From Story Time: Summer Reading Week 2

Read at Stories in the Park

By Jon Agee

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2016. Picture Book.

There are seven steps to becoming a proper lion, including Looking Fierce, Roaring, Prowling Around, and Pouncing. Our young hero, a rather meek and scrawny human boy, does his best to learn the necessary skills during his training with a master instructor (who just happens to be a real lion). After a grueling set of lessons, the boy discovers that that the final step—Looking Out for Your Friends—is the most important of all. That’s how any kid can earn his lion diploma (not to mention the affection of every cat in town).

With the wit and read-aloud appeal of Peter Brown’s Children Make Terrible Pets and William Steig’s Pete’s a Pizza, this funny, fierce picture book teaches kids just what it takes to be a great lion. --Publisher

Read at Stories in the Park

Sun Flower Lion

By Kevin Henkes

Greenwillow Books, 2020. Picture Book.

On a warm morning, a little lion sleeps under a sun that shines so brightly, it looks like a flower. He dreams the flower is as big as the sun. He dreams the flower is a cookie. He lets his imagination soar.

Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes uses simple shapes, limited colors, and a pitch-perfect text to tell Lion's story in this transcendent picture book. Sun Flower Lion introduces emerging readers to short chapters, action verbs, and adjectives, while bright illustrations transform simple shapes into something magical.

Sun Flower Lion will shine at story time and bedtime and for young children just learning how to read on their own. --Publisher

Read at Cuentos

El Pez Pucheros

Escrito por Deborah Diesen

Ilustrado por Dan Hanna

Traducido por Teresa Mlawer

Farrar Straus Giroux, 2016. Spanish Picture Book.

Nada junto al Sr. Pez según el descubre que ser sombrío y triste realmente no es su destino. Un océano de colores brillantes y rima juguetona hacen pareja en este cuento marino divertido que garantiza convertir los pequeños pucheros en grandes sonrisas.

Esta edición del libro más vendido en el New York Times Pout-Pout Fish en español será encantador para todo lector bilingüe. --Publisher

Read at Book Babies

Hippo Says "Excuse Me"

Written by Michael Dahl

Illustrated by Oriol Vidal

Picture Window Books, 2012. Board Book.

Hippo might bump and squish others as he makes his way through his day, but he always remembers to say, “Excuse me!” This board book in the Hello Genius series is perfect for teaching manners in fun and playful way. --Publisher

Comments

Review: Fowl Play

Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

Review: A Game of Noctis

A Game of Noctis By Deva Fagan New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2024. Fiction. 310 pages. On the island of Dantessa, social standings and wealth are determined by your place in the Great Game. If you keep on winning, you can reap treasures, power, and security for yourself and your family; but if you lose too many games, you'll be exiled to Pawn Island and a life of servitude. That's what happens to 12-year-old Pia's grandfather. Due to poor vision, he struggles to see the games, but also can't afford new eyeglasses without winning. When his score falls to zero, he is sent away. Desperate to bring him back, Pia joins a ragtag group of misfits to form a team for the annual game of Noctis. The game requires contestants to perform dangerous challenges in front of a live audience, and no one outside the wealthy Diamond District has ever won. Each member of Pia's team, the Seafoxes, has their own reason to compete, but if they're going to win they'll h...

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