Provo Library Children's Book Blog

What We Found in the Sofa and How It Saved the World by Henry Clark Little, Brown, 2013.  355 pgs. Science Fiction      When River, Freak, and Fiona find an unattended sofa at their bus stop, they flip over the blood-stained cushion, sit on the couch, lie on the couch, and finally reach down in the back and sides to see what they can find.  They come up with a two-headed coin, a fishhook (ouch!), a domino (double sixes), and a rare, zucchini-colored crayon from the classic Victory Garden collection of vegetable colored crayolas. The zucchini crayon turns out to be very valuable so when they try to return it to its presumed owner, they are drawn in to a war between two worlds and they become the only hope of saving ours. Aided by a sentient couch who can tesser and who takes nourishment from dust bunnies, a domino serving as an avatar for a beheaded woman, and a cat named Mucus, the three friends cross their terribly dangerous former neighborhood of H...

Zea By Michel Gay Editorial Corimbo, 2008 Board Book A cute story of a small zebra that wants to go into their parent's room every morning, but the rule is not to go in unless the parents are awake, so little zebra plans to make it happen, so gets some breakfast and heads in. Careful! Carrying the tray can be tricky! Cute little zebra, both parents and children will enjoy this book. Este un libro tierno y cómico al mismo tiempo. La pequeña cebra quiere entrar al dormitorio de sus padres pero la regla es, que no puede entrar al menos que ellos esten despiertos, se le ocurre un plan,  si les prepara desayuno ellos se despertarán y asi podrá entrar y acurrucarse con ellos, pero,  cuidado! Llevar un azafate puede ser complicado! Esa cebrita es tan linda, padres y niños gozarán de este pequeño libro.

Come by the Children's Library to check out this very special display!  Carla Morris, our Children's Services Manager, was the head of the 2013 Theodore Seuss Geisel Award Committee. The Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.  This display features autographs, drawings, and memorabilia from this year's awards ceremony. Don't miss it! Let's Go For a Drive! By Mo Willems Elephant Gerald and Piggie want to go for a drive, but as Gerald thinks of one thing after another that they will have to take along, they come to realize that they lack the most important thing of all. Up! Tall! And High! By Ethan Long  Through illustrations and simple text, birds demonstrate the meanings of the words up, tall, and high. Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover By Cece Bell Rabbit is excit...

Bliss  By Kathryn Littlewood Twelve-year-old Rose Bliss wants to work magic in her family's bakery as her parents do, but when they are called away and Rose and her siblings are left in charge, the magic goes awry and a beautiful stranger tries to talk Rose into giving her the Bliss Cookery Booke.   The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy By Jeanne Birdsall  While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother. Granny Torelli Makes Soup By Sharon Creech  With the help of her wise old grandmother, twelve-year-old Rosie manages to work out some problems in her relationship with her best friend, Bailey, the boy next door. Ella Enchanted By Gail Carson Levine  In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the...

I Scream Ice Cream: A Book of Wordles Written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Illustrated by Serge Bloch Chronicle Books, 2013. Unpaged picture book. What exactly are wordles? In this case, wordles are "groups of words that sound exactly the same but mean different things." This mind-bending picture book takes phrases and turns them inside out and upside down, with funny pictures to match! It's a fun read aloud that requires careful pronunciation and even more careful listening skills. The challenge is trying to figure out what the next phrase will be. Some are easy: "Reindeer. Rain, dear." Some are real thinkers: "Sorry, no more funnel cakes. Sorry, no more fun...elk aches." Rosenthal cleverly plays with words and punctuation, and Bloch's quirky illustrations are a perfect accompaniment.

Diary of a Worm: Teacher's Pet Based on the creation of Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss Written by Lori Haskins Houran Illustrated by John Nez Harper, 2013. 32 pages. Easy reader. In his diary, Worm writes about his love of school and his teacher Mrs. Mulch. He is surprised when he comes to school one day and there's a substitute teacher in her place! The sub tells the class that Mrs. Mulch took the day off for her birthday. Worm is stunned, writing, "I didn't know teachers had days off. Or birthdays." The class decides to get her a present for when she comes back. They come up with some fabulous ideas: Eggshell candy dish. Dung ball paperweight. Gum wrapper scarf. With the help of his old friends, Spider and Fly, Worm comes up with just the perfect gift- a rotten apple! Appearing in early reader form for the first time, Diary of a Worm: Teacher's Pet is a fun read. The familiar characters, vibrant colors, and witty content make this a must check-out fo...

