Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Willoughby & the Lion by Greg Foley Picture Book One day a boy finds a lion in the backyard of his house. The lion grants the boy ten wishes but tells the boy that he must wish for the most wonderful thing of all or he will be stuck on the rock forever. The boy wishes for elaborate things such as a bigger house, a roller coaster, and the fastest shoes in the world. The boy forgets to wish for something wonderful until he is on his last wish. You’ll have to read the book to find out if the boy manages to find out what the right wish is. I really enjoyed the illustrations of this book. The embossed gold cover is eye catching and gives the reader a glimpse of what is to come. The illustrations consisted only of black and gold and were stunning. The gold was shiny, eye popping, and beautiful. This is the first picture book in a series.

Picture Book 2009 Three little dinosaurs put forth much effort to wake their sleeping, snoring mother. That's the whole story. Simple, yes, and told with very little text, the story is shown mostly through the colorful, lively, full 2-page spread illustrations. The format is similar to Denise Fleming books; "pinch, push, poke", "tickle, claw, elbow", actions words describing how the three offspring are attempting to rouse their mom. The original title for the Great Britain publication was Dinosnore! which I like better. But either way, it's a fun picture book that small children will enjoy looking at over and over.

Hear Ye, Here Ye, this is a book for all princess lovers! The Princess and the Three Knights by Karen Kingsbury has everything a girl could want; a beautiful princess, a handsome knight, the king who is trying to pawn his daughter off to the knight who best proves himself, beautiful illustrations, and of course a pink cover with sparkles and glitter! Ahhhh!!! Haha, but really the story was predictable but cute. I really did enjoy the illustrations and I thought the illustrator made the princess look stunningly beautiful. As a lover of princesses myself, I fell in love with this book and would gladly give it to any little girl.

We all know the song “All God’s Critters”, however the illustrations in this book make it a hilarious song and a book to definitely check out. Throughout the entire books All of God’s Critters are putting on a show for the audience. My personal favorite is the hippopotamus who is also on the front cover. Kadir Nelson is the illustrator and I always love his people and the seriousness of his illustrations, but this particular book is completely different from his other work. However, I enjoyed it just as much. Make sure as you read this book to take the time to notice all the animals facial expressions and dance moves, you won’t be disappointed!

Distant Waves: a novel of the Titanic By Suzanne Weyn Scholastic Press, 2009. 330 pgs. Juvenile/young adult fiction. Raised by a strong, spirited mother who works as a ghost medium, Jane Taylor's life is far from ordinary. Along with her sisters--Mimi, Blythe, Emma, and Amelie--she finds herself transplanted at a young age to Spirit Vale, a gathering place for all people who claim to be mediums for the spirit world. Despite such an environment, Jane manages to maintain strong common sense and even develops skepticism towards spiritualism. When she travels with her sister Mimi to New York in order to interview the fascinating scientist, Tesla, the lives of all the Taylor women are affected by the chain of following events, most particularly by Mimi's invitation to sail on the Titanic. It is rather misleading that this book is titled "a novel of the Titanic." Although the infamous ship does make its appearance in the story, it doesn't surface until the later portion...

In Memory of Gorfman T. Frog by Gail Donovan New York: Dutton, 2009. 180 pgs. Fiction Fifth-grader Joshua Hewitt is often in trouble at home and at school for his motormouth ways. He can't seem to stop talking, even when it is in his best interest to do so, and his parents and teachers finally get to the point where they shush him without ever hearing what he has to say. This is a big disadvantage after he finds a five-legged frog in the pond in his backyard and tries to a) save the frog's life and then b) wants to find out why the frog died so he can save the tadpoles living in the marsh behind his house. His teacher won't let him explain that his frog is sick and needs to be taken out of the terrarium in the classroom; his Mom doesn't want the dead frog preserved in her refrigerator, and he is soon in trouble with everyone for making a ruckus that brings down the worst punishment of all on the whole school: SILENT LUNCH. With the eventual support of his classmates, Jo...

What would you like to be when you grow up… an underwear salesman? Or a highway line painter? Or maybe even a bubble bath tester? The Underwear Salesman: and Other Jobs for Better or Verse is a humorous poetry book on different occupations. The thing I like the best is that the first poem is about librarians! Some of the poems were just okay, but many of them made me laugh out loud. The Sword Swallower was my favorite! The collage type pictures that accompany each poem are fun and go great with the poems and the mood of the book. If you like poetry make sure you check this book out! Maybe in these times of economic struggles it may even encourage you to change jobs! Haha!

