Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Leo Gray and the Lunar Eclipse By K.J. Kruk Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2019. Fiction, pp. 289 Leo Gray is off to the moon! After winning a competition that scores him a ticket to a school on the moon, Leo Gray is more than ready to start his journey. Unfortunately, he has a few hurdles to clear before he's actually able to leave. And once on the moon, he faces even more problems to solve, and time is in short supply. Leo finds himself in the middle of an extremely dangerous alien plot, not to mention the frustrating woes of middle school. Life on the moon might be a little more exciting than Leo thought it would be, but someone's got to save the world, right? K.J. Kruk's world is an imaginative science-fiction one filled with adventure and intrigue. There are fun characters and silly side plots, cute aliens, and even some attempted goose-kissing. Kruk does an excellent job with including different types of characters and touching on some real-life issues that kids...

The Girl in the Locked Room By Mary Downing Hahn New York: Clarion Books, 2018. Fiction. Jules is tired of her father uprooting their family every year. Sure, his job is to restore old buildings but could he stay in one place until she graduates? When their nomad life-style ends up throwing them in a beautiful neighborhood, Jules hopes she'll be able to convince her parents to stay. Then strange things start happening. She hears and sees things that aren't there. As Jules looks into the history of the house, she starts to unravel the truth of what happened there. This is a good starter ghost story for kids ages 10+. While the book has a suspenseful and eerie atmosphere, it does not cross the line of horror. This unique story jumps between two views: Jules and the ghost girl. Those interested in a spooky elements with a sprinkle of history will enjoy this read.

Madame Badobedah By Sophie Dahl Illustrated by Lauren O'Hara Somerville, MA: Walker Books US, 2020. Picture book. Mabel lives with her parents at a quirky B&B called The Mermaid Hotel. One day, an old woman with a gravelly voice arrives to stay in room #32 with heavy suitcases filled with jewels, coins, and curios. Naturally, Mabel is suspicious - this cranky old woman has all the trappings of a super villain. She even feeds her beady-eyed pet tortoise bananas - YUCK! Mabel concludes that she needs to spy on Madame Badobedah (not her real name, just the best sinister super-villain name that Mabel could think up) for the safety of the world. Though the grown-ups at The Mermaid Hotel find Madame Badobedah a bit rude, one day she invites Mabel in for a cup of tea and a game of pirates. As the two become friends, Mabel that first impressions aren't always correct and you can find friends in all kinds of places. Sophie Dahl's first book for children is a truly spe...

What About Worms!? Written and Illustrated by: Mo Willems and Ryan T Higgins Disney-Hyperion, 2020. Easy Reader. There is a new Elephant and Piggie book! Check out this new book about a brave Tiger who isn't afraid of anything except ..... worms! In true Mo Willems style this charming funny book written by Ryan T Higgins, author of Mother Bruce and We don't eat our classmates,  portrays a tiger who discovers that all of his favorite things, apples, dirt, and books have worms. Worms ruin everything and they could be anywhere! What should he do? Leave it to the worms to work through their fears. Those slimy, wiggly worms do some reading and find out that things they are afraid of like tigers may not be so bad after all. I really enjoyed this book about facing our fears. This is an excellent beginning reader book for children who enjoy reading books with humorous colorful illustrations and not a lot of text. You will fall in love with Tiger and the worms as they l...

Here in the Real World  By Sara Pennypacker Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2020. 308 p. Ware is a total introvert. He is excited to spend his summer vacation with his grandma in Florida where she won’t care if he spends long hours alone by the pool doing pretty much nothing. Only when his grandma has an accident and is taken by ambulance to the hospital, Ware is taken home and signed up for a Summer Rec program—which he hates. Instead of going into the community center Ware starts to head to the vacant lot next door after his mom drops him off. There he meets Jolene who is trying to garden and keep all her secrets. Ware loves knights and medieval chivalry, so he tries to transform the church building ruins on the lot into a castle. Meanwhile Ware learns from Jolene (and Ashley who comes and goes through the lot as well) what is fair, what is right, and what happens in the real world. Ware is a good boy with a heart in the right place. He is very shy ...

