Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Laura Amy Schlitz is the 2007 Newbery Award winner. But she didn't win it for this book, The Bearskinner . Read it anyway!!! You'll find it in the 300's of the juvenile nonfiction section because it's a retelling of a Brothers Grimm tale. And what a beauty! Well written, breathtakingly illustrated, it's a story that you will remember because it is profound. A soldier, uniform is rags, walks through a forest in the winter's cold. Who should pop up but the devil himself, offering a deal that seems to be the answer to all the soldier's dreams. The soldier accepts and must live with the deal and it's rules for the next seven years. What is the deal? What are the rules? Does the soldier lose his soul? Read The Bearskinner and find out.

The Blazer series are excellent books for reluctant boy readers who like disgusting things. They will love and be delighted with the disgusting details given. (I was fascinated but very disgusted!) There are only a few sentences per page so beginning readers should be able to handle reading the information. On each page spread there is also a disgusting meter rating how disgusting the information is. The book starts with a small amount of disgustingness and gradually grows to the height of the meter. The pictures are big and colorful and help to explain the writing. Disgusting Animals is my favorite book in the series. With page titles such as Bird Barf, Slime Time, and Blood Suckers these books are sure to be a hit with any boy. Also check out Disgusting Bugs and Disgusting Plants.

A COUPLE OF BOYS HAVE THE BEST WEEK EVER ; Marla Frazee; New York: Harcourt, 2008, unpaged. Picture book. James and Eamon visit Eamon's grandparents so they can go to nature day camp, but the only way you will not what they did there is from the front and end papers, because although we see them driving too, and back from, camp, they make their own fun through the rest of the book eating banana waffles, staring at each other through binoculars ("his freckles are HUGE"), playing video games, and camping out in the basment. Grandpa's attempts to get the boys to go to the penguin display at the Nature Museum or peruse a map of Antarctica, fall on polite but disinterested ears, until their last night together when they finally connect with nature and make for Grandpa something that Grandpa will love. Frazee's delightful new picture book is charged with the goofy charm of two young boys having their own kind of fun--even the front has guy jokes (25 cents is the cover ...

In the charming book, Calendar , each month of the year is presented in a lovely two-page spread. Extremely simple texts describe seasonal highlights, but it is Hillenbrand’s fantastically fun artwork that makes this book something really special. Icy January, April showers, picnics in July—it’s all here in bright, colorful detail. The beautifully designed collage illustrations invoke moods and memories harkening back to classic Ezra Jack Keats. If you’ve been searching for the perfect seasonal book simple enough for a preschooler to understand, look no further.

100 Cupboards By N.D. Wilson Random House, 2007. 289 pp. Chapter book. When Henry York moves to Kansas to stay with his aunt and uncle, strange things begin happening. Once night, a chunk of plaster falls off the wall behind him and awakens him. He discovers an unusual cupboard hidden beneath the plaster and, with the help of his cousin, Henrietta, eventually uncovers a whole wall of cupboards varying in shape and size. Most of the cupboards are locked, but the few they are able to open mysteriously connect to other places. This begins a strange adventure with both wonderful and frightening circumstances as Harry and Henrietta attempt to unlock the mystery of the cupboards. This book was a very entertaining and interesting read. It was a bit slow in the start and the ending was also rather bizarre, but it was nonetheless a great idea. I enjoyed the creativity and inventiveness of the plot and, after getting past the first chapter or so, sped through the book because I was so curious to...

DOWN THE COLORADO: JOHN WESLEY POWELL, THE ONE-ARMED EXPLORER; Deborah Kogan Ray; New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007, unpaged. Non-Fiction. Deborah Kogan Ray's equally impressive text and illustrations bring John Wesley Powell brilliantly to life in her new picture book/biography for children. Anyone who grew up in the West will know what Major Powell is famous for--running and mapping the Colorado River, but do you know how he lost his arm? (Shot in the wrist at the Battle of Shiloh, his infected arm had to be amputated?) Or did you know that after his adventures on the Colorado he was the director of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of Ethnology and of the U. S. Geological Survey simultaneously. Down the Colorado is an impressive biography of an extraordinary man. A helpful chronology and bibliography are appended.

