Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge: George and Martha Washington's Courageous Slave Who Dared to Run Away By Erica Armstrong Dunbar and Kathleen Van Cleve Aladdin, 2019. Biography. Ona Judge was born into slavery. Her father was a white indentured servant and her mother was a black slave, and they both worked on Mount Vernon plantation in the household of George and Martha Washington. Ona was the personal maid of Martha Washington and was one of the enslaved people chosen by Martha to go with the Washingtons when George was elected president. Living in New York and Philadelphia, Ona encountered free black people for the first time in her life and learned how she might become free. She also learned that if she lived in Pennsylvania, a state without slavery, for more than six months she would be considered free. She learned that the Washingtons went to great lengths to keep that from happening. Then, in 1796 when she learned that Martha intended to give Ona as a wedding gif...

Alma and How she Got Her Name  By Juana Martinez-Neal Candlewick Press, 2018. Picture book. Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela has a really long name. Sometimes, it feels like too many names, especially for such a small person. And she’s not really sure why she’s been given so many names. Six is a lot, even for a much bigger person. When Alma asks her father about her cumbersome name, he tells her the story of her many names, and with each new name she learns about the person she got it from. Alma has a rich background, full of relatives that have shaped her life and her names. Learning from her father about her history is a beautiful experience, both for her and the reader. Her names are not just names—they’re history-rich pieces of her ancestors, and each one is special and important. As her father explains how each person had some sort of impact, Alma learns that appreciating the past is important in helping us understand where we come from. It’s a lovely journey ...

The Panda Problem By Deborah Underwood Illustrated by Hannah Marks Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Young Readers Group, 2019. Picture Book. In this latest edition of the narrator interacting with the characters inside a book a narrator grapples with the fact that Panda isn’t very cooperative when it comes to telling a story. First of all Panda doesn’t really have any problems (but stories always have problems) so Panda decides to become the narrator’s problem. This is a clever look at how stories work as well as who is really in control—the narrator or the characters in the story. Plus throw in jelly beans, aliens, and a trip to Antarctica and you have one very large panda-sized problem for this flustered narrator. Very clever!

Little Larry Goes to School: the True Story of a Timid Chimpanzee Who Learned to Reach New Heights  By: Gerry Ellis Washington, D.C. : National Geographic, 2019. Informational Here is a sweet story about a little orphaned chimpanzee who was afraid of heights. After he was born there was an accident so Little Larry was raised by a caregiver. His caregiver taught him many important things that a chimpanzee needs to know like how to talk and how to groom himself to stay clean. Grooming shows other chimpanzees that you want to be friends. He also went to school in the forest to learn how to get along with other chimpanzees.  This true story, illustrated by colorful photographs taken by Gerry Ellis, shows how even animals can sometimes be afraid of things but if you keep trying you can overcome your fears. Eventually after many months of climbing small trees he overcame his fear of heights and was released into the big sanctuary.  This story is an inter...

Play This Book Written by Jessica Young Illustrated by Daniel Wiseman Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018. Picture Book. This interactive picture book is best enjoyed one child at a time, because the child becomes a member of the band introduced in the beginning! Multiple instruments are featured with Wiseman's illustrations taking up as much space as possible on the page spread. The child reading the book is encouraged to try out each instrument. Young's text accompanies the instruments in a perfect way with onomatopoeias, so the readers can practically hear music as the child plays each instrument. Play this Book is a fun way to encourage reading together with a young child who might not have a long attention span. It can also be enjoyed by older children who like to have fun! My eight-year-old daughter's favorite page was the saxophone where the book has to change direction and she could sway back and forth pretending to be a true jazz musician.

Far From Agrabah: An Original Tale By Aisha Saeed Disney, 2019. Fiction. We all know the story of Aladdin and Jasmine and their magic carpet ride around the world. In this brand new adventure, we get to explore this familiar territory in a whole new way with help from Aisha Saeed (author of AMAL UNBOUND ). If you've ever wondered why Jasmine doesn't seem more suspicious to meet prince from an entirely new kingdom, or if you've wanted to see more of Jasmine and Aladdin's love story - this is the book for you. When Jasmine grows curious about Ababwa - Ali's kingdom she's never heard of or seen on any maps - Aladdin agrees to extend their carpet ride to visit. With some intervention from Genie - who creates the kingdom of Ababwa from thin air - Aladdin takes Jasmine to visit his homeland. Soon, the kingdom is threatened by a sinister figure eager to strand Aladdin and Jasmine there forever. Disney fan or not, this new story is a remarkable adventure. Told ...

Lights! Camera! Alice! by Mara Rockliff San Francisco : Chronicle Books, [2018] This fun book tells the story of Alice Guy-Blache, the first woman filmmaker (and possibly first ever creative filmmaker). The story begins with a young Alice, who grew up reading books and hearing stories from her parents and maids. As she got older, she began to make short films with the brand new filming cameras at the camera store she worked at. She eventually moved to America to work, but found that American filmmakers didn't appreciate her style, so she picked up her life and moved back to France, where she continued to make movies without receiving recognition for her work. The book is divided up into mini chapters, each one beginning with a silent film title card inscribed with the title of one of Alice's films.  The "credits" at the end give the reader a list of books, articles, and movies to learn even more about Alice and the amazing work that she did. The illustratio...

