Part-Time Princess by Deborah Underwood

She's a regular girl by day but a princess by night. Did you know that princesses often serve as fire fighters to save their kingdom? Then, instead of locking up the dragon who caused the fire, she finds he's just grumpy because his little brother melted his crayons. They become friends. This book is perfect in almost every way -- I just didn't like the introduction of the handsome prince she might marry some day. Can we just skip that part? Maybe I'm being too picky.

a bus called heaven by Bob Graham

As a city planner with a grassroots leaning, this book is the type I want my daughter to remember from her childhood. A bus is abandoned in the neighborhood, and people turn it into a sort of community center. It hosts parties and meetings and other rendezvous. But it's blocking the sidewalk and gets towed away. They get it back and park it in the vacant lot behind their house.