On Snowden Mountain By Jeri Watts Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2019. Historical Fiction. As Ellen's mother's depression gets worse after her father leaves for war, she is forced to reach out to her aunt for help. Her aunt moves them both to the countryside to live in a cabin at the base of Snowden Mountain. Life is very different for Ellen there. At first she misses her old life and struggles to adjust to her new circumstances. Ellen begins to make some friends and discover more about herself as she spends time on Snowden Mountain. Although she worries that she too may struggle with depression some day, she learns that no matter what our circumstances may be growing up, we can decide who we will become. A powerful story filled with symbolism, On Snowden Mountain explores mental health and other real issues in a way that brings hope. This book gives us a glimpse of how families were impacted by the separations that were caused by war. It shows how f...

Mañanaland By Pam Mu ñoz Ryan New York: Scholastic Press, 2020. Fiction. 12-year-old Max is excited to spend his summer vacation playing futbol with his friends and preparing to try out for his city's junior league in the fall. Then he finds out that the league is going to be extra-strict at tryouts this year, requiring a birth certificate from each player. For Max, this is a problem because his birth certificate disappeared with his mother when she left him as a baby. Desperate to reconnect with his mother, Max uncovers a long-held family secret and embarks on a dangerous mission to lead a young refugee to  Mañanaland -- hoping that he'll find his mother there. This beautiful and incredibly layered story reads like a fairy tale - imbued with magic, mystery and adventure. The repeating motif of the La Reina Gigante, a hideout used as shelter by generations of refugees fleeing dictators and war-torn countries, provides beautiful and hopeful imagery (as shown on the cov...

The Haunting By: Lindsey Duga New York: Scholastic, 2020. Fiction Twelve year-old Emily has lived in an orphanage her entire life and has only ever known loneliness. She thinks that she is to old and plain to be considered for adoption until a young couple comes to the orphanage and decides to adopt her. Emily can't believe her luck! She is about to start a new life at Blackthorn Manor with her new family. One day while she is exploring the grounds of her new home she meets a girl about her age who seems to know everything about the old house. As Emily and Kat start to explore strange things begin to happen, a bookcase in the library tips over and almost lands on Emily and fire from the fireplace erupts and almost burns her hand. As time goes on those strange things start to become more dangerous and Emily begins to wonder if these accidents are just a coincidence or if someone or something is trying to kill her. The Haunting is a fast paced read that has just the ...

Lift  By Minh Lê Illustrated by Dan Santat Disney-Hyperion, 2020. Picture Book. Lê and Santat have made yet another beautiful book! (If you haven’t yet read Drawn Together , then please go out and put that one on hold as well—and you can read my review here where I tell you all why I don’t think that book should be missed!) Anyway, back to the story at hand. In Lift a young girl named Iris is frustrated that her job of pushing the elevator button has been usurped by her younger sibling. This causes an increasingly large amount of resentment and frustration. When an elevator in the building is being fixed, Iris swipes the old elevator button and puts it in her room so that she can push it as much as she wants without her brother getting in the way. Only, when she pushes the button in her room something magical happens—she is transported into a jungle (with a tiger that is somewhat reminiscent of Iris’ brother’s stuffed toy). And so the adventures being, though along the ...

Women Artists A to Z Written by Melanie LaBarge Illustrated by Caroline Corrigan Dial Books for Young Readers, 2020. Information picture book. With fun pops of color and informative blurbs, Melanie LaBarge and Caroline Corrigan bring a fascinating history of art into picture book form. "Women Artists A to Z" covers twenty-six different women artists, and their different styles and impacts on the world of art. Including Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keefe, and many others, this book celebrates the amazing women whose art we are lucky to have. Appropriately, this book is diverse in subject matter, and features artists of different backgrounds, races, and ethnic groups. The very back of the book gives more information on each artist, as well as a small question or assignment that has to do with their unique style or subjects, giving the reader a way to participate in the art itself. This is a fun and educational read that just might inspire some tiny artists to try somethin...