Books that make me laugh out loud always quickly become one of my favorites. The Book That Eats People by John Perry fits into this category perfectly. Would you read a book if you knew if might eat you? I wouldn’t! However this particular book’s stomach growls and will eat anybody especially if you have peanut butter on your hands! After the book eats some people the book’s owner does the logical thing; gives it to the library. Then one night the book goes crazy in the library and eats other books and the janitor. After that the book trades covers with a book that is sure to get checked out and a sweet little girl, Victoria, checks it out. This isn’t the end of the story though and the book problem escalates. The story is hilarious, the illustrations are hilarious. The book is made to look so scary with his few teeth and sly smile. The illustrations of the people in the story are very comic book like and work well with the rest of the story. All combined with other elements is a maste...

A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na is a gorgeous picture book that is perfect for any sleepy child. The story is a simple one about animals going to sleep at night and an owl that doesn’t sleep at all during the night. The illustrations are fantastic. Dark colors contrast with bright colors in a perfect way. Also the textures and patterns within the pictures are beautiful. The illustrations are so wonderful that I don’t think any words are even needed. This is one of my favorites this year and definitely worth checking out!

Archie and the Pirates by Marc Rosenthal New York: HarperCollins, 2009. Unpaged. Picture Book. Archie somehow falls off an ocean liner into the drink but since he is still asleep he doesn't notice until he wakes up, still in bed, on an island beach. A tiger scares him up a tree, but he is soon back down eating coconuts and drinking their milk. Soon he sets to work building a house and then welcomes a visitor, Clarice the Ibis, who plays checkers with him and teaches him to fish. Suddenly the tiger appears and Archie prepares for the end, but Beatrice the tiger likes him because he is wearing a sweater that reminds her of her cubs and the three animals soon become fast friends. All is peaceful until pirates arrive, capture Beatrice, and generally make a nuisance of themselves until Archie and his friends come up with a scheme to drive Captain Pequod (ha ha) and his mates from the island. Fabulous brightly colored, old-timey pictures should make this story a big hit with the little d...

The Crimson Cap by Ellen Howard Holiday House, 2009. 177 pgs. Historical Fiction When Pierre Talon leaves his destitute family to accompany the French explorer LaSalle in his search for the Mississippi River, he promises his family to return. But how could he know that LaSalle would be killed and that, overcome by a fever, he would have to take shelter with a band of Hasinai Indians? As the Hasinai care for him, and teach him their ways--how to hunt, how to fish, how to swim, how to run great distances without rest--he comes to consider them his family and postpones deciding whether to return for Maman and the children. Then sad news of the settlement and the sudden appearance of Spanish troops hasten his need to decide whether to continue in his new life or look for his lost family. Pierre Talon is an historical figure, a ten-year old boy who really did accompany LaSalle in his explorations, and Ellen Howard has done a remarkable job of fictionally filling in the blanks in the histori...

Tiny & Hercules by Amy Schwartz Roaring Brook Press, 2009. Unpaged. Picture Book Tiny (an elephant) and Hercules (a mouse) are the best of friends and have a series of Frog and Toad-like adventures in this delightful new picture book. Hercules is horrified to be invited to an ice skating party because "I can't ice-skate my way out of a paper bag!" Don't worry, says Tiny, I'll teach you. Tiny is a slow learner, alas, but Hercules figures out a way they can both look good at Irma's party. Later Tiny helps Hercules when Hercules takes an art class and needs a BIG, STUPENDOUS subject to paint. And what to do when Hercules' 103 year old Uncle Roy blows and blows and blows at the candles on his birthday cake and leaves 102 candles still lit? Tiny can help with that, too. Friendship and fun are the twin engines driving Tiny & Hercules . May this be the first of many more.

You are the First Kid on Mars by Patrick O'Brien Putnam's, 2009. unpaged. Nonfiction. The first boy on Mars, in O'Brien's atmospheric (sorry) rendering is a sober young man, his delight in his grand adventure shown by the slightest changes in expression. Perhaps he is an android, one thinks. But in any case, the Martian landscape as pictured here is grimly beautiful, the Red Planet living up to its name. The mechanisms of exploration should be fascinating to young readers as well: exploration drones, robot rangers, a greenhouse to grow food, a plane designed to fly in Mars' thinner atmosphere. Youngsters interested in space exploration should find endless fascination in this fine volume.

