Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Enchanted Glass By Diana Wynne Jones Greenwillow Books, 2010. 292 pp. Juvenile fiction. When Andrew Hope inherits his grandfather's land and home, he never expects all the turmoil and craziness that inevitably ends up becoming his lot. However, when Aidan Cain shows up one day in need of care and shelter, he seems to be tailed by trouble--everyone seems out to get him. As the lands are spelled with magic of all sorts, Andrew finds himself inadvertently using magics he had forgotten about; things his grandfather had tried to teach him as a child but had slipped from his memory completely. Aidan is invited to stay with Andrew and they both begin having magical adventures while trying to figure out the responsibilities Andrew has as the new caretaker and owner of Melstone House. Diana Wynne Jones has produced yet another wonderful book with Enchanted Glass ! She has amazing storytelling talent and always produces memorable, complex, fascinating characters--and this book is no excepti...

Big Nate: In a Class by Himself written and illustrated by Lincoln Peirce Juvenile Humor 214 pages New York : Harper, c2010 Nate is destined for Greatness (despite his crazy hair)! At the moment, he is just your typical sixth-grader just floating through school trying to avoid the school bully and get the attention of a certain girl. Nate doodles his way through every class instead of taking notes and he is a master of creating nicknames for all of the teachers. One morning a friend gives him a fortune cookie that changes his life. "Today you will surpass all others" could mean anything. Nate spends the day trying to do something that will make the fortune come true. All I will say is that he succeeds in an entertaining and hilarious way! Big Nate will appeal to all those fans of Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid . The diary-type format with loads of illustrations are great for reluctant readers as well as those who just want a funny book. I must say that personally, I e...

Mouse Magic Wizards of Mickey Vol. 1 all-ages graphic novel unpaged Los Angeles : Boom! Studios, 2010 Mickey is a sorcerer's apprentice, of course! When his master is off on an errand, he is left in charge of the village's Diamagic - the source of rain needed to grow their crops. Not surprisingly, Mickey goofs up and Peg-Leg Pete steals the Diamagic. Mickey leaves Miceland in shame, determined to regain the crystal that is so important to his neighbors. He stumbles into a competition for sorcerers where the final prize is the entire collection of Diamagics that would make the winner the Sorcerer Supreme over all the land. The only thing standing in Mickey's way is the fact that you have to compete as a team of three and Mickey is all by himself. Enter Donald Duck with pet dragon Fafnir and Goofy to complete the team and call themselves Wizards of Mickey. I am sure you can imagine the bumbling methods they use to compete in the games! An entertaining read for all ages.

Epitaph Road by David Patneaude juvenile/teen science fiction 266 pages New York : Egmont USA, 2010 Men are practically extinct and women rule the world. In the year 2097, teenager Kellen Dent is an object of great curiosity as one of the few young men in Seattle. He lives a fairly privileged life as his mother holds a high position in the PAC government that now runs the United States. Yet Kellen yearned to be with his father who lives the life of a loner and fisherman off in the north. When two new girls move into the apartment building, Kellen is forced to open his eyes and re-learn his history lessons. The kids end up in a race against time and another deadly outbreak of the male-killing virus. As usual I was intrigued by the post-apocalyptic plot. The selective killer-virus was a great way to swing the powers of the world in the opposite direction. However, I felt the characters were a bit shallow and I didn't grow attached to any of them. I would have loved to know more of th...

Dark Life by Kat Falls juvenile science fiction 297 pages New York : Scholastic Press, 2010 Earthquakes have destroyed much of the land on the Earth's surface. Rising water levels have made much of the remainder unable to support human life. To survive people are crammed into ridiculously tall stacked apartment buildings with no personal space whatsoever. A few have become pioneers and moved to the ocean floor, creating farms and raising fish as livestock. Ty was born deep-sea to a pair of scientist pioneers. He and his younger sister are among the only children thriving in the ocean depths. Ty thinks of nothing more than exploring his environment, doing his chores and looking forward to when he turns eighteen and can stake his own claim on a piece of oceanic real-estate. Then Gemma literally drops into his life. A stubborn Topsider who is searching for her older brother, Gemma yearns for her own space and independence. She just happens to pick a terrible time to visit the deep-sea...

by Sally M. Walker J Nonfiction Carolrhoda Books 2009 137 pages Sooooo interesting! What can we learn from coffins and skeletons found hundreds of years after the people were buried? Plenty! Walker takes us through the fascinating world of archeology as scientists dig up colonial era burial plots at several different sites in the Chesapeake area. Clues about life in the 1700's are "written in bone", as the author tells us. What that means is that bones hold clues as to how old a person was when they died, whether they were male or female, how they might have died, and even what kind of work they may have done. The reader will also learn a lot about the burial customs of the people who lived all those years ago. Well researched, with on site photography done by the author herself, Written in Bone is a great read, sure to keep your attention. For grades 5 and up.

by Cynthia Kadohata J Fiction Atheneum Books 2010 216 pages Setting: south Viet Nam, 1973 All Y'Tin wants is to take care of his villages' elephants. Lady, in particular, is his charge. He sees no purpose for school since his future is elephants. He plans on living in his peaceful village, with his father, mother, and two sisters, and being Lady's keeper and perhaps training others to take care of future elephants. But the ongoing war, which until now had stayed away from his remote village, changes his well laid plans. Y'Tin and his people must abandon their homes and hide in the jungle from the coming North Vietnamese. For the first time, Y'Tin knows fear and real uncertainty. His circumstances require him to quickly leave childhood behind and become a man. Well researched and written, Kadohata shows us life in Viet Nam during the war after the Americans leave. Y'Tin is a strong boy character, devoted to his family. Most admirable is his r...