Here is the coral reef By: Madeleine Dunphy Cumulative rhythmic text describes the relationships among the plants and animals of the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs By: Jason Chin During an ordinary visit to the library a girl pulls a not-so-ordinary book from the shelves. As she turns the pages in this book about coral reefs, the city around her slips away and she finds herself surrounded by the coral cities of the sea and the mysterious plants and animals that live, hunt, and hide there.  Coral reefs By: Seymour Simon An introduction to the ecology and wildlife of coral reefs and islands. Clownfish By: Kate Riggs A high-interest introduction to the life of clownfish, including how clownfish develop, their diet, threats from predators, and the habitats of these ocean animals. Coral reefs: colorful underwater habitats By: Laura Purdie Salas  Illustrated by: Jeff Yesh An introduction to the features and benefits of coral reefs. Cor...

Woke Baby Written by Mahogany L. Browne Illustrated by Theodore Taylor III Roaring Brook Press, 2018. Picture Book. This book is not about a baby who is awake. It is about a baby who is woke . This baby is not just after milk and toys, but justice and freedom. Prepare the next generation to usher in the age of equity and equality with this simple yet empowering picture book. You can do it, Woke Baby!

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe By Carlos Hernandez Disney/Hyperion, 2019. Fiction. After his mother passed away, Sal Vidon learned to meditate to help himself cope with his sadness. No one was expecting he would be able to "relax" so far as to reach into parallel universes and carry things across time and space - including versions of his deceased mother "Mami Muerta" who aren't always very nice. Now Sal, with his American stepmom and physicist father, is in a new city with a new school and all new bullies. Befriending Gabi Real - the know-it-all, do-it-all, student body president at Sal's new school - may be either a good or bad thing, especially when their friendship threatens to break the multiverse. Gabi's baby brother is very sick and Sal's special talent may be just the thing to save him. This is a wildly unique and very appealing new middle grade novel from the Rick Riordan Presents imprint. To say that this book - part science ficti...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Written by Jason Rekulak Illustrated by Kim Smith Quirk Books, 2018. Picture book. Although the audience for picture books is unlikely to be familiar with Buffy and the gang, this book will prove to be both a fun introduction to the universe, and a healthy dose of nostalgia for the millennial parents reading it to them. Buffy and her friends are children in this iteration, but that doesn’t stop the monsters from hanging around. The classic characters are all there, including Giles the librarian. Young Buffy and company are, as usual, prompted to action by spooky noises going bump in the night. But while the original characters and stories are all about the fight between good and evil, young Buffy deals with a much different situation. Even if young readers won’t quite appreciate the nostalgia and legacy of the story and characters, the bedtime story still delivers. What starts as a spooky investigation of a closet making eerie noises turns into a s...

Hello, Crabby! (A Crabby Book) By Jonathan Fenske Acorn, Scholastic, 2019. 46 p. Out of all the new Acorn books—this just might be my favorite! (Then again I already LOVED Barnacle is Bored and Plankton is Pushy —so having another book that is set in that world is totally fine by me!) So this is a book about Crabby who is, well, a crab. And Crabby is not amused at anything. Barnacle and especially Plankton do not please Crabby. In fact, I think Crabby gets some hidden amusement at frustrating Plankton’s efforts to please Crabby—although I’m with Crabby on preferring lemon cake. Anyway, this again has colorful pictures, color-coordinated speech bubbles, and a paneled layout to help with early readers learning how to read this story (told in four chapters). This is a good choice for those youngsters who are moving up past the simplest easy readers but aren’t quite ready for chapter books.

You are Light By Aaron Becker Candlewick Studio, 2019. Board Book. This is not your average board book. Becker has created an irresistible masterpiece! It is impossible to walk by this book without picking it up and putting it up to a sunlit window to watch all the colored circles glow. With each turn of the page the colored circles change to match the simple text and beautiful art. The page with water is mostly blue-green and the page about leaves and the earth is green-purple.  This book is perfect for multiple ages. The simple, perfect message 'you are the light' paired with Becker's art is inspiring.

Killer Style: How Fashion Has Injured, Maimed, & Murdered Through History By Serah-Marie McMahon & Alison Matthews David Illustrated by Gillian Wilson Owlkids Books, 2019. Informational. In 1814, a new green dye was developed - this "emerald green" was brighter and bolder than traditional green dyes and quickly became the preferred hue of gowns, wallpapers, furniture and more. Of course, the arsenic used to give fabric that super-bright green was incredibly poisonous - we just didn't know it yet. Surprisingly, stories like this aren't as rare as we might hope to believe and this book expertly outlines some of history's truly macabre sartorial mishaps. This book is so simultaneously interesting, scary, sad, and entertaining. Anecdotes, flashy writing, and unbelievably true facts make this a frightful delight to read. There are some gnarly illustrations - many of which are from primary sources - that make this book better for an older set or those ...

