Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Thunder Birds: Nature's Flying Predators by Jim Arnosky Sterling, 2011. 33 pgs. Nonfiction. The peerless and irreplaceable Jim Arnosky has done it again with this beautiful book about "the largest and most powerful birds." Arnosky's pictures of birds, many of them portrayed life-size, fulfill the promise of his introduction where he hopes the reader will see "the same light [he] saw in their wild eyes." Arnosky's breathtaking drawings could easily swamp his text were he not a fine prose stylist as well. He somehow manages--I wish I knew how!--to communicate the deepest respect for the natural world while his easygoing nature and desire to draw others into a similar regard makes his writing readily accessible to all ages. "Thunder Birds" is one of the best nature books of the year so far.

Extreme Rainforest: Amazing Encounters with Incredible Animals By the Editors of Kingfisher Kingfisher, 2011. 47 pgs. Nonfiction The metallic neon green, gold, red, and silver snake striking off the cover of this book will certainly attract animal- and thrill-loving kids, and scare others off. This book does nothing by halves and is chock full of both icky and fascinating facts about the rain forest. Bird-eating spiders I could do without, as well as brilliant little frogs that can drop you like a stone if you touch them. But the running-on-water green basilisk lizard, the black leopard, even the ice-pick toothed piranha make for fascinating reading and terrific graphics. Each page gives a list of each creature's Superpowers, Equipment, Weakness, and an unusual Fact. Sliding scales measure the animal's intelligence, agility, strength, endurance, speed, and attack skills, and a world map is colored in to show the animal's range. A terrific book for young animal fiend...

The Red Umbrella By Christina Diaz Gonzalez Alfred A. Knopf, 2010. 284 pages. Historical fiction. 14-year old Lucia lives with her family in Cuba in 1961, in the time of the great Communist revolution. Her life is increasingly affected by Castro's rule, until it reaches the point that her parents send Lucia and her little brother to the United States. The two become a part of "Operation Pedro Pan"- a real program- and are adopted by foster parents in Nebraska. The siblings face a major adjustment period with a new language, new family, and new school. They are later reunited with their parents, who were fortunate enough to escape Cuba. This is a poignant, educational work of historical fiction. I really felt the rich Cuban culture through Gonzalez's writing. This is also a good pick for a book club, as it lends itself well to group discussions. It may only be appropriate for older audiences (10 years and up) as one of the neighbors is hung in the street, and ...

Zombie in Love By Kelly DiPucchio Illustrated by Scott Campbell Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2011. Unpaged picture book. Mortimer is a lonely zombie who longs for a date to Cupid's Ball. His attempts at love are delightfully gruesome, as he offers girls a fancy box of chocolates (laden with worms) or a shiny red heart (literally, a human heart). Nothing he does impresses the ladies, but Mortimer persists. He places a personal ad in the newspaper: "TALL, DEAD, & HANDSOME" and requests a meeting at Cupid's Ball for any interested parties. At the ball, he waits and waits for his perfect match, and lo and behold Mildred appears. She's a drop-dead gorgeous zombie! It is, of course, love at first "bite." This is a strange but loveable book. Campbell's illustrations are interesting, and I loved the hilarious sight gags. All in all, a fun zombie tale for the younger crowd.

Marshall Armstrong is New to our School by David Mackintosh Abrams, 2011. Unpaged. Picture Book. Being the new kid at school is a common theme of children's books, but in this story our narrator is worried about having to sit next to the new kid who is unusual, shall we say: Marshall Armstrong's things are different--a protractor, a compass, a pen with a nib, and he eats "space food" for lunch, for aluminum pouches. He always pays attention to the teacher and his shoelaces are straight back-and-forth instead of criss-crossed. When all the kids in the class are invited to Marshall's birthday party, not too many want to go but their mothers make them. What a nice surprise to discover that at Marshall's house you can run around indoors! Mrs. Marshall serves real lemonade with seeds. The kids swing on the monkey bars and rebuild Mr. Armstrong's train set. There is even a fireman's pole from the top door to the bottom--in case of emergencies like...

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Bolinda Audiobook, 2010. Read by Miriam Margolyes Wishing to brush up on my Alice reading of many years ago, I listened to Bolinda's new and award-winning version. What a delight! Miriam Margolyes, who most recently reprised her role as Professor Sprout, herbologist, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II , gives full, quirky, beautiful, and memorable voice to Carroll's cast of classic characters. Her voices are so diverse and so interesting, this version of Alice sounds like a full-cast recording, with Margolyes as the full cast. If you have forgotten a few (okay, almost all) the details of the original, pre-Disney Alice , this audiobook is a great refresher, or if you want to introduce the next generation or two to the original Alice , I can't think of a better place to begin. Five stars.

True...sort of By Katherine Hannigan Greenwillow Books, 2011. 360 pages. Delly (short for Delaware) Pattison has a knack for getting into trouble. While she was spunky as a child, she is downright rotten as a tween. Delly gets into fights on the playground, runs away from home, and invents a dictionary of alternative curse words- much to the chagrin of the neighborhood parents. She befriends a new girl, Ferris, whom the other children find odd because she appears androgynous and doesn't speak or like to be touched. The two girls slowly form a bond and help each other through their trials. This is a nicely written story. 4th grade and up, due to scenes of abuse and bullying. The roots of Delly's trouble making and Ferris' mutism are deep and may be hard for younger children to understand.