2. A Book to Sing!

The Twelve Bots of Christmas, written and illustrated by Nathan Hale, Walker Books, $14.99, ages 4-8, 40 pages. Stand to the side, true love. Robo Santa's got his own gifts for The Twelve Days of Christmas. In this clever techno-twist on the classic English Christmas carol, gizmos fly, roll, swim and snooze before being packed into a sack for Robo Santa and his eight super-charged reindeer to deliver to little boys and girls. You'll be sold from the first verse, A "Cartridge in a Gear Tree," and by the time you belt out "Five Bot-to-Ries," the rest of the family will be chiming in too. "Four Calling Borgs, Three Wrench Hens, Two Turbo-Doves, and a Catridge in a Gear Tree..." My favorite image: The Three Wrench Hens bobbing their hook jaws as they roll through the snow.

Animal House

By Candace Ryan

Illustrated by Nathan Hale

Walker & Company, 2010

$16.99, ages 4-8, 40 pages

In this loopy, fun debut, a boy tries to convince his gray-haired teacher that an armchair with a powerful beak ate his homework, but fails to mention that his so-called "vulchair" also loves to munch on old ladies.

Even though Jeremy's gorilla-faced house looms large in the neighborhood, no one seems to believe that his house is any different than anyone else's, let alone that it's genetically spliced with zoo animals.

It wouldn't be a big deal, except that his animal house, with its giraffe roof and monkey chimney, is always getting Jeremy into trouble in class.

While other kids only worry about dogs eating their homework, Jeremy has an entire house that gets into mischief -- every inanimate feature, from the roof to the bed, has eyes, a mouth and appendages, not to mention natural curiosity.

As a result, Jeremy is always coming to class with his homework half-gone or missing things entirely. Take the day his "snailbox," a mailbox with a snail head jutting out the front, devoured the class plant, or the day his "shrewler," a shrew with a ruler running down its tummy, gnawed his Statue of Liberty project.

Until now, Mrs. Nuddles shrugged off Jeremy's wild excuses, saying he had an overactive imagination, but this time Jeremy's gone too far and unless Jeremy can prove to Mrs. Nuddles during a home visit that a "vulchair" really does exist, he won't be going on the class field trip.