Provo Library Children's Book Blog

  The Winter Child Written by Terri Windling Art by Wendy Froud The Faeries of Spring Cottage Written by Terri Windling Art by Wendy Froud The Rainbabies Written by Laura Melmed Illustrated by Jim LaMarche When the moon gives twelve tiny babies to a childless couple, the new parents take great care of their charges and eventually receive an unexpected reward. Sleeping Beauty Retold by Adèle Geras Illustrated by Christian Birmingham Enraged at not being invited to the princess's christening, a wicked fairy casts a spell that dooms the princess to sleep for one hundred years.  Peter Pan By J.M. Barrie  Illustrated by Scott Gustafson Care and Feeding of Sprites By Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black Introduces the world of sprites and fairies through a review of their characteristics, mannerisms, lifestyle, habits, different names, and unique appearances.  When the Root Children Wake Up Retold by Audrey Wood ...

Spring  By Jill Katz Simple text and color photos describes what happens in spring. Everything Spring By Jill Esbaum See, hear, and feel the warmth of springtime by reading and learning all about chicks, bunnies, and the other baby animals that come out to play in springtime. How Do You Know It's Spring? By Allan Fowler A simple description of the characteristics of spring.  How Do You Know It's Summer? By Ruth Owen Describes some of the signs of summer, including changes in light and temperature, plants in flower, green leaves, young animals starting on their own, and other differences, and suggests related activities.  Let's Look at Summer By Sarah L. Schuette Simple text and photographs present what happens to the weather, animals, and plants in summer.  Why Is It Summer? By Sara L. Latta Read about when summer begins, why do we have seasons, how do summer days help plants grow, and what farmers do in the...

  How Do You Know It's Fall? By Ruth Owen Describes some of the signs of autumn, including changes in light and temperature, leaves changing color and falling, the apple harvest, acorns and other seeds, animals preparing for winter, and other differences, and suggests related activities. Autumn Across America By Seymour Simon Describes the signs of autumn that are seen in different parts of the United States, such as leaves changing color, migration of birds and insects, harvesting of crops, and changes in weather. Awesome Autumn By Bruce Goldstone Autumn is awesome! Leaves change color. Animals fly south or get ready to hibernate. People harvest crops and dress up as scary creatures for Halloween. And then there are pickup football games to play, Thanksgiving foods to eat, leaf piles to jump in - all the amazing things that happen as the air turns crisp and cool. With colorful photographs, lively explanations, and classic craft ideas, Bruce ...

Brave Girl:  Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Melissa Sweet Balzer + Bray, 2013.  Unpaged.  Biography      Clara Lemlich came from Ukraine to the United States with her family in the early days of the twentieth century hoping to go to school and improve her chances in life, but her father couldn't find work so she got a job as a garment worker in one of New York's clothing factories. Conditions there were hardly fair; in fact, they were brutal. For only a few dollars a month, young immigrant girls worked in stuffy factories with locked doors.  Only two toilets, one sink, and three towels were available to serve 300 workers in Clara's factory, from daylight to dark. But determined to improve herself she goes to school and to the library at night, and after one glass of milk and a few hours sleep, goes back to work.  The rest of the book details Clara's work as a union organizer who finally p...

Hoping for Peace in Sudan:  Divided by Conflict, Wishing for Peace by Jim Pipe Gareth Stevens, 2013.  48 pgs.  Nonfiction           This volume in the Peace Pen Pals series provides an excellent overview of the causes of conflict in Sudan, and the eventual division of the country. The story is framed by the exchange of letters between two imaginary girls: a black African girl from the south and an Arab girl from Khartoum in the north.  The letters are the weakest device in this text because they are obviously contrived:  are both girls writing in Arabic? Manute, the black girl, seems to have had little or no opportunity for education and yet she writes at the same level of literacy as her friend Sittina, who has had every advantage. Manute shuttles from refugee camp to refugee camp, some without even the most basic services, and yet her mail gets reliably through.  But still--one comes away from this bo...

