Provo Library Children's Book Blog

The Kingfisher Encyclopedia of Life: Minutes, Months, Millennia- How Long is a Life on Earth? Written by Graham L. Banes Illustrated by Andy Crisp Kingfisher, c2012.  160 pages. Non-fiction. This new encyclopedia is a spectacular addition to the science section! Its contents feature information about creatures' life cycles and life spans, whether they are microscopic or gigantic. The first section is Here Today... in which the specimens have very short lives, such as salmonella bacteria that live only 30 minutes. In A Life Well Lived , there is beautiful photography of animals from under the sea to the savannahs.  In Long-Distance Runners , there are creatures that live 50-75+ years, including humans. There is a fun shout out to the local crowd in the segment "Human Lifespans Today," which mentions that Mormons' "life spans tend to be eight years longer than those of other Americans." In Time is On My Side , the book takes a look at all of the world...

Bear Despair by Gaetan Doremus Enchanted Lion Books, 2012.  Unpaged.  Picture Book      Big Aqua-Colored Bear is snoozing away with his purple teddy bear tucked under his arm, minding his own night-time business, when along comes Wolf Who Also Looks Like an Alligator.  He steals Bear's bear, runs away with it, and then tosses it into the air to land who knows where.  Dumb move, Wolf Who Also Looks Like an Alligator.  Bear is mad and he swallows the wolf whole. In the meantime, Lion finds the teddy bear and teases B A-C Bear with it until the bear swallows him. More animals (and sometimes their eggs) disappear down Big Angry Aqua-Colored Bear's maw until the Sea Creature Least Likely to Get Swallowed grabs purple teddy bear and makes everything right.  Doremus's charming wordless picture book is a child-friendly laugh riot, and an artistic success, chosen by the New York Times as one of the best-illustrated picture books of 2012.

Christmas for a Dollar Written by Gale Sears Illustrated by Ben Sowards It's 1931, in the middle of the Depression, and Little Ruthie Kamp isn't expecting presents for Christmas. But when her father brings home one dollar in change and lets the children use it to buy special gifts for each other, the family realizes that it isn't money that fills Christmas with joy, love, and miracles. Based on a true story. Elfis: A Christmas Tale Written by Alan Katz and Peter Fornatale Illustrated by Dani Jones Melfin, banished from Santa's workshop for causing a slowdown during the holiday rush, meets a snowman who turns him into Elfis, a rock icon who inspires other elves through his music and also saves Christmas. Christmas Oranges By Linda Bethers Illustrated by Ben Sowards Auntie Claus By Elise Primavera  When her eccentric Auntie Claus leaves for her annual business trip, Sophie stows away in her luggage, travels with her to the North Pole, and dis...

Kristy's Great Idea (A Baby-sitters Club book)  By Ann M. Martin Follows the adventures of Kristy and the other members of the Baby-sitters Club as they deal with crank calls, uncontrollable two-year-olds, wild pets, and parents who do not always tell the truth. The Secret of the Skeleton Key (A Code Busters Club book)  By Penny Warner Using their code-breaking skills, four middle-schoolers solve the mystery of the eccentric man who draws stick figures on his second-floor bedroom window. The Terrible Secrets of the Tell-All Club By Catherine Stier When four fifth-grade friends complete a "tell-all" survey, tensions arise and come to a head during an overnight class trip.  Defenders of the Universe By D.V. Kelleher  A group of six kids band together in a "superhero" group and eventually put their play skills to practical use.   The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour (A Red Blazer Girls book) By Michael D. ...

I'm Bored by Michael Ian Black, illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi Simon and Schuster, 2012. Unpaged.  Picture Book.      The little girl who is our hero is bored out of her gourd. "Blaaaaaaaaaaah.  I'm so BORED!" Then she meets a potato who is even more bored (and boring) than she is. He likes flamingos, but there aren't any around, and the potato hates hanging around with kids because they are boring. Our little girl shows him all the reasons kids aren't boring: they can turn cartwheels, skip, spin in circles, walk on their hands, pretend to be fairy princesses.  The potato remains unimpressed, so the little girl stomps off.  Enter a flamingo. A delightful story of all the reasons why kids don't really have any excuse for being bored anymore than their grown-ups do.

