From Story Time: The Letter "B"

Preschool Time

By Kim Smith

Boston; New York: Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. Picture Book.

Meg goes to Maker School to hone her talent for building with boxes, but when Simone, another boxitect, arrives they become so competitive they nearly fail in the annual Maker Match. --Editor

Preschool Time

A Lot Like Batman

By Keith Negley

New York: Random House, 2023. Picture Book.

A very young Batman faces his greatest challenge ever -- going to school! Keith Negley (author and illustrator of Tough Guys Have Feelings Too and My Dad Used to Be So Cool) brings young readers his vision of a shy Caped Crusader who prefers to stick to the shadows and play alone. Even though he initially doesn't fit in with the colorful and more outgoing kids around him, he soon learns that he has plenty to offer on his own terms. Keith Negley's art and story are filled with humor and emotion that will help even the shyest child find their inner super hero while making this jacketed picture book a delight to read at bedtime and any time! --Editor

Toddler Time

Books Aren't for Eating

Written by Carlie Sorosiak

Illustrated by Manu Montoya

Somerville, MA: Walker Books, 2022. Picture Book.

Leopold the goat owns a delightful bookstore, and he has a talent for matching his customers with the ideal book--an adventure story for the girl in the rain boots, a novel about gnomes for the man who loves to laugh, and a book of birds for the woman in the feathered hat. But one day, another goat arrives and proceeds to eat every book Leopold offers. Can Leopold find just the right one to tempt this reluctant reader? --Editor

Book Babies

Sway Like an Octopus

By Nicole LaRue

Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2022. Board Book.

This adorable board book encourages toddlers to mimic the actions of animals both familiar and exotic. Little ones are encouraged to sway like an octopus, kick like a donkey, hop like a kangaroo, and much more. These simple, engaging prompts help children focus on the movement of their own bodies, helping to relieve stress and develop a mind-body connection. --Publisher

Cuentos

Leila, la brujita perfecta

By Flavia Z. Drago

Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2022. Libro Illustrado.

Leila es una brujita. Una muy decidida. Más que nada, ella quiere aprender a hornear. -- Editor

Other Letter B Books

Comments

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 Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall By Jasmine Warga New York: Harper, 2024. Fiction. 211 pages. A painting has been stolen from the Penelope L. Brooks Museum and sixth-grader Rami Ahmed is worried he's the main suspect. His mother works at the museum as the lead custodian and Rami spends a lot of time hanging out at the museum while she works. On the day the painting went missing, the only people there were the security guard Ed, the cleaning crew, and Rami. Then, a mysterious girl appears in the museum. She floats around from room to room and only Rami can see her -- and she looks exactly like the girl from the missing painting. To prove his innocence and help figure out who the floating girl is, Rami partners up with an aspiring sleuth at school named Veda and the two dive into unexpected situations as they try to solve the mystery. This is a cozy mystery that is focused mostly on characters and ambiance and only a little on the mystery itself. Don't read this book if yo...

Review: The Amazing Generation

The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen-Filled World Written by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price Illustrated by Cynthia Yuan Cheng New York: Rocky Pond Books, 2025. Informational. 226 pages. In a kid-friendly adaptation of his best-selling book, The Anxious Generation , Jonathan Haidt teams up with Catherine Price, author of How to Break Up With Your Phone , to bring the power of good information directly to the hands of those that this issue affects most directly — kids on the cusp of getting their own smartphones. The book presents information about the drawbacks of having a smartphone and social media too soon in clear and easy-to-understand language, with eye-catching graphics and pop-outs. Throughout the book, quotes from real teens and young adults, called screen "rebels" by the authors, emphasize the points the authors are trying to make. Fictional characters are featured throughout in a graphic novel story, which further emphasizes the po...

Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Search This Blog