Desert Baths by Darcy Pattison, illustrated by Kathleen Rietz Sylvan Dell, 2012.  Unpaged.  Nonfiction      Some children may be envious of the methods animals use for taking baths in the desert.  Without much water to go around, hummingbirds slide down twigs or flowers to collect early morning dew to moisten their feathers, coyotes roll in the grass to clean their fur.  Some animals lick their young and themselves to slick up (lizards, bats, deer),  and many other desert animals roll around in the dust, or what little mud may be found to freshen up in the drylands. Kathleen Rietz's fine pictures will help children see the desert environment and a section of exercises at the end of the book (with permission to copy and distribute for educational purposes) makes this book ideal for classroom use.

Chu's Day written by Neil Gaiman illustrated by Adam Rex New York : Harper, c2013 unpaged picture book Bad things happen when the adorable baby panda, Chu, sneezes. His ever cautious parents are always asking him, "Are you going to sneeze, dear?" Thankfully neither the "old-book-dust" at the library nor the pepper in the restaurant trigger Chu's nasal reflex. But of course, the one time his vigilant parents let down their guard...you better hold onto your hats. Gaiman's story is cute yet unremarkable. However, when you pair it with Adam Rex's fabulous illustrations, you have a picture book for all to enjoy. For more sneezing, check out Zoo Ah-Choooo by Peter Mandel or my personal favorite, Robert the Rose Horse by Joan Heilbroner. 

You Can Draw Monsters and Other Scary Things By Jannie Ho Picture Window Books, 2011. 24 pp. Juvenile nonfiction. Learn to draw Mr. Blob, a Monkey Mummy, and a Smelly Foot. These are just a few of the awesome, scary things you'll learn how to draw when you check out this book! The You Can Draw series, which has several books in its collection, is a fun set of books that teach a very simple, straightforward sort of drawing using basic shapes in a step by step format. The style is very reminiscent of Ed Emberley but has a more modern look. With topics like pets, flowers, vehicles, dinosaurs, zoo animals, fairies, princesses, and magical creatures, you can find something that will suit everyone's fancy!

a is for musk ox by Erin Cabatingan  and Matthew Myers New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2012 unpaged picture book In this creative and informative alphabet picture book Musk Ox is in trouble from page one. He is caught with the apple (of A is for Apple fame) in his mouth. When he is confronted by Zebra he says he did it to save the book from being just like every other alphabet book out there. He then proceeds to show Zebra how every single letter in the alphabet can refer to a musk ox. Patient Zebra humors him although it tries his patience immensely. When you reach the end you have not only worked your way through the alphabet, but you will know more than you ever wanted to know about musk oxen. If you are a fan of the non-traditional ABC books like Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and AlphaOops!: The Day Z went First by Alethea Kontis,   then you will be very entertained by A is for apple musk ox.

Time-Out for Sophie by Rosemary Wells Viking, 2013.  Unpaged.  Picture Book      Sophie, one of Rosemary Wells' reliable little rabbits, does what comes naturally--throws her macaroni and cheese on the floor, pushes Daddy's carefully folded laundry on the floor, grabs off Granny's glasses again and again and again and is in due course sent to Time Out each time, a spot on the floor between two flowered overstuffed chairs. Finally Sophie wants a story enough to return Granny's glasses to their place on her nose after which there was No Throwing, No Pushing, and No Grabbing.  "Good Sophie!" says Granny.  "Good Sophie!" says Sophie herself as she squirts bubble bath out of the tub and all over the floor. Rosemary Wells does it again.  And when has she not done it, for crying out loud.  The most reliable presence in Children's Literature for understanding and sharing the toddler experience. 

