DJ Baby by DJ Burton and Andy J. Pizza - ADVISABLE

DJ Baby by DJ Burton, illustrated by Andy J. Pizza. BOARD BOOK. Little Simon, 2022. $13. 9781665927048

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Get ready to dance hard along with DJ baby!

Includes a pair of movable turntables in case baby wants to practice their scratching. As a child of 80’s LA, I love this board book – but it is niche. The turntables seem to be sturdy enough to with stand some heavy use.

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS 

The Thank You Book by Danna Smith and Juliana Perdomo - ESSENTIAL

The Thank You Book by Danna Smith, illustrated by Juliana Perdomo. BOARD BOOK. Little Simon (Simon & Schuster), 2022. $8. 9781665902922

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

This bright and happy book teaches readers the power of thank you and all the ways to demonstrate gratitude.

The Thank You Book is a delightful and decorative board book to help teach littles basic SEL concepts. The art did feel a little chaotic to me in some places, but younger readers will love it. It’s such a simple thing, but I loved the inclusivity in the art! Different races, disability and LGBTQ representation, all in a little board book, so lots of kudos for that.

Kiera, #BookswithBeddes

Tap! Tap! Tap! Dance! Dance! Dance! By Herve Tullet - ADVISABLE

Tap! Tap! Tap! Dance! Dance! Dance! By Herve Tullet. PICTURE BOOK. Chronicle, May 2023. $20. 9781797221465

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Tullet takes the reader on a dancing journey with fingers and hands. 

The large format book is colorful and bright. I had a difficulty when the action moved from the page to air, but understood better the second reading – so if you read this with small ones, practice and guide them. 

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS 

I Already Love You by Willa Perlman and Sally Walker - ADVISABLE

I Already Love You by Willa Perlman, illustrated by Sally Walker. BOARD BOOK. Simon and Schuster, 2022. $8. 9781665926447 

BUYING ADVISORY: ADULTS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

An expecting parent rejoices over the pieces of their to-be-born child. 

If you are heading to a baby shower, add this to present. Mother or father, the expecting parent will pore over the pages imagining touching their own baby. 

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS 

The Pop-up Guide: Natural Wonders by Sandra Laboucarie and Charline Picard - OPTIONAL

The Pop-up Guide: Natural Wonders by Sandra Laboucarie, illustrated by Charline Picard. BOARD BOOK. Twirl (Chronicle), 2022. $17. 9791036338779 

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - OPTIONAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Laboucarie and Picard take us through the biomes of the world in pop-up dioramas and simple words pointing out both geographic features, flora, and fauna. 

Not quite specific enough to use in a geography lesson and not sturdy enough for a pre-k child to handle on their own. If I were still teaching geography, I would probably have my students look at each page and talk about what definitions they would add to each scene. 

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS 

Strut, Baby, Strut by Amika Kroll and Ebony Glenn - ESSENTIAL

Strut, Baby, Strut by Amika Kroll, illustrated by Ebony Glenn. BOARD BOOK. Little Simon (Simon & Schuster), 2022.  $9. 9781534498594

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

A lesson manual for any girl growing up, Strut, Baby, Strut follows the lives of three girls as they go from baby to adulthood.

Strut, Baby, Strut looks like it’s just a board book for littles, but I found it incredibly empowering as a grown woman reading it. The art is bright, happy, and engaging. The message is incredibly positive and inclusive. I loved it and think it deserves a place in any library.

Kiera, #BookswithBeddes

The Monsters on the Broom by Annemarie Riley Guertin and Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn - ADVISABLE

The Monsters on the Broom by Annemarie Riley Guertin, illustrated by Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn. BOARD BOOK. Simon, 2022. $9. 9781665911467 

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

All of the monsters are ready for Halloween. Join them as they fly and fright to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus”. The original tune is a little sprightly for adaptation to a Halloween book, but I would totally have listeners help me come up with the right speed and tone for a read aloud and then immerse us all in reciting it together!

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS 

Peekaboo Baby by Camilla Reid and Ingela P. Arrhenius - ADVISABLE

Peekaboo Baby by Camilla Reid and Ingela P. Arrhenius. BOARD BOOK. Nosy Crow, 2023. $10. 9781536228250 

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Reid and Arrhenius’s latest Peekaboo book centers around baby and the things baby sees around them. The sturdy tabs will hold up to much abuse. A great selection for a first baby book. 