Nonsense!: The Curious Story of Edward Gorey By Lori Mortensen Illustrated by Chloe Bristol Boston: Versify, 2020. Picture book biography. Often called the godfather of goth, Edward Gorey is one of those very famous people you may never have heard of. A child prodigy who taught himself to draw by his first birthday and read by his third, Edward Gorey grew up with a special interest in the macabre. As a child he read quaint, sweet stories and frightening tales, and as an adult he wrote, illustrated, and self-published over 100 books that were a little bit of both - sort of sweet, but dark and creepy. There is almost no point in writing a biography about Edward Gorey unless you are prepared to match his demented eccentricity - fortunately, this book strikes just the right tone. Chloe Bristol's illustrations are sketchy, dismal, and moody and a perfect match for this quirky book that celebrates the value of being yourself. This book pays a subtle homage in lyrical tone and o...

Peter's War: A Boy's True Story of Survival in World War II Europe Written by: Deborah Durland DeSaix and Karen Gray Ruelle Illustrated by: Deborah Durland DeSaix New York: Holiday House, 2020. Biography.  As a twelve-year-old would you have been able to survive World War II on your own? That is what Peter Feigl, a German-Jewish boy did in 1942. His family were secular Jews who didn't practice their faith but because they were of Jewish descent they were still in danger. Peter's parents tried to keep their son safe by staying one step ahead of the Nazis. They spent years moving from country to country, leaving and moving again each time the Nazis took over.  Eventually they ended up in France but as the German's began to infiltrate France Peter's parents began to get nervous so they sent Peter to a summer camp. While he was at this summer camp his parents were arrested and he never saw them again. The holocaust was a dark time in our history bu...

A Boy Called Bat  By Elana K. Arnold Pictures by Charles Santoso Walden Pond Press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2017. 198 p. Bixby Alexander Tam is called Bat (for his initials and due to the fact that he really, really likes animals). One day Bat’s mom (a veterinarian) brings home a baby skunk kit that she needs to take care of until it can be taken to a wild-animal shelter. Bat is smitten and he knows that he has a lot to do in order to prove to his mom that they should keep the kit forever. Even though Bat is the star of the show in this beautifully written story, there are a few other details that make this book memorable. First of all, Bat is somewhere on the autism spectrum. He wears earmuffs to keep loud noises out, he sometimes sucks the front of his shirt if he is upset or thinking, he processes everything very literally, etc. The thing that I love about this is that Bat is Bat and how he thinks and acts is just part of who he is and is not the main fo...

Don't Worry, Little Crab By Chris Haughton Candlewick Press, 2019.  Picture Book. Little Crab lives in a beautiful little tide pool with Very Big Crab.  Little Crab is so excited for a trip to the ocean, but seeing the ocean for the first time is pretty intimidating -- the waves are so BIG!  Yet with Very Big Crab's encouragement and support, Little Crab learns about bravery and the joy that can be found in conquering fears and trying something new.   Haughton's bright digital illustrations are simple, yet incredibly expressive.  While grownups and kids alike may initially reminisce about a first encounter with the ocean, the broader message of the importance of courage and having the loving reassurance of a big person is thoughtfully conveyed.  A great new read aloud to add to your list of favorites!

Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe By Josh Allen New York : Holiday House, 2019. Fiction. Do you like scary stories? This is a collection of thirteen short stories guaranteed to give you the chills! Stories of a magical evil genie, a marker that makes anything you draw come to life, a couch that is so comfy...you might just end up sinking into it if you aren't careful. Unique and creative tales that will give you the shivers.  If you are a fan of Goosebump books or Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark , this is the perfect book for you! Each story has an unexpected or weird twist that you will never see coming. Whether you want to give yourself the chills or have scary stories to tell at your next campout, this book has everything you need. 

Lalani of the Distant Sea By Erin Kelly New York, Greenwillow Books, 2019. Lalani lives on an island called Sanglagita. Everyone has a role to play on Sanglagita. There are weavers, fishermen, boat makers, and the cursed role of sailors. Every sailor who travels to the magical island of Isa is never heard from again. But the promise of riches, magic, and health is enough to keep her village hopeful of reaching Isa. When Lalani's mother falls ill, she has no choice but to risk the dangers that stand between her and the miracle medicine of Isa her mother needs. Inspired by Filipino folklore, LALANI OF THE DISTANT SEA introduces readers to a rich and inspiring culture. Lalani also pushes gender role boundaries to save her mother and village. This is a story of courage, hardship, and friendship. Those who enjoy fast-past and world-building stories will enjoy Lalani and her adventure.