Seven Natural Wonders of Central and South America by Michael Woods and Mary B. Woods Twenty-First Century Books, 2012.  80 pgs.  Nonfiction      Most of us can name some of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World--all manmade--and perhaps even a few of the shifting, subject to popular vote Wonders of the Modern world, but the endless supply of Wonders of the Natural World are laid out in fascinating fashion in a new series which begins with amazements galore in Latin America.  Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall is in Venezuela and was not named Angel falls because it looks like it is falling out of heaven, but because the U.S. pilot who "discovered" it was named James Angel.  The Atacama desert in Chile, the driest in the world, has some areas where rain has never fallen in recorded history. The Galapagos Islands and the Amazon River are better known, but there is still much interesting material here.  And how about Costa Rica's Po...

  One Dead Spy by Nathan Hale Amulet Books, 2012.  127 pgs. Graphic Fiction/Nonfiction     There is some question as to whether Nathan Hale's new series, Hazardous Tales, should be shelved with the fiction or non-fiction, but there is no question that One Dead Spy is a terrific history book with laugh-aloud funny characters and dialogue.  This book, and it's companion volume, Big Bad Ironclad are the best books I have ever seen for luring reluctant readers into learning a lot about history.  In these pages, Nathan Hale (the Revolutionary War hero) is about to be hanged as a spy, but after he is swallowed up by a magical Big Book of American History, he tells the hangman and the British provost what happened to bring him to this point, and what will happen to the colonies in the future. Henry Knox and the guns of Ticonderoga appear here, as does General Washington's brilliant bluff on the Dorchester Heights above Boston harbor, and a brief mee...

The Wild Book By Margarita Engle Harcourt Children's Books, 2012. 133 pages. Fiction. Young Fefa lives in Cuba in the early 20th century. After being diagnosed by a doctor with "word blindness," an antiquated term for reading disability, she feels like she will never be able to experience the written word. Her eventual success with reading is a hard-won triumph, and Engle's use of verse perfectly suits Fefa's journey. Though Fefa's personal life is the focus, there is some Cuban history woven in- including the threat of wild bandits and kidnapping in her rural neighborhood. The Wild Book is written in careful, beautifully composed poetry. Margarita Engle skillfully uses the metaphor of a blank, unreadable book being transformed into a lush garden of knowledge. This is another good selection from Engle, accompanied by a gorgeous cover illustrated by Yuyi Morales.

  Dreaming UP:  A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale Lee & Low, 2012.  Unpaged.  Nonfiction      In this inspiring little concept book, children on the left hand side of the page spread build things that children build--a tower of stacking rings, a geodesic structure from toothpicks and jelly beans, interlocking block structures, and pillow forts.  On the right hand side of the page spread are examples of modern architecture that reflects childhood constructions:  blocks set at angles become Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater; children's sandcastles are reflected in Antoni Gaudi's  unfinished basilica La Sagrada Familia. The art of childhood and the architecture of age are seen in tandem in this lovely little book which appends a section on the architects and their buildings, with pictures and inspirational quotes.

Bodyguards!  From Gladiators to the Secret Service by Ed Butts, illustrated by Scott Plumbe Annick Press, 2012.  121 pgs.  Nonfiction      Bodyguards is chock-full of fascinating information about people through the ages who have guarded good and bad people, innocents and criminals,  against threats of every kind.  Along with the Secret Service, whom we know, this book includes information about the Swiss Guard of the Vatican, Elvis Presley's "Memphis Mafia" who protected him from hordes of screaming fans, and the terra cotta warriors who served as inanimate protectors of the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, after his death. Failure and treachery from those sworn to protect is also revealed, such as when the policeman who was supposed to keep watch over Abraham Lincoln at Ford's theater left to get a drink, leaving the door of the president's box unprotected, or the Sikh bodyguards who murdered Indira Gandhi whom they were hired to defend. O...