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS 

Rosa's Song by Helena Ku Rhee and Pascal Campion - ESSENTIAL

Rosa's Song by Helena Ku Rhee and Pascal Campion. PICTURE BOOK Random House. 2022. $18. 9780593375495 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Jae moved into an apartment, and his mother tells him to meet the other children in the building. Even though he is just learning the language, Jae meets Rosa and her parrot and the three form a quick and fast friendship. Until one day, Jae's mother tells him that Rosa's family has moved. 

A sad, yet hopeful picture book. I appreciated the author's note, remembering her similar experience, with children moving again just as friendships are beginning to grow. Campion's illustrations are beautiful. An essential choice for an elementary library. Rosa speaks Spanish, Jae is also a child of color. 

Lisa Librarian

Diary Svetlana Chmakova - GIFT

Diary Svetlana Chmakova, 90 pages. INTERACTIVE Jy (Yen Press). 2019. $13 

Content: G. 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - GIFT 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

13yo Jaime Thompson is a scientist/engineer, and he hates that the kids in the middle school Science Club tease him because he is friends with a girl. Peppi gets teased, too, by the kids in Art Club. They are working together on a Time Capsule project, to be opened in 100 years. But when Jaime sees some artwork of Peppi's (hearts around the name Jesse) his friends tell him she must like someone. Now Jaime's afraid he will lose his friend. Maribella is living temporarily with her grandmother while her parents work out some things. So she's left Berrybrook Middle and is living in an old-fashioned town and going to a new school. She has trouble making friends on her first day but gets invited to a sleepover. It doesn't go well. 

Diary is just that. A Diary. Includes an 18-month calendar/scheduler, stickers, 2- 26 page graphic stories; a drawing lesson and 68 "sketch a day" entries, some with ideas; a cartooning tutorial, blank diary pages, and several spots for recorded stuff about your favorite people. A great gift for a fan of the Berrybrook Series, but not recommended as a library purchase (which is unfortunate, as the series is alphabetical - Awkward, Brave, Crush, Diary, Enemies) The characters, as always are multicultural and diverse. 

Lisa Librarian

Holding Her Own by Traci N. Todd and Shannon Wright - ADVISABLE

Holding Her Own by Traci N. Todd, pictures by Shannon Wright. PICTURE BOOK Orchard Books (Scholastic). 2023. $22. 9781338305906 

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Jackie Ormes had a way with words. She was a storyteller and poet. She got a job with a Chicago newspaper, and they had her covering boxing, but because she was a woman, her stories were in the women's section, rather than on the sports page. But what she really wanted to do was draw. She wrote a comic strip - inspired by the stories she'd read in the paper about Black people fleeing the South, her character Torchy Brown was living that dream. 

Jackie became the first nationally syndicated Black woman cartoonist in the United States. A fascinating story - Ormes was also a civil rights activist . Includes an author's note with photographs of Jackie and some of her original cartoons - including why she was investigated by the FBI (never skip the author's notes - I'm serious!).

Lisa Librarian

The Mouse Who Carried A House On His Back by Jonathan Stutzman and Isabelle Arsenault - HIGH

The Mouse Who Carried A House On His Back by Jonathan Stutzman, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. PICTURE BOOK. Candlewick Press, 2022. $19. 9781536216790

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Vincent carries his magical house on his back until he finds the place he needs to be and a nice grassy spot just off the path to put his house on.  Not long after a traveler hopped up the path. He invited the weary bullfrog to rest in his house.  The bullfrog thought his house looked to small to fit in, but when he went inside it was very big.  That night Vincent also invited a hungry cat, a family of hedgehogs, a fox, two badgers, and a herd of deer.  Each time Vincent’s magical house grew to fit the weary travelers. Everyone was afraid when Vincent wanted to let in a hungry bear. They blocked the door.  But Vincent said that it was his house and that all travelers were welcome.

Stutzman’s interesting story about a kind mouse with a magical house is very engaging.  I liked the theme that everyone is different and sometimes scary but we all need kindness.  Colorful and whimsical illustrations enhance the cute story.

PGPowers