Provo Library Children's Book Blog

  Should You Be A River by Ed Young Little, Brown and Co. 2015 Picture Book Ed Young has won numerous awards, including a Caldecott Medal.  This new book is a free verse poem affirming unwavering love.  "Should you be a calm lake, I'll hold you, reflecting your every mood/ Should you be a seed, I'll dream you a vision of towering trees." The lyrical text is illustrated with collage created from beautiful nature photography.  Some of the figures in the illustrations are shaped like Chinese characters, and there more characters (the text in Chinese?) inside the front cover.  An end note explains that the poem was written after the death of the author's wife. This is a lovely and culturally rich offering for all ages to share.

    Room for Bear By Ciara Gavin Random House Children’s Books, 2015. Picture Book. Bear came to live with a family of ducks. He became one of the family. However, it becomes difficult to accommodate a large bear in the home of the ducks. This cute picture book with a large huggable bear and 5 cuddly little ducks follows bear as he tries to find his place. With fun illustrations and a great message, this book is a keeper. Bear learns that families and their members come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. A great book for discussing different types of families with young children.

Grandma in Blue with Red Hat by Scott Menchin illustrated by Harris Bliss Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2015. Picture Book A boy likes to go to his art class at a museum each week.  His teacher tells the students that objects can be considered art if they are beautiful, unique, different, or tell a story.  The boy decides that his grandma is all those things and wonders if she should be in a museum.  Instead he produces an art show dedicated to his grandma. This is a sweet book about inter-generational affection.  It is also a great way to help children know different ways of looking at art.  Menchin's simple text and Bliss's cartoon illustrations make the art principles very accessible to even small children.  This is a good pick if a visit to an art museum is part of your family's summer plans.  

                                      Arcady's Goal by Eugene Yelchin Henry Holt, 2014.  234 pgs. Fiction      Arcady is an orphaned ward of the state, because his parents were considered enemies of the Soviet state. He manages not only to endure but to prosper to a degree because of his soccer skills. He plays against the other orphans for food and respect and gets along as best he can until the unimaginable happens - he is adopted by a school teacher who wants to become his father in honor of his dead wife, who passed away before she could deliver a child. Arcady and Ivan Ivanych are often at cross purposes, Ivan trying to show love to his new son, and Arcady wishing to maintain his independence and to achieve his dream: to play for the Red Army soccer team. He is scorned at school because of his parents, and denied a tryout with the Red Army team because of hi...

The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Dial, 2015.  316 pgs. Fiction.      Ten-year-old Ada is never allowed outside because she has a club foot which shames her mother. She has always been responsible for her healthy little brother Jamie, who can now leave her whenever he wants, and about whom she ceaselessly worries. Her mother is one of the most abusive women in the history of children's literature, surely, and so Ada and Jamie are not altogether sorry when they are shipped out of London and into the countryside during the Blitz of World War II. They are sent to live with one Susan Smith who didn't plan on displaced children, nor want any. She is still grieving for the loss of her partner Becky, dead from pneumonia. By and by, in a story very similar to Michelle Magorian's Goodnight, Mr. Tom , Ada learns to ride Becky's pony Butter, makes friends with the neighbors, and comes to believe a bit more in her ability to live a life of her choosi...

It's Only Stanley by Jon Agee Dial, 2015.  Unpaged.  Picture Book      The Wimbledons remain generally unfazed, even though their dog Stanley keeps waking them up at all hours banging on this and drilling on that. "It's only Stanley," they say.  He is fixing the furnace, or boiling up some catfish stew, or fiddling with the television. Also, he howls at the moon, which is appropriate since the moon is his ultimate destination along with the unwitting Wimbledons whose hom has become Stanley's rocket ship. What kid wouldn't like finding that Stanley's putterings are  rocket science after all. And of course, with Jon Agee's classically hilarious illustrations.

  The Crossover by Kwame Alexander Houghton Mifflin, 2014. Fiction Josh and Jordan Bell are middle-school-aged twins who are both basketball proteges.  The boys make an unstoppable team on court and are leading their school in a undefeated season.  The twins have always been close, until a new girl moves into town.  Jordan's growing relationship with the new girl forces a wedge between the brothers. At the same time both boys worry about their father who used to be a pro ball player, but now suffers from health problems.  When Josh's hurt feelings lead him to make a bad choice, more than the basketball championship is at risk. Alexander's fast-moving novel is written in verse.  Some sections have the pulsing beat of rap music while others are written in more reflective free verse.  It is a great choice to give to a reluctant reader who is a sports fan. This quick read, full of heart and exciting basketball action, well deserves its Newbery meda...

Down by the Cool of the Pool Written by Tony Mitton Illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees Orchard Books, Inc. 2002. Picture Book. After frog begins a song and dance, farm animals begin to join in one by one with their own contributions to the song and dance. Duck “flaps” and pig “wiggles” in this fun rhyming romp that takes place near a pond on a farm. With illustrations that are colorful and vibrant, young children will love this clever and engaging book. The repetition in the song allows the reader to learn the rhymes and sing along.