Learn about the authors behind your favorite characters with an author biography! Mo Willems: Award winning Children's Author and Animator An introduction to children's author Mo Willems, from his early life to his college years to his career as a writer for cartoon television shows and children's picture books. Imagine That! How Dr. Seuss Wrote The Cat in the Hat Presents an account of the early career of Ted Geisel, otherwise known as Dr. Seuss, describing how he adhered to strict literary guidelines while writing "The Cat in the Hat." Dav Pilkey Presents the life and career of Dav Pilkey, including his childhood, education, and milestones as a best selling children's author. A.A. Milne  Introduce students to A. A. Milne, the author of children's favorites like Winnie the Pooh. This biography uses simple text structures and clear images to help readers learn about this amazing writer.

Circle by Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen  Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2019. When Circle invites her friends Square and Triangle over to play hide-and-seek, she gives them one rule. "No hiding behind the waterfall", she tells them. When Triangle decides to hide there anyway, he quickly learns why: behind the waterfall it's very dark.  Circle goes in to rescue Triangle, and together they discover a mysterious shape lurking in the dark.  They panic, and run back out into the light together.  Circle is the next book in Mac Barnett's shape series. It talks about dealing with fears and how to be a good friend.  Fans young and old of Barnett and Klassen will enjoy this lighthearted story. 

Do You Like My Bike? (Part of the new Hello, Hedgehog! series) By Norm Feuti Acorn, Scholastic, 2019. 46 p. Last week I talked about one of the new Acorn books—well, this is another! I am so excited to see this new Scholastic division of books because early readers need lots of good books to practice reading with! This new series (that I got an advanced reading copy of—so thus the sneak peek) comes out at the end of this month. But we are so excited about it that we already have it on order so you can put it on hold! In this series we are introduced to Hedgehog and Harry. Hedgehog has a new bike and he wants to ride it and then he wants to share the experience with his good friend Harry (although Harry isn’t that keen on riding a bike that looks a little too fast). Other than a bit of onomatopoeia, this sweet new series has a lot of dialog in color-coordinated speech bubbles that will easily help kids understand who is talking and what is going on. There are also some comic...

Get Out of My Bath! By Britta Teckentrup Ellie the elephant's relaxing bath is disrupted by splashing friends, prompting her to suck up all of the water into her trunk until everyone else leaves. Who Needs a Bath? By Jeff Mack Bear tries to convince Skunk to take a bath. Bears in the Bath By Shirley Parenteau Illustrated by David Walker Four little bears covered in mud don't want to take a bath. Time for a Bath By Phillis Gershator No matter what kind of messes a little bunny experiences through the day, bath time makes things fresh and new. Sloppy Takes the Plunge By Sean Julian Sloppy the tree dragon doesn't want to take a bath. But when Dewdrop refuses to give him a hug until he's clean... Sloppy reconsiders. Could it be that getting clean is nearly as fun as getting dirty?

Angus and the Ducks Written and Illustrated by Marjorie Flack A curious Scotch terrier decides to investigate the strange noise coming from the other side of the hedge. Make Way for Ducklings Written and Illustrated by Robert McCloskey Mr. and Mrs. Mallard proudly return to their home in the Boston Public Garden with their eight offspring. Clever Duck Written by Dick King-Smith When the pigs start picking on all the other farm animals, Damaris, who is a very clever duck, and her best friend, Rory the sheepdog, find a way to exact revenge, only to find their plot backfiring. Just Ducks! Written by Nicola Davies Illustrated by Salvatore Rubbino On her way to school, a young girl spots mallard ducks in the river and enthusiastically describes their appearance, habits, and behavior. Interspersed throughout the pages are facts about ducks. 5 Little Ducks Written and Illustrated by Denise Fleming Each day, Papa Duck goes out with his ducklings but on Monday only f...

Hope By: Matthew Cordell Los Angeles; New York: Disney-Hyperion, 2019. Unpaged. Picture Book This new book by Caldecott winner Matthew Cordell is a companion book to his lovely Wish and Dream picture books. In the book Hope, two lions celebrate the birth of a new grandchild and express their positive outlook of the future. They look and see the future unfolding in this new life and they see it as a positive and bright hope for things to come. This new cub expands their world and they hope he will remember the things they will teach him. They promise him that he will never be alone they will always be there even if they have passed on, because he lives in them and they live in him and together they will shine. This is a brilliant, perfect, bedtime story about a grandparents love for their grandchild. A touching book with simple text and stunning illustrations of an Africa safari. A delightful book for families to share with one another.

The Undefeated By Kwame Alexander Illustrated by Kadir Nelson Versify, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019. Poetry. "This is for the unforgettable," Alexander opens his latest opus. This is an anthem to the courage, strength, and triumph of black Americans through history. This poem is short, straightforward, and incredibly sophisticated for a children's book. Alexander, a former Newbery award winner, combines his considerable talents with those of Kadir Nelson, a two time Caldecott honoree. The end result is a powerfully evocative book that celebrates black history while reminding us how far we still have left to go. This is a powerful, powerful book that is perfectly paired with gorgeous illustrations against stark white pages. Two powerhouses of children's literature both functioning at their absolute best, don't be surprised when this book is on short lists for multiple ALA awards.