Beach Toys vs. School Supplies By Mike Ciccotello - ADVISABLE

Beach Toys vs. School Supplies By Mike Ciccotello. PICTURE BOOK Farrar Straus Giroux (Macmillan), 2021. $18. 9780374314040 

BUYING ADVISORY: ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

With just a week before school starts, the sand shovel gets into an argument with the ruler over what’s better, fun or work. So, to settle it, they decide to have a sand castle building contest. The beach toys are sure they will “deflate” and “bury” the school supplies, while the index card carries a sign that says “we’ll school you”. The beach toys had fun building the castle, the school supplies were more serious - planning everything out first. But when the water starts to threaten the school supplies’ castle, will the beach toys “dig in” and help each other?

I loved all the wordplay! Such a cute story and perfect for the end of summer, just in time for school to start. The colorful illustrations look great - Ciccotello has kept the items with their actual shapes and just added faces and “stick arms”.  A great story about including everyone, and celebrating strengths.

Lisa Librarian

Popcorn Bob by Maranke Rinck and Martijn van der Linden - OPTIONAL

Popcorn Bob by Maranke Rinck, illustrated by Martijn van der Linden, 150 pages. EARLY READER Levine Querido, 2021. $15 

Content: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

9yo Ellis is addicted to popcorn, so when her school is encouraging everyone to eat healthy, her dads decide to be healthy, too, and ban popcorn from the house. In fact, they take the microwave out to the shed so Ellis won't be tempted. Instead, she sneaks out to the shed to pop some herself, and there's an unpopped kernel that comes to life. His name is Bob and boy, is he angry and hungry! In an effort to hide him from her dads, Ellis takes him to school where he causes all sorts of trouble, stealing food and attacking the principal. Ellis decides Bob has got to go, but can she part with him, because mean and angry or not, she's become attached. 

As translated books go, this wasn't half bad - the more I read the more I liked it. A super silly fantastic story with great illustrations - oh the faces on Bob are hilarious! The entertaining illustrations help compensate for the unusual story, but it may be just too weird for my early readers - book 1 in a series.

Lisa Librarian

A House by Kevin Henkes - ESSENTIAL

A House by Kevin Henkes. PICTURE BOOK Greenwillow Books (Harper Collins), 2021. $19. 9780063092600 

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre K - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

 "A House, where is the door? What color is it? Where is the window? What shape is it?". This beautiful point and respond book is all about making a house into a home. We see the house in the daytime, at night and in different seasons, but it's when a family is there that it's something more than shapes and sizes. 

Oh, this is a beautiful and simple book. Kevin Henkes illustrations are perfect, calm colors and predictable shapes and the text engages the child - my goodness, I was engaged. It's easy to point at the clouds, but you have to look again to see which is the smallest. I can see reading this again and again to a child just learning shapes and colors and words.

Lisa Librarian

Haylee and Comet: A Tale of Cosmic Friendship by Deborah Marcero - NO

Haylee and Comet: A Tale of Cosmic Friendship by Deborah Marcero 72 pages EARLY READER Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan), 2021 $18.00 9781250774392 

EL (K-3) - NOT RECOMMENDED 

When Haylee makes a wish on a falling star, it becomes a wish she can catch, it's a comet looking for friend. Turns out they had both wished for a friend. So Comet stays with Haylee for a few days and they learn about friendship. 

I so hoped this would be about wishing - so sweet until the comet appeared, then the book just got weird and stopped making sense. Driven mostly by dialogue, the episodes in this early reader chapter book are just too strange.

Lisa Librarian

You Have to Read This Book! By Bruce Eric Kaplan - NO

You Have to Read This Book! by Bruce Eric Kaplan. PICTURE BOOK. Simon and Schuster, 2021. $18. 9781534462861 

BUYING ADVISORY: NOT RECOMMENDED 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW 

Dad Morris finds a book he loved from his childhood and wants to share it with his son, who wants absolutely nothing to do with it. Morris goes to great extremes to get Benny to read the book, while Benny goes to great extremes to avoid the book. Great Extremes. 

Benny needs some discipline; his extreme bad attitude doesn’t just extend to books. I can’t understand why Morris puts up with Benny’s behavior. I think this is supposed to be funny, but it just isn’t. 

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS 

Update: I ran this past an 8yo, 12yo, and 14yo – they didn’t enjoy the illustrations and caught on that the boy bear was a brat who needed an attitude adjustment. 

True Stories of Animal Heroes: Fluffles by Vita Murrow and Rachel Qiuqi - ADVISABLE

Fluffles (True Stories of Animal Heroes) by Vita Murrow, illustrated by Rachel Qiuqi. BOARD BOOK. Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2021. $16. 9780711261594 

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

 Fluffles, a little koala, lives in Eucalyptus trees in South Eastern Australia. He loves to hug other koalas and eat eucalyptus leaves. One day there is big forest fire; it burns for a very long time. Fluffles hugs the tree he is in and holds on for dear life. After the fire is out, he carefully climbs out of his tree, but he burns his paws on the hot bark. Fluffles was picked up by a kind helper. The helper lifted Fluffles in her arms and put cool cream and special mittens on his burned hands.

