Zeesie sees a mitzvah (a good deed) on Delancey Street when her neighborhood holds a “package party” to auction their finest homemade Jewish dishes — kugel, tsimmes, and others. The money they raise brings Jewish emigrants to America. But when Zeesie peeks into a special “money room” she discovers that it isn’t filled with piles of money and treasures. People go in this room to leave spare shekels if they have them and take a bit of money when they need it. This book (which includes a Yiddish glossary) teaches …

Late one night, Rosalinda wakes to see her lovingly cared for lemon tree being robbed of all its fruit. The next day she sees the thief with his family — selling her limones! Then Rosalinda meets the spirit of La Anciana, The Old One, who makes things grow. She gives Rosalinda a remedy that will heal her lemon tree (and her bitter feelings). That night Rosalinda follows the spirit’s instructions and then slumbers under the lemon tree beneath a full yellow moon. When she awakes, the tree is full of …

Sarah’s Russian grandmother, Catherine, immigrated to America a long time ago with two suitcases and not a word of English. When she insists on no gifts for her next birthday, her guests begin planning the perfect “no presents” to give “Catherine the Great.” At the party, one guest performs a song, another does a dance, and still another styles her hair. But Sarah gives her a “no gift” from the heart when she offers to teach her English.

A generous quiltmaker and a covetous king go head-to-head in this tale of good versus greed. When a can’t-have-enough king demands that a seamstress sew him a quilt, she refuses because she only makes them for the poor. Time after time, the king tries to intimidate her into making him a quilt — but she doesn’t budge a stitch! Instead she tells him that for each possession he gives away, she’ll sew him a patch of a quilt. The king finally receives his own priceless quilt and discovers the joy …

Two half brothers led parallel lives in a village. The mean brother lived in a large home full of fine things. The cheerful brother — a humble farmer — was a man of meager means. When the farmer finds a giant turnip growing among his crops, he gives it to the royal family. As a reward, the king makes him a royal gardener. Upon learning this, his greedy brother brings the king an enormous ruby. Instead of earning a royal position, he earns his just reward — a giant-sized slice …

This Grimm tale about goodness begins when three brothers go (one at a time) into the forest to chop wood. Each meets a hungry old man who begs for food. The first two brothers refuse to help, but the youngest, a simpleton, generously offers his bread. After being rewarded with a gold-feathered goose, he sets out on a journey, and “hokety, pokety, stickety, stuck” he attracts three goofy sisters who are down on their luck. Each person this simpleton encounters on his way through the town — a parson, a …

In this rollicking volume of verse, more than 100 poems are packed with Prelutsky’s zany humor.

Prelutsky is a stretcher of language, a champion of wit, and an expander of children’s imaginations. James Stevenson’s hilarious black-and-white drawings only add to the fun.

Get your dictionaries ready for a wordplay romp! Sage has misheard one of her teacher’s vocabulary words, leading to a classroom catastrophe: a momentous tragedy, an embarrassment, humiliation, shame. Students will laugh at her mistake, identify with her humiliation, and marvel at her ability to turn things around. Frasier’s humorous use of definitions adds to the fun.

Maurice, too, is unique. From the time he is born, his family wonders who he will grow up to be. Will he be a baker like Papa, a writer like his mom, a taxi driver like Uncle Eddie, or a gardener like his grandmother? Children who are compared with one relative or another will identify with Maurice and have their own reasons to shout, “Bravo, Maurice!” as they turn the last pages.

Pay attention to Olivia. This is her debut, and I’m certain she will be in our lives for years to come. Falconer has created a treasure: spare text; black, white, and red drawings; and spunky Olivia, a theatrical pig with a clear sense of herself!