Provo Library Children's Book Blog

The Rose Legacy Jessica Day George Bloomsbury, 2018. 272 p. In this first in a new series Anthea Cross-Thornley is an orphan who was passed around from relative to relative. Eventually she finds her way to Uncle Andrew’s place—called Last Farm—across the border wall to the kingdom where exiles and fugitives are sent. Anthea there discovers that Uncle Andrew raises horses. All her live Anthea was taught that horses carried diseases and are evil. So when she is unexpectedly thrown in the midst of a horse farm she of course is a little concerned. When she meets the stallion Florian and discovers that she has “the way” or a strong connection to horses (in that she can feel their thoughts and talk to them) Anthea becomes confused. She must not only discover who she is and what she thinks about horses, but Anthea must decide where her loyalties lie and how in the world she can reconcile the fact that she is supposed to hate an animal that she has such a strong connection to. This...

Read in Book Babies Hello Hello By Brendan Wenzel Chronicle Books, 2018.  Picture Book. Say hello to many amazing animals.  Some are huge.  Some are tiny.  Some are soft and shaggy.  Some are rough and scaly.  Some are brightly colored.  Others are richly patterned.  It's easy to see how they are different from one another.  But can you tell what makes them the same?  In the hands of Caldecott Honor-winning author-illustrator Brendan Wenzel, a seemingly simple look at similarities and differences becomes a story of connection--a joyous ode to the natural world, in all its diversity and wonder.  --Publisher Read in Toddler Time One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree Written by Daniel Bernstrom Illustrated by Brendan Wenzel One day in the leaves of the eucalyptus tree hung a scare in the air where no eye could see, when along skipped a boy with a whirly-twirly toy, to the shade of the eucalyptus, euc...

A World Full of Animal Stories: 50 Folktales and Legends By Angela McAllister Illustrated by Aitch Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2017. Informational.  If you have an animal lover in your home, this is a great book to pick up to find legends or folktales about different animals, separated into different regions from around the world. You'll find some familiar characters such as The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Norway)  or  The Ugly Duckling (Denmark) and also find folktales of different animals histories. Most of these tales will be new to readers. The illustrations are simply magical and it was fun to read the different folktales from around the world. 

Be Kind By Pat Zietlow Miller Illustrated by Jen Hill Roaring Book Press, 2018. Picture Book. When his classmate spills her grape juice on herself and everyone laughs, a young boy thinks about how he could respond to the situation, besides just not laughing. He thinks of all the ways on what being kind means--giving, helping and paying attention. He comes to the conclusion that one small act can make a difference and even if you can’t change the situation, you can help brighten someone’s day by being kind. A great book, told in a genuine child’s perspective, about what being kind, even when it's hard, means. A must have for all collections.

Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick and David Sterlin Scholastic, 2018. Easy Reader, 191 p. Baby Monkey is a baby and a monkey, but he is also a private eye.  When the baker has loses his pizza or the clown has loses his clown nose Baby Monkey knows just what to do.  Being a PI is hard work and in the end Baby Monkey is pretty sleepy when his solves his last, and most important, case. Can an Easy Reader really have 191 pages, five chapters, an index, and a bibliography? I guess so. This really is an easy reader with only about 100 very simple words total in the whole book.  The reason it is so long is because it was illustrated by Selzinck, the same guy who created the Caldecott winner,  The Invention of Hugo Cabret . The book has darling black and white illustrations that tell the story, and the large font words are just sprinkled about when needed.  It is really cute and will delight even the earliest readers because they will be abl...

Space Heroes By Hannah Dolan Dorling Kindersley, 2018. Easy Reader Informational. When I first saw this book, I laughed a little at how gimmicky it seemed - but once I actually read it, I was impressed by this simple, enticing introduction to four big names in NASA history. This book is in our Easy Reader Nonfiction section and it is labeled red - meaning it is just the right difficulty for beginning readers - but it has an impressive amount of information for little boys and girls. Of course, a big draw of this book are the illustrations of Lego mini-figures representing Margaret Hamilton, Nancy Grace Roman, Mae Jemison, and Sally Ride. The illustrations are pretty darn cute, and give this informational book some real kid appeal. Check this one out for little astronauts or Lego fans.

Princess Truly in I Am Truly  By Kelly Greenawalt Illustrated by Amariah Rauscher Orchard Books, An Imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2017. Picture Book. Truly is a little girl who is truly amazing. The book explains all the things that make her “truly fabulous!” For example: she likes the color blue, she can build tall towers, she is strong and a leader, she can tie her own shoes, and so much more. The idea that some simple things (such as being confident) are grouped together with physical skills (such as swimming or playing basketball) shows readers that both characteristics and talents are equally important to making someone “truly fabulous!” This is a great book to read with kiddos to help them understand that all the things that they do or are is what makes them “truly” great.