Provo Library Children's Book Blog

The How-To Cookbook for Young Foodies By Joanna Saltz & Editors of Delish New York, NY : Hearst Home Kids, 2025. Informational. 192 pages. The first time I made homemade brownies as a "young foodie", I read the recipe wrong and when I added the salt, I measured it in cups, rather than teaspoons. Needless to say I would have benefited from a book of instruction like this. This how-to book starts at the simplest skills such as peeling vegetables, creaming butter and sugar, and boiling pasta. It then elevates these tasks to create beautiful dishes. Any aspiring chef could find doable recipes in this cookbook and learn new skills. The pictures present stunning meals and very clear instructions. A good example of this is the skill page on kneading. If you have never kneaded dough before, it could be tricky to know how to move your hands. The images and arrows clearly demonstrate how to press the dough. I haven't tried any of the recipes but the Delish name can be trusted t...

Stories in the Park Pippa's Night Parade Written by Lisa Robinson Illustrated by Lucy Fleming New York: Two Lions, 2019. Picture Book. Using her wild imagination to dream up adorable creations, young Pippa finds the limits of her creativity tested on a night when monsters sneak out of her storybooks to scare her. --Editor Stories in the Park Let's Build a Dam! Written by Daniel Fehr Illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio New York: NorthSouth Books Inc., 2023. Picture Book. Hilarity ensues when siblings set out to build a simple dam in this charming picture book for young children. Siblings May, Lily, and Noah build a dam. Stone by stone, their dam grows higher and higher, until their creation attracts the attention of fishermen, pirates, and even the King and his fleet. The sky's the limit, until Noah wants his stone back . . . Each page builds upon the previous scene as the children's imaginations also grow. Children will delight in pointing out the changing details on ...

Life (as we know it) Written by Ziggy Hanaor  Illustrated by Cristobal Schmal London : Cicada Books, 2025. Informational. Life (as we know it)  takes readers on a fascinating journey through the history of life on Earth. It begins with the earliest moments of the universe and continues through the evolution of plants, animals, and humans. Hanaor presents complex scientific ideas in a succinct and accessible way that inspires curiosity and wonder about the origins of our planet. Schmal’s artwork shifts and evolves alongside the text, helping readers visualize the vast changes that have taken place over time. This thoughtful nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice for readers who enjoy science, nature, and big questions about the world around them. Personal libraries will find it a valuable addition to collections that support STEM learning while also encouraging reflection and discussion. The author is very clear that the scientific community does not have all the answer...

We have been telling stories to each other for a very long time. Stories that stick around for centuries become myths and legends. Through these stories we can learn about all sorts of different things, like how different cultures interact with the world now and back in the distant, ancient past. Reading about different cultures' mythology is one of my favorite things. Here are some books if you also like to learn about the myths and legends that are told around the world. The Amazing Book of World Mythology  By Stella Caldwell  London: Buster Books, 2025. Informational  This collection of 20 mythological tales takes you on a journey around the world. With illustrations vividly done by 20 different artists, each representing their own cultures, this book tells stories of myths from cultures far and wide. Stories of gods, monsters, heroes, and warriors from histories from around the world. This book is an amazing resource with exploring mythology from around the world ...

The Second Life of Snap By Erin Entrada Kelly New York: Greenwillow Books, 2026. Science fiction. 164 pgs. 12-year-old Zuzu Santos does not like robots. Really, she doesn't trust anything that comes from the Lockwood Corporation; the super-conglomerate that governs life for the people in Barren, Texas. Zuzu and her fellow 'dusties' live in trailers with strict water rations in Barren, meanwhile people who live across the shelterbelt in the city of Bountiful have actual trees and all the water they want. To add insult to injury, Zuzu's father has been laid off by Lockwood and as a parting gift has been given a castoff robot—sans charging cable. To make things even worse, this robot is a guardian robot, specifically programmed to ensure Zuzu is attending school, doing homework, and other things a chaperone might do. Zuzu takes the robot to a nearby salvage yard, where her friend manages to reprogram the robot. In a twist, Snap (Secure Network Android Processor) now has a ...

Even Steven Written by Carrie Finison Illustrated by Daniel Wiseman New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2026. Picture Book. Steven loves sharing. He especially loves sharing by cutting everything in half. "It's fun. It's fair. It's even." But sometimes cutting things in half isn't the best way to share, like if you're sharing a book! Help a very literal Steven learn different ways to share that may, or may not be exactly even.  This book is sure to get kids laughing as Steven tries to share absurd things. Should you give every person one slide? Should you take turns licking a lollipop? This book also starts a conversation about equity. Sometimes people don't always get the same thing, but it can still be fair. The last pages end with asking the reader how Steven could share different types of objects. This is sure to be a funny primer for teaching children about sharing and how fairness doesn't always mean equal.