Polly Diamond and the Magic Book by Alice Kuipers - ADVISABLE

Polly Diamond and the Magic Book by Alice Kuipers, illustrated by Diana Toledano, 107 pages. Chronicle Books, 2018. $15. 

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Polly is thrilled when she learns that her new notebook can write notes back to her. Even better, her notebook starts to make the things she writes come true. This leads to a bit of trouble when she writes about living in a huge house and can’t find food or her family. In the end, Polly realizes that life is pretty great as it is. 

Polly is a likable little character who will appeal to creative young readers. She is curious with big dreams and a mild case of oldest sibling superiority. The book is easy to read and a good introduction to longer books.   

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher

Mac B. Kid Spy: The Impossible Crime by Mac Barnett - ESSENTIAL

Mac B. Kid Spy: The Impossible Crime by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Mike Lowery, 149 pages. Orchard Books, 2019. $13. 

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Mac is playing video games at the local arcade when The Queen calls and requests his help guarding her jewels from a potential thief. A dog delivers a plane ticket and he is on his way to an epic adventure. Mac faces a series of mysteries that he must solve to retrieve the jewels that were stolen out from under him. 

This book is so much fun. The humor is subtle and in true Mac Barnett style, completely on point. There are illustrations on most pages, but enough writing to challenge most early readers. Some chapters are long and some are very short and this variety adds to the humor and playfulness of this book. 

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher

Ginny Goblin Is Not Allowed to Open this Box by David Goodner - ADVISABLE

Ginny Goblin Is Not Allowed to Open this Box by David Goodner, illustrated by Louis Thomas. PICTURE BOOK. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. $18.

9780544764156

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) – ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Ginny Goblin goes to great lengths to reach the box that she isn’t allowed to open until dinnertime. She wants it so much, and WE start to wonder what is inside. But no one knows, not until dinnertime.

A cute, green goblin with hairy-legged, green goblin parents is out to discover the contents of a surprise box. Who can guess, given the available apparatus, what her ingenious plan will be? Like Ginny, never stop trying. Endurance pays off.

M. Kijek, Library Teacher

Vivid: Poems & Notes About Color by Julie Paschkis - ADVISABLE

Vivid: Poems & Notes About Color by Julie Paschkis. PICTURE BOOK/NON-FICTION. Henry Holt (Macmillan), 2018. $18.  9781250122292

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL – ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL – AVERAGE

Colorful, imaginative illustrations and poems about color. Each basic color has its own page spread. The historical notes and scientific facts about color can be understood by children, yet may be new to adults.

This would be a fun book to read to or with a child. The poems are descriptive, humorous, and not very long. The comments spark interest. “Feeling BLUE, tickled PINK, telling a WHITE lie…Why are you GREEN with envy instead of ORANGE with envy?” Informative and enjoyable.

M.Kijek, Library Teacher

Born to Swing by Mara Rockliff - ADVISABLE

Born to Swing by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Michele Wood. PICTURE BOOK/NON-FICTION. Calkins Creek (Highlights), 2018. $18.  9781629795553

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

The life of Lillian Hardin Armstrong, a classically trained musician who did everything in jazz! Her childhood in Memphis and youth in Chicago exposed her to jazz, blues, and swing from their beginnings, and with distinction, she rose with it. She was a prominent musician in her own right when she married Louis Armstrong, and used her influence to promote him and his music.

Wow! What a lady! The book is well-researched and fun to read. I went online to find recordings of her piano playing and singing. “Hot Miss Lil” was an outstanding contributor to early jazz. She played, arranged, composed, and sang jazz as a member of several groups and as a soloist. A good companion to Trombone Shorty, Little Melba and Her Big Trombone, and Just a Lucky So-and-So: The Story of Louis Armstrong.

M.Kijek, Library Teacher

Monsterland by James Crowley - ADVISABLE

Monsterland by James Crowley, 373 pages.  G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin), 2017, $17.

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence PG

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Charlie is a fifth grader facing Halloween without his close cousin, Billy.  Charlie keeps dreaming of Billy and feels like he needs to find him. When he tries to avoid bullies on Halloween, Charlie ends up in Monsterland, a land inhabited by monsters of all types that is off the grid.  He is taken in by the Prime Minister, who sends him off with the Monster of all Monsters, to go on a diplomatic and highly dangerous mission where Charlie can also search for Billy.

This book was well written and I enjoyed the themes of friendship, loyalty and loss.  This is a journey story for Charlie as he learns about life and himself.  The characters were well rounded and sympathetic.

Michelle in the Middle, Teacher  

Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things by Simon Van Booy - OPTIONAL

Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things by Simon Van Booy, 248 pages.  Razorbill (Penguin), 2017, $17.

