Fly With Me

Fly with Me: A Celebration of Birds Through Pictures, Poems, and Stories 
By Jane Yolen, Heidi E. Y. Stemple, Adam Stemple, and Jason Stemple
National Geographic, 2018. 192 p.

This book first caught my eye because of the photographs. I can’t resist a bunch of awe-inspiring photos from those talented National Geographic Photographers. This book is no exception. There are pictures of all sorts of birds (some are even fun like the one that is taken of a bird looking into a camera on the top of a roof). There are photographs of birds in flight, birds on nests, birds showing off bird things (such as wings, beaks, or webbed feet). Basically, this is a candy book of pictures of birds. And yet, the text is pretty amazing as well. There are facts about birds, poems about birds, and all sorts of things that young readers will find interesting. This is one of those giant fact books that a kiddo could read one page on one bird she is interested in or the whole book. Basically, this is a book that any aviary society novice should check out.

From Story Time: The Letter "X"

READ IN MONDAY BOOK BABIES

Where the Wild Things Are

By Maruice Sendak

Harper Collins, 1963.  Picture Book.

A naughty little boy, sent to bed without his supper, sails to the land of the wild things where he becomes their king.  --Publisher

READ IN MONDAY CUENTOS

Los dientes de trino rojo
Escrito por Marta Zafrilla
Ilustrado por Sonja Wimmer
Cuento de Luz, 2017.  Spanish Picture Book.

Trino Rojo observa a su dueña lavarse los dientes todos los días. Escuchó un montón de veces lo importante que es tener una boca sana y él quiere cuidársela también. Intenta cepillarse de todas las maneras posibles, pero tiene un gran problema: ¡es un pájaro!

La higiene bucal debe enseñarse desde una edad temprana, pero no siempre es fácil. Las cautivadoras ilustraciones de Sonja Wimmer y el humor que envuelve la historia de Marta Zafrilla van a ayudar a acercar a los niños al cepillo de dientes. ¡Y a la sonrisa!  --Publisher

READ IN TODDLER TIME

XO, Ox: A Love Story
Written by Adam Rex
Illustrated by Scott Campbell
Roaring Brook Press, 2017.  Picture Book.

Dear Gazelle, 
For some time now I have wanted to write a letter to say how much I admire you. You are so graceful and fine. Even when you are running from tigers you are like a ballerina who is running away from tigers. I think that what I'm trying to say is that I love you.
XO,
Ox

And so begins an epic, if initially unrequited, love affair between a graceful gazelle and a clumsy, hapless ox. Romance will never be the same.

Adam Rex's hilarious, sweet, and at times heartbreaking letters between a hopelessly romantic ox and a conceited, beautiful gazelle are paired perfectly with Scott Campbell's joyful illustrations to bring you a romance for the ages.  --Publisher

READ IN PRESCHOOL TIME

T. Rex Time Machine
By Jared Chapman
Chronicle Books, 2018.  Picture Book.

When two hungry dinosaurs jump into a time machine, they're transported to the unbelievable, magical, surreal future: 2018!  In this madcap, hilarious adventure, the T. Rexes encounter the many wonders of the modern world: Police cars!  Phones!  Microwaves!  This book will answer the question everyone's been wondering for centuries:  What happened to the dinoaurs? 
--Publisher

READ IN PRESCHOOL TIME

Box Meets Circle
By Aaron Hartline
Disney Press, 2018.  Picture Book.

Circle loves to jump, but Box just falls flat.  Oww!  Box loves to sit, but Circle just rolls away.  Whoa!  They want to play together, but how?  Can they ever be friends? Yes! They find a way. 
--Publisher

READ IN FRIDAY BOOK BABIES

The Weather Girls
By Aki
Henry Holt and Company, 2018.  Picture Book.

Summer, Fall, Winter, or Spring―the Weather Girls are ready for whatever the seasons might bring!
It’s summer time. We rise and shine! All set to go. We form a line. A big bright sun. Let’s have some fun. We sing and dive and splash and run. Follow these busy girls as they climb mountains, fly hot-air balloons, and soak in a rainbow-sky sunset. Charming rhyming verse and adorable art make this picture book irresistible―and perfect for sharing!  --Publisher

READ IN FRIDAY CUENTOS

La llama llama rojo pijama
Por Anna Dewdney
Traducción por Yanitzia Canetti
Viking, 2011.  Spanish Picture Book.

Un cuento antes de dormir.  Un beso de buenas noches.  Y mamá Llama apaga la luz.  ¿Pero está todo bien?   ¡NO!

