The Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister

Synopsis: A cautionary tale about selfishness and vanity.

Activity: In groups, on mahjong paper, the kids drew their own sea creatures with speech bubbles.

Hare and Tortoise Race to the Moon, by Oliver Corwin

Synopsis: When Hare teases Tortoise for being a slowpoke, Tortoise challenges him to a race. Sound familiar? But this is a race to the moon and Hare takes off in "an aerodynamic hyperspaceship of the latest design" while Tortoise builds his own patchwork conveyance. As in the classic fable, Hare makes several stops along the way while Tortoise, in his plodding fashion, touches down on the moon just seconds before his pal. Then, "being best friends," they enjoy some super moon-jumping together.

Activity: The kids made their own rockets with scrap materials. Those who finished early wrote some sentences about their rocket.