 During the big fires in Australia in 2020 a lot of animals were injured and burned. This book is based on a true story of a koala that was saved after the fire. Veterinarians and volunteers helped save a lot of koalas. When the koalas were released back into the wild they were released in pairs. Koalas like to hold on to each other, and hugging another koala helps them feel safe. The illustrations are darling and I just wanted to pick up Fluffles and give him an extra hug. 

Ellen-Anita, Librarian 

The Great Stink: ... London’s Poop Pollution Problem by Colleen Paeff and Nancy Carpenter - ADVISABLE

The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solves London’s Poop Pollution Problem by Colleen Paeff, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. NON-FICTION PICTURE BOOK. Simon and Schuster, 2021. $18. 9781534449299 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS, HS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

London, England, in the 1800’s was disgusting. Not only did it smell terrible, but the city went through several cholera outbreaks in short succession. Joseph survived the outbreaks and he was determined to not only find the source of the disease, but also straighten out London’s higgledy-piggledy sewer system, which he hypothesized was the cause of the outbreaks. Parliament stalls until the 1850’s. It takes only 6 years to build Joseph’s system and when the next outbreak comes, he is proven correct. 

 While the walking skeletons that represent London’s dead are a bit macabre, the book is fascinating. I would love to read this with a class – at whatever level or class covers disease, sanitation, pollution, or even the history of London. 

 Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS 

The Not Bad Animals by Sophie Corrigan - ADVISABLE

The Not Bad Animals by Sophie Corrigan, 157 pages. NONFICTION. Frances Lincoln Children’s Books (The Quarto Group), 2020. $25.

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Humans have been spreading some pretty mean rumors about some animals, and they are just not true! The animals themselves are going to set the record straight that they aren’t really bad.

Corrigan cleverly debunks myths about animals like skunks, pigeons, anglerfish, slugs, and vampire bats. Each animal gets two pages of mean rumors and then two pages of rebuttal with fun facts and funny comments. I love the differences in wording and illustration that soften the hearts of readers towards critters we usually give a bad rap. There were a few too many butt and fart jokes for me, but maybe it’s the right amount for the target audience.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

The Story of the Olympic Games by The Olympic Museum - ADVISABLE

The Story of the Olympic Games by The Olympic Museum, 93 pages. NONFICTION. Welbeck, 2020. $23.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

The Olympics brings athletes and spectators together from around the world -- and has been doing so since 1896! How did this world tradition start? Who are some of the great Olympians that have competed? Let’s find out!

The variety of pictures and facts keeps readers interested as this book talks about how the Olympics have developed over time into the games we know today. Readers get to learn about the host countries, how world events have impacted the Olympics, and the examples set before us by competitors -- whether or not they have won gold medals. I loved reading through the facts, especially as some athletes became familiar to me across several Olympics which made it feel more like a story than I expected from a nonfiction book. The mature content rating is for the use of nearly nude figures used in examples of past Olympic posters and medals.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Weekend Dad by Naseem Hrab and Frank Viva - ESSENTIAL

Weekend Dad by Naseem Hrab, illustrated by Frank Viva. PICTURE BOOK. Groundwood Books, 2020. $19. 9781773061085

 BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

During the week the boy lives with his mom; on Fridays he has to go to his dad's new place, bringing his favorite stuffed toy, Wendell. Everything is different and he only wants things to be the same. Worried his dad will be alone, he leaves Wendell in his dad's bed to comfort him. It is strange to go somewhere else to stay, but he soon realizes that where his dad lives is also his home, because his dad is there. 

 The letter Dad gives the boy at the end is a really nice touch. It is so important for children to realize that the divorce was not their fault and that mom and dad will always love him. A very dear and tender book with a good message. 

Ellen-Anita, Librarian

North & South: a tale of two hemispheres by Sandra Morris - ADVISABLE

North & South: a tale of two hemispheres by Sandra Morris. NON-FICTION PICTURE BOOK. Candlewick, 2021. $18. 9781536204599 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Morris juxtaposes the hemispheres in a month-by-month look at a representative animal from each hemisphere. 

 The information is detailed, but each page could be read one at a time over several sittings, instead of trying to read it in one sitting. The beautiful endpapers show the location of each animal. Morris is a talented writer and illustrator. I would buy two or three copies of the book and ask the publisher for permission to make wall posters for each month; it would make a great classroom display! 

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS 

If You Want to Knit Some Mittens by Laura Purdie Salas and Angela Matteson - ADVISABLE

If You Want to Knit Some Mittens by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Angela Matteson PICTURE BOOK Boyds Mills Press, October, 2021. $18 9781629795645 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

If You Want to Knit Some Mittens . . . there is so much to do to make mittens completely from scratch, starting with acquiring a sheep and letting its wool grow all winter long. Then shear the sheep, wash and card the wool, spin it and dye it - but first you will need to grow the marigolds for the color to use in the dye and learn to knit. Yes, so many steps and it will take a lot of time, but in the end you will have beautiful mittens! 

Such a clever book! I loved the illustrations and that the sheep was part of the process (more than just as the wool grower). I will certainly be showing this to my spinner friends, they will love it. Would work great in a classroom as well, because there's more to farming that vegetables.

Lisa Librarian