Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Malala: a Brave Girl from Pakistan/ Iqbal: a Brave Boy from Pakistan By Jeanette Winter Beach Lane Books, 2014. 40p. Picture Book Biography This book tells the story of two remarkable children from Pakistan.  Iqbal was made an indentured servant at the age of four and had to work long hours chained to a bench in a weaver's shop.  When we was freed from his indenture at age ten he began speaking out against child labor.  Malala attended a girl's school until the Taliban came and shut it down.  She began speaking out for the rights of girls to get an education. Both Iqbal and Malala were ultimately shot by those who didn't want children to have basic human rights. The book is formatted so that Malala's story starts on one side, Iqbal's story starts from the other.  The two stories meet in the middle of the book, which shows Malala reaching out to Iqbal who died more than a decade before she was attacked but survived her gunshot wound.  The text is writ...

The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail By Richard Peck Illustrated by Kelly Murphy Dial Books for Young Readers, 2013. Fiction, 223 p A small mouse lives under the stables of Buckingham Palace.  He doesn't know who his parents are, or even what his name is.  The other mice call him Mouse Minor but he wants to find out who he really is. It is the time of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and the small mouse decides he wants to ask Queen Victoria herself who he is.  He knows his path to meet the queen will be difficult and dangerous, but with a little luck and a lot of pluck, he embarks on a journey that changes his life forever. Even though this is a story about a mouse, Peck includes a lot of historical detail about life during the time of Queen Victoria, and social structure of the queen's court. The fast paced action is peppered with plenty of humor. Murphy's black and white and color illustrations add charm. This is a good choice for those who liked Peck's ...

Absolutely Almost By Lisa Graff Philomel Books, 2014. Fiction, 288 p Albie is a good kid with a good heart, but he is not the sharpest tack in the drawer.  He goes to a special math class, he struggles with spelling and he is below grade level in reading. His parents try to be supportive, but Albie can sense that his lack of academic achievement bothers them. The kids at school tease him and call him "dummy".  The only one who makes him feel smart is his nanny, Calista. Her friendship is one of the most important influences in his life, but will she always be able to be there for him?  This is another novel that is getting a lot of national attention.  So many books are about kids that are super smart, or super challenged.  Ms Graff does a great job in this book showing that a child doesn't have to be "special" to be special.

Wishful Thinking By Amanda Ashby Sophie can't wait to start middle school. She has a brand-new pair of jeans that make her look impossibly tall and will hopefully cause her dreamy crush to fall in love with her. But when an odd, floating Zac Efron look-alike appears and offers her a ring, Sophie takes it and becomes a djinn. Can she manage to learn to control her new powers? Be a Genie in Six Easy Steps By Linda Chapman Four new stepsiblings move from London to an out-of-the-way English village, where they discover a book--inhabited by a grouchy bookworm--that promises to make the reader a wish-granting genie. Fisherman and the Genie By Eric Fein The story of an evil Persian king, who marries a new wife each day and then kills her the next morning. To stop this murderous ruler, a brave woman named Scheherazade risks her own life and marries the king herself ... but not without a plan. On their wedding night, she will entertain him with the tale of the Fisherman and the ...

Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood by Nathan Hale Amulet Books, 2014. 124 pages. Graphic Novel, ages 8+. Nathan Hale has created another masterpiece in this fourth installment of the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales series. This time, he tackles World War I, focusing mostly on the western front. While WWI is not an easy war to explain to kids (let alone adults), Hale succeeds in making the people, scenarios, and situations understandable. He narrates through the soldier Nathan Hale (who shares his namesake) from the Revolutionary War, a comical hangman, and practical provost, who allow him to combine the sobering realities of the war with many laugh out loud moments. Upon the hangman's insistence, each country is represented by an animal, making the events of the war easier to follow along. The amount of research is phenomenal. The illustrations and dialogue are brilliant. If you enjoy history (or want to enjoy history), make sure you read Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales ...

Shh! We Have A Plan by Chris Haughton Candlewick Press, 2014. Picture Book. Four friends go through the woods and see a colorful bird perched on a branch. As the smallest friend exclaims "hello, birdie" the other three respond with "Shh! We have a plan." The three attempt to capture the bird, only to end up piled over each other. This scenario repeats until the smallest friend succeeds in giving bread crumbs to the colorful bird, which brings many birds. The other three friends are foiled when they realize the birds outnumber them. Haughton combines limited text and a bold color palette for powerful storytelling. The spot-on comedic timing and meaningful message make this a great read-aloud.  

Found by Salina Yoon Walker Books, 2014 Picture Book One day Bear finds a toy bunny in the forest which he thinks is “the most special thing he has ever seen.” But worried that the bunny’s family will be missing him, Bear sets out to find the bunny’s owner. As he works hard to return the bunny, he wishes more and more that he could keep him for his own. When the owner belatedly turns up, Bear faces a tough decision and gets a surprising offer.  This simple story is made special by the way Yoon’s understated text is illuminated by her bright, heavily outlined illustrations. The pictures bring out the cuteness, emotion, and humor of the tale. The yellow and green patches on Bunny’s stuffed body, his heart-shaped nose, and depictions of him riding in a backpack on Bear’s back make him as hard to resist to the reader as he is to Bear. Fun details reveal themselves upon re-reading, such as a little yellow canary that follows Bear throughout the story. The bulletin board...

Zeraffa Giraffa by Dianne Hofmeyr illustrated by Jane Ray Frances Lincoln, 2014. Picture Book In 1824 a baby giraffe was captured in Africa.  The king of Egypt decided she should be a gift to the king of France. He arranged for the giraffe and a servant boy, Atir, to make the long journey to Paris.  Atir named the giraffe Zeraffa and the two of them traveled for two years, walking the last 550 miles, to reach their destination, the King's pleasure gardens.  When they arrived, Zeraffa, the first giraffe ever seen in France, made a sensation throughout the country.  This engaging story, based on a real historical incident, it told with fluid, translucent prose.  Ray's lovely watercolor illustrations are done in rich, warm colors and do a good job of communicating the mood and setting of the story. This is an delightful informational book for parents and children to explore together.

Snow Moon By Nicholas Brunelle One wintry night, a child awakens to find at his window a mysterious owl that beckons, and together the two set off on a moonlit journey to a place called Owl Ridge. Snow Friends By M. Christina Butler After awakening early from his winter sleep and wishing for someone to play with, Little Bear is joined by new friends who help him make a snowman. Snow Day! By Lester L. Laminack Someone is very, very excited about the possibility of missing school due to snow, and plans a whole day of sledding, building forts, reading, and sipping hot chocolate rather than going to school for that test on chapter ten. Olivia Builds a Snowlady By Farrah McDoogle Olivia and her friends build a snowlady for the winter festival but when the weather warms up and the snow melts, she and her friends have to get creative to save the day. Snow By Cynthia Rylant Celebrates the beauty of a snowfall and its happy effects on children. Skippyjon Jones Snow What B...

Dogerella By Maribeth Boelts With the help of her fairy dogmother, Dogerella attends Princess Bea's ball where she competes with other dogs to become the princess's royal pet. Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal By Paul Fleischman The author draws from a variety of folk traditions to put together this version of Cinderella, including elements from Mexico, Iran, Korea, Russia, Appalachia, and more. Just Ella By Margaret Peterson Haddix In this continuation of the Cinderella story, fifteen-year-old Ella finds that accepting Prince Charming's proposal ensnares her in a suffocating tangle of palace rules and royal etiquette, so she plots to escape. Cinder Edna By Ellen Jackson Cinderella and Cinder Edna, who live with cruel stepmothers and stepsisters, have different approaches to life; and, although each ends up with the prince of her dreams, one is a great deal happier than the other. The Way Meat Loves Salt By Nina Jaffe In this Eastern European Jewish variant of t...

Love Monster and the Perfect Present by Rachel Bright Farrar Straus Giroux, 2013/2014, Picture Book In Love Monster's first book , the "not cute and fluffy", and "slightly hairy" monster manages to find a best friend.  Now as Present Day approaches, Love Monster wants to get his friend the perfect gift, but when he goes to the store, all the "shinyful" gifts are too expensive. Love Monster is worried he won't find anything to give his friend, until he comes up with the great idea. Love Monster and his world are drawn with invitingly bright and bold lines and colors.  The text is printed in a wonky, but readable, font that lends the simple story energy and kid-appeal. This is not a Christmas book but contains a timely message--in a child friendly package--about what makes a gift special.

  Words with Wings  by Nikki Grimes Wordsong, 2013, Free Verse Fiction, 84 p. Gabby has always been a daydreamer, but since she moved to a new school after her parent's divorce, her daydreaming has gotten to be a bigger problem.  A single "word with wings" can send her off into a world of her imagination and make her forget what she is supposed to be doing.  In an attempt to please her parents and teacher, she tries to suppresses her daydreams for a while, but that just makes her sad. Finally her teacher encourages her to write what she is thinking and both her parents and teacher discover that her daydreaming has made her a wonderful writer.  This is a short novel written in free verse.  The text expresses a clear flow of ideas and images with a surprising economy of words. Though the text is short, Ms. Grimes uses amazing word craft to create dimensional and sympathetic characters in a heart warming story.  It is no wonder that this book won Ms...

  Rain Reign By Ann Martin Feiwel and Friends, 2014. Fiction, 226 p. Rose is a 5th grade girl who has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. She has an aid at school and an uncle that are very kind and patient with her fixation on rule keeping and homonyms, but her father gets frustrated that Rose is not "normal."  At home, her main comfort is her dog, Rain, which her father found in a storm and gave to his daughter.  When Hurricane Susan hits Rose's town, Rain comes up missing. Desperate to find her beloved dog, Rose begins an extensive and systematic search that leads to more questions, and answers, for the brave and sympathetic little girl.  This book is getting starred reviews everywhere and is probably a major contender for this year's Newbery award.  Parents should know that the book contains some profanity and emotionally difficult situations.  Parents might want to read this book first before giving it to a sensitive child.

What's Your Favorite Animal? Eric Carle and Friends Henry Holt and Company, 2014. Picture Book. In this collaborative picture book, 14 well-known author-illustrators answer the question: "What's your favorite animal?" Answers include cat, elephant, and Amazonian neotropical lower river tink-tink. The best part of this book is seeing the different author-illustrator personalities. While some pages are thoughtful and beautiful like Chris Raschka's spread about the snail, other pages are downright hilarious such as Nick Bruel attempting to describe the octopus while a miffed Bad Kitty interrupts him. The humor reaches young children and parents. The variation in answers and art styles is an opportunity to encourage children to write and draw about their own favorite animals. All royalties from this book go to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

  Johnny Boo Zooms to the Moon! by James Kochalka Top Shelf Productions, 2014. Comics, 40 p. In this sixth adventure of the " best little ghost in the world ", Johnny decides to skateboard to the moon.  At fist his friend, Squiggle, tries to carry him up to the moon, but without much success. Then some stars decide to help.  They take the place of wheels on the skateboard, and soon Johnny is zooming to the moon.  There he meets a very cool girl ghost, has an encounter with an ice cream monster, and then ends up back on earth, safe and sound. But did his awesome moon adventure really happen, or was it all just a dream?  The Johnny Boo books are charming comic style picture books, appropriate for younger comics fans.  Kochalka's color cartoon illustrations, simple and imaginative story lines, and large font text make this series inviting to even the most reluctant reader.

Memory Maze by Gordon Korman Scholastic, 2014. Science Fiction, 234 p. In this sequel to The Hypnotists , Jax has relocated with his family to Connecticut in an attempt to hide from the evil Dr. Mako  They have taken on new names, and his parents are attempting, without much success, to take on new careers. Jax is having a hard time fitting in at school because he has to take extra measures to keep from hypnotizing people. Despite his best efforts to keep a low profile, he ends up winning the school chess competition.  This leads him to competitions on the district and state level, and brings him to the attention of an elderly tycoon who figures out Jax's real identity. The tycoon promises to pay Jax handsomely to put him into a deep hypnotic state in an effort to slow the advance of the old man's terminal illness.  As Jax starts creating daily extended hypnotic connections with the man, Jax starts to experience his memories. There is more in the man's he...

The books in this display received starred reviews in at least  three national review sources during 2014. The Witch’s Boy By Kelly Regan Barnhill When a Bandit King comes to take the magic that Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, the stuttering, weak boy villagers think should have drowned rather than his twin summons the strength to protect his family and community, while in the woods, the bandit's daughter puzzles over a mystery that ties her to Ned. Leroy Ninker Saddles Up By Kate DiCamillo Saddle up for this first volume in a spin-off series starring favorite characters from DiCamillo's "New York Times"-bestselling Mercy Watson books. Leroy Ninker has a hat, a lasso, and boots. What he doesn't have is a horse--until he meets Maybelline, and then it's love at first sight. The Key that Swallowed Joey Pigsa By Jack Gantos Everything goes topsy-turvy for Joey as he becomes the man of the house, looking after his new baby brother, ...

Titanic By Simon Adams Describes the Titanic, including its accommodations, in detail and provides an account of its sinking in the North Atlantic in April, 1912. Cat By Juliet Clutton-Brock Text and photographs present the anatomy, behavior, habitats, and other aspects of wild and domestic cats. Dog By Juliet Clutton-Brock Text and photographs highlight the evolutionary history of the dog family, their domestication, anatomy, behavior, and breeds. Castle By Christopher Gravett Looks behind fortress walls to explore how they were built to house hundreds of people and animals, the important rooms, the people who lived in them, and what castle life was like. Knight By Christopher Gravett Be an eyewitness to what life was really like for a knight in medieval times -- from battles to banquets and from jousting to hunting. See how a knight put on his armor. Find out why knights decorated their shields. Discover deadly weapons known as caltrops. Farm By Ned Halley Tex...

Pretty Minnie in Paris by Danielle Steel illustrated by Kristi Valiant Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2014. Picture Book There are some author's names that you don't really expect to see in the Children's Department, yet this new picture book really is written by the world famous romance writer, Danielle Steel. It is inspired by her own little dog, a chihuahua named Minnie, and their adventures in Paris.  In the book Minnie lives with a little girl named Fran ç oise near the Arc de Triomphe.  Both dog and master love Paris, fancy clothes, and spending time together. One day, while attending a fashion show, Minnie gets lost amid the bustle of swirling dresses.  Fran ç oise and Minnie are both worried, until Minnie shows up in one of the model's bouquets. The text of the book is a strait forward narrative of Minnie's adventures, but the illustrations are what make this book fun to read.  The colorful sites of Paris, the frilly matching outfits Minnie and Fr...

Inside Stars By Andra Serlin Abramson Presents an illustrated overview of stars, including information on how they affect the Earth, how scientists study them, how they are classified, how they form and die, and specific information about our star, the Sun. Stars! Stars! Stars! By Bob Barner Simple rhyming text describes stars and the planets of our solar system. How the Stars Fell into the Sky: a Navajo Legend By Jerrie Oughton A retelling of the Navaho legend that explains the patterns of the stars in the sky. Stars By Mary Lyn Ray Explores the wonder of stars, whether they are in the night sky, on a plant as a promise of fruit to come, or in one's pocket for those days when one does not feel shiny. The Stars: a New Way to See Them By H. A. Rey A simple guide to the location and recognition of stars and constellations presents the constellations in shapes that correspond sensibly to their names. Stars By Seymour Simon Discusses the stars, their composition...

The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel By Deborah Hopkinson Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. Historical Fiction, 249 p. Eel is a homeless orphan in London, 1854. He works odd jobs to support himself and his little brother.  All the while he must avoid his evil stepfather who wants to turn him and his little brother into beggars and burglars. When cholera strikes in his neighborhood he is enlisted by the famous doctor, John Snow, in a desperate effort to find the cause of the epidemic.  This interesting historical fiction is based on an actual outbreak of cholera that lead to the discovery of how the disease is transmitted.  The character of Eel is fictional, but many of the other characters are based on real people. Hopkinson includes carefully researched detail about life Victorian life, and demonstrates, through the character of Dr. Snow, the process of careful scientific investigation.  The book contains a good de...

Olive and the Embarrassing Gift by Tor Freeman Templar Books, 2014. Picture Book In this third adventure of Olive the cat, Joe gives Olive a hat that says "Best Friend."  Joe is Olive's best friend, but Olive thinks the hat looks silly.  The other animals think so, too, and they start to tease Olive.  Embarrassed, Olive tries to figure out a way to get out of wearing the hat without hurting Joe's feelings.  In the end she has to decide what is more important to her, keeping her friend, or pleasing the "other kids." Freeman tells her story with minimal text, but very child friendly and accessible cartoon illustrations. At this time of year when there is a lot of giving and receiving of gifts, this is a entertaining reminder for children to be aware of the feelings of others.

Ken Jennings' Junior Genius Guides: Maps and Geography by Ken Jennings Illustrated by Mike Lowery Little Simon, 2014. 160 pages. JEOPARDY! champion and New York Times bestselling author Ken Jennings brings together entertaining map and geography trivia as part of his Junior Genius Guides collection. The trivia is genuinely fascinating and at times hilarious. The chapters are formatted as school periods, including "Art Class", "Recess", and "Lunch". This gives the book an enjoyable structure and breaks up the trivia with ideas for hands-on activities. In "Art Class" he encourages the reader to decide what shapes countries look like and draw them (for example, he points out that Slovenia resembles a chicken). For "Recess" he challenges the reader to draw a treasure map using a backyard or schoolyard as the landscape and then send someone on a treasure hunt. The illustrations by Lowery match the tone of the book perfectly. Over...

  Super Human Encyclopedia by Steve Parker DK Publishers, 2014. Nonfiction. 207 p. Although the title says "Super Human" this is an encyclopedia filled with interesting facts about normal humans. It is organized by body systems, and ends with a section on the future of human biology.  Did you know that if you lined up the nerve sells in the human body they would stretch about 621 miles?  Did you know that a marathon runner uses about the same amount of calories as in 12 slices of pizza?  As with all DK nonfiction, the text is illustrated by colorful, excellent quality photographs and graphics. The editors have included an extensive glossary and index at the end of the book.  This book is great for casual browsing or for a curious science lover to read straight through.

How to Bake a Book By Ella Burfoot Sourcebooks, 2014. Picture Book In this rhyming picture book the author relates the craft of writing a book to baking a cake. "Feelings, colors, sounds, a picture,/all add flavor to my mixture."  Burfort talks about crafting characters, choosing vocabulary, and thinking about plot elements. The text is a good length for reading aloud, only a sentence or two per page. The rhyme and meter is well crafted and the illustrations are colorful and lively. This would be a great book to read to a class or a home school group as an introduction to a writing project, or to share with a child who likes to write.

The Whispering Skull (Lockwood & Co. #2) by Jonathan Stroud Disney Hyperion, 2014. Fiction, 435 p Anthony Lockwood, Lucy Carlyle and George Cubbins are back on the job trying to neutralize the source for the ghost of the necromancer, Edmund Bickerstaff. When a powerful relic is stolen from the body, Lockwood and Company go head to head with their rivals from the Fitts agency to see who can recover it first. The relic and those who stole it turn out to be far more dangerous than they could have imagined.  Those who enjoyed the first in the series will not want to miss this second installment.  The reader learns more about the mysterious Lockwood, and the relationships between the three main characters become more complicated and interesting. There is plenty of humor and spooky adventure, though this one is perhaps not quite as intensely creepy as the first one  (which is not necessarily a bad thing).  A stinger ending will have readers counting the days u...