Sadie the Airmail Pilot

Without a doubt, this is one of the most engaging books we've come across. Sadie the Airmail Pilot, by Kellie Strom, is a thrilling adventure that has Sadie departing from a fantastical, futuristic city and flying through wondrous landscapes to reach to an isolated weather station high atop a mountain on a craggy ledge to deliver the mail. The illustrations are splendid and full of imaginative detail, and while futuristic, they also hearken back to those wildly improbable "imagine the future" images that appeared in newspapers and books at the beginning of the 20th century, with trolley tracks hovering 20 stories above the street, giant dirigibles, and the like. There's also an abundance of flora and fauna covering the topography that Sadie flies through. She runs into trouble on her journey through the snowy mountains, and the thrilling rescue and triumphant return to home base round out the story. Our little boy was absolutely glued to this story, but it's also a great book for little girls who can benefit from the knowledge that girls can do anything too!

The Great Gracie Chase: Stop That Dog!

The Great Gracie Chase: Stop That Dog! is one of our favorite books, owing to a good basic story by Cynthia Rylant and some especially exhilarating illustrations by Mark Teague. It revolves around a pooch named Gracie who cherishes her quiet home life, only to have it disturbed by a bevy of house painters who arrive unexpectedly one morning. She's put out of the house so they can work, and she rebels by taking half the town (including the painters) on a mad chase through the streets.

Mickey Moonbeam

Mike Brownlow's Mickey Moonbeam is a great read for little kids who have a thing for rockets, space, planets and the like. The four-year-old in our household had me reading it night after night for quite awhile, even as I eyed the other books in our stack. The full-page illustrations are colorful and very evocative of the space-y theme. In this story, Mickey, a little boy who lives on the moon with his parents, has to rescue his penpal Quiggle after Quiggle's space scooter crashes on a nearby asteroid. There's plenty of action in the plot to keep kids glued to the pages.