Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Lincoln Shot: A President’s Life Remembered by Barry Denenberg is a fascinating book on Abraham Lincoln’s life. This is just one of the many new books coming out on Abraham Lincoln to celebrate his 200th birthday. The first thing that grabbed me about this book was the size. Don’t go looking for this in the regular stacks at the library because it won’t fit; instead look for it in the big books. The books size is so large because the entire book reads like a newspaper and looks like one to. To add to the affect the pages are yellowed to look old and there are ads on the pages to purchase medicine, top hats and more. The author does a great job explaining in simple words Lincoln’s life, family, accomplishments, and death. Sometimes the size of the book made it awkward to read, but I still enjoyed reading about this wonderful president! There pictures, most of which were drawn, were also fun to look at and made the stories come even more to life.

Pretty Like Us ; Carol Lynch Williams; Atlanta, GA: Peachtree, 2008; 183 pp. A simply told story, Pretty Like Us is about the friendship that develops between Beauty, who is painfully shy, and the new student, Alane, who is battling a life-threatening disease called progeria. Both girls have dealt with being social outcasts, and while Alane has learned to rise above it, Beauty finds herself terrified to befriend Alane. However, in the end, Beauty finds strength through her relationship with Alane and learns she is braver than she ever imagined. This is a heartwarming and gentle story that has great heart. It's an excellent book that shows true beauty comes from within. Two thumbs up.

SCIENCE FAIR ; Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson; New York: Disney, 2008; 394pgs. Fiction. Science Fair is a way over the top, non-stop, goofball, nearly terminally silly story of the time when the tiny republic of Krpshtskan tried to bring down the U. S. government by way of the Hubble Middle School science fair. Toby and his friends must outwit their unbelieving principle (The Hornet), a laser-eyed attack owl, D. Arthur Vaderian and the Wookie, the shopping network loving Krpshtskanis with the stinky cheese in their pants, and the Federal Government to save the United States and the honor of Hubble Middle(home of the Fighting Orbital Observatories). A perfect book for tweens who like actionand laughs. Don't drink milk while you are reading, though, because you will snort it.

The Pet Dragon: A story about adventure, friendship, and Chinese characters ; Christoph Nieman; New York: Greenwillow Books, 2008; 31pp. Picture book. When Lin receives a baby dragon as a gift, she gains a new friend. They do everything together until the dragon vanishes one day, which causes Lin to set out on a journey to find him. Will they ever be reunited? This charming and innoventive book uses pictures in conjection with Chinese characters to tell a story. Nieman's clever layering of the Chinese characters over a corresponding picture is a really wonderful way to both play with the graphic quality of the Chinese kanji. For the Chinese character "person," the kanji symbol is used to create the body of the main character. His pictures are simply illustrated with a sophisticated color palette. Although the story is a bit disjointed, he still managed to make it interesting, especially considering all the kanji that was included. Altogether, this is a fun and intere...

Nobody Here But Me ; Judith Viorst; New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008; 29pp. Picture book. Sometimes you can feel all alone in a crowd--even in your own house with every family member home! That's the situation of the young boy in this story. He keeps trying to get attention from his parents and sibling, but everyone is too busy to notice him, despite many attempts, including making a huge mess in the kitchen and hiding in the basement. Even crying "Wolf!" gets him nowhere. The best aspect of this book stems from the fact that everyone has felt that "lonely, but not alone" feeling before. Every person, especially children, crave attention and this book is a great reminder that people, particularly family, should come first in our lives. This is a book that will strike a chord with everyone!

THE MOUSE FAMILY ROBINSON ; Dick King-Smith; New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2007; 71pp. Intermediate fiction. King-Smith's latest promises more than it delivers, at least in terms of its being the adventure novel that its title suggests. The mouse family, name of Robinson, decide to move to a new house because theirs is too cat-ridden. Minor adventures follow as they make their way down the street to a house that not only has not cats, but has a boy who keeps pet mice. What Mouse Family Robinson deals with mainly is the life cycle. Many baby mice are born; some mice die at the claws of the cats; one beloved adopted uncle mouse dies from old age; and the hero of the story begins his own family. Not vintage King-Smith, by any means, but not bad.

Human civilization has fallen after the Trinary Wars. The Meks (mechanical things who rebelled against human owners) and beasts (all animals) have taken over the surface of the earth. Humans have fled underground, taken to the sky in a city held up by hot-air balloons, or live a dangerous life above ground. Kaimira Book One: The Sky Village tells the stories of two children, Mei (of the Sky Village) and Rom (who resides in what was once Las Vegas). Each has been entrusted with the care of a special, magical book by their respective parents. They were both instructed to never open the book. However, we all know that telling them not to open it just guarantees that they will. The authors have given us a novel full of action and excitement along with fascinating, complex characters. The only bad part about this book is having to wait anforever for the next part! Also of note are the gorgeous black and white illustrations appearing throughout the book. These full two-page spreads have grea...