Bink & Gollie:  Two for One by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile Candlewick, 2012. 80 pgs. Intermediate      In Bink & Gollie's second adventure, the two girls go to the fair.  Bink pays her money and takes her chances at the Whack a Duck booth because she wants to win the world's largest doughnut.  Although Bink has a strong arm, she only manages, again and again, to whack the man who runs the Whack a Duck booth, right in the kisser. Failing to win the world's largest doughnut, she buys three bags of mini-doughnuts to share with Gollie and the Whack-a-Duck man who is now reduced to saying "Duck-a-Whack.  Step right up."  Gollie's dream is to enter the talent show, right after the pickle-juggler and the heavyset woman with her operatic cat.  Although Gollie has many talents she can't conjure up a one of them at the talent show and walks off stage humiliated. But the fair has not been a total...

It Jes' Happened:  When Bill Traylor Started to Draw by Don Tate, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie Lee & Low, 2012.  Unpaged.  Biography      Bill Traylor grew up a slave, and after the Civil War, share-cropped with his family on their former master's land. As a child he pulled weeds, fetched water, and chopped wood. Later he would pick cotton and plow the land with an old and cantankerous mule. When his wife died and all his children moved away, Bill moved to Montgomery, Alabama, but since he didn't know how to do anything but farming , he couldn't find enough work to support himself. He slept in a mortuary among the coffins and when he was eighty-five years old he started to draw, first with the stub of a pencil and later with paints and colored pencils provided him by a young artist friend. By the time he died, Traylor had drawn and colored hundreds, maybe thousands of pictures onto the backs of boxes and of discarded paper bags, that even...

This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers Philomel, 2012.  Unpaged. Picture Book.       "Wilfred owned a moose."  In some ways the moose was a good pet, but in others, he needed some instruction.  Wilfred named him Marcel and followed him around explaining the Rules of Good Pethood.  The moose was good at Rule #11:  Providing shelter from the rain, but not terribly proficient at Rule #7 Going whichever way Wilfred wants to go, or its subset (b) Maintaining a certain proximity to home. Still, Wilfred gets along quite well with Marcel until he discovers to his horror that someone else--and old lady!--thinks she owns Marcel and she also thinks his name is Rodrigo!  Angry and upset, Wilfred rushes home but quickly gets into trouble.  Whom do you think rescues him?  Jeffers' hilarious story of Wilfred and his moose finally arrives at an elegant conclusion, satisfactory to all.  Or to the moose at least.

Pete and Gabby: The Bears Go to Town Written by Kay Winters Illustrated by Katherine Kirkland Albert Whitman, 2012.  60 pages. Easy reader. Pete and Gabby are two curious, forest-dwelling bears who are sad to see the humans leave at the end of the camping season. The two rascally bears wander out of the woods and into town to pay their humans a visit. They end up causing chaos at the ice cream shop, post office, and fire department. They wonder why the humans are yelling and pointing and not at all happy to see them! The story is good innocent fun, and the illustrations are classic. (There is a bit of disruption to the classic feeling, as the kids are all taking pictures of the bears with their cell phones, but this is just a minor blip.) The length is good for children who are not quite ready to read intermediate chapter books.

Listen to My Trumpet! By Mo Willems Hyperion Books for Children, 2012. 57 pages. Easy reader. Gerald, ever worrisome, and Piggie, the eternal optimist, are back in this fun musical adventure! Piggie has just acquired a new trumpet, and she can't wait to share her music with Gerald. Unfortunately, she is not a musical prodigy. She has no skill for the trumpet, but she is still full of joy and enthusiasm. Gerald wonders if he should tell her the truth, which is that he thinks her horn-playing sounds like his aunt with a cold. What are friends for? Of course he must break the news to his dear Piggie. Through this tale, Elephant and Piggie demonstrate that honesty and cheer are keys to a lasting friendship. Listen to My Trumpet is another charming hit from Mr. Willems. 

Dog on His Bus Written by Eric Seltzer Illustrated by Sebastien Braun Penguin Young Readers, c2012.  32 pages. Easy reader. Dog drives the downtown bus, a job that he loves and does well. He takes various animals to their destinations all around town, and even when he has to change a flat, he does so cheerfully. This book shows us his interesting route as he drops passengers off, like "Hen and Snake need a hat. I drop them off at Hats by Cat." This would be an appropriate choice for progressing readers, because it uses simple sentences and rhyming phrases. The illustrations are adorable, and there are many cute animals to identify.  It is a book reminiscent of Richard Scarry's Busytown titles.

