Books published by publisher Beginner Books (Random House), New York

That behatted and bow-tied cat from Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat is back, and, not surprisingly, is up to all sorts of mischief. This time, Sally and her brother are stuck shoveling snow: "This was no time for play./ This was no time for fun./ This was no time for games./ There was work to be done." But--you guessed it--the laughing Hat Cat has other ideas, as he lets himself in to eat cake in their tub. He leaves behind "a big long pink cat ring," which he then handily cleans with "MOTHER'S WHITE DRESS!" The dress then loses its pink stain to the wall, then Dad's shoes, then the rug in the hall, until finally the Cat must call in some assistance: from inside his hat comes Little Cat A, then Littler Cats B, C, D, E, and so on, nested like dolls in ever tinier hats. With this pack of felines, Sally and her brother may get rid of those stains, but they'll likely never be rid of that rascally cat. As should be expected from the good doctor, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back provides an excellent reader (and alphabet primer) for those just learning, not to mention ample laughs for everyone else. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes

Scuffy the Tugboat leaves the man with the polka-dot tie and his little boy, and sets off to explore the world. But on his daring adventure down the river, Scuffy realizes that home is where he'd rather be, sailing in his bathtub. The Saggy Baggy Elephant: After a parrot makes fun of Sooki's big ears, long nose, and wrinkled skin, the "saggy baggy" elephant isn't too sure of himself. But once he meets some beautiful creatures who look just like him, Sooki celebrates with a joyful "one-two-three-kick." The Sailor Dog: Scuppers the Dog wants to be a sailor. He was born at sea and he wants nothing more than to return to water. Finally, after a long time, Scuppers gets the chance to go out into the deep blue ocean-but his ship gets wrecked! Oh no! But Scuppers won't let that bother him. He fixes his boat and gets right back to it!

Once there was a tawny scrawny lion who chased monkeys on Monday-kangaroos on Tuesday-zebras on Wednesday-bears on Thursday-camels on Friday-and on Saturday, elephants. So begins the classic story of a family of ten fat rabbits that teaches the hungry lion to eat carrot stew-so that he doesn't eat them. Tootle is a young locomotive who loves to chase butterflies through the meadow. But he must learn to stay on the tracks no matter what-if he ever hopes to achieve his dream of being a Flyer between New York and Chicago! The Jolly Barnyard, t's Farmer Brown's birthday, and the animals are deciding what they'll do for him on his special day. "Cluck! I will give him eggs," said the hen. / Said the rooster, "I'll wake him in the mornings, then." / "Baa-aa, we'll give him wool," said the sheep. / "For our fleece is soft and warm and deep."

The Phantom Tollbooth is a children's adventure novel and modern fairy tale by Norton Juster. It was published in 1961 with illustrations by Jules Feiffer. It tells the story of a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly receives a magic tollbooth one afternoon and, having nothing better to do, decides to drive through it in his toy car. The tollbooth transports him to a land called the Kingdom of Wisdom. There he acquires two faithful companions, has many adventures, and goes on a quest to rescue the princesses of the kingdom-Princess Rhyme and Princess Reason-from the castle in the air.