Someday by Alison McGhee (Author), Peter H. Reynolds, $12.95
How I love this book.  First, be forewarned if you are the slightest bit emotional you will feel like crying when you read this.  This is possibly the most perfect Mother's/Grandmother's day book out there.  Never have I read anything that so simply sums up what it means to be a mother.  Peter Reynolds was the author/illustrator for two of my favorite books including "The Dot" and "Ish" and this collaboration is truly special.  If you are looking for one book to buy make this one it!  It captures so simply the love between a mother and child and reminds you to make every second count -- because soon it will be a "someday."

Cha Cha Chimps by Julia Durango, $15.98
Great book for children over the age of two. Rhyming story of ten little chimps who sneak out to go dancing and get caught by their mom. When she discovers them at the Mambo Jamba dance club, they are teaching a hippo, a cobra, a lion, a cheetah and various other jungle animals how to cha-cha. She brings them home, tucks them in, calls a babysitter and goes back to the Mambo Jamba dance club to cha-cha herself! Very cute, colorful and fun.

 

Way Up High in a Tall Green Tree by Jan Peck, $15.98
A story of a little girl who before going to bed, bravely climbs different branches of a tall green tree. She encounters an ocelot, a kinajou, a sloth, a snake, a parrot, a gecko a bat and a tree frog. After saying good night to all of them, she climbs down the tree to find her daddy waiting to tuck her in. At the very end you realize that she had really just climbed to the top of her bunk bed and all of the animals were her stuffed toys that she has wrapped around her bed. Beautiful, huge illustrations and a nice introduction to rare animals for young children.

You're Different and That's Super by Carson Kressley, $12.95
This us about a little horse who is born on a farm with lots of other little horses and though he has no parents, he is well loved and very popular among the other animals. After a year though, he starts to grow a horn on his head and the other animals start to not allow him to play with them because he has become different. In the end, he ends up being discovered by the farmer who announces how rare and special it is to have a unicorn and he gets whisked away from the farm to celebrated all over the world. He is sorely missed on the farm though and the other animals wish he would come home. A sweet story for any child who sometimes feels left out or different from his peers, it allows him to realize that it is okay to not be exactly like everyone else.

Monster Pet by Angela McAllister and Charlotte Middleton, $15.95
This is a great book for any child who has ever hounded his parents for a pet. It's about a little boy named Jackson who wants a BIG, WILD, and EXCITING pet (like a dinosaur) but instead his dad brings home a hamster. Needless to say, Jackson is disappointed but agrees to take good care of the hamster. Unfortunately, he starts to get careless and when he spills the hamster's food all over the shed he doesn't clean it up. The hamster ends up eating all the food, grows bigger than Jackson and ends up taking on Jackson as HIS pet! Just as the hamster starts to neglect taking care of Jackson, Jackson wakes up from his nightmare and vows to never be careless with his pet again.
 

Dk First Animal Encyclopedia (Dk First Reference Series) 

My kids and I play a game called the "Animal Guessing Game" when we are in the car.  One person describes in detail an animal and the rest of us have to guess what it is.  We had just begun exhausting our list of animals when this book arrived.  It is a fabulous book that my kids can't put down.  It has every imaginable animal from Komodo Dragons to Dung Beetles.  It details their habits, their lifestyles and has little blurbs with strange facts.  It's a fabulous book that you can spend hours pouring over with your little ones.