SMUDGE by Julie Sykes and Jane Chapman
Smudge and his friends are happily playing in the backyard until drops of water start to fall from the sky. He wants to go inside the house because he does not like to get wet, but the door is closed and nobody can hear him howl. Smudge and his friends try to reach an open window by piling up flowerpots but they all tumbled to the ground. His friend Rabbit takes Mouse and Smudge to his hutch, but it is too small for the three of them. After trying to get into Rabbit’s hutch, Smudge has another idea, and this time he tries to get inside the house through the cat’s door, but he gets stuck half-way. Rabbit and Mouse push in Smudge several times until the dog can finally be inside. But for Smudge’s surprise the rain stops, and this time he needs to find a way to go out again and keep having fun with his friends.
Can't You Sleep, Dotty? by Tim Warnes
Dotty, the Dog, has a new home. It is the first night there and even though she tries, she cannot fall asleep. With her howling she wakes up her soon to be new friends, one by one. First, Pip the Mouse recommends her to count the stars, but Dotty does not know how to count. Then Susie the Bird tells her to get a little drink before going to bed, but Dotty makes a “tiny puddle” after drinking her water. Whiskers the Rabbit gets also awakened, so he tells her that hiding in his den works for him, and Dotty and friends get under the blanket, but she gets too scared because is too dark. The last one is Tommy the Tortoise, he tells her that he really likes when is bright and sunny, so Dotty tries using a flashlight. Nothing works for her, and she is getting really tired, so Tommy comes up with the perfect idea to help Dotty fall asleep. She just needs to be in bed with all her friends and smuggle among them. Soon they all fall asleep together.
Monsters in Your Bed... Monsters in Your Head by Rainey, Illustrated by Betsy Dill
Angie is a little girl who gets scared at night, when she goes to bed, because she thinks that “creatures” will appear when she turns off the lights. Her friend Jazz, the Magic Dog, teaches her that all the monsters are products of her imagination, and tells her that they will go away if she names each one, says good night to them, and helps them find a home of their own. So she starts saying good night to the dragon with two heads and sends him to a more comfortable place. Then it is the turn of the purple and blue monsters to go to a place where they can scare and play. The caterpillars are next; Angie sends them outside, to her back yard. And so on, she continues with the snake and bats. When Angie is done saying good night to her new friends, it is time to go to bed, and both her and Jazz “curled up in a ball.”
Not Norman, A Goldfish Story by Kelly Bennett, Illustrated by Noah Z. Jones
A little boy wishes to have a pet for his birthday, so his parents get him a goldfish as a present. But Norman, the goldfish, is not the type of pet he wanted to get. He thinks Norman is boring. The next day he takes Norman to school for Show-and-Tell, and on his way to school he meets his friend Austin, who has a dog and seven puppies. At school, things do not work the way he planned and he ends up talking to his fish. He also took Norman to his music class and found out that his fish actually enjoys his music, but he still wants to trade him for a better pet. That same night, he hears a noise when he is in bed, and when he looks at Norman, he sees the fish watching out for him. All week the boy looked for excuses to trade his goldfish for another pet, but at the end he realized that Norman was more than a pet, Norman was his friend, and he would not trade him for anything in the world.