I Am Not Going to Get Up Today! (by Dr. Seuss)

This is a particularly vibrant and direct Seuss title, steadily gaining momentum as the boy defies everything from the birds peeping outside his window to the United State Marines to dislodge him from his comfy nest. As an early reader, it is a success. The wordplay is natural, if not subtle, and each sentence is an invitation to read the next: "The only thing I'm choosing / is to lie here woozy-snoozing. / So won't you kindly go away. / I am NOT going to get up today!" And to hear a 6-year-old chuckling to himself as he reads the pages is proof enough.

James Stevenson is equally natural as an artist for Seuss. He is as frisky as the verse requires, yet the pastel colors of his palette temper the frenzy in a way that make his illustrations soothing to the eye, encouraging extended explorations of the images.