This book is on several lists as a Newbery contender. I agree with that opinion, to a certain point . Love Me Tender is well written with strong characters working through conflict and uncertainty. The story is nicely paced, no long stalls that bore you. Overall a great book that I would recommend to anyone over 10 but only if she's a girl. Love Me Tender is a definite CHICK LIT. (Literature for females, much like a Chick Flick is a movie for females.) If it were to win the Newbery, many boys might be made to suffer through the reading, just because it's an award winner. Limited audience - that's my biggest strike against it. The main character is Elvira, 13 and frustrated with her role as big sister to Kerri, 8, which sometimes becomes more of a primary care giver role than just big sister. Elvira's mother is pregnant and hands over the care of home and younger sibling to Elvira. The father, one of only 2 male characters in the whole book, is an Elvis impersonator, co...

In this exciting conclusion to the City of Ember series, we see how the Emberites have been faring in the Sparks village and how life has been for them. As they struggle through winter, finding enough food and supplies for everyone proves especially difficult. When Lina buys an old, raggedy book with missing pages from a roamer for Doon, he feels that there is a mystery attached to it that applies to the people of Ember. This book convinces Doon and Lina that they must return to their abandoned city to solve the mystery and hopefully find help for their struggling community. The Diamond of Darkhold was a very satisfying ending to the City of Ember series. I had missed Doon and Lina in the third Ember book, The Prophet of Yonwood, and so was very happy to see their story resurface in this fourth book. I enjoyed the adventure, the mystery, and the great resourcefulness of Lina and Doon. This book was a delight to read!

Adapted from the movie and illustrated by Matt Smith and David Tilton, The Tale of Despereaux is now available in graphic novel format. Despereaux is not like the other mice, he is adventurous and daring. In his travels through the castle that is his home, he meets a princess which leads to him being banished to the dungeon where the resident rats capture him. After he escapes he embarks on a quest to save the princess and to re-establish the importance of soup. It has been awhile since I have read this novel, so I can not accurately tell you how closely it is followed. However, it was still a fun read, and makes me want to see the movie. The illustrations are cute, though not fantastic. This version might be more accessible to younger readers who are not ready to read the whole chapter book.

Lang Lang was born in China in 1982. He began playing the piano at the age of 3. His father, realizing his son was a true prodigy, began to dream of his son being "number one". Lang Lang shares his incredible journey from near-poverty to playing in Carnegie Hall and with many of the top symphonies in the world. It was not an easy journey, nor was it always happy. His father made him practice at least 12 hours a day! At the age of 8 he and his father move to Beijing to further his chances. Lang Lang is separated from his mother for most of the next ten years or so. He missed her terribly and she him, but the father saw their closeness as a hindrance to Lang's future. There are many more heart-breaking, as well as some joyful, moments in this biography adapted for a younger audience by Michael French from Lang Lang's original autobiography. Lang Lang's life shows us how intense competition is in China. He feels that due to each family only being allowed to have one ...

Q and Angela are new step-siblings. Their parents are successful musicians who are embarking on a cross-country tour. To enable them to have "family time" and stay somewhat removed from the spotlight they decide to travel alone in a large motor home. The kids are doing school work while traveling, including creating a website showing all of the places they visit. As their journey begins, the siblings realize they are being followed. Then a strange man with an even stranger dog appears out of nowhere and gains the trust of the parents right away. This leads to Angela telling Q that her mother was a Secret Service agent who was killed in the line of duty. Brother and sister are soon embroiled in an adventure that their parents would not be happy about, if they knew. A fun, fast-paced adventure book with lots of spying, car-chases, terrorists and electronic surveillance. Independence Hall will probably appeal to both boys and girls who like action. There are certain aspects of ...

Independent Dames by Laurie Halse Anderson is a very fascinating book about women during the American Revolution. It was very interesting and I learned a lot of facts about women during the Revolution that I never knew before. During this time period women acted as spies, snuck into the army to fight, boycotted the acts made by the British, tended the wounded soldiers, supported their husbands, sewed clothes and helped smuggle supplies to the army. My favorite story in the book was about a lady whose house was being surrounded by British soldiers. With the help of her children they began to fire at the soldiers so much that the soldiers thought part of the American army was in the house. When the British soldiers continued to attack she stepped out on her porch waving a sword in the air and daring the soldiers to keep attacking. I think this story and others in the book give the real meaning to you go girl! Also included in this nonfiction book is a brief timeline of the war. This is...