Just fun and funny!

 A delightful offering in the FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS series. There is a cute surprise at the end where the babysitter (Lulu) does not know where they hid but Mama does. Even I, as the reader, was getting nervous about where they went, haha. Cute!

At this time

 A beautiful, outstanding book for all ages. It describes how taking care of one's self strengthens the entire community! And how we all need each other. "All of us important, none of us alone." Great messages of unity, inclusion, and connection. I loved it!

 

In praise of Miranda Paul!

      Congratulations to author Miranda Paul who has been named the Wisconsin Library Association “Notable Wisconsin Author” for 2024! From the WLA website:

Miranda Paul is an award-winning children’s author of One Plastic Bag and Water is Water, both named Junior Library Guild selections.

365: How to Count Your Year, released in September 2023, was named a CCBC Choices pick.

In 2020, the CBAC recognized her and her husband’s book, I am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon as one of its Outstanding Books of the year. 

Her titles have received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly in addition to being named to several recommended and “best of” reading lists. 

10 Little Ninjas also was named an Amazon Best Book of the Month (August 2016).

Miranda makes regular appearances at schools, libraries, and bookstores, and has been a guest presenter at the Library of Congress Young Readers Center along with environmental activist Isatou Ceesay. Miranda also serves as Mentorship chair for We Need Diverse Books™ (www.diversebooks.org), volunteers for Books for Africa, and is a regional advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers (Wisconsin Chapter). She believes in working hard, having fun, and being kind.

Learn more about her current and forthcoming titles at www.mirandapaul.com.

We are excited about this fabulous news! Miranda was at our library on May 9, 2024 for a Headstart family evening. We had a wonderful time! We are so proud of Miranda and her accomplishments. Keep going!

In praise of Cynthia Rylant!

 

Anything by author and librarian Cynthia Rylant is a surefire winner! I fell in love with her books when I was a teacher and I am still a fan as a librarian. Her books fall in that range of books for emerging readers. They are early chapter books with heart. They contain humor and strong vocabulary words. We have them housed in easy readers, paperback and hardbound. We are glad to show you where they are for check out!

    Books about friendship are perfectly suited for the “younger set” as they are learning about friendship themselves. All of these characters have adventures and conundrums (!) with their friends. Some of Rylant’s series are Annie and Snowball; Brownie and Pearl; Henry and Mudge; Motor Mouse; and Poppleton.

It is a joy to see patrons share the books they loved as children with their now children and grandchildren!

 This book holds the sweet lesson that the joy of cooking is in the sharing of the results with others. I just found out that Kobe is an Instagram sensation! I liked the modern images of the parents...mom and dad both had tats on their arms in the illustrations. 

Kobe Eats Pizza!

Ashley Wian

illustrated by Joy Ang

c) 2022

Fiction reading like non-fiction

 

This is an outstanding book that easily explains supply chains to kids in a colorful and happy format. The information is easily digestible (yes, bad pun!) and gives the fuller picture of where our food comes from: the steps prior to us purchasing items at our supermarket. There is a refrain pattern throughout the book to keep the reader and/or audience focused. Highly recommend to pair this 'fiction reads like non-fiction' picture book with the hit "Peanut Butter and Jelly" illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott.

Darling!

 This book has an old-fashioned feel and is very sweet. The pictures are charming. We fall in love with Pretzel who is a mega-length dachshund. He uses this physical attribute to make a daring rescue of another dachshund named Greta. They eventually marry--the picture of all of the dogs going to the wedding is delightful!