HEY, YOU! POEMS TO SKYSCRAPERS, MOSQUITOES, AND OTHER FUN THINGS; Selected by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Robert Rayevsky; New York: HarperCollins, 2007, 40 pgs. Poetry Paul Janeczko is a genius in the eclectic poetry for children division--in fact, probably the genius. In this latest book he collects poems addressed to animals and objects. Joan Bransfield Graham talks to her sneakers, ". . . tails/ flaring, you seem/ ready to blaze into/ the day . . . ." Russell Hoban expresses his disgust directly to the soft-boiled egg whose "many ways" he does not like, and Penny Harter and Kristine George talk to a buffalo and a bison, respectively, "shaggy, with a very bad/ upholstery job." The poems, as they would be, are a mixed bag, some splendid, some not so much. But what a great place for kids to start, seeing things in new ways!

GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS; Caralyn Buehner and Mark Buehner; New York: Penguin, 2007; unpaged. Picture Book. Caralyn Buehner's pleasantly straightforward retelling of the Three Bears is brilliantly complemented by her husband's lovely, funny illustrations. "Once upon a time, in a little house in the woods, there lived a family of bears," and the woods are Rocky Mountain woods--aspen, blue spruce, with a glittering mountain stream nearby. As the bears leave to let their porridge cool, the blues and greens of this halcyon setting give way to a frenetic bright red and yellow Goldilocks, skipping rope down the path, and speaking in rhymes of jump-rope meter. Goldilocks' googling eyes and shredded wheat ringlets reflect her annoyingly frenetic nature and we greet with relief the return of the bears who scare her out the window. As usual in a Buehner book, the pictures are laugh-aloud funny. Everything is "bear" in this house--Smokey Bear on the wall, a...

Have you ever wondered how cat litter is made? Maybe not, but I am sure you have wondered how dental floss is made! What about ketchup, marbles, CDs or band-aids? And I am positive that everyone wants to know how they get that ship in a bottle? If you read Transformed: How Everyday Things are Made then these mysteries will be revealed to you along with many others. The text is relatively easy to understand, just be sure to follow the numbers as the flow of text changes with each item. The humorous, cartoon-like illustrations and fun fact boxes are an added bonus to the entries. An entertaining and educational book for all ages.

I'm not a big poetry reader. It's simply not my first choice when I look for a new book to read. But THIS book by Bobbi Katz had me absolutely enthralled! Katz has researched and put to verse the experiences of explorers dating back to Adam and Eve ("The First Explorers"), all the way up to the roving robots, Spirit and Opportunity. The majority of poems are in 1st person, but many are from the point of view of someone who was with the explorer. For example, some of Genghis Khan's experiences are shared through "Jebe" and "Subed", two of Khan's commanders. Katz gives equal time to women as she does to men. We hear from well know female explorers, such as Sally Ride, and also from women who don't necessarily get credit for the exploration itself, but were present, nonetheless. For example, Florence Baker, wife of Sir Samuel Baker, who is known for his explorations to find the source of the Nile back in the mid 1800's, was right there...

This large-sized biography is very reader friendly with wonderful illustrations by M.P. Robertson. The information is provided through short entries in the diary of Nefret, Cleopatra's young handmaid. Nefret describes what life was like for her before she worked in the palace and after. She tells of what is going on in the life of the queen as well. The reader learns of Cleopatra's relationship with the Romans, particularly Julius Caesar. In her diary, Nefret does mention her own family and friends, but it is obvious how as a royal servant her life centered on her queen, Cleopatra . A section at the end of the book includes Cleopatra's family tree, maps, time-lines, glossary and more specific information relating to the time period. The cover will grab the attention of many children with the sparkling jewels. Robertson's illustrations will keep their attention the rest of the way.