Meet the Dullards by Sara Pennypacker Balzer & Bray, 2015. Picture book. Mr. and Mrs. Dullard are determined to protect their children from the dangers of excitement and ensure them a perfectly dull life. They let them watch television, but only when it’s unplugged. They let them read, but only blank white paper. They order them ice cream: “Five vanilla cones. Hold the cones. And extract the vanilla.” And they don’t let the neighbors use exclamation marks in front of the kids. But Blanda, Borely, and Little Dud begin to show disturbing signs: reading books, asking to go to school, and even trying to play outside. Will the parents’ heroic efforts to squash this dangerous behavior work, or will the children find a way to express their creativity? The illustrations are full of visual jokes and details that reward careful viewing. This tongue-in-cheek story is full of silliness and wordplay that even older children and adults will enjoy.

Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly Disney Hyperion, 2014. Fiction 340 p. Serafina is a mermaid princess, just about to go through a rite of passage marking her ascension to the thrown.  As soon as the ceremony is over her kingdom is attacked and she sees her mother, the queen, mortally wounded.  She is forced to flee by advisers who want to preserve the royal line.  Thus she starts a quest to find and stop the evil force that is terrorizing all of the mer-kingdoms.  During her quest she meets five other mer-maidens  who, like her, have been lead by dreams to seek out the sea witches for help. Donnelly has created interesting characters and an imaginative setting. This is the first in an exciting new "girl power" series, fast paced and full of adventure. 

My Grandma’s a Ninja By Todd Tarpley Illustrated by Danny Chatzikonstantinou NorthSouth Books, 2015. Picture Book. Every grandma is different, but Ethan’s more than most, his grandma is a Ninja. They just don’t walk to school, they zip line. For show and tell he has his grandma show the class karate. What at first makes him cool having a ninja grandma in the end upsets his teammates when her ninja moves disrupts their soccer game. He too gets mad and tells her to be normal. In the end, Ethan discovers he loves his grandma’s unique ways, and grandma continues on being herself. A humorous picture book about accepting who you are that children will love to read (even if their grandma is not a ninja).

Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King By Bonnie Christensen Henry Holt and Company, 2015. Biography. This picture book biography focuses on Elvis’ humble beginnings as a poor, shy Southern boy who never seemed to fit in until people heard him sing. In 1953 he took a chance and walked into Sun Records and paid to four dollars to a make a record. It wasn’t until a year later, when Sam Phillips, looking for a new sound, remembered Elvis’ unique voice and his blend of blues, country, and gospel, that Elvis’ career was launched. This brief biography, which highlights Elvis’ vulnerabilities in his youth, shows children that we all have awkward moments in life and that it takes work and determination to make our dreams come true. The use of photo collage and oil painting in the illustrations gives the story a soft, reminiscent quality.

Queen of the Diamond: The Lizzie Murphy Story By Emily Arnold McCully Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2015. Biography. Lizzie Murphy loved baseball and was a natural at it, but in the early 1900s it was considered improper for a girl to play a man’s game. But with the encouragement of her father and brother, Lizzie proved herself a valuable player for her brother’s team and then moved onto amateur teams as a teen. When she was 18 her mother was concerned that she could not support herself and get married if she continued playing baseball and encouraged her to stop. That’s when Lizzie went out and joined the city’s team that paid their players where her talent and oddity of being a girl player drew a crowd. She had to stand up for equal pay and razzing of the crowd, but in the end she played professional baseball for seventeen years, living her dream and earning both respect and the title “Queen of Baseball.” You don’t have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this pict...

How to Draw a Dragon  by Douglas Florian Beach Lane Books, 2015. Picture Book Drawing a portrait of your dragon is a challenge because dragons are so big you can't see them all at once.  This picture book suggests different ways you can draw the various parts of your dragon. "Draw a your dragon's pointed spines/using lots of jagged lines./While your dragon's laying eggs/take the time to draw its legs." Florian is an award winning children's poet and the text is written in bouncing rhyme. Each two page spread features one couplet of the poem and a brightly colored dragon made to look like a child had drawn it. During the summer break it is great to find a book that can suggest an activity. Check out this book, read it as a family, and then have fun drawing dragons of your own.

Clover's Luck Magical Animal Adoption Agency #1 by Kallie George illustrated by Alexandra Boiger Disney Hyperion, February 2015. 128 pages. Intermediate fiction. Clover believes that she is the unluckiest girl in the world, especially when it comes to keeping pets. One day she is following her escaped canary into the woods and she discovers an advertisement for the M.A.A.A., otherwise known as the Magical Animal Adoption Agency. Clover is astonished to discover that there really are magical animals in the woods near her supposedly ordinary town. When she is suddenly left in charge of the agency by herself, her bad luck might cause a few problems. Or does it? This new intermediate chapter book series is perfect for young girls 2nd grade and up.

  Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos Clarion Books, 2013. Picture book. When Baby Billy is born with a mustache, his family anxiously waits to find out if it is a good-guy mustache or a bad-guy mustache. At first, Billy’s mustache is noble and just as he morphs from cowboy to Spanish painter to man of the law. But as Billy grows older his mustache starts to curl up at the ends… and his parents’ worst fears are realized. Thus follows a life of dreadful toddler crime. Hilarious cartoony illustrations perfectly round out this silly and dramatic tale of the terrible twos. The follow-up book Mustache Baby Meets His Match is now available.