Al menos, no lo está para Bebé Llama…Y muy pronto sus lloriqueos se vuelven alaridos.  ¡Llama es puro drama!  Hasta que mamá regresa a poner todo en orden.  Cálida, tierna y muy divertida, La llama llama rojo pijama seguramente traerá sonrisas de simpatía, ¡tanto a los niños como a sus padres!  --Publisher

Secrets from the deep

Secrets from the deep

By Linda Fairstein

New York, NY : Dial Books for Young Readers, 2018. Fiction, 279 p.

This is the 3rd book in the Devlin Quick mystery series and is the perfect book for all those mystery lovers out there who enjoy puzzles, pirates, and history.

Devlin Quick and her best friend Booker are on the case again while on vacation in Martha's Vineyard. Devlin is working on a school science project and getting water samples from the sea when they find an authentic pirate doubloon in her water sample. They turn the coin over to the local police but no one has declared it missing. Devlin, Booker, and Booker's younger cousin Zee decide to do their own investigating to find out where it came from and who it belongs to. They meet a lot of the local people as they are sleuthing and learn about the history of the island and the pirates who roamed the seas in the early 1700's. Do they find the owner of the gold coin? You will need to read the book to find out and along the way you may also discover a few secrets from the deep waters off of  the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

 

A Case for Buffy

A Case for Buffy

Written by Ulf Nilsson

Illustrated by Gitte Spee

Gecko Press, 2018. J Intermediate, 104 p.

Buffy is a persistent and dedicated little mouse. Detective Gordon is a wise old frog who loves to eat cakes and take naps. Together they run a peaceful police station in the forest, where they mostly deal with lost scarves and tiffs between neighbors. But in this fourth and final installment of the series, Buffy and Detective Gordon are joined by two kindergartner trainees as they work together to solve a very personal and important mystery: where is Buffy's mother? The team uses memories, clues, and clever thinking to crack the case.

Humorous, philosophical and filled with lots of watercolor illustrations, A Case for Buffy is a cozy, rainy day read that would be wonderful for reading aloud. Check out the entire Detective Gordon series in the J Intermediate section. 

Wildheart: The Daring Adventures of John Muir

Wildheart: The Daring Adventures of John Muir
By Julie Bertagna
Illustrated by William Goldsmith
Yosemite Conservancy, 2019. Graphic novel biography.

Young readers are invited to share in environmentalist John Muir's wonder at the majesty of nature in this comic book biography. From his beginnings in Dunbar, Scotland as a brilliant and easily bored child to his tenure as president of California's Sierra Club - we see John Muir as a man who truly lived a life of adventure.

The very cartoony illustrations are at times welcome and vivid and at other times a little disappointing - it's hard to introduce Half Dome in Yosemite to readers without a realistic illustration of Half Dome - but certainly heighten the kid-appeal in a book filled with well-placed humor. This is the kind of educational book that is so expertly disguised that some kids may not even realize they're learning a valuable lesson about the value of our planet - but teachers and parents will find this an introduction to myriad topics.

Oliver: The Second-Largest Living Thing on Earth

Oliver: The Second-Largest Living Thing on Earth 
Written by: Josh Crute
Illustrated by John Taesoo
Kim Page Street Kids, 2018. Picture Book.

Oliver is a beautiful, tall, majestic tree in a national park—but unfortunately, he doesn’t feel all that special, because he is the second largest tree, not the first. Another tree outranks him, and gets all the attention. He even has a sign! Oliver works hard to get bigger so he can beat out his rival, but he learns some interesting and important lessons along the way.

 Crute’s story is one of both accepting yourself for who you are (in this case, a smaller tree), but also of how sometimes being special as an individual is less important than contributing to something bigger than yourself. Kim’s fun personification of the trees and the forest make these characters easy to connect with and care about, and their individual looks make them seem unique from each other, even though they’re all part of the forest. “Oliver” is a fun and important story about how a changed perspective can make all the difference.

Another

Another
By Christian Robinson
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2019. Picture Book.

A girl (in a nightgown with a red planet on it) and her cat (with a red collar) are awoken by another cat (who looks just like the other cat only this one has a blue collar) that comes through a hole in the wall. The blue-collared cat takes the red-collard cat’s toy mouse so the girl and her cat go through the hole into “another” place looking for the toy. In this other world things are topsy-turvy. Gravity is different directions, there are pairs of kids (or “another” kid similar to each of them), and it is a place that looks interesting and fun. Eventually the girl finds her “other” (a girl in a nightgown with a blue planet on it) with her blue-collared cat and the red toy mouse. This wordless book tests the limits of imagination by allowing readers to determine just exactly what is happening, how things are parallel to the “real” world, and just what the title “Another” means. Robinson has created a parallel world that gets kids thinking as they journey with the girl and her cat.

