Sockflea: A Stuffie in the Wild by Laura Dockrill (author) and Eva Byrne (illustrator) (Candlewick). “We are going camping. I’ve never been before, I. CAN’T. WAIT. Marshmallows on sticks! Singing by the campfire! And sleeping under the stars! My grown-up asks, ‘Now, are you sure you don’t want to bring a stuffie?’ ‘I am SUPER sure. I’m way too grown up.’” The tiny elephant is 5, after all, and he’s very brave — until nighttime, that is. Suddenly, he really, really, really wants a stuffie! His grown-up better think of something fast…

Fabulous Creatures: Legendary Animals from Around the World by Cornelia Funke (author), Ruby Warnecke (illustrator), and Anna Schmitt Funke (translator) (NorthSouth Books). “Many fabulous creatures are good in one story and very bad in another. Not so with qilins. Nothing but beautiful stories are told about them!” The “Chinese unicorn” qilin is just one of dozens of fantastical beings — e.g., dragons, tipakas, crodh siths, and more — described and lushly illustrated in this captivating work.

If This Were the World by Stephen Barr (author) and AG Ford (illustrator) (Neal Porter Books). “On the 138th day of the school year the recess bell rang for the 138th time, and the students in Ms. Lee’s class discovered they had played every game they could think of.” But their boredom turns into a downright philosophical exercise as the kids fan out across the playground, pick up random objects, and ask, “What if THIS were the world?”