Rise of the Balloon Goons The Notebook of Doom #1 by Troy Cummings New York, N.Y. : Scholastic, c2013. 89 pages. Intermediate chapter book. Alexander has moved to a new town. He immediately notices something strange about the town - there are a lot of those big bendy balloon guys around. The goofy attention-grabbers keep showing up in strange and unexpected places. And to make things even stranger, air starts disappearing from everything - tires, footballs, bouncy houses, etc... As Alexander tries to fit in at his new school - which is temporarily being held in a hospital - he is also trying to solve a mystery that seems to only be bothering him. Oh yeah, I guess you could say that the creator of a strange notebook full of bizarre monsters is bothered by them as well. The black and white illustrations are silly and will appeal to boys in 1st through 3rd grades. However, it is not my favorite of the Branches series.

Hello Kitty, Hello Shapes Hello Kitty loves the many different shapes that she encounters in her everyday life. Hello Kitty, Hello World (Coming soon) Hello Kitty Plays Pretend Five magical episodes: The phantom of the Theater, Frankencat, Catula, The Pawed Piper, Rumpeldogskin.    Hello Kitty Learns to Share   Hello Kitty Eats Her Vegetables Hello Kitty and her twin sister Mimmy look identical but have very different personalities. Now your children can enjoy watching them learn important life lessons from their loving parents and friends, such as how to share, how to be polite, and why it's important to put away toys and eat vegetables.   Hello Kitty Sweet, Happy, Fun Book! A Sneak Peek Into Her Supercute World Features a collection of Hello Kitty ephemera and art, along with stories about the cartoon character's creation, the world it inhabits, and how its iconic status has influenced popular culture around the world. ...

Infinity Ring book 6: Behind Enemy Lines (Coming November 26, 2013) The False Prince In the country of Carthya, a devious nobleman engages four orphans in a brutal competition to be selected to impersonate the king's long-missing son in an effort to avoid a civil war.   The Runaway King  Young King Jaron has taken the throne of Carthya, but after enemies attempt to assassinate him, and a neighboring kingdom threatens invasion, he finds that he has no friends in the palace, not even his bride-to-be, princess Amarinda--and his regents think it would be better for Carthya if he just disappeared again.    Elliot and the Goblin War When eight-year-old Elliot Penster unwittingly saves a brownie from a group of goblins on Halloween night, he becomes their reluctant king and champion in a war against the evil goblins.   Elliot and the Pixie Plot Elliot, King of the Brownies, isn't usually a stubborn kid, but he didn't see a...

Dandelions Written by, Eve Bunting Illustrated by, Greg Shed Harcourt, 1995.  Unpaged picture book A beautifully written and illustrated book about Zoe and her pioneer family's trek to make a new home for themselves in Nebraska.  Zoe's new home is a wide expanse of grasslands.  The closest people to them are the Svenson family, and they live three hours away.  The Svenson's teach Zoe's family how to make a good sod home where bugs and even a snake have been known to "drop" in for dinner!  Once the family settles in a bit, Zoe and her father take a trip into town for supplies.  When Zoe and her dad return home from their trip into town, Zoe spies a patch of dandelions growing.  She and her dad bring them home to her mother for a special surprise.

Cowboy Up!  Ride the Navajo Rodeo by Nancy Bo Flood  photographs by Jan Sonnenmair WordSong, 2013.  40 pgs.  Nonfiction      Rodeo on the Navajo Nation is the focus of this fine new book for kids, but its combination of poetry (left of the page), explanatory text and pictures (right side of the page) is evocative of the rodeo experience anywhere out West in the summertime. Bull riders, barrel racers, saddle bronc riders, steer wrestlers, and rodeo clowns fill these pages with the sights of a small but intense country rodeo, and the reader's mind fills in the smells and sounds:  dirt and manure, cotton candy, Navajo fry bread, the smell of livestock and sweaty cowboys at the end of a hot day. In the beginning pages one young mutton buster breaks out of the chute with a look of sheer terror on his face, but he hangs on, waving his free arm all the way.  Some fun in the desert Southwest.

Move Steve Jenkins and Robin Page Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Board Book A beautifully and uniquely illustrated book for toddlers and young children.  This book teaches young children the meaning of different verbs.  Each verb is placed prominently on it's page accompanied by descriptive artwork and sentences describing the movement.  A wonderfully educational book both parents and teachers will enjoy reading to children.

5000 Miles to Freedom by, Judith Bloom Fradin National Geographic, 2006. 96 pages. Juvenile Biography This is the true and inspiring story of Ellen and William Craft.  The Crafts were a married couple who were also slaves, in Macon, Georgia in the year 1848.   As slaves any children they bore would become the property of their owners.  This was something they could not stand for.  Being a very courageous couple, they came up with a plan to escape Georgia, the South, and slavery.  Mrs. Craft wore a disguise that protected both her and her husband, as they embarked on their journey to freedom.  Their road to freedom was not easy, there were many times where they were required to use their creativity and quick thinking to get out of dangerous situations.  Once they did reach freedom in Boston, Massachusetts, their troubles were not over.  Slave hunters came all the way to Boston from Georgia to retrieve the Crafts and return them to their owne...

  The Boy Who Loved Math:  The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos by Deborah Heiligman, pictures by LeUyen Pham Roaring Book Press, 2013.  37 pgs.  Biography      Paul Erdos loved numbers from a very early age. Prime numbers were his particular favorite. His father away at war, Paul was indulged by his mother and harried around by his babysitter, the frightening Fraulein, but not to much effect. Paul grew up endlessly doing math--he didn't know how to cook his food, or do his laundry, or even butter his bread because his mother did it all for him. He figured things out a bit when he left Hungary to do calculations with some fellow mathematicians, but he came to understand himself as well--math was all he liked to do and all he was good at, so rather than have a conventional life, he chose to have no home and no family, except his mathematics friends, and to live off them and with them, traveling from place to place, staying for awhile, and then movi...

Ruff! and the Wonderfully Amazing Busy Day Written and Illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church HarperCollins Publishers Ruff is a cute little dog, who is always busy trying to make or accomplish some kind of project.  Then he finds that maybe he needs to pay attention to his surroundings, he finds out that friends are made in different ways, this is a kid of book that adults as well as kids need to read.What a cute book to read out loud!

The Garden of My Imaan by Farhana Zia Peachtree, 2013.  230 pgs. Juvenile Fiction Aliya is a young Muslim girl who knows from experience how intolerant the world can be toward those whose beliefs differ from their own. Especially in  post 9/11 USA. She finds herself hiding a great deal of her personal beliefs and her culture from the other kids at her school, afraid of how they will treat her if they find out. Then Marwa, another Muslim girl, moves into her school. Marwa is not afraid of showing others who she is and what she believes--something that causes all sorts of complications, not just for Marwa, but Aliya as well. This is a gentle and beautifully written tale about learning to stand up for yourself. It is also about living what you believe, even when doing so can be tough. Aliya is a sympathetic and believable character who teaches readers that no matter what a person's beliefs, culture, or race--deep down we are all more alike than we realize.

Son by, Lois Lowry Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012.  393 pages. Science Fiction.  In Lois Lowry's fourth and final book in this series, she magically ties all three previous stories together for a final, and surprise ending.  In this last installment, the main character is Claire.  She is a young, and very determined girl.  She has just finished her first assignment, giving birth to her first child.  She begins to realize though, that she's different from the others in her community.  Instead of forgetting about the child she's given birth to as her friends have done, she realizes that she must be with him and she must HAVE him.  However, the "rules" forbid it.  Together we travel with Claire on her long and difficult search to be with him. As Lowry usually does in her writing, she gives the reader much to think about.  What is character, honesty and integrity?  How do our choices in life affect our character? What is your r...

  Again! Written and Illustrated by Emily Gravett Simon and Schuster, c2011. Unpaged picture book. Baby Dragon eats his princess shaped cookies with milk, brushes his teeth, and gets ready for bed. Daddy Dragon reads him a story in order to get Baby Dragon to sleep. Unfortunately, Baby has other ideas. Baby Dragon's demands for his favorite story to be read again and again, soon leads to hilarious consequences that will delight children (and adults) of all ages.

SYLO by D. J. MacHale Penguin, 2013.  407 pgs.  Fiction      Marty Wiggins has mad skills on the football field, but on this night he was out of his mind good.  Tucker Pierce, his backup, notices not only the mad skills, but the mad look in Marty's eyes as he sits by him on the bench. When he goes back into the game, Marty scores the last touchdown--and drops dead.  This is the first death.  Many more follow as a mysterious military group--SYLO--comes ashore to "quarantine" the island where Tucker and his family live, and isolate what has come to be known as the Pemberwick virus.  But why do they arrive without Hazmat suits or any other protection, why are all communications with the mainland instantly cut off, and why are people being shot if they try to leave? Stranger still, what is the shadowy object Tucker and his best friend Quinn see flying over the island only to disappear in an extraordinary blast of light. And what about...

Timmy Failure:  Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis Candlewick, 2013.  294 pgs. Fiction      Move over, Wimpy Kid.  Timmy Failure is even wimpier than you are, but he just doesn't know it. In fact, he thinks he is the greatest detective on the planet. His business partner, Total, is a (probably imaginary) polar bear and with the help of Total and his mother's borrowed-without-her-permission Segway, Timmy is out and about the neighborhood in behalf of  his business, Total Failure, Inc.  ("We won't fail, despite what the name says.") Timmy has the solution to case after case handed to him on a platter, but he prefers to take a more circuitous route making the puzzles presented him more and more complex until they have no solution--except to everyone else.  In these pages you will learn more about Timmy's best friend Rollo Tookus, who actually studies in school; Senor Burrito, the cat with a teacup fetish, and Timmy's test-taking t...

Queenie: One Elephant's Story Written by Corinne Fenton Illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe Candlewick Press, 2013. Unpaged. Non-fiction picture book. In the early 1900s, a young female elephant was captured by hunters in India and shipped overseas to Melbourne, Australia. When she arrived at the Melbourne zoo, the keepers named her "Queenie," and she soon began her job as a zoo attraction giving children rides. Conditions in the zoo were not always ideal. Although children would give Queenie treats, some would stick her trunk with pins and tease her. Once, though, she got her revenge by spraying naughty boys with dirty bath water! Over the years, she came to be a major animal celebrity, and children from all over would visit her. Sadly, in her later years, Queenie was put to sleep after an unfortunate accident where she crushed her keeper. This phenomenal story is honestly and respectfully written. Though it is sad, there is still a feeling that Queenie touched a l...

Everyone Sleeps By Marcellus Hall Nancy Paulsen Books, c2013. Unpaged picture book. Conrad, a sweet, wide-eyed pug, watches as his people-family drifts off to dreamland. He wonders, "Everyone sleeps...everyone except me. Am I the only one who doesn't sleep?" Conrad wanders outside and observes a world full of animals and how they sleep. Horses sleep standing up, brown bats sleep upside down. Fish sleep with their eyes open, frogs at the bottom of the lake. Conrad is stumped about why everyone is able to sleep, but he isn't. But then- he spies a light on in his house! Someone else is awake! He crawls into bed with his girl...and promptly falls asleep. Everyone Sleeps is a slowly-paced, dreamy picture book that is just right for bedtime. The little pug is totally adorable, and Hall's watercolor illustrations of people, nature, and animals are lovely.

The Day the Crayons Quit Written by Drew Daywalt Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers Philomel Books, c2013. Unpaged picture book. One day, when Duncan gets out his crayon box to color, instead of crayons he finds a pile of letters with his name on it! It appears the worst has happened: the crayons have all quit! The letters are from each crayon, and boy are they mad. There is a complaint from every color in the box. Red writes to Duncan that he is simply overworked. Every holiday drawing has a use for Red and he needs a rest. Black is tired of being used just for outlines. "How about a BLACK beach ball sometime? Is that too much to ask?" Blue is just a stubby little guy from being used in every picture. And Beige...Beige just wants to know, "WHY did you peel off my paper wrapping?? Now I'm NAKED and too embarrassed to leave the crayon box." Drew Daywalt's debut picture book is wildly creative. Children will find it hysterically funny, while parents (who wil...

   Matilda Bone Fourteen-year-old Matilda, an apprentice bonesetter and practitioner of medicine in a village in medieval England, tries to reconcile the various aspects of her life, both spiritual and practical.   The Midwife's Apprentice In medieval England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife, and in spite of obstacles and hardship, eventually gains the three things she most wants: a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.    Catherine, Called Birdy The daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.   Alchemy and Meggy Swan In 1573, the crippled, scorned, and destitute Meggy Swann goes to London, where she meets her father, an impoverished alchemist, and eventually discovers that although her leg...

  Star of the Sea: A Day in the Life of a Starfish By Janet Halfmann Learn about what life is like for a starfish, also called a sea star. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish By Dr. Seuss A story-poem about the activities of such unusual animals as the Nook, Wump, Yink, Yop, Gack, and the Zeds. A Place for Fish By Melissa Stewart  Simple yet informative text accompanied by large color illustrations explains how human action or inaction affect fish populations. One Night in the Coral Sea By Sneed B. Collard  Science author Sneed B. Collard III explains coral reefs, the coral larvae's perilous journey through the sea to their home on the reef, and the animals that depend on this ecosystem for their survival. The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark  By Deborah Diesen Mr. Fish feels nervous venturing deep in the sea to look for Ms. Clam's lost pearl until Miss Shimmer helps him conquer his fear of the dark. The B...

Sugar By Jewel Parker Rhodes Little, Brown, 2013. 272 pages. Historical fiction. After the end of the civil war, 10 year old Sugar continues to live and work on the plantation where her family had been slaves. Sugar forges a friendship with the white plantation owner's son, Billy- which, although entirely innocent, is still a forbidden relationship. One day, Billy lets it slip that his father has purchased several "Chinamen" to come overseas and help with harvesting the sugarcane. This news makes all the plantation workers fearful, because the Chinese workers are seen as a cultural and economic threat. This rich narrative follows Sugar's journey of facing the unknown: her life as a free girl, the relationships between her black and white neighbors, and learning about a whole new culture. The Chinese turn out to be real friends, as they open her eyes by teaching her about their food, writing, and storytelling. A beautiful story that focuses on an under-explored...

The Sasquatch Escape by Suzanne Selfors Little, Brown and Co., 2013.  215 pgs.  Fiction        When Ben moves to Buttonville to stay with his grandfather for the summer, the first thing he sees is what he thinks is a very large bird flying overhead. Because he is known for making things up, no one believes him, except his new friend Pearl Petal, who has also seen the "big bird" which turns out to be a dragon. Then Grandpa's cat drags what Ben thinks is a bat into his bedroom, but which turns out to be an injured dragon hatchling.  Pearl and Ben take the baby dragon to Dr. Woo's new Worm Hospital and accidentally release a Sasquatch into the wilds of the Buttonville Senior Center on Pudding Day. Chocolate must be deployed to try to lure the Sasquatch back home. First in a new series, The Imaginary Veterinary, The Sasquatch Escape is a funny and exciting reader for middle grade kids. 

El Elefante Encadenado By Jorge Bucay, illustraded by: Gusti RBA Libros, SA, 2008 This is a story about a boy fascinated with elephants specially in the Circus. He notice one day how after the elephant did things that show their magnificent strength, they were put in a chain verily attached to a small stick on the ground, and these powerful creatures did not try to get away; he ask one of his teachers and was told the elephants were trained, so the boy ask why then they have a chain on their foot? But no one could answer. See how this boy figure it out and learn how to appreciate animals and the joy they bring to our lives. Cute story!!! I really enjoy it!  Este bello cuento se trata de un niño que estaba facinado con los elefantes specialmente los del Circo, Un día notó como el elefante hacia todos los trucos que necesitaban mucha fuerza, luego vió como despues de la actuación llevaron al elefante y le pusieron una cadena en su pie y estaba anclada en un pequeñ...

The Watcher in the Shadows by Chris Moriarty Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.  326 pgs. Fiction      Moriarty's second book in her alternate magical New York history series is perhaps even better than the first. In this installment, Sacha is haunted literally and figuratively by the dybbuk he has summoned. Set in the foreground of the impending Pentacle Shirtwaist Factory strike, opposed by J P Morgaunt, master magician and oppressor of the poor, the story begins with the death of the Klezmer King, a suddenly remarkable magician who has been electrocuted by his wired tuxedo.  As Sacha, Inspector Wolf, and Lily Astral investigate, people they know are innocent fall under suspicion and into terrible danger from the "watcher in the shadows." Sacha seeks help from his grandfather the rabbi who would love to save him--if he could.  It falls on Sacha to somehow save those he loves from the dark incarnation of himself.  But how?  That question is ...

Adventure Time, Vol. 1 by Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, and Braden Lamb Kaboom! 2012.  Unpaged.  Graphic Novel      If Cartoon Network's Adventure Time TV show is as much fun as its comic book spinoff, it's a crackerjack.  The adventures of Finn the Human Boy and Jake the Dog are a ball of laughs for reasons very difficult to explain.  The funny bits are so very far off the wall they are not even in the house; indeed, they are in the land of Ooo where in this episode the Lich, a really creepy Skeletor-looking guy--has constructed a giant bag into which Ooo is being sucked.  Finn and Jake spring into action because "What time is it?"  "Adventure time!"  They are aided in their quest to restore world by the Desert Princess, the Lumpy Space Princess, the BMO robot/computer, and even the Ice King, who even though he is normally a formidable enemy and a jerk, comes on board to help since the Lich has sucked off his penguin pal Gunt...

Eiffel Tower by Bryan Pezzi Weigl, 2012.  24 pgs.  Nonfiction     Weigl has done itself proud again in the nonfiction/Common Core market with a series of books about man-made wonders including the Parthenon, the Pyramids of Giza, the Taj Mahal, and in this case, the Eiffel Tower.  Clear prose coupled with pictures, timelines, and colorful headings tell the story of this Paris icon for a wide reading range of youngsters.  Kids may especially enjoying logging on to the Internet component of the book, especially because it is accessed by a "secret" code and password, where they can see a short panoramic view movie from the top of the tower, take quizzes, and find additional information. 

Fog Island by Tomi Ungerer Phaidon, 2013.  Unpaged.  Picture Book      In a book dedicated to "Ireland and all the wonderful people who welcomed us here," the incomparable Tomi Ungerer tells the story of Fog Island, a mysterious, rocky outcropping where few have journeyed and none returned. "Finn and Cara were brother and sister.  They lived by the sea in the back of beyond."  One day they ventured out in the small boat, a curragh , their father had fashioned for them. Blown off course, they thought themselves lost, but drifted at last into a small inlet--on Fog Island.  There they meet the master of the island, the Fogmaker himself, who cares for them kindly, shares the secrets of his craft, and then disappears the next day, as the children take themselves back out to sea, and to rescue. This beautifully atmospheric story, with pictures of such subtlety one hardly notices the magic they are working, is one of Ungerer's finest.

The Bathing Costume or The Worst Vacation of My Life by Charlotte Moundlic, illustrated by Olivier Tallec, translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick Enchanted Lion Books, 2013.   Unpaged.  Picture Book      When Myron's family is getting ready to move, Myron is sent to stay with his grandparents for the summer.  He doesn't want to go because he has never been away from his mother before (a tease-worthy point from older brother Martin), and because he's worried there will be nothing to do except when his cousins (also teasers) arrive and then he will be the butt of all their jokes. Besides, in Myron's family, the year one turns eight he is required to jump off the ten-foot board at the swimming pool.  By himself.  But when Myron figures out how only one cousin a day actually has to take a shower in Grandma's spider-filled bathroom, he gets street cred with the cousins and they start to have fun, including biking without helmets over a homemade ...

Squirrel's Fun Day Written by Lisa Moser Illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev Candlewick Press, 2013. 44 pages. Easy reader. Squirrel, who is always moving and talking at a frantic pace, is determined to have a very fun day! When Mouse is too busy to have fun, Squirrel helps her with her chores. When Turtle is too sleepy, Squirrel helps him to get energized. And when Rabbit doesn't want to try something new, Squirrel helps him to venture out. The four short chapters are funny, and engaging for young readers. The ink and watercolor artwork is a wonderful, classic touch. This easy reader is a great choice for fans of Lobel's Frog and Toad or Bunting's Frog and Friends!

  Elvis and the Underdogs by Jenny Lee Balter + Bray, 2013.  300 pgs. Benji Wendell Barnsworth is an accident waiting to happen. Born a sickly child, he has more health issues and accidents in one month than most kids have in their entire life. He has been in and out of the local hospital so often he now has a frequent flyer punch card there. But when he suffers a frightening seizure while at school, his parents decide it is time for a therapy assistance dog to be brought in. What he gets is Elvis, a huge Newfoundland dog that can talk. Unfortunately, Benji is the only one who can understand him when he does. What soon follows is one hilarious adventure after another. Benji soon discovers all the kinds of trouble a big dog with an giant attitude can get him into. A must read for young and old alike!

The Curse of the Pharaoh Agatha, Girl of Mystery, Book 1 by Steve Stevenson Grosset and Dunlap, 2013.  133 pgs. Mystery     The biggest mystery associated with The Curse of the Pharoah is why Amazon chose it as one of its best children's books of the year so far, unless they have a warehouse-load of them they are looking to unload.   It's not a bad book, but seems not particularly noteworthy, either.  A workmanlike story of a young girl who uses her friend's enrollment in a junior spy school, and her aunt's beefy butler as cover for her own investigative activities, The Curse of the Pharaoh tells the story of a missing tablet at an excavation in Egypt. Agatha uses her knowledge of Egyptian history and lore (interesting tidbits mixed in the narrative) to figure out who lifted the loot. Stereotypical dissing of an obese member of the archaeological team, and a bit of condescension towards servants and native workers cast a bit of a shadow over an ot...

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein Random House, 2013.  289 pgs.  Mystery      Kyle Keeley loves games, partly it is the one arena where he can best his two older brothers, one a star athlete and the other a "total brainiac." So when Luigi Lemoncello, one of the world's greatest developers of board games, donates a new library to his home town of Alexandriaville, where Kyle lives, excitement reigns.  Especially when Mr. Lemoncello offers twelve twelve-year-olds an opportunity to Spend the Night in the Library, play games, and win prizes. Similar in spirit to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's golden ticket, prize-winning essays are the way in to the library overnighter. Kyle gets in, against all odds, and then the fun, the puzzles, the holographic librarians, the teaming up, and occasional treachery begin. This is a book that will quickly be clutched to the bosoms of children's librarians, library lovers, and children's b...

Third Grade Angels by Jerry Spinelli Scholastic, 2013.  134 pgs.  Fiction       The rhyme goes:  "First grade babies!  Second grade cats!  Third grade angels! Fourth grade rats!" Spinelli has already written about Suds Morton's adventures in "Fourth Grade Rats," and here we find out what Suds was like in Third Grade.  He likes his teacher.  She gives out  halos to her third grade angels, one at a time,  after the first month of school, depending on their behavior. Suds wants to be first at everything, including the first to get a halo, so he is on his better-than-best behavior even when bad-kid Joey bothers him from the seat behind him, and when the other kids get bored with angel-like behavior and kind of slope out of the competition.  Suds even behaves at home, because he thinks Mrs. Simms has spies there.  No more calling his little sister Zippernose, or not eating his peas. Suds figures he's got ...