From Story Time: The Letter "W"

Read in Book Babies

Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears

Written by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Beth Coulton

Illustrated by Nate Wragg

G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2014.  Picture Book.

Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear know how to rock! But they need a new singer, so they audition everyone—the Three Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and more. To their dismay, no one seems just right. Could the perfect lead singer be the mysterious girl sleeping on Baby Bear’s keyboard?  --Publisher

Read in Monday Cuentos

Un pato en tractor
Por David Shannon
Traducción por Eida de la Vega
Scholastic, 2016.  Spanish Picture Book.

¿Qué pasa cuando Pato maneja el tractor? ¿Qué pensarán todos cuando vean a Pato y a otros animales de la granja encima del tractor? Los lectores volverán una y otra vez a las páginas llenas de detalles divertido. ¡Éste libro es perfecto para leer en voz alta!  --Publisher

Read in Toddler Time

Waking Beauty

Written by Leah Wilcox

Illustrated by Lydia Monks

Puffin Books, 2008.  Picture Book.

When Prince Charming finds Sleeping Beauty and her fairies, he doesn't know what to do. The fairies try to tell him, but he keeps interrupting with crazy ideas of his own such as shouting, jumping on her bed, and pouring water on her. Of course none of those work, and he is mortified when he finally hears what he has to do! A hilarious twist on the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, this is a companion to the hit Falling for Rapunzel.  --Publisher

Read in Preschool Time

Kate, Who Tamed the Wind
Written by Liz Garton Scanlon
Illustrated by Lee White
Schwartz & Wade Books, 2018.  Picture Book.

Oh, what's a man who lives on the tippy-top of a steep hill to do when the wind blows and blows, turning everything upside down?  Luckily, a clever girl called Kate has a plan.  Here's a delightfully simple, lyrical story about a spirited and resourceful girl, and how important trees are in our lives.  --Publisher

Read in Preschool Time

Wild One
Written by Jane Whittingham
Illustrated by Noel Tuazon
Pajama Press, 2017.  Picture Book.

This wild one can stretch like a cat, hang like a bat, and hop like a hare.  At the end of a long day she'll even snuggle like a bear in her cozy bed.  --Publisher

Read in Friday Book Babies

Grumpy Pants
By Claire Messer
Albert Whitman & Company, 2016.  Picture Book.

Have you ever been in a bad mood and not known why?  Penguin is in one of those moods.  He is grumpy from his grumpy hat all the way down to his grumpy socks.  No matter what he does, he just can't shake it off!  Can Penguin figure out how to turn his grumpy day into a good night? 
--Publisher

Read in Friday Cuentos

¡Sé valiente, pequeño pingüino!
Escrito por Giles Andreae
Ilustrado por Guy Parker-Rees
Traducción Pilar Roda
Grupo Editorial Bruño, 2018.  Spanish Picture Book.

Al pequeño Pip-Pip le asusta meterse en el agua, y mientras los demás pingüinos se divierten buceando en el mar, él se queda muy triste, sin nadie con quien jugar. ¿Logrará algún día aprender a nadar?  --Publisher

Door by JiHyeon Lee

Door 

By JiHyeon Lee
Chronicle Books LLC, 2018. Picture Book.

In this beautiful, wordless picture book, a boy finds himself with a key to a mysterious door. Beyond the door is a magical, colorful place filled with many different animals and creatures whose words he does not comprehend. Despite the language barrier, he is able to make many wonderful friends on his journey beyond the door. In more ways than one, this book shows that we do not need to speak the same language to understand each other. We can demonstrate friendship and express love in many different ways.

The Van Gogh Deception

The Van Gogh Deception

Written by Deron Hicks

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2017. Fiction, 306 p.

This action-packed adventure starts right into the mystery with an altercation in an underground parking garage. The reader is intrigued, nervous and excited to figure out the questions that are being created.  A boy, not yet introduced, is then found in the National Galley of Art with no memory of who he is or why he is there. He is temporarily placed with Camille and her mom until his parents are located. They return to the museum the next day in hopes of triggering something in his memory. He finds a plastic ticket to pick up something the museum is holding. It turns out to be his backpack, but in the process he and Camille are kidnapped. They need to use the clues from his backpack to figure out who he is and why he also happens to have an unreal knowledge of art!

This is a perfect fast moving middle grade mystery adventure. It would be especially interesting to anyone who enjoys art history. The author has a running clock with the location of the characters at the beginning of each new section. It helps with clarity of what is happening and adds to the reader's suspense.