Bramble and Maggie: Horse Meets Girl Written by Jessie Haas Illustrated by Alison Friend Candlewick Press, 2012.  51 pages. Easy reader. Horse Bramble has grown weary of giving the same old riding lessons day in and day out. She seeks a prospective buyer and falls in love with Maggie, who is a little horse aficionado. Maggie has never owned her own horse before, so she has a lot to learn about caring for Bramble. Bramble, used to walking in circles every day, has a lot to learn about patience and new activities. The art in this book is beautiful and adds to the comforting story of changes and friendship. This middle-level easy reader is informative and nicely suited to young animal lovers.

Tick Tock Clock Written by Margery Cuyler Illustrated by Robert Neubecker HarperCollins Children's Books, c2012.  29 pages. Easy reader. Impish twin girls spend all day with their grandmother, and each hour is packed with happenings. The girls have a new adventure or escapade every hour, on the hour. At each "o'clock," they do such things as eating on the dock or playing with blocks. At the end of the day, after mom picks them up, grandma says goodbye and falls asleep like a rock! What I love about this book is that it's very repetitive, and teaches time, rhyming, and vowel sounds. Though short on words, Tick Tock Clock is full of energy. It's a solid easy reader that will appeal to brand new, mischievous readers.

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano By Sonia Mazano Scholastic, 2012. 205 pages. Historical fiction. The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano is beautifully written by Emmy-award winning "Sesame Street" writer and actress Sonia Manzano (Maria!). In the late 60s, Evelyn (who changed her name from Rosa to distance herself from her Puerto Rican heritage) lives in a tumultuous Harlem barrio. She is a typical teenager who fights with her parents and notices boys, but the rapidly-changing cultural climate makes her life atypical. Her political activist grandmother moves in and sweeps her into the neighborhood protests taking place in the interest of effecting political change. Throughout the revolution, Evelyn finds herself reconciling her American identity and her Puerto Rican culture. I found the themes of this exceptional novel to be applicable to current events around the world. As Abuela astutely observes, "That's why there are revolutions. Because many things are not rig...

Kindred Souls By Patricia MacLachlan Katherine Tegen Books, c2012. 119 pages. Fiction. Jake is not your typical ten year old boy. He lives with his family on a quiet farm, and his best friend is his aging grandfather, Billy. When a stray dog, Lucy, appears on the farm one day, she brings with her a sense of change and comfort. The three pals grow close, with Lucy never leaving Billy's side even when he takes ill. As his health (but not his spirit) deteriorates, Billy expresses his wish for Jake to build a sod house for him like the one he had as a child. The family pulls together to recreate his happy childhood home, and Billy spends his last days there in total contentment. This story is a nice telling of the twilight of one's life, and the passing on of memories to the next generation. Billy is loveable and lively, and Jake is a respectful and friendly child. The book is less about dying and more about treasuring the past while living in the present. MacLachlan's si...

Love, Amalia Written by Alma Flor Ada and Gabriel M. Zubizarreta Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2012.  127 pages. Fiction. In this novel, young Amalia must come to terms with the passing of her dear grandmother and having her best friend move out of state. For a sixth grade girl, this journey is not easy. Amalia finds ways to cope, such as connecting with her relatives and perusing her grandmother's old letters. The inclusion of Spanish phrases adds a nice cultural richness. The book is appropriate for girls of any age, and would even be a good book club selection as it includes reader-guide questions and delicious-sounding Mexican dessert recipes. The use of two authors was evident in the uneven writing and pacing of the book, but I don't believe young readers will notice.