The Curious Garden By Peter Brown Little, Brown, 2009. Picture book. Unpaged. Here's a wonderful book about nature and it's will to survive and even flourish. Writing without a hint of "save the earth" preachiness, Brown gives us the simple story about Liam, a boy who happens upon a few plants growing within a city that lacks any kind of greenery. Liam realizes that all that is needed is a gardener. He takes on the role and, slowly, the garden grows. It doesn't happen by magic, though. I appreciated the realistic parts of the story that show the "tough little weeds and mosses" leading the way, Liam educating himself about gardening, and the length of time a full garden requires to grow up and out. Liam actually grows up during the book and continues his green thumb ways as an adult. The delightful illustrations remind me of Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House (it's a compliment, Peter). There's a lot to look at on every pag...

My favorite Thanksgiving holiday book has always been Turk and Runt by Lisa Wheeler. I didn’t think another Thanksgiving book would come close to it, but I was wrong! Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano is yet another laugh out loud holiday story. Turkey is in trouble because Thanksgiving is coming and he doesn’t want to be eaten! Being the clever turkey that he is he decides to disguise himself as other farm animals so the farmer’s wife won’t be able to find him. Will his clever disguises work? The illustrations in this story were fabulous. The illustrator definitely used his imagination when coming up with the turkey’s disguises. Make sure you check this book out for the holiday season, you won’t be disappointed!

Never Smile at a Monkey: and 17 other important things to remember By Steve Jenkins Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2009. Unpaged. Juvenile nonfiction. In a book that is packed with unusual information, readers learn about animals that seem harmless but are surprisingly dangerous, such as cone shells, box jellyfish, and cane toads. The revelation that platypus have venomous spurs on their hind legs was shocking to me--I never realized they had any defenses! Children will not only love learning the many obscure facts this book has to offer but will also revel in the beautiful cut-paper illustrations. This is an excellent book for both learning and enjoyment!

The Duchess of Whimsy: an absolutely delicious fairy tale By Randall de S ève; illustrated by Peter de S ève The Earl of Norm is completely smitten with the flamboyant Duchess of Whimsy. The only problem is the duchess herself is smitten with all things extravagant, exciting, and extraordinary...and the earl is just about the most "norm-earl" person one could meet. The duchess considers him a complete bore and much too ordinary...but could there be more to the earl than his seemingly mundane appearance suggests? Perchance related to the well-known "Fancy Nancy," the duchess is a bright and memorable character, as is her humble earl. Although the text was perhaps a bit over-the-top for younger children, the story itself was still fun in concept, and the illustrations were absolutely delightful. Peter de S ève's work really shines in this beautiful book.

Thanks a lot, Emily Post! by Jennifer LaRue Huget Schwartz and Wade Books, 2009. Unpaged. Picture book. When a well-meaning mother decides her dear little children would be much improved by adhering to the rules of etiquette in a book by Emily Post, the children are unsurprisingly reluctant--until they hatch a brilliant plan in which their mother must follow Emily Post's rules, also. With utterly charming, personality-packed watercolor illustrations and a hilarious story, this story is a complete success. With the "ghostly" scenes portrayed in blue monotones, the past and present aspects of the book are clearly defined, working well together. The deviousness of the children is sure to illicit laughter as well as the mother's attempts to counter their plans. Added to all this, there is a biographical account at the end of the book about the real Emily Post and the etiquette book she did indeed author. Altogether, this book makes a wonderful story.

The Midnight Charter by David Whitley Roaring Book Press, 2009. 319pgs. Juvenile Fiction Mark and Lily meet in Count Stelli's Tower where Lily has lived since she was sold out of an orphanage and Mark has been sold by his father to pay for a plague cure. The Count is an astrologer, the greatest in all the land of Agora, a self-contained city based entirely on the barter system. Contracts are drawn up for every action and anyone who cannot sell himself and his talents to a willing master becomes a debtor and debt means death. Count Stelli takes Mark as an apprentice, setting him on a path to economic power in the city; Lily leaves the tower with Dr. Theophilus, the Count's disowned grandson and joins with him to found a clinic and an almshouse, though giving help for free causes an uproar in the strict economy of Agora. But Mark and Lily's paths will converge again because of the Midnight Charter an ages old compact that may set them against each other to the destru...

