Provo Library Children's Book Blog

The Princess Protection Program  By Alex London New York: Greenwillow Books, 2024. Fiction. 212 pages. Princess Rosamund, otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty, awakes to a strange prince kissing her awake and she promptly runs away. Where is a rogue fairy tale princess supposed to go? Through a Door of Opportunity and into the Orphans' Home Educational Academy, or HEA. The school, populated by other fairy tale runaways, offers special training to help the former princesses adapt to life in "reality." Rosamund begins to gain confidence in her life of a regular teenager, until monsters called Uponatimes start to close in --ready to drag all the princesses back to their stories. Before it's too late, Rosamund and her friends need to take control of their own stories to determine their own fates. This fractured fairy tale will appeal to fans of the genre, and Easter egg references to other fairy tale retellings are especially fun. This is a fun, quickly-paced fairy tale adv...

I fancied myself a theater kid in my youth, which is crazy to think about considering how anxious and self-conscious I can be as an adult.  What you couldn't pay me to do now, I wanted to do and did for free  as a kid!  Even though I no longer wish to grace the stage with my presence upon it, one of my favorite things to do is see live theater.  Whether you want to be the star, you're more comfortable working behind the scenes, or you just enjoy watching the talents of others, you're sure to find an enjoyable read about the highs and lows of the theater in the books below.   Shira & Esther's Double Dream Debut By Anna E. Jordan San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2023. Fiction. 307 pages. When 12 year-olds Shira and Esther first meet they can't believe their eyes --they look practically identical!  What's not ide ntical are the girls' hopes and dreams.  Shira wants nothing more than to perform on the stage, but her rabbi father thinks sh e should ...

The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry By Anna Rose Johnson New York: Holiday House, 2024. Fiction. 169 pages.  Lucy Landry is an orphan with French-Ojibwe heritage. When Lucy's caregiver passes away, she is sent to live by Lake Superior on an island with a family of lighthouse keepers. While adjusting to her new life, her imagination gets her into all kinds of trouble while she is just trying to be helpful. Before Lucy's father died, he was searching for a ruby necklace from a shipwreck. When Lucy realizes that her new home is very close to the location where the treasure could be found, she does everything she can to find the treasure and finish her father's quest.    This heart-warming historical fiction novel is perfect for fans of Anne of Green Gables or The War that Saved My Life. The book is set in 1912 and does a great job of giving more background of how lighthouses used to function, and what it was like to live as lighthouse keepers. There was also some integration o...

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs By Mo Willems New York: Balzar + Bray, 2012. Picture Book. "Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway. One day--for no particular reason--they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then--for no particular reason--they decided to go . . . someplace else. They were definitely not setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl. Definitely not!" --Editor Smart Vs. Strong! Written by Jill Esbaum Illustrated by Miles Thompson New York: Simon Spotlight, 2021. Easy Reader. 64 pages. "When Thunder gets stuck in quicksand, Cluck uses his smarts to free his friend." --Editor How Dinosaurs Went Extinct Written by Ame Dyckman Illustrated by Jennifer Harney New York: Brown and Company, 2023. Picture Book. "When a child in a museum asks how dinosaurs became extinct, Dad co...

  Preschool Time Zoo-Mate Wanted By Korrie Leer Chicago: Albert Whitman & Company, 2021. Picture Book. Sisters Leah and Lilly have little in common besides their love of the zoo, so when Leah gets a little too wild and Lilly moves out, Leah posts an advertisement for an animal roommate. --Editor Preschool Time ZigZag By Julie Paschikis New York: Enchanted Lion Books, 2023. Picture Book. When ZigZag, an alligator who can taste words, accidentally swallows "tambourine" with all of its vowels, he finds disappointing "ppls" instead of tart, green apples and a too-short "bd" instead of his comfy, cozy bed. --Editor Toddler Time It Will Be Ok: A Story of Empathy, Kindness, and Friendship Written by Lisa Katzenberger Illustrated by Jaclyn Sinquet Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks eXplore, an imprint of Sourcebooks Kids, 2021.  Giraffe and Zebra meet every day under their favorite tree to walk to the watering hole. But today, Giraffe isn't there! Where cou...

A Walk in the Woods Written by Nikki Grimes Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney  New York: Holiday House, 2023. Picture Book. A week after his father’s funeral, a boy is still struggling with the reality of his father’s death, but it’s time and he opens the envelope his father left for him. When he opens the envelope, he finds a map of the woods outside his house, with a big red “X” marked for treasure. At first, he is very disappointed, because he wanted a meaningful letter with advice, but he ultimately decides to take on the adventure. As the boy starts his journey he sees all kinds of animals and wildlife around him. Finally, he gets to the spot marked on the map and he finds a metal box. Inside there are his father’s drawings of forest creatures with a story under each one. At the end, there is a note from his father inviting him to finish the story or write his own. Touched and grateful for his father’s insight, the boy begins his journey back home. A Walk in the...

Do you ever think to myself, "Boy am I sure tired of reading the same book over and over, night after night, because my child won't let me read anything else?" Are you in search of a new funny book that your child will instead force you to read over and over? (Let's be honest with ourselves, no matter what book they want you to read, they will probably want you to read it repeatedly.) Well, here's the list for you! A list of picture books that were recently published and you (probably) haven't checked out that will make your child laugh, cry (because they're laughing so hard), and beg for a re-read. The Wrong Book Written by Drew Daywalt Illustrated by Alex Willmore New York: Philomel, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2024. Picture Book. The characters in this book seem to be a little confused about what they're supposed to say. Everyone, that is, except for the yellow bookmark protagonist. He knows that flowers aren't supposed to say "...