The Price of Freedom:  How One Town Stood Up to Slavery by Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin, illustrated by Eric Velasquez Walker, 2012.  Unpaged.  Nonfiction.      In January of 1856 John Price and two fellow slaves crossed the Ohio River from Kentucky into the free state of Ohio.  Welcomed by a Quaker family whose home was a "station" on the Underground Railroad, they hid out for a couple of weeks before moving on towards Canada. Escaped slaves in those days were subject to the Fugitive Slave Act which meant that even if they crossed into free territory, they could legally be captured and returned to their owners in the South, which is why many moved north to Canada where slavery was illegal. Oberlin, Ohio, was a town near Lake Erie where hundreds of slaves found shelter before moving on. John Price and his friend Frank liked Oberlin so much he decided to stay, but two years after he settled there, slavers captured him to ...

  Penny and Her Song Written and Illustrated by Kevin Henkes Greenwillow Books, 2012. This delightful easy reader is classic Henkes! Big sister Penny just wants to share the song she learned at school with her family. But every time she begins to sing, her mom and dad shush her so she doesn't wake the babies! When she finally gets a chance to sing at the end of the day, Penny's new song happens to be a perfect baby-soother. This is a great book for new siblings, as it calmly addresses change and independence, with equally sweet illustrations. Penny and Her Doll is another new title featuring this cute mouse.

    Couldn't make it to the Family Literacy Symposium on Saturday?  Check out our Best Books of 2012 lists on Pinterest !

Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ellen Bryan Obed, illustrations by Barbara McClintock Houghton Mifflin, 2012. 64 pgs.  Intermediate         When you grow up in Maine, there will be lots of ice.  Ellen Bryan Obed did just that and has parlayed her love of winter and skating into a lovely, old-fashioned little book about all the different kinds of ice one could find through the seasons in Maine.  First Ice, just a skim on the sheep pails in the barn; Second Ice, thicker, pulls free like a pane of glass to be dropped and smashed on the barn floor. Soon, even better, there is ice to skate on:  the black ice of Great Pond, and then the family's own rink, where there were skating parties and figure skating and hockey. A gentle, beautiful reminder of life in the country, and perhaps of times gone by, Twelve Kinds of Ice is a treasure that should please and comfort multiple generations.

The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Amanda Hall Eerdmans, 2012.  Unpaged.  Nonfiction         Although now celebrated as one of the greatest naive, i.e., self-taught, painters of all time, Henri Rousseau had an unpromising beginning.  He was by profession a toll collector and didn't take up art until he was forty years old. He was only allowed to exhibit in unjuried shows, and then he was mocked and abused by the critics. But Henri wouldn't--couldn't!--stop painting his jungle scenes, brilliantly colored and filled with a life Henri had never actually seen except in the botanical gardens of his native France. Henry kept on and so did his critics, but the rising generation of painters and art lovers, including Picasso, including Apollinaire, love his work and take the aging artist into their hearts and homes. Not only does one gain a deep appreciation for Rousseau and his work from this delight...

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin Little, Brown, 2012.  288 pgs.  Fiction        When Rendi is discovered as a stowaway on a wine merchant's cart, he is ignominiously dumped in the Village of Clear Sky, where he gets a job doing chores for Mr. Chao, in innkeeper. Though we don't know where Rendi has run away from, it is clear that he thinks himself too good for his new employment but he soldiers on, having no other choice. What troubles Rendi even more is that the moon is missing from the sky and he alone hears the moaning and sorrowing of a lost soul every night--is it the moon itself? As Rendi teases Peiyi, Mr. Chao's young daughter, worries about Mr. Chan, who can't tell the difference between a toad and a rabbit, and tries to solve the problem of the snail infestation that keeps Mr. Chao at odds with Widow Yan, he starts to feel at home. And when Madame Yang arrives as a guest of the inn, she tells stories that enlighten everyone and...