The Sixty-Eight Rooms By Marianne Malone Random House, 2010. 274 pp. Juvenile fiction. When Ruthie's sixth-grade class takes a field trip to Chicago's Art Institute, she discovers the Thorne Rooms, tiny historical rooms decorated to coincide with specific time periods. She is completely enraptured with the rooms, and when she discovers a key that enables her to shrink to fit the rooms, she is desperate to find a way to explore them. With the help of her best friend, Jack, Ruthie begins a miniature adventure that might be small in size but has great impact on many lives. This book was delightful! Although the writing could have been smoother and more engaging, the story itself was still interesting enough to capture children's imaginations. I've always loved stories about "tiny people" and so this was a familiar joy to read. The blending of fantasy and history is a nice way for children to get excited about the past and hopefully want to learn more about histor...

My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil By Hanoch Piven Schwartz & Wade Books, 2010. Unpaged. Picture Book. Illustrated in gouache and glued on objects, My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil tells how one very clever little girl answers her grandmother's many questions about school by describing things in similes. She gathers some common things and makes portraits of the people she's describing. My favorite is the art teacher, who is "as relaxed as my favorite pair of jeans" and has colored pencils for hair. Answering the questions of a visiting relative is something most children can relate to. Maybe this book can help them come up with some creative ways of supplying all those answers. A fun read, good for all elementary school ages.

The Water Seeker By Kimberly Willis Holt Henry Holt and Company, 2010. 305 pp. Juvenile fiction. The BEST J Fiction I've read this year! This is the story of Amos Kincaid. He's the son of Delilah, who died during childbirth, and Jake, a reluctant dowser. ( dowser - a person who uses a diving rod to find underground water) Before Amos is born, his mother has a dream in which she sees him being passed along to different women while they all stand beside a river. In his young life, Amos is taken care of by several women, most of whom are good people. His adventures take him across the young United States to the Oregon Territory, just about the time it becomes a territory. In addition to Amos and his parents, The Water Seeker if full of interesting, endearing characters, all playing an important part in Amos' life. Some of these characters separately see an apparition, a wild, redheaded woman who always seems to be where Amos is. Some of them also notice ...

Goodnight, Tiptoe: a Tilly and friends book Polly Dunbar Candlewick Press, 2009. Unpaged. Picture book. Tilly is helping all of her animal friends go to sleep. Almost everyone is tired--except Tiptoe. Tilly tries to take care of everyone's bedtime routines while also trying to convince Tiptoe to fall asleep as well. Finally, when everyone's all settled down, Tilly realizes something--there's no one to tuck her in and wish her goodnight! Who will help her out? This is a very charming, sweet nighttime story with spare illustrations that glow with simplicity. Soft pale colors will encourage little reluctant ones to close their eyes and drift off to sleep, comforted by the bedtime routines all the characters in the book follow. Lovely!

When a Monster is Born By Sean Taylor; illustrated by Nick Sharratt Roaring Brook Press, 2007. Unpaged. Picture book. This book goes through all the potential things a monster can be and do. If it's an under-the-bed monster, for example, it can either eat you or you can take it to school. It really just depends on your particular luck and situation, but let's hope the school option is the one that wins out! If that is the case, there are many avenues from that point, many of them ending in the monster eating you or someone you know. That's really just the monster way. However, if the monster can refrain from eating people, there are suddenly so many more possibilities. Read this book to discover a monster's true potential! Even though this is an older book, it's absolutely hilarious and definitely one you should be sure to read! Adults and children will both find this a complete riot. Bright, funny illustrations add to the story. Altogether, this is one you just can...

Princess Says Goodnight By Naomi Howland; illustrated by David Small Harper, 2010. Unpaged. Picture book. In this charming bedtime story, a little girl pretends she is a princess as she goes through her nighttime routine. The illustrations are full of frills, fluff, and extravagance, the likes of which will delight little girls as they also imagine along with the girl in the story. Right before she falls asleep, she gets a goodnight kiss and tells everyone "Goodnight!" Dynamic illustrations bursting with personality make this book perfectly delightful, drawn by past Caldecott winner, David Small. The rhyming text adds even more fun, making this book a sure winner with young girls!

Cats' Night Out By Caroline Stutson; illustrated by J. Klassen Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2010. Unpaged. Picture book. As evening falls, the cats come out to dance on the streets and rooftops, taking over the town. They dance all night until the neighbors holler, "Cut it out!" Illustrations using a sophisticated, toned palette featuring deep, muted colors sets the perfect nighttime mood for this book, textures adding depth and life. The rhythm of the text has a definite swing to it, making this a fun read-aloud and one that will get children tapping their toes along with the cats! Children will also enjoy counting the cats as they multiply in numbers until the "...city cats slip off to sleep." This is a fun take on a counting book!

Oh, Daddy! By Bob Shea Balzer and Bray, 2010. Unpaged. Picture book. In this joyful book about a father and son, a little hippo child shows his daddy all the proper ways to do things, such as getting dressed, eating carrots, and giving hugs. Daddy Hippo is wonderfully silly and playful and little Hippo loves showing his dad the "right" way to do things. They're a great team, and as the little hippo says, "I don't know what my daddy would do without me!" This is a warm, bright story filled with fun, playful illustrations. All of Daddy's silly questions and actions will surely make any reader laugh! This is an excellent father and son story and will be enjoyed by any child. Hooray for funny daddies!