Cats Big and Small By Christi Friesen Learn how to create big cats--lions, tigers and pumas--and kittens using polymer clay focal beads, masks and sculptures. Throughout the book, embellishments of beads, fibers, and surface treatments add realistic touches. Dragons By Christi Friesen Dragons is a step-by-step how-to book demonstrating the process of creating dragons from polymer clay. This book will charm you with humorous dialogue, creative suggestions, interesting asides, lavish pictures and even several dragon personality profiles.  Under The Sea  By Christi Friesen In Under The Sea, you will swim your way through creating sea turtles, fish, sea horses, starfish and other ocean fun, no matter what your skill level. The emphasis is on color, composition and creativity, but the real treat is adding embellishments of pearls, semi-precious stones, shells and beads to your creations. Welcome to the Jungle By Christi Friesen Explore sculpting wit...

Un Beso en Mi Mano Audrey Penn Tanglewood Press, Inc., 2006, Picture Book, Libro Illustrado This a sweet book about a little raccoon that does not want to leave his mom to go to school, so mom finds a sweet way to  make it easy for him to go to school and still feel connected with her. I thought it was a very sweet book, the illustrations are bright and helpful to tell this sweet tale. A must read to your little ones who are embarking on this new and sometimes uneasy time in their life. Este libro es muy tierno, acerca de un pequeño mapache que esta teniendo problemas de despegar de su mama para ir a la escuela, su mama encuentra una manera muy tierna de ayudarlo y a la ves que  se senta ligado a ella unque este fuera de casa. Me encantó este libro lleno de ternura hacia su cachorrito para hacerlo sentir bien y ayudarlo a sentirse seguro donde quiera que este. Este libro es recomendable para todos , pero especialmente para familias con niños de edad de ir a la es...

You can get into the Christmas spirit early by reading some of our fun Rudolph and reindeer books - titles may be found here . 

Unspoken:  A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole Scholastic, 2012.  Unpaged. Picture Book.           This lovely, atmospheric picture book is a wordless story of a young girl who finds a runaway slave hiding behind corn shocks in her family's log storage shed. Telling no one, she sneaks food out to the fugitive (whom the reader never sees), and hides in the under-the-stairs closet when paterollers come looking for runaway slaves. When the girl goes back to check, the runaway has gone, but left her, in gratitude, a corn cob doll wearing a dress made from the gingham napkin the food was hidden in. Cole's penciled "narrative" is filled with evocative detail--the Big Dipper in the sky is the drinking gourd the slaves follow to freedom; the grandmother of the family has a knowing look about her, but peels her apples in silence.  All about freedom and helping, Unspoken evokes the worst and best of our nation's hi...

Christmas at the Toy Museum By David Lucas Candlewick, 2011, unpag. picture book The toys at the museum have a problem.  It is Christmas Eve and they don't have any presents for each other. The toys feel a bit sorry for themselves until Bunting, a toy cat, suggests, "Why don't we all give one another ourselves ?" The toys like the idea and get busy wrapping each other. They wait all night under the tree, trying not to fidget. Christmas morning they all have fun taking turns unwrapping each other, but someone is left out.  What will Bunting unwrap?  This simple and charming picture book is illustrated with bright watercolors. Lucas gives the old fashion toys a lot of personality and uses star bursts to add a sense of magic. The message is of the book is sweet, but not too heavy handed.  The best kind of gift to give at Christmas is a gift of self.

Katerina's Wish by Jeannie Mobley McElderry Books, 2012. 246 pgs. Fiction. Katerina knows all about broken dreams. Her father brought her family to America in order to follow his dream of owning his own land and having a farm someday. But so far, those dream have come to naught. Katerina's father works long hard days down in the dangerous mines for hardly enough money to live on, much less enough to get ahead in life someday. Her new life is nothing but hard back breaking work, with nothing to show for it at the end of the day. Then one day, Katerina happens upon a place that seems like one of those places you find only in the old tales--the kind of place that has the magic to grant wishes. In a moment of whimsy, Katerina allows herself to makes a secret wish, and that wish is the catalyst for more adventure (and trouble) than she could ever have imagined. A thought provoking and gentle story about the indomitable human spirit and the dreams that we all reach for.

Noisy Poems for a Busy Day Written by Robert Heidbreder Illustrated by Lori Joy Smith Kids Can Press, c2012. 38 pages. Poetry. This poetry/picture book features 30 short verses, one for every part of a child's day.  There are poems about getting out of bed, playing nicely, cleaning up, falling into a dream-filled sleep- and everything in between! Each one is imaginative and uses onomatopoeia (yes, I used spell check to help out with that one) to create silly, active poetry.  Heidbreder has written succinct, descriptive poems that small children will love. Smith's artwork is full of joy and brightness.

Clara and Clem Take a Ride  By Ethan Long Penguin Young Readers, c2012. 32 page easy reader. Siblings Clara and Clem build a car out of a pile of blocks, and set off on a make-believe adventure. They race through intersections, and up and down hills. They fly with an eagle, and race down a mountain. When they crash into a pile of rocks, the block car falls apart and their riotous ride is over. The book ends with them building a block person, indicating that more adventure is to come. Long's artwork is playful and imaginative. The text is just right for an early reader, with simple rhyming, sight, and opposite words.

Between Heaven and Earth by Eric Walters Orca, 2012.  245 pgs. Fiction.      First in Orca's new SEVEN series, this book tells DJ's story, oldest grandson of David McLean. Grandpa David, recently deceased, has left a bequest and requests for each of his grandsons to perform a task. DJ's is to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and scatter granddad's ashes from the summit. DJ, a take-charge kind of guy, has always felt responsible for watching over and looking out for his twin brother and his cousins. He is honored to be carrying his grandfather's ashes, but since he is a linebacker in excellent shape, that climbing the mountain will be easy-peasy and that he will be back home in less than a week.  However, right off the bat his camping gear is stolen, and in return for getting it back,  he helps a young girl who wants to be a porter go up the mountain with him; he has a demanding tour guide who insists that he do exactly as he is told and travel polepole , ...

Ungifted by Gordon Korman Balzer + Bray, 2012. 288 pgs. Fiction.      Donovan Curtis is the kind of guy who is really fun in a book; maybe not so much in real life. A grade-A troublemaker, Donovan really blows it when he whacks a giant statue of Atlas on his big bronze butt and sends the world rolling through the glass doors of the gym and into the middle of a basketball game. Collared by the Superintendent of Schools, Donovan thinks he's doomed, but the Superintendent writes his name down on a piece of paper so he can call his parents--a piece of paper that just happens to list the names of the students who will be invited to join the Academy of Scholastic Distinction. Donovan knows the AOSD could be the perfect hideout--who would think to look for him there. It doesn't take long for the truly gifted students of the Academy nor their teachers to figure out that Donovan isn't gifted in the usual sense--but he does have skills, skill these kids don't have....

Abe Lincoln's Dream By Lane Smith Roaring Brook Press, 2012. Unpaged picture book. In the present day, a young school group is touring the White House in celebration of President's Day. A little girl named Quincy wanders from the group and encounters the ghost of President Abraham Lincoln. They exchange silly jokes and talk about their dreams. Quincy leads Lincoln on a floating, flying tour around the States and tells him about all that has changed since 1865: "And equality for all?" he asked. "That's working out too," she said. "It's getting better all the time." "And Man?" he asked. "Does he no longer fuss 'n' fight with his fellow man?" "We're still working on that one." Lane Smith's new picture book is eloquently written, and features his trademark illustrations. The vintage type and old language create a feeling for the past. This is a very unique and enjoyable historical pictu...