Building Our House by Jonathan Bean Farrar Straus Giroux, 2013.  Unpaged.  Picture Book      Jonathan Bean draws (in more ways than one) a story from his own childhood with this lovely and fascinating book about a family who build their own home from the (below) ground up in a farmer's weedy field, far off the main track. The family lives on-site in a small trailer which has been plumbed and wired for electricity, and Dad keeps his day job, working on the house on weekends and in the evenings.  Everyone helps:  Grandpa digs the cellar with his backhoe; friends and extended family join to raise the frame. Work is slowed by a longer, colder winter than expected, but never stopped. In the end, the family (with a new baby!) moves into the home that is truly theirs.  A beautiful book, suitable for all ages.

Sailing the Unknown:  Around the World with Captain Cook by Michael J. Rosen, illustrated by Maria Cristina Pritelli Creative Editions, 2012.  Unpaged.  Nonfiction.      The youngest known sailor on Captain Cook's 1768 was one Nicholas Young, and eleven year old who cared for the ship's nanny goat, Navy, and who was the first to sight the land of New Zealand, and have a headland named for him--Young Nick's Head.  In Sailing the Unknown. . . Michael Rosen invents a diary for Nick with widely spaced entries to give his young readers an overview of Captain Cook's two year and ten month voyage. Maria Pritelli's pictures beautifully illustrate Nick's terse but revealing writings, and the overall effect of the book is to make one want to know more. A couple of quibbles--when the Endeavour reaches the land that will come to be known as New Zealand, Nick's entry records that Maoris threw spears at the landing party. Probably the sailors did no...

Summer of the Gypsy Moths By Sara Pennypacker Balzer + Bray, c2012. 275 pages. Realistic fiction. After her flighty mother abandons her, 12 year old Stella goes to live with her great-aunt Louise in the coastal northeast. Louise also opens her home to a foster girl named Angel. Stella and Angel feel rootless and broken, but under Louise's care, they have a new opportunity to heal. When she unexpectedly passes, the girls don't know what to do. Out of fear, they decide to bury her in the backyard. They hide her death from the residents of the small town, and begin working (in Louise's place) as housekeepers for the local vacation cottages. Stella finds much to fill her days, including maintaining Louise's beloved garden- which is threatened that summer by gypsy moths. Both Stella and Angel grow in friendship and independence.The vacation cottages' owner George becomes a guardian and ally to the girls, even after discovering their secret and helping them out of ...

Duck for a Day by Meg McKinlay, illustrated by Leila Rudge Candlewick, 2012.  90 pgs. Intermediate      Abby's class is all aflutter when their new teacher, Mrs. Melvino, brings a new class pet on their first day--a duck named Max.  Everyone wants to take Max home for an overnighter, especially Abby whose parents won't let her have a pet because they are too messy, or too loud, or too googly-eyed. But Mrs. Melvino has extremely strict conditions for letting Max leave and prim Abby and her messy neighbor Noah both work hard and fast to get Max first.  Abby wins, but then the unthinkable happens.  Will Noah come to the rescue?  and will Max let himself be rescued at all?  Those are the questions that must be answered just in time for a happy ending to McKinlay's sparkling little tale of children who become friends through their shared love of animals.

  Brave Squish Rabbit by Katherine Battersby Viking, 2012. Unpaged picture book.  I have only recently discovered the adorable character, Squish Rabbit.  Though I enjoyed Battersby's first book about Squish Rabbit, it is this second one, Brave Squish Rabbit , that has won my heart so utterly and completely. Squish is an extremely small bunny, which makes the world a large and frightening place. Squish is afraid of just about everything--storms, darkness, and most frightening of all . . . Chickens . When Squish's best friend goes missing one, stormy night, he knows that he must face his greatest fears and help save his BFF. And that is when the fun begins.  This is the perfect story for any little ones in your life who might need to discuss how to begin overcoming their fears.

