Gem

Written & illustrated by Holly Hobbie

Little, Brown and Company, 2012

$16.99, 32 pages, ages 3-7

A girl catches a toad in her hands, then lets him spring away and be free again, as she realizes there's more joy in letting him go than making him stay.

In this lovely picture book, Toot & Puddle creator Holly Hobbie chronicles the wondrous journey of a toad named Gem to her garden and a touching encounter there between him and her granddaughter Hope.

The journey through spring is told without words and is bookended by two letters: One from Hobbie to Hope, dedicating the book to her and Gem, and the other is a reply from Hope, thanking her grandmother for bringing Gem back to her through pictures.

The story begins in a field of newly sprouted dandelions. Gem is gazing at a butterfly flitting by one of the blossoms and everything seems right in the world. But then, out of nowhere, a car rolls by, spitting gravel from a tire, and Gem tumbles head-over-heels off the lane.

Counting Down to Earth Day: Day 7

The Hop
By Sharelle Byars Moranville

Illustrated by Niki Daly

Disney-Hyperion, 2012
$16.99, ages 8 and up, 288 pages

A monster with teeth on its feet is rolling into Toadville-by-Tumbledown and unless a young hopper is brave and bold, the village and every toad in it will buried under a strip mall.

In this enchanting environmental novel, Tad (a toad with second-sight) and Taylor (a girl who loves nature) find themselves on a fairy tale quest to save a meadow from development.

Though Tad doesn't yet know it, Taylor is a kindred spirit. Her grandmother lives at the edge of the meadow he calls Toadville -- near a tumbledown shed -- and Taylor's been heartsick about losing the area.

The monster is poised by the grasslands and a pond nearby -- Taylor's swimming hole since she was little, her "kingdom," as she calls it, -- and though her grandmother is like-minded, she isn't well enough to help Taylor fight the project.