The List of Things That Will Not Change By Rebecca Stead New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2020. Fiction. When Bea's parents got divorced, they gave her a green notebook (her favorite color) filled with a list of things that wouldn't change, even if her parents aren't married anymore. Years later, Bea carries the notebook with her to remind her of the important things - Mom and Dad love Bea and love each other -- and even to occasionally add things to it. When Dad tells her he is marrying his boyfriend Jesse, Bea is thrilled, she loves Jesse and it means she will finally get a sister which is what she most wants. Bea's excitement turns to anxiety when her future step-sister, Sonia, seems a little more apprehensive about the merger. As the wedding day approaches, we see Bea manage her worries and anxieties with the help of her supportive family and therapist Miriam. Newbery winner Rebecca Stead shows us yet again how good she is at writing tween characters. Told in fi...

That's Life! Written by: Ame Dyckman Illustrated by: Cori Doerrfeld Little, Brown and Company, 2020. Picture Book. Where will life take you? When life comes knocking at the door you have no choice but to welcome what is coming. Sometimes life gives you adventures, heartache, surprises and more. Life has it's up's and down's and is full of uncertainties but that's life! This book is a gentle reminder that we can't always control what life throws at us because just when we think we have life all figured out..... we don't! But what we can control is how we accept it, move forward and love life because life will love you back. This book is a perfect reminder especially in these difficult times we are in, that life has its difficulties but life moves on and we have to move with it. The illustrations in this book are adorable and are full of positive messages that will make you smile. Its a perfect story for young and old alike because everybody has ...

Baloney and Friends Greg Pizzoli Disney-Hyperion, 2020. Graphic Novel. Baloney the pig is excited to be the star of a book—the only star—until his friends come and insert themselves into the plotline. Peanut is a horse, Bizz E. Bee is a bee, and Krabbit is a very crabby rabbit that thinks he knows more as to what is going on than the rest of the group. This is a charming series of adventures for the friends (complete with an exciting magic show, a day swimming, and a look at feelings and what makes a good friend). Seriously, this may be one of my new favorites for the group of readers who are just learning to read longer chapter-book-style-books but who need loads of pictures (and comedy) to keep them going. Here is to hoping that Baloney has many more adventures to come!

Read in Monday Book Babies Wiggle By Doreen Cronin Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2005.  Picture Book. Do you wake up with a wiggle? Do you wiggle out of bed? For energetic toddlers (are there any who aren't?), here's a book that invites them to wiggle along with the story. Told in rollicky, wiggly rhyme that begs to be read again and again, Doreen Cronin's latest romp will have toddlers wiggling, giggling, and then (hopefully) falling into bed, blissfully exhausted!  --Pubisher Read in Tuesday Toddler Time One Little Monster By Mark Gonyea Aladdin, 2018.  Picture Book. A sleep deprived kid creates monsters of his own to banish the ones that are keeping him awake in this fiendishly funny picture book that’s the perfect counting and bedtime story. In graphic artist and designer Mark Gonyea’s clever counting book, a little boy snuggles in for a nap, but much to his surprise, silly little monsters pop up wherever he looks. First there’s o...

Spur: A Wolf's Story Written by Eliza Robertson Illustrated by Nora Aoyagi Greystone Books, 2020. Picture book. When Spur is separated from her brother and the rest of their pack during a frightening encounter with a helicopter, she is left lost, lonely, and confused. Hunting for food, fending for herself, and finding her brother are all difficult tasks, made even worse by the injury she sustained while running from the helicopter. Now, she must figure out how to survive and find her pack again, in a landscape that is already sparse in resources. Luckily, Spur might know just the way to find her brother again. Nora Aoyagi's soft wilderness illustrations are sweet and keep the dire situation from feeling too fraught to read. Eliza Robertson expertly tells Spur's story, while encompassing the larger picture of the real life danger that faces wildlife. A background section at the end of the book clarifies the situations that the book is calmly introducing, with ideas...