My Dad is Big and Strong, But...: A Bedtime Story Written by Coraline Saudo Illustrated by Kris Di Giacamo Enchanted Lion Books, 2012. Unpaged picture book. "My dad is big and strong, but every night it's the same old story. And this is how it begins: "I don't want to go to bed!" This picture book is a funny and endearing take on the usual bedtime story. Dad is the one to make excuses and stall to avoid going to bed! He runs about the house while the child tries to stay firm and disciplined. Father and son entirely switch roles, right down to big old Dad sitting on his wee son's lap for storytime. It's a fun adventure, but not too raucous a story for bedtime. I love the darling illustrations, which are quirky to match the tale. The changing fonts and font sizes also punctuate the story in a fun way.

Being Frank  Written by Donna W. Earnhardt Illustrated by Andrea Castellani Flashlight Press, 2012. Unpaged picture book. Frank is a bright-eyed child who firmly believes in speaking his mind. He holds nothing back, whether he is speaking with friends, teachers, or even his mother. "You wouldn't get so many wrinkles if you didn't glare at me like that," Frank told his mom on the way home. "And by the way - you're speeding." On the next page, Frank speaks with the police officer who pulls them over:  "Yes, officer," he said. "She knew how fast she was going. I told her." As you can imagine, Frank's honesty gets him into some pickles. His grandpa, Earnest, teaches him about tactfully speaking the truth with a positive spin. ("Mom, your hair looks nice today. I only see a little gray.")The illustrations are cartoony, and help this funny story about honesty to be entertaining, not preachy.

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool Delacorte, 2013.  306 pgs.  Fiction      When Jack Baker leaves Kansas after his mother's death to join his father in Maine right after World War II, he throws up when he sees the ocean. What will his father, a naval officer, think?  A father who has been at war for four years, and who now has nothing to come home to except a motherless boy he hardly knows. Jack's dad parks him at the Morton Hill Academy near the shipyard where he is stationed, and Jack, a Great Plains boy has the expected difficulties fitting in. But then he meets Early Auden, a boy who sees colors and a story in the endlessly unfolding numbers of pi, and who helps Jack find his bearings while they both search for what is missing on a week long quest on the Appalachian Trail. Although Ms. Vanderpool's story is not without its excitements--the Northern Woods' version of pirates, encounters with snakes, raging rivers, and a great black bear--...

  A Rock Is Lively by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long Chronicle Books, 2012.  Unpaged.  Nonfiction           What Dianna Aston and Sylvia Long have done for seeds, butterflies, and eggs, they now do for rocks.  Another drop-dead gorgeous nature books, A Rock Is Lively describes for young children the "rock cycle":  igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary, and even galactic. Meteoroids/Asteroids/Comets/ and meteorites provide the "rocky fireworks" of Outer Space and malachite, diorite, argonite, and hematite form and inhabit the earth on which we stand.  As usual, the Aston-Long duo (dynamic) provide their children and adult readers with new ways to look at the beautiful world.

and then it's spring by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin E. Stead Roaring Book Press, 2012.  "First you have brown, all around you have brown."  A young boy and his dog start a garden in the early spring--still brown, yellow, the palest of blue skies, and the wind chill. They plant seeds, wait for rain, are glad for rain, but everything is still brown. But it is "a hopeful, very possible sort of brown." The reader must wait patiently with the boy and his dog, a rabbit, a turtle, and the early birds for something green.  Watching doesn't help, nor worrying whether the birds have eaten the seeds, nor listening to the beginnings of a green humming beneath the ground where the ants and field mice and worms are rousing themselves. But finally the day comes--green all around, just like that.  Julie Fogliano's tender tale of the eternal  hope of Spring is beautifully illustrated by Caldecott-winner Erin E. Stead, and is certainly in the running for ...

Flying to Neverland with Peter Pan By Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Carolyn Leigh; illustrated by Amy June Bates Blue Apple Books, 2012. Unpaged. Picture book. The songs, "I'm Flying" and "Never Never Land," are featured in this charming, child-friendly introduction to the story of Peter Pan. Simple, cozy illustrations are the perfect match for the songs, done in soft watercolors and pencils. The compositions are really dynamic and fun and lend great energy to the story. If you're looking for a short, simple story about Peter Pan, this book is an excellent choice!