Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Willoughby & the Lion by Greg Foley Picture Book One day a boy finds a lion in the backyard of his house. The lion grants the boy ten wishes but tells the boy that he must wish for the most wonderful thing of all or he will be stuck on the rock forever. The boy wishes for elaborate things such as a bigger house, a roller coaster, and the fastest shoes in the world. The boy forgets to wish for something wonderful until he is on his last wish. You’ll have to read the book to find out if the boy manages to find out what the right wish is. I really enjoyed the illustrations of this book. The embossed gold cover is eye catching and gives the reader a glimpse of what is to come. The illustrations consisted only of black and gold and were stunning. The gold was shiny, eye popping, and beautiful. This is the first picture book in a series.

Picture Book 2009 Three little dinosaurs put forth much effort to wake their sleeping, snoring mother. That's the whole story. Simple, yes, and told with very little text, the story is shown mostly through the colorful, lively, full 2-page spread illustrations. The format is similar to Denise Fleming books; "pinch, push, poke", "tickle, claw, elbow", actions words describing how the three offspring are attempting to rouse their mom. The original title for the Great Britain publication was Dinosnore! which I like better. But either way, it's a fun picture book that small children will enjoy looking at over and over.

Hear Ye, Here Ye, this is a book for all princess lovers! The Princess and the Three Knights by Karen Kingsbury has everything a girl could want; a beautiful princess, a handsome knight, the king who is trying to pawn his daughter off to the knight who best proves himself, beautiful illustrations, and of course a pink cover with sparkles and glitter! Ahhhh!!! Haha, but really the story was predictable but cute. I really did enjoy the illustrations and I thought the illustrator made the princess look stunningly beautiful. As a lover of princesses myself, I fell in love with this book and would gladly give it to any little girl.

We all know the song “All God’s Critters”, however the illustrations in this book make it a hilarious song and a book to definitely check out. Throughout the entire books All of God’s Critters are putting on a show for the audience. My personal favorite is the hippopotamus who is also on the front cover. Kadir Nelson is the illustrator and I always love his people and the seriousness of his illustrations, but this particular book is completely different from his other work. However, I enjoyed it just as much. Make sure as you read this book to take the time to notice all the animals facial expressions and dance moves, you won’t be disappointed!

Distant Waves: a novel of the Titanic By Suzanne Weyn Scholastic Press, 2009. 330 pgs. Juvenile/young adult fiction. Raised by a strong, spirited mother who works as a ghost medium, Jane Taylor's life is far from ordinary. Along with her sisters--Mimi, Blythe, Emma, and Amelie--she finds herself transplanted at a young age to Spirit Vale, a gathering place for all people who claim to be mediums for the spirit world. Despite such an environment, Jane manages to maintain strong common sense and even develops skepticism towards spiritualism. When she travels with her sister Mimi to New York in order to interview the fascinating scientist, Tesla, the lives of all the Taylor women are affected by the chain of following events, most particularly by Mimi's invitation to sail on the Titanic. It is rather misleading that this book is titled "a novel of the Titanic." Although the infamous ship does make its appearance in the story, it doesn't surface until the later portion...

In Memory of Gorfman T. Frog by Gail Donovan New York: Dutton, 2009. 180 pgs. Fiction Fifth-grader Joshua Hewitt is often in trouble at home and at school for his motormouth ways. He can't seem to stop talking, even when it is in his best interest to do so, and his parents and teachers finally get to the point where they shush him without ever hearing what he has to say. This is a big disadvantage after he finds a five-legged frog in the pond in his backyard and tries to a) save the frog's life and then b) wants to find out why the frog died so he can save the tadpoles living in the marsh behind his house. His teacher won't let him explain that his frog is sick and needs to be taken out of the terrarium in the classroom; his Mom doesn't want the dead frog preserved in her refrigerator, and he is soon in trouble with everyone for making a ruckus that brings down the worst punishment of all on the whole school: SILENT LUNCH. With the eventual support of his classmates, Jo...

What would you like to be when you grow up… an underwear salesman? Or a highway line painter? Or maybe even a bubble bath tester? The Underwear Salesman: and Other Jobs for Better or Verse is a humorous poetry book on different occupations. The thing I like the best is that the first poem is about librarians! Some of the poems were just okay, but many of them made me laugh out loud. The Sword Swallower was my favorite! The collage type pictures that accompany each poem are fun and go great with the poems and the mood of the book. If you like poetry make sure you check this book out! Maybe in these times of economic struggles it may even encourage you to change jobs! Haha!