Category: Preschool Reads

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Don’t miss Tracey Baptiste’s Looking for a Jumbie!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I have been a fan of Tracey Baptiste’s Jumbies series since the first one hit shelves in 2015. They’re such a rich, spooky mix of Caribbean folklore and horror, with smart characters and fantastic pacing: every kid in my library knows that if they ask me for something scary, they’re going to get a Jumbies book handed to them. Fast forward six years, and Tracey Baptiste has a Jumbies picture book, so that I can start getting my itty bitties into all things Jumbie. Start them early, right?

Looking for a Jumbie, by Tracey Baptiste/Illustrated by Amber Ren,
(Sept. 2021, Balzer + Bray), $17.99, ISBN: 9780062970817
Ages 4-8

Naya is a little girl who just knows jumbies are real, even if her Mama says they only exist in stories. Naya heads off, Going on a Bear Hunt-style, to find some, and makes some… interesting friends along the way. Repeated, familiar phrasing that may remind readers of the classic We’re Going on a Bear Hunt runs throughout the book as Naya meets a new friend to join her quest: “We’re looking for a jumbie. We’re going to find a scary one”. She meets several interesting characters in the woods, all who seem to meet the characteristics of well-known jumbies (especially for older siblings and parents who’ve read the novels!), but they don’t seem terribly mean at all. They all manage to convince Naya that they’re not the monsters she’s looking for, and join her quest. Vibrant digital illustrations are colorful and eye-catching, and Naya, a young girl of color, is a brave heroine who forges through each spread. Jumbies are a friendly a group of monsters, and while Naya provides informational descriptions of these spooky monsters, the colorful group are very friendly and cartoon-like in appearance. Looking for a Jumbie could be a wonderful story to read at bedtime to kids who may be worried about things that go bump in the night, as jumbies offer practical reasons for their appearances that have nothing to do with being a monster. No nightmares here! I love, love, love this book.

Tracey Baptiste offers a field guide to jumbies on her website, along with further resources on her Jumbies novels for anyone interested in learning more.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Uncategorized

Books for Animal Lovers

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Fox and the Forest Fire, by Danny Popovici, (Aug. 2021, Chronicle Books), $17.99, ISBN: 9781797202822

Ages 5-8

A boy and his mom move to a home on the edge of a forest. While the boy isn’t thrilled at first, he grows to love his new home after forming a friendship with some of the local forest animals, including a friendly fox. When he discovers smoke on the horizon one morning, he rushes home to tell his mother, and they evacuate. When they finally return home, they see the destruction that the fire has caused, but he knows they will rebuild. After all, “the forest knows what to do after a fire. And so do we. A realistic story of something most of us only see and hear about on the news, The Fox and the Forest Fire is written by former forest firefighter Danny Popovici, who talks about his experience as a firefighter in an author’s note; he also provides more information about wildfires and the havoc they wreak on the local wildlife and their home. He tells a sensitive, powerful story filled with friendship and hope as the boy and his mother look to the forest animals for inspiration as they rebuild their lives after the fire. For those of us who have only read about wildfires, or seen them on the evening news, Popovici approaches his topic with sensitivity but packs an emotional punch for readers. Have books like NatGeo Kids’s Extreme Wildfire and direct kids to resources like Tree Removal’s section on wildfires, Smokey the Bear’s page on wildfires, with games and coloring sheets, and Surfing and STEM’s Wildfires Emergency Plan worksheet set from TeachersPayTeachers.

Publisher Chronicle has a free educator’s guide with insightful discussion questions and extra resources. Danny Popovici’s website has more of his illustration work available.

 

Farm Lullaby, by Karen Jameson/Illustrated by Wednesday Kirwan, (Oct. 2021, Chronicle Books), $17.99, ISBN: 9781452181035

Ages 3-5

All is quiet around the farm as animal families settle down for the night. Farm Lullaby is gentle, loving bedtime reading, with Golden Book, retro-feel illustrations of farm animals settling in with their babies for the night, set to rhyming couplets: “Neigh-a-bye lullaby / Slowly swaying rock-a-bye; Nuzzle nose, breathing deep / Plodding, nodding off to sleep”. Horses, cows, sheep, pigs, all gather together to bed down for the night as silhouettes of human families get their little ones ready for bed. An owl keeps watch overnight. Endpapers present a field of ducklings by day and by night. A tender story to relax the littles and send them off to sleep while encouraging cuddle time between parents and children.

Perfect for lapsit and pajama storytimes. TeachersPayTeachers has some fun, free printables to have handy for farm animal storytimes, including a mini-book of animals and their sounds from Tea Time Monkeys and Renee N’s farm animals count and read mini book.

 

 

 

A Cub Story, by Kristen Tracy/Illustrated by Alison Farrell, (Sept. 2021, Chronicle Books), $9.99, ISBN: 9781452174587

Ages 0-3

Follow a bear cub through a year in this lovely board book that shows readers a little one’s place in the big world. To some, cub is big. To others, he’s quite small. He may eat a lot compared to a hedgehog, but very little, compared to a moose. He plays, explores, and looks for food alongside other animal friends, and in doing so, educates little readers about bears and the seasons. Mixed media illustrations in muted colors show Cub frolicking in a verdant springtime forest; playing games in the summer; fishing in the fall, and hunkering down with his family in their den, ready to hibernate through the winter. Text is informational but presented in short, readable sentences that give toddlers and preschoolers enough information to delight them and let them engage in imaginative play. Pair this one with Farm Lullaby and Dianne White’s Winter Lullaby for a cuddly bedtime storytime.

A Cub Story has a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

 

 

 

Hornswoggled! A Wacky Words Whodunit, by Josh Crute/Illustrated by Jenn Harney, (Nov. 2021, Page Street Kids), $17.99, ISBN: 9781645672845

Ages 4-8

Finishing strong with a funny book that plays with language and invites readers to unleash their inner Poirot and Miss Marple! Deer wakes up to a shocking discovery: one of his antlers has been replaced with a tennis racket! He’s been HORNSWAGGLED! When Deer heads over to tell his friend Catfish what’s happened, Catfish puts on her glasses to discover that someone’s replaced her glasses with donuts! What a load of CODSWALLOP! Someone is taking everyone’s stuff and replacing them with the wackiest items, causing a big stir! Luckily a helpful armadillo is there to let us know what all these funny-sounding words are, and teach kids a bunch of new animal-based vocabulary words. Will they catch the thief? Who else will fall victim? Readers will love the hilarious story and have a blast trying to figure out who’s behind the crime spree… keep an eye on the endpapers for some clues! Digital artwork creates cartoony animals with bold outlines and hilariously expressive facial expressions. Absolute fun, a must for storytime and language collections. Make up some flