Provo Library Children's Book Blog

STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY By Bebe Moore Campbell and Richard Yarde Philomel, 2006. Unpaged. Picture Book. Bebe Moore Campbell's text and especially Richard Yarde's pictures make Stompin' at the Savoy a toe-tapping triumph. Mindy doesn't want to go to her recital because she doesn't want to dance in front of strangers, but when a talking drum escorts her back in time to the Savoy Ballroom in its heyday she comes to know that dancing is the thing and who cares who is watching? Richard Yarde's ziggy-zaggy serrated watercolors give the whole book an electric buzz that, combined with references to jazz and swing greats of the past (and their incomparable music), will have you hopping in your chair before you reach the end. The abrupt ending and a subplot involving a Frankenstein-like bouncer don't work as well as the rest of the story, but don't detract significantly from the fun.

TRAVELIN' THE NORTHEAST (Travels with Charlie) By Miles Backer and Chuck Nitzberg Blue Apple Books, 2006. Unpaged. Juvenile nonfiction. In this little kids' version of John Steinbeck's classic Travels with Charley, children are invited to visit brightly pictured regions of the country, and find Charlie among the tourist spots and historic sites. This volume looks at states from Ohio to Vermont, conveying much useful and interesting information in the form of a brisk little rhyming format that asks children, "Where's Charlie?" at the end of each verse, in the repetitive format that kids love. Billed as a "Search & Find Geography Book," this book (and the others in the series to which it belongs) not only make learning about the states painless, but great fun. Highly recommended.

Secret of the Sirens By Julia Golding Marshall Cavendish, 2007. 357 pgs. Chapter book. Julia Golding has given us an exciting new series dealing with mythical creatures. Secret of the Sirens is the first of four volumes. Connie has been expelled from numerous schools due to her affinity for animals (they flock to her wherever she is). In desperation her parents send her to live with her aunt on the British coast. Connie is ecstatic when she finds she fits in with her aunts friends, all members of the Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures. Connie discovers her ability to communicate with animals is a gift, not a curse. But is she gifted enough to help the society stop the evil Kullervo who is intent on wiping out humanity? And what about Axoil, the oil company building a refinery in a place that will endanger many mythical and non-mythical creatures alike. This book is full of sirens, selkies, pegasi, dragons, and more. Lots of action and fun characters makes for a great rea...

Hitler's Canary By Sandi Toksvig Roaring Book Press, 2007. 191 pgs. Chapter book. The small country of Denmark was known as Hitler's canary during World War II. They were given this nickname because the Germans thought they were small and defenseless and could easily be turned into pets. The story is told from the perspective of Bamse, a young boy living in the heart of Copenhagen. His mother is a popular stage actress and his father an artist. Bamse learns much about humanity in the last years of the war. The greatest lesson being, "not all Germans were bad and not all the Danes were good. There were just some good people and some bad people, and it wasn't always easy to tell the difference." Denmark, though a small country, played a huge role during the war. Despite Hitler's efforts, less than 2% of Danish Jews died. The author based the book on stories her father told of his experiences in Denmark during the war. A fascinating book showing that people can d...

Time Spies Series By Candice Ransom There is a new intermediate series by Candice Ransom that I believe will appeal to fans of The Magic Tree House books. The series is called Time Spies, so far there are 7 books available (the library has the first three so far). As I read these books I was reminded somewhat of the classic Ruth Chew books; kids find a magic something and begin their adventures. To summarize the series: Mattie, Alex and Sophie Chapman and their parents move to an inn in the Virginia countryside. As the new owners of the Gray Horse Inn, the Chapman kids have a lot of exploring to do. They are immediately drawn into adventure when they discover a secret door in a the only room on the third floor. On the other side of the door is an ancient desk also with secret compartment. Here they find a brass spyglass. When all three kids are touching the spyglass they are transported to a different place and time where they must figure out their mission and complete it before return...

WHERE IS THE CAKE? By Tjong Khing The Abrams, 2007. 25pp. Picture Book. When a couple of bold-faced rats dart out of the woods and steal Mr. and Mrs. Dog's cake, the game's afoot as animals large and small take up the chase. Mrs. Dog leaves the house in hot pursuit with oven mitt still on and purse in hand, and heads down the path past Mother Duck and her ducklings headed for the river, a stork overhead, someone (frogs, we later learn) playing soccer behind the bushes. As the dogs chase the rats, the pig family gets involved as Little Pig topples off cliff, and Ms. Rabbit takes a rake in the face. Tjong Khing The's delightful wordless picture book is brightly colored, filled with humor and adventure, great fun for youngsters and their Significant Olders.

Alter This! by Alena Hennessy Lark Books, 2007. 96 pp. Juvenile nonfiction. This is a great how-to book on ways to transform old or unwanted books into art. Not only does the book come with step-by-step instructions about the technicalities of the craft, it has several clever ideas and suggestions for altering books, too! There are craft ideas on how to make drawers, purses, a working clock, shadow boxes, game boards, and all kinds of nifty creations. Several of the book alterations require use of a craft/exacto knife and specific measuring and cutting, but there are also many that include simply painting and pasting and perhaps some scissor cutting. Overall, the book is directed to 9-12 year olds. There are projects that would interest both boys and girls. If you are a person who loves to create, this is the perfect book for you!

No Talking By Andrew Clements Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2007. 146 pgs. Chapter Book. "Okay, here’s the deal: a whole day of no talking at school. Not in class, not in the halls, not on the playground, nowhere. No talking at all and it’s a contest—boys against girls. Whichever side talks less, wins." And so begins the hilarious competition between the rowdy fifth-grade boys and girls of Laketon Elementary. Keeping completely silent for forty-eight hours is a lot more challenging and brings about a lot more consequences than any of the students ever imagined—especially when the teachers get involved. Anyone who loved the spirited high jinx of Andrew Clement’s book Frindle will like No Talking . Some children may find the occasional breaks to the less exciting teachers’ points of view mildly distracting but the rest of the story more than makes up for it.

Skunks Sandra Markle Lerner Publications Company, 2007. 39 pgs. Juvenile nonfiction. If you want to learn some interesting facts about skunks, read Skunks by Sandra Markle . It is part of the Animal Prey series. This book has great photos and kid friendly text that is very informative. The author is quite blunt about certain aspects of the skunks life. She is very descriptive of the stinky squirting process. Also, she mentions the various ways in which young skunks die. None of this should be surprising if you realize you are reading a book from a series about Animal Prey. Some of our more sensitive youngsters might not like this series, but it should definitely be recommended to those doing reports on the various animals. There are two other series of a similar nature by Markle , they are Animal Predators and Animal Scavengers .

Monstersong by Mathilde Stein Lemniscaat, 2007. Unpaged. Picture book. A delightful picture book told in verse, Monstersong is a laugh for everyone. Little pig calls for his mother - "There's a monster down there!" (Under his bed.) His mother says there are "five little cuties", and preceeds to pull them out one by one, putting them in bed with little pig. Frustrated and annoyed by the smelly and gross things associated with monsters, he suggests that there is a bigger bed, down the hall: his mother's! This is an especially good book for little ones who are new to the idea of monsters - looking at them in this funny light might make it easier to turn off the light.

How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. 170 pgs. Chapter book. Georgina Hayes is a desperate 12-year old. Her father recently abandoned her family, leaving them with only "three rolls of quarters and a mayonnaise jar full of wadded-up dollar bills ". As a result Georgiana, her younger brother Toby and their mother evicted from their apartment and forced to live in their car. While her mother is working two jobs trying to get them back in an apartment, Georgina and Toby continue going to school and pretending that they still live in their apartment. Georgina is sick of not having a real house with a real shower and a real kitchen and a real bed. After seeing a reward poster for a lost dog, Georgina creates a grand plan to steal a dog in order to get reward money. How to Steal a Dog portrays a young girl's struggle with choosing right from wrong. She learns how her actions affect those around her and how to deal with the consequences of ...

Monster Things to Make and Do by Rebecca Gilpin Usborne, 2006. 30 pgs. Juvenile nonfiction. This is the funnest book of the year! With its full-size colorful pages, you can make monster masks, gloves, puppets, bookmarks…you name it. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, and the materials are all easily accessible. I tried the dangly monster, which received several compliments (by way of ‘woh!’, and ‘cool!’) from boys. Girls will also love them – especially the sparkly options (pg. 18). The only downer is that it’s paperback. This is also part of the Usborne Activities series (excellent) which includes everything from Fairies to Pirates.

ATOMIC UNIVERSE: THE QUEST TO DISCOVER RADIOACTIVITY By Kate Boehm Jerome National Geographic Society, 2006; Juvenile nonfiction; 57pgs. Atomic Universe is filled with good information about the discovery of the structure of the atom and of radioactivity. Jerome's style is ideally suited to a middle-grade reader; she presents her material in a conversational style with just the right amount of detail to keep things interesting. Unfortunately, the book presupposes its young readers already know what radioactivity is and she never links Mendeleyev's discovery of atomic weights and measures with the discovery of X-rays, polonium, and radium, nor does she ever explain that those"mysterious rays" are actually particles and why they are sometimes deadly and sometimes good. This could have been a crackerjack of a book, but instead, it is fatally flawed.

And the Train Goes By William Bee Candlewick Press, 2007. Unpaged. Picture book. If you like the Caldecott treasure Drummer Hoff , this book is for you!. Quirky 60's illustrations of a whimsical train going clickerty-click, clickerty-clack down the tracks will fascinate readers ages 2-6. All of the fun, phonological words of each train car will be repeated at the end by a lovely green parrot, who remembers each train car and each sound made. The fact that author/illustrator William Bee lives in the English countryside is the reason why this picture book has such a nice British flavor.

A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston Chronicle Books, 2007. 28 pgs. Juvenile nonfiction. A Seed Is Sleepy introduces the life cycle of a seed, using easy-to-read text and brightly painted beautiful pictures. While it is very informative, it does it passively, instead reading more like a picture book. This should attract children of all ages – especially those who avoid the non-fiction area. A shoe-in for the Caldecott! Also read An Egg is Quiet by the same dynamic duo.

I am a Taxi Deborah Ellis Groundwood Books, 2006. 205 pgs. Chapter book. Diego is an intelligent 12- year -old boy living in San Sebastian's Women's Prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia with his mother and young sister Corina. His father lives across the square in San Sebastian's Men's Prison. These prisons have been Diego's home for almost four years. Since it is his mother who is the prisoner, not him, Diego is allowed a lot of freedom. He runs errands for many of the inmates in the prisons to earn some money. He also attends a good school and enjoys learning. His best friend gets him involved in a job that will make them rich. Diego knows that any job in Bolivia that pays that much money is in the drug business, but to help his family he goes along with Mando , not knowing what it will cost him in the end. In I am a Taxi , Deborah Ellis portrays Diego as an admirable and likable character, though far from perfect. Despite the environment he is growing up in, he has a ...

LIGHTSHIP By Brian Floca Atheneum, 2007. 38 pp. Juvenile nonfiction. History is made not only easy but fascinating in Brian Floca's new picture book about the stationary ships that once guided ships into the world's harbors. Equipped with foghorns, bright lights, a captain and crew, lightships sailed only long enough to anchor in hazardous areas of the harbor, to warn ships away. Floca's pictures are bright and true--the sea is most often green-yellow and gray rather than blue, the lightship Ambrose is a child-attractive bright red, and the gulls are the color gulls should be. One of the delightful things about this picture book is Floca's command of perspective. The crew is shown working against and with the tilt of the ship as it rocks in the waves, and he shows us the ship from the crow's nest down, and a cat's eye view of the inner workings as seen from the deck. A very large ship which almost runs the Ambrose down is slyly named the Ardizzone , possibl...