Food for Thought: The Stories Behind the Things we Eat by Ken Robbins Roaring Brook Press, 2009. 45 pgs. Juvenile Non-Fiction With regard to food, most of us know what we like and don't think much beyond that. But thanks to Ken Robbins kids and their parents can now know that oranges originated in China, where Chiquita Banana came from (modeled after Carmen Miranda by the United Fruit Company), that the word "catsup" came from the Chinese word for a sauce made from pickled fish brine, kat siap, and that grenades got their name from pome granates , being about the same size and shape. A short, sweet, and fascinating read, Food for Thought combines eye-grabbing pictures and sprightly text in a book to please all ages.

The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance Candle Man: Book One by Glenn Dakin 300 pages juvenile fantasy New York : Egmont USA, 2009 Theo lives an extremely secluded life. His guardian, the butler and the maid are the only three people Theo has ever known. He is kept within three rooms in the mansion. His only outside excursions are to the neighboring cemetery on his birthday. His guardian says he has a very rare and mysterious disease so keeping him isolated from the outside world is necessary for his own safety. As Theo grows older he begins to question this because he feels fine except for when he has his treatments in the Mercy Tube, then he feels horrible. One particular birthday he discovers a mysterious package with his name on it at the cemetery. This is only the beginning of a chain of strange events that change his life forever. As the mystery of his illness unfolds, Theo's world is turned upside-down and he has no idea who to trust. An engaging new fantasy hero has...

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute Lunch Lady #1 Jarrett J. Krosoczka juvenile graphic novel New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2009 Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians Lunch Lady #2 by Jarrett J. Krosoczka juvenile graphic novel New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2009 What do you get when you cross James Bond with a cafeteria worker? Why the Lunch Lady, of course! Not only does she serve a fabulous pizza (with gravy), but she can wield those fish stick nunchucks like a pro! Lunch Lady and her trusty partner, Betty, are on the case when the new substitute teacher piles on the kids homework for no reason. Three kids happen to uncover their secret and unwittingly become involved in a battle with an evil teacher. In book two the kids overhear the nasty librarians plan to overtake the world. You must read this to find out what dangerous weapons the librarians used, they gave me some ideas that's for sure! These graphic novels should be a big hit with kids, teachers and librarians alike. The t...

How Oliver Olson Changed the World by Claudia Mills Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2009. 104 pgs. Intermediate. Oliver Olson was a sickly child and his parents have become so protective of him that he is not even allowed to do his own homework. All that changes when his third-grade class is assigned to do a diorama of the solar system. Oliver knows his parents will never let him go to the Space Sleepover, but when he is teamed up with talkative Crystal to build the diorama, he manages to do his own work (including a tiny Pluto on the outside of the box trying to get back in) and then gets up the courage to confront his parents about the sleepover. They let him go (if he doesn't drink soda and agrees to brush his teeth for two full minutes), and Oliver at last sees the beginnings of a long-wished-for independence. Great little story, well told.

picture book - 2009 illustrated by S. britt It's two days past Halloween, but I just saw this book today and had to write about it! It's a Halloween version of "Over in the Meadow" and it's GREAT! Rhyming books are my favorites because of their value in language and phonemic awareness development. Over in the Hollow counts up to 13 with various Halloween characters and their offspring. Over in the hollow, in a coffin on the floor, live a pale grandpa vampire and his little vampires four. Each character and little ones do some action unique to them. For example, the vampires "bite". You'll also find bats who flap, witches who zoom, Frankensteins who stomp, and werewolves who howl, among other things. Britt's illustrations are full spread, bold, fun, and bright (even though they're all set at night). This is a fabulous read aloud, bouncy with rhythm! Don't wait until next Halloween to read it, though. Get it now!

River of Dreams: the Story of the Hudson River by Hudson Talbott Putnam's, 2009. Unpaged. Juvenile Non-Fiction. Talbott's beautifully illustrated capsule history of the Hudson River Valley begins with the glaciation that created the riverbed, takes the reader through the Mahican and Lenni-Lenape Indian days on the river, through the Dutch and British settlements, to the role activities along the Hudson played in the American Revolution. Talbott's timeline winds along the river itself and text and illustrations provide a rich reminder of the culture of the region, from Washington Irving's Headless Horseman to the Hudson River School of American painting. The latter stages of the book are devoted to the horrific pollution of the Hudson and its redemption thanks to Franny Reese and Scenic Hudson, an association of people dedicated to the preservation of landscape and wildlife, which essentially gave birth to the modern environmental movement. The text is somewhat marred by...