Provo Library Children's Book Blog

It's "I" week! Here are three fun books as we learn about the letter I. In a Jar By Deborah Marcero G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2020.  Picture Book. Llewellyn, a little rabbit, is a collector. He gathers things in jars--ordinary things like buttercups, feathers, and heart-shaped stones. Then he meets another rabbit, Evelyn, and together they begin to collect extraordinary things--like rainbows, the sound of the ocean, and the wind just before snow falls. And, best of all, when they hold the jars and peer inside, they remember all the wonderful things they've seen and done. But one day, Evelyn has sad news: Her family is moving away. How can the two friends continue their magical collection--and their special friendship--from afar?  --Publisher Islandborn Written by Junot Díaz Illustrated by Leo Espinosa Dial Books for Young Readers, 2018.  Picture Book. Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else. Hers was a school of faraway places. So when Lola's teache...

this way, Charlie By: Caron Levis and Charles Santoso New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2020. Picture Book. Jack, the goat, lives on a rehabilitation farm. He keeps to himself as other animals come and go. That is until Charlie, a horse losing his sight, arrives. At first the two animals do not get along, starting with Charlie stumbling over Jack, but soon Jack sees things differently and realizes that Charlie could use a guiding friend as he learns to make way around the farm blindly.  This sweet story shows kindness for those who are dealing with disability, seen or unseen. In a very tasteful way it illustrates some of the challenges of trauma and handicaps with a captivating blossoming friendship. The illustrations are beautifully detailed with an emotional pull as the two animals become unlikely friends, helping each other through their difficulties in just the way they need. 

Ghost Hunter's Daughter By Dan Poblocki New York: Scholastic 2020, Fiction. 273 p.  Claire's father is a television personality known worldwide for finding and banishing spirits. But Claire doesn't really believe in any of it until a classmate named Lucas tells her that her dad is in danger. Lucas's grandmother is a medium; spirits of the dead come to her, sometimes with unfinished business, sometimes with messages for their living loved ones, but always with a knock on the door. This power has been passed on from generation to generation. When Lucas is compelled to open the door one night he finds the ghost of Claire's deceased mother, begging for someone to help her husband. The two kids take matters into their own hands and go to the cursed town of Hush Falls Holler, the last place Claire's dad was seen. Where is Claire's dad? And if they find him, can they save him?  This is a well-paced and fully realized horror story for middle grades. There are plenty...

  April and Esme, Tooth Fairies By Bob Graham 2010 On their first assignment, two young tooth fairy sisters journey by night into the huge world of humans to collect Daniel Dangerfield's tooth and fly it safely home. Evie and the Strawberry Patch Rescue By Stefanie Dahle 2019 First in a new series about a sassy, adorable fairy and her friends who care for the plants and animals of Wildberry Acres. Fairy Felicity's Moonlight Adventure By Alison Murray 2016 Felicity follows a snail that leads her through a greenhouse, an orchard, and a garden until she finds her surprise. How to Trick the Tooth Fairy By Erin Russell 2018 Kaylee loves pulling pranks on people, but when she takes on the Tooth Fairy, another notorious prankster, it turns into an all-out prank war for the crown. Anna and the Tooth Fairy By Maureen Wright 2017 Anna has a loose tooth and expects the Tooth Fairy to be visiting soon. She starts thinking her baby sister Sophie may be a tooth fairy in training. Bloom By Do...

  Curse of the Night Witch Written by: Alex Aster Sourcebooks Young Readers, 2020. Fiction. Tor Luna lives on Emblem Island where everyone knows their lives will be dictated by the emblem they are born with. Tor was born to be a leader, just like his mother, but he hates his emblem and wants more than anything to change his fate. One night during the annual New Year's Eve celebration Tor throws a wish into the fire asking for a different emblem. The next morning he awakens to discover that instead of  his wish being granted he has been given a curse which could only come from the Night Witch. Tor, his best friend Engle and Melda, the smartest girl in Tor's class, decide they must find the Night Witch and ask her to remove the curse. So begins an adventure that will change their lives forever. One of my favorite things about this tale is how the author weaves in myths and Columbian folklore into the story. These ancient myths provide clues and answers to the obstacles that Tor ...

Storm Dog  By Laura Elliott  Katherine Tegen Books, HarperCollins Publishers, 2020. 225 p.  Ariel is the youngest of three kids. There is George who is deployed to Afghanistan, Gloria who has just graduated from high school and is known for her beauty—in fact has just been named an Apple Blossom Princess for a big parade. Then there is the younger Ariel. Ariel who is too smart for her own good (and thus tends to only get scorn from her mother and sister and hardly any notice from her father). After one bitter family confrontation Ariel heads into the woods of the Blue Ridge Mountains—even though there is a coming storm. There Ariel discovers Duke, a German shepherd with PTSD-like symptoms who guides her to a cabin to wait out the storm. In that cabin Ariel meets Staff Sergeant Josie (a former Army K-9 handler) with her own case of PTSD. It is there in that cabin that Ariel starts to plan to make her own decisions and to be proud of herself—a plan which inevitably will lea...

  A Home for Bird   By: Phillip Stead   Vernon the toad takes the silent Bird on a journey in hopes of finding Bird's home.   Because You Are My Teacher By: Sherry North   In illustrations and verse, lists some of the places a teacher would take her students if she had the means, from a hot-air balloon trip over China's Great Wall to an airboat ride in the Everglades to observe alligators.   Up and Away!: How Two Brothers Invented the Hot Air Balloon By: Jason Henry   "Back in 1782, in Annonay, France, lived Joseph Montgolfier, a dreamer and an inventor who was curious about how everything worked. When one day a gust of wind blew his papers into the fireplace, he noticed that something lifted the pages into the air--and he realized that heat could make things rise. With the help of his brother Étienne, he began to experiment ... and created the world's first flying machine, sparking the birth of flight. This beautifully illustrated picture book tells t...