MAY I PET YOUR DOG? THE HOW-TO GUIDE FOR KIDS MEETING DOGS; Stephanie Calmenson; New York: Clarion, 2007. Non-fiction. Harry, the aptly named dachshund, is our young protagonist's guide for how to meet and greet unfamiliar dogs. Harry wants to be friends, so he suggests that the young boy ask the owner, "May I pet your dog?" Depending on the dog's temperament the owner may say yes or no, but if he says yes, Harry has some hints: Put your hand out to the dog, palm down, and let him sniff it. Do not approach the dog head-on; a side approach is better. Do not interfere with a service dog in the performance of his duties. Do not approach a dog that snarls, growls, or bristles. Even with these "do nots," the main thrust of this gentle little book is that most dogswant to be friends, but for child and animal, it's best to know the rules.

THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY ; Siobhan Dowd; New York: Random House, 2007; 323 pgs. Kat and Ted Sparks are nervous about the upcoming visit of their cousin Salim, Ted especially, because he would have to share his bedroom because he would have to listen to Salim breathe, and he couldn't listen to the shipping forecast late at night. As it turns out, the kids like Salim, but don't have much time to get acquainted because when they take him to ride on the London Eye, a kind of Ferris wheel for viewing London from aloft, he goes up, but he doesn't come down. Ted is the endearing narrator of this puzzling and exciting mystery, his "differently wired" brain eventually able to solve a seemingly insoluble riddle. Meteorology, the Coriolus force, counting Shreddies at breakfast, and a mysterious stranger at the London Eye all play a part in this intriguing puzzle for upper elementary grade readers and young adults. (Be aware: British slang and vocabulary may be confusing for so...

There are three separate worlds that coexist in perfect harmony as long as nothing disrupts their delicate balance. The council that maintains the worlds' equilibrium can foresee the future. Knowing the worlds will eventually encounter great turmoil they decide to selectively breed three young children who when grown will join together and embark on a quest that will result in bringing the three worlds back in sync. The three children are Bryn, Madlen and Cam - one from each of the worlds. Bryn is a boy, Madlen is a girl and Cam is an it. Apparently on Cam's world each person gets to decide their own gender when they reach puberty. Bryn becomes obsessed with trying to figure out what Cam is or will be by asking such questions as "how do you go to the bathroom"? The last page of the book reveals to Bryn what Cam becomes, but not to the reader. The author makes this subplot too important and it detracts from the telling of their actual quest. The author is also rather...

DUCK SOUP ; Jackie Urbanovic; New York: HarperCollins, 2008, unpaged. Picture Book We know from the Marx Brothers that anything named "Duck Soup" will probably be funny, and Jackie Urbanovic's new picture book is no exception. Duck loves to cook and often invites his friends to dinner, but he has never cooked anything from his own recipe. When he steps out to collect some herbs from the garden to add to his vegetable soup, his friends show up and seeing a feather floating in the brew, believe the worst. A wooden spoon, a cell phone, and a strainer become part of the wild melee of dog, cat, and parrot trying to find their friend in this hilarious telling of the difference between duck soup and soup made by a duck.

POCKET BABIES AND OTHER AMAZING MARSUPIALS ; Sneed B. Collard III; Plain City, OH: Darby Creek, 2007; 72pgs. Ms. Collard begins this fascinating text with a description of the three different kinds of mammals: Monotremes (egg-layers, 5 species); Placental (live birth, fully formed babies, 4300 species); and Marsupial (live birth of partially formed babys, or embryons, 300 species). From here we learn more than we knew there was to learn about opposums, possums (they are different!), koalas, wombats, sugar gliders, and Tasmanian devils. The photographs are bright, crisp, and often endearing. Any child (or adult) interested in animals should find this text fascinating and memorable.