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Gertie Milk finds herself washed up on an unusual island with no memories except that she has her name sewn onto her clothes.  She discovers that she is a Keeper of Lost Things, someone who helps return lost items to people at critical times in history.  Together with the only other keeper, a man named Kolt, twelve-year old Gertie begins her tasks by time traveling with artifacts she needs to return. She has some great adventures doing so until she runs into some Losers, who think that humans are not responsible enough to use knowledge wisely. Losers are trying to keep humans under their control and are trying to thwart the Keepers. 

While this is a fun premise, it’s never explained why children are the Keepers or how they are chosen.  The story gets a little bizarre, and sometimes feels like it is trying too hard. The ending is a cliff-hanger, so hopefully you like the story enough to continue reading.  

Michelle in the Middle, Teacher

The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher - OPTIONAL

The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher, 356 pages.  Random House, 2016, $14.

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

William Trundle, age ten, wants a dinosaur for Christmas.  It just so happens that the elves at the North Pole have just dug up a dinosaur egg.  Of course, Santa doesn’t plan on delivering a real dinosaur to a ten-year old boy, but stranger things have happened. Things to know about William:  his mother died the same year he got relegated to a wheel chair, his dad loves Christmas beyond all reason, and he is at an age where he could go either way with believing in Santa.  

The illustrations by Shane Devries are fun and engaging.  There is plenty of action, and having the protagonist in a wheel chair is actually pretty cool.  That said, the story seems long for ten-year olds, and the characters are mostly one-dimensional.     

Michelle in the Middle, Teacher

Where Do Diggers Celebrate Christmas? by Breanna Caplan Sayres - ESSENTIAL

Where Do Diggers Celebrate Christmas? by Breanna Caplan Sayres, Illustrated by Christian Slade. PICTURE BOOK. Random House Children’s Books (Penguin Random House), 2018. $17. 9781524772154

BUYING ADVISORY: PRE-K, EL(K-3)- ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Various helper trucks, such as cranes, celebrate Christmas in their won special way while waiting for Santa to join them.

Although this is a Christmas book about trucks, the illustrations delight the reader. The personification of these loved trucks shares the joy of the Christmas season.

MOMMAC

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden - ESSENTIAL

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden, 218 pages.  Putnam, 2018.  $17.  

Content: Language: G (1 swear); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.  

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS – ESSENTIAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH  

Ollie misses her mother so much that she avoids life by reading books.  One day on her way home from school, after a particularly trying day, Ollie happens upon a woman mumbling nonsense and trying to throw a book into the river.  Ollie grabs the book from the woman and races home.  Ollie quickly falls into the story of two brothers who love the same woman and the ghost story that follows.  What Ollie doesn’t realize is that she will fall into the same ghost story with her schoolmates.  

This book is creepy fun.  I couldn’t put it down and loved Ollie and her courage.  Although the book is scary, it’s clean and has great character development that emphasizes friendship, love and moving on.  Such a fun read!  

C. Peterson

Avalanche! by Terry Lynn Johnson -- ESSENTIAL

Avalanche! (Survivor Diaries) by Terry Lynn Johnson, 104 pgs. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. $10.

Content: Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (some peril and injuries due to the avalanche, but kept pretty clean).

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS – ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Twelve-year-old twins Ashley and Ryan are caught in an avalanche in the Grand Teton Mountains. Surviving the weight of the cascading snow is just the beginning, though. They must overcome separation, hypothermia, frostbite, wild animals, and serious injuries. Can the twins make it back to civilization, or will the mountain conquer them once and for all?

I couldn't put this book down. The action is fast-paced, and Ashley makes a compelling hero, both empathetic and endearingly flawed. Author Terry Lynn Johnson is a survival expert with years of experience in the wilderness, and it shows in her details, which set the scene well and added extra layers to the feeling of peril. This would be perfect for fans of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen or the the I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis.

Reviewed by Sydney G., K-6 Library Media Specialist

The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm - ADVISABLE

The Third Mushroom (Fourteenth Goldfish, #2) by Jennifer L. Holm, 220 pages.  Random House, 2018.  $17.  

Content: Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: G.  

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS – ADVISABLE  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE  

Ellie loves science and she decides to partner with her grandpa for the middle school science fair.  Ellie’s grandpa, Melvin, looks like a teenager because of a science experiment he did on himself (more of that story in the Fourteenth Goldfish).  Melvin and Ellie discover an animal that can adapt and grow new body parts, and when Melvin tries it on himself it doesn’t have the predicted outcome.  There are lots of changes in Ellie’s life and so on top of navigating her grandpa’s crazy experiments she also must figure out her friendship with her best friend, Raj.  

This is a cute sequel to Ellie and Melvin’s adventures in the Fourteenth Goldfish.  Ellie is a likable character and the story line is creative, with a little bit of attempted romance between Ellie and Raj.  The end of the book has mini biographies on some of the better-known scientists.  If you readers enjoyed Fourteenth Goldfish, they will like this as well, but I recommend reading them in order.  

C. Peterson