also demonstrates how even the best intentions can end up making a big mess. This animated book stays true to the original watercolor and charcoal style. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

During George’s first visit to school, things start out great—but then an accident threatens to ruin the whole day.

Curious George's First Day of School

Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage

Friendship

Animals

Vooks A to Z

Build Confidence

Be Caring and Kind

Be Resilient

Have you ever created a special cheer to encourage yourself? Like your very own personal pep talk?

This is what lovely Lili the Lioness does! Clever Lili invents her own power cheer because as Jungle School’s head girl, she has so much to do for her friends! Unfortunately, Lili is roaring her power cheer far too often, and loses her voice! This is very worrying because Lili has a special announcement for the students of Jungle School very soon!

Oh dear…what will she do?

A note from the creators at Love, Bonito:

Written, designed and produced at Love, Bonito, this impactful read highlights the importance of community and cheering each other on through life’s ups and downs – a reflection of what Love, Bonito stands for. The physical book is available for sale globally, while stocks last. Through the creation of this picture book, Love, Bonito is supporting the education of girls in historically low-income communities in Asia for a year — at a target goal of USD $30,000 — helping them to build skills to succeed in school and negotiate key life decisions. In partnership with Vooks and Finding Pictures, we've launched the animated video version of the book, exclusively available on Vooks' platform, to help raise awareness for girls' education.

When head girl Lili the Lioness loses her voice, her friends at Jungle School help her find strength and courage in adversity.

Lili the Lioness & Friends

Food and Cooking

Family 

Cora loves being in the kitchen, though she always gets stuck with the kid jobs, like licking the spoon. But today, when her older siblings go out, Cora will finally get the chance to be Mama's assistant chef. Mama even lets her pick which delicious Filipino dish she wants to make. Cora chooses her favorite noodle recipe: pancit!

With Mama’s help, Cora does all the grown-up jobs, like shredding the chicken and soaking the rice noodles. She even stirs the pot while Mama supervises. But when dinner is served, will Daddy and her siblings know Cora did the cooking? Will they think the pancit is as good as usual?

A tale of cultural heritage, Cora Cooks Pancit brings the joyful art of cooking to life. The story walks through the steps for cooking Filipino pancit, highlighting themes of family, trust, and learning through experience. Written by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore, illustrated by Kristi Valiant, and published by Shen’s Books.

When her older siblings go out for the day, Cora finally gets the chance to be Mama’s assistant chef.

Cora Cooks Pancit

All Seasons

Mindfulness

Seasonal - Fall

Nature

Up in the garden, a girl stands and plans. Her hands are full of seeds and her head is full of dreams. But before she and Nana can get started on tending their garden—leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, and ripening fruit—they have to wait. Down in the dirt, things need to warm up and dry out. There’s a busy world under their feet, full of earthworms, pillbugs, and more.

Planning, planting, and harvesting will take all year. But there are two sides to the story—what happens above, and what happens below. Come meet the incredible creatures who make our gardens their home, bring the world to life, and help the greenery around us grow.

A story of patience, care, and coexistence, Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt shows us the cycle of our seasons. It also introduces us to a cast of insects and animals who make our world vibrant and green. Written by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal, and published by Chronicle Books.

For the garden to flourish, the leaves and sprouts depend on a busy, hidden world below.

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt

Vooks Originals

5 Minutes or Less

Everyone's Reading

Lil Poo is a delightfully quirky and undeniably fun adventure story that will help get young kids excited about potty training and ready to take the potty plunge!
 
Where does Lil Poo live? In a nest? A cave? The desert? A mountain top? No place seems right, no matter where he looks. Luckily, as frustration sets in, Lil Poo meets a friend, Toilet Paper, who shows him where he belongs. When he arrives, there’s a “potty” and a celebration underway to welcome him home! 

A Vooks Original, Lil Poo is a story to help young kids get excited about potty training. Written and illustrated by Jonathan Sundy. 

Lil Poo is on a quest to find his home. He looks high and low, far and wide, but nowhere seems to fit! Luckily, a friend shows up right on time to help Lil Poo find his way. 

Lil Poo

In the City

Celebrate Black History

Vooks at a Glance

Every kid in Little Craig’s town wants the exact same thing: a shiny, yellow 10-speed bike! After lots of chores and lots of homework, Craig's dreams come true and his mom buys him the prized bicycle. He's off to the races, wheeling around town as happy as can be. Until, a fateful encounter finds a police officer questioning Craig about where he got his new bike. Things suddenly take a turn for the worse, and he is accused of something he didn't do.﻿

Based on a true story, this Little Craig book teaches the lesson of rising above. That's the lesson Craig Robinson learned in real-life, when a police officer assumed he'd stolen his new bike. Craig's mom Marian Robinson, always protective and supportive of her son, helped set the record straight—eventually getting an apology from the officer—and helped Craig learn the hard reality of prejudice and racism, and the importance of rising above. As Craig Robinson explains in an author's note at the end of the book: ﻿"No one can make you feel bad if you feel good about yourself."﻿

A Vooks Original, Little Craig: The Yellow Bike teaches about rising above what other people might think. Based on a true story, the book is written by Craig Robinson and Leslie Harter, and Illustrated by Jonathan Sundy.

Little Craig has a new bike and loves riding it around town! But when he's accused of something he didn't do, he learns an important lesson.

Little Craig: The Yellow Bike

Biographies

Be Brave

In the great city of New Orleans, Cornelius keeps the streets sparkling clean. When his truck rolls up to each home, Cornelius sashays to the curb. He flings bags over his head, behind his back, between his legs—and they land in the hopper in a perfect pyramid. Just like the garbage can lids he whirls on his fingers, Cornelius spins and twirls. And everyone dances along.

But then the storm comes. The city fills with water. People, parks, and playgrounds wash away. Can Cornelius alone tackle the mountains of ruins, stacked as high as the steeple of St. Louis Cathedral? Or will it take millions of people like him to put the great city back together?

Marvelous Cornelius is an ode to a real man who embodied the true spirit of New Orleans—full of energy, vibrance, and gusto. The story highlights themes of perseverance and the power of the human spirit. Written by Phil Bildner, illustrated by John Parra, and published by Chronicle Books.

In the great city of New Orleans, Cornelius keeps the streets sparkling clean. But then the great storm rolls in.

Marvelous Cornelius

Poetry

Be Creative

Bedtime

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage

One of us is a wind bird, a sky skipper, a diamond dipper, dancing on your string. Another is red, delicious—with a quick twist of your wrist, you free it from the tree. You gasp when one of us roars, mane exploding, sizzling—a lion of the sky. Two of us are knitted twins, soft as kittens, warm as hugs, waiting to hold your hands.

Who are we? Do you think you might already know? Come along for a colorful guessing game that features all four seasons. The answers hide in haikus, masked in riddles. Some are easy, some are hard to guess—but each one loves to be discovered just as much as the rest.

Beautiful and creative, Lion of the Sky manages to make poetry, haikus, and riddles accessible to young readers. The book explores all four seasons with striking visuals, adding an extra hint for each riddle’s answer. Written by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Mercè López, and published by Millbrook Press.

ANSWER KEY: 
SPRING: kite, umbrella, nest, flower bud, earthworm, puddle
SUMMER: dandelion, mosquito, sandcastle, baseball, fireflies, fireworks
FALL: school, pencil, apple, leaf pile, jack-o'-lantern, squirrel
WINTER: mittens, snow, ice skates, snow angel, star, snoozing bear

Sky skippers, tasty treasures, cold confetti, meadows of stars, and more—can you guess who we all are?

Lion of the Sky

This is the story of the hiccupotamus: A hippo with a never-ending case of the hiccups. One day, the hippo sees an elephant. He tries to say hello, but his hiccups get in the way. Soon, instead of a new friend, he’s got an angry elephant chasing after him—right through a poor centipede’s newly poured cement. When a flossing rhinoceros gets involved, it’s decided: The hiccups must come to an end.

Come along for a wild, wacky, unexpectedly startling quest to rid the hippo of his hiccups. Will the elephant, centipede, and rhinoceros find a solution? What if there is no cure? Maybe fixing the problem will be easier than they think. Or maybe the hiccups are here to stay.

The Hiccupotamus is an adorable story about making new friends, working together, and using both creativity and critical thinking to solve a challenging problem. Written and illustrated by Aaron Zenz and published by Dogs in Hats Children’s Publishing.

What’s worse than always having the hiccups? How about being a hippo who falls on his bottom every time he’s got ‘em?

The Hiccupotamus

When lightning strikes on the savannah, Giraffe is hurt and Bee’s hive is put in danger. Baboon and Kudu run in panic, but Giraffe cries out for help. What should they do? If Kudu stays at a distance, he’ll be safe. Yet if he goes back, he might overcome his fear and realize he’s braver than he thinks. And if Kudu can overcome his fear, can Giraffe, Bee, and even the Baobab Tree have surprising revelations of their own?

Come along as animals and plants all work together to overcome a terrifying problem. When they stop to think about it, each creature has a big idea—an idea that unlocks the incredible potential hidden inside them.

Think Big is a whimsical ode to the potential in all of us. As the characters work together, think beyond their fear, and take risks to care for each other, the narrative brings out themes of gratitude, giving, and stretching beyond our limits. Written by Kat Kronenberg, illustrated by David Miles, and published by Greenleaf Book Group Press.

When lightning strikes a tree, a wildfire starts on the savanna. Will the animals be able to snuff out the danger?

 Think Big

Language and Vocabulary

It’s morning in the rainforest, and Toucan is out to say “good morning” to every creature she can find. First, Toucan meets Sloth, who can hang upside down from a tree. Toucan flies off as she hears someone else waking up: It’s Chameleon, who blends into his surroundings. Around the rainforest Toucan goes, greeting tree frogs, monkeys, and hard-shelled turtles. Everyone is happy to see Toucan.

Can you guess who’s waiting in a nest at the end of Toucan’s journey? Come along for a trip through the treetops of one of the wettest forests on earth: the rainforest!

An easy-reading primer, Good Morning Toucan introduces just a few of the many, many animals that live in the rainforest. It also reminds young readers to greet each other with a friendly “Good morning,” and that breakfast comes after that. Written by Harriet Ziefert Inc., illustrated by Harriet Ziefert Inc., and published by Blue Apple Books.

It’s morning in the rainforest, and Toucan is out to say “good morning” to every creature she can find.

Good Morning, Toucan

Birthday parties are so much fun: the friends, the family, the games, the gifts, and, of course, the food! But what type of food do you serve at a birthday party when your family is from two different cultures? Young Mikey Yam is having a hard time choosing between the Italian food of his mother’s side and the Chinese cuisine of his dad’s. So, he turns to his grannies, Bahboo and Nonna, for advice.
 
“Ravioli or Dumplings? Linguine or Lo Mein? All of these options were hurting his brain.”
 
Join Young Mikey as he decides which type of food to have for his birthday party, and the important life lesson he learns along the way.

A Vooks Original, Fried Rice & Marinara is a rhyming story about two cultures coming together to create something special. Written by Mike Yam and illustrated by Laura Dong.

Young Mikey Yam is about to turn four, but deciding what type of food to have at his party is creating a jumble of possibilities!

Fried Rice & Marinara

A collection of all the latest books released on Vooks, with many more great titles coming soon!