Provo Library Children's Book Blog

If you like Christmas stories with a message, A Perfect Snowman might be the holiday book for you. All the neighborhood children agree that one little boy’s winter creation is the perfect snowman. The proud snowman silently agrees with them. His is a fine specimen. But when a starving rabbit and her children beg him for the beautiful carrot he wears as a nose, will the snowman let his pride stop him from helping another in need? Though the story is a little heavy-handed at times (think Little Match Girl) the soft sepia-toned illustrations are so gorgeous they drew me in right from the start. The snowman is charming, the animals and children are as sweet as can be. Even the moon’s smiling face makes you want to cuddle right up to him. If you like warm fuzzies and stories filled with the compassion and love that abounds this time of year, you should enjoy this book.

There are so many different collections of illustrated Mother Goose how do you choose just one to check out? Look no further. Scott Gustafson’s Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose is practically perfect in every way. The Nursery Rhymes are the classics, but Gustafson’s whimsical interpretation of the characters brings something sparkling and new to a much overdone subject. His pictures have some humans and some animals starring in the main roles. Jack be nimble is a wily cricket. Jack Sprat is a skinny lizard married to an enormous toad. Peter Pumpkin eater and his wife are squirrels who live quite comfortably inside a darling pumpkin house. The detail in Gustafson’s work is amazing and takes several repeat viewings to catch all the little things he has added to each picture. (An extremely tiny lady bug writes a letter with an even smaller quill pen in one picture. Tea pots, milk jugs and salt shakers have smiling faces in another.) The book is a slightly larger format than most...

This book is great for readers with a short attention span. It is compromised of four short, extremely imaginative stories. Each story is divided into its own chapters. The illustrations are fantastic and add to the excitement of the stories. Characters include rat pirates, aliens, a princess in the belly of a beast, penguinmaids, and a giant sea serpent. During the first story I was a little disappointed in the book, but when I imagined myself as I young reader the stories became more entertaining and enjoyable.

This is an excellent book for young girls who love mermaids. Boys, who love adventures, will even be interested in reading To Catch A Mermaid. A twister has come through the town Boom Broom lives in and has killed his mother and made his sister and father scared to leave the house. Boom feels like everything in his life is going wrong. Then he finds a merbaby in the scrap bucket at the docks. Mertyle, Boom’s sister, is in charge of caring for the baby. Problems arise for Boom when the merbaby begins to grants the wishes his sister makes and a mermaid’s curse begins to make Mertyle sick. It is up to Boom to solve the curse and save his family. This story is well written with excellent, hilarious descriptions.

In this cool, informative book, all kinds of fascinating shark facts are discussed. The book talks about many different types of sharks, accompanied by beautiful, vivid photographs and fun illustrations. My favorite feature about this particular book is the way some of the facts are hidden under flaps, some with questions that lead you into the answer underneath. They are fun to turn and some have unexpected answers. For example, why do you think sharks bite metal cages? Go to page 20 of this book to discover the surprising answer! For anyone who loves to learn interesting facts or is crazy about sharks, take a bite out of this book!

The first 8 pages of Do Unto Otters were quite funny. However, the rest of the book was rather disappointing. After the entertaining introduction of Mr. Rabbit and his new neighbors, the Otters, the story became tedious in the explanation of proper manners. The information is good, but the transition from one topic to the other didn't seem to flow smoothly. Keep in mind that this is a grown-ups opinion, young children will probably enjoy it as they learn about "DOING UNTO OTTERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE OTTERS DO UNTO YOU".

Mary lives inside a big house. A small mouse lives inside a little house inside Mary’s big house. And so begins this charming story about a young girl and a young mouse whose parents have both warned them about each other. People are mean and set traps. Mice can bite and they are dirty. But Mary and the mouse discover they might not be so different after all. This is a gentle approach to teaching very young children about overcoming prejudice. Barbara McClintock’s warm and inviting illustrations are full of fun little details (such as the decorations on the walls of mouse’s home) that will draw children in and make them want to closely examine each page.

As much as I loved The Spiderwick Chronicles, I can't say the same thing for Beyond The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Nixie's Song . The cover art was just as intriguing as the previous volumes, but for me that is where the intrigue stopped. A new family of characters is introduced, but there is very little, if any, character development. I had no connection with the main characters and would not have been sad had they been destroyed by the local giant. I felt that the creators were trying to do two things: 1) Promote their original series as well as Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You; and 2) Create a series that will appeal to fans of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. I am sure many readers will enjoy this book. I however, nearly didn't finish the book out of pure boredom. Also, readers and parents need to be aware of a few instances of inappropriate language.

THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED FLY GUY; Tedd Arnold; Picture Book; New York: Scholastic, 2007; 30 pgs. Anyone familiar with Tedd Arnold's Hi! Fly Guy! series should delight in his latest offering, There was an Old Lady who Swallowed Fly Guy. The old lady is Buzz's grandmother who accidentally inhales Fly Guy when Buzz and his pet come to visit. Fly Guy doesn't much like the contents of Grandma's stomach so he tries to fly back out her mouth, only to be overwhelmed by the spider, dog, cat, cow, etc., that Grandma is frantically swallowing to take care of Fly Guy. Arnold's unique perspective on this age-old and much-parodied favorite is a pure delight.

GIMME CRACKED CORN & I WILL SHARE; Kevin O'Malley; Picture Book; New York: Walker & Company, 2007; unpaged. Corn and chickens are a near-fatal combination in this groaner of a picture book where O'Malley shamelessly struts out nearly every elementary school joke about our feathered friends known to man and long-suffering Mom. O'Malley's illustrations are cheerily Gothic, if there is such a thing, and kids in the know should find this volume a laugh and a half.

Looking for a Halloween appropriate book to read to your child while all the REAL Halloween books are all checked out? This book might just be the answer to your problems. Charlie is the smallest kid in his class. When the class is asked to line up according to size, Charlie is always dead last. Then one day, his teacher asks an intriguing question. “How many seeds in a pumpkin?” And which pumpkin will have the most seeds, a large one, a medium one, or a small one? Having an affinity for all things small, Charlie chooses to be in charge of gutting and counting the seeds of the smallest pumpkin. Like me, you might be surprised by the interesting things you learn about pumpkins while reading this book. (Did you know you can tell if a pumpkin has more or less seeds just by counting its lines?) Learning to count by twos, fives, and tens is briefly covered in the story and Charlie’s Pumpkin Facts at the end of the book will have kids wanting to try their hand at growing some pumpkins of th...

MJ Auch loosely based One-Handed Catch on an accident her husband suffered when he was a child working in his father's meat market. Young Norman Schmidt is working in the family grocery store on the 4th of July, anticipating the fireworks he will enjoy with his friend later that night. As he helps his father grind meat his left hand gets caught and ends up being amputated. Norm is sure this is the end to all of his hopes and dreams. He aspired to be a professional baseball player and an artist. Thanks to the support of his mother, doctor, teachers and friends, Norm learns that he is capable of doing anything he wants, he just has to work a lot harder than other people. The title and cover may suggest this is primarily a sports book, but it is much more than that. It is a story of family ties, friendships, and most of all determination. The post WWII setting adds yet another dimension to the novel, as it shows how people were trying to regain a sense of normalcy. One-Handed Catch i...

Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff By Jennifer L. Holm Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2007. Unpaged. Chapter book. Jennifer L. Holm has given us a different style novel this time. Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff is full of exactly that, stuff. It is not your standard novel with lots of words and a few illustrations. The entire story of Ginny Davis' 7th grade year is revealed to the reader through report cards, classroom assignments, notes from her mom, postcards from her grandpa, cartoons drawn by her brother, refrigerator magnets, receipts and many, many more things. It is truly amazing how much you can learn about a person from their stuff. This book made me laugh, it made me cry, it brought back both good and bad memories from my own junior high years. Although this book is written in an unconventional way, it still conveys all the up and down emotions of a typical 7th grade girl.

S t u f f to hold your S t u f f By Ellen Warwick Kids Can Press, 2006. 80 pp. Juvenile nonfiction. Another great craft book by Ellen Warwick, Stuff to hold your Stuff will charm the socks right off young girls. All about how to make cool bags, purses, and totes, this book is a great resource for girls who love to create. The charming and hip illustrations by Bernice Lum really compliment the fun feeling of the book and also help clarify the purse-making steps. Some of the ideas can be made without a sewing machine, but most of the crafts will be easier with the use of one. All together, this is a wonderful book that will help you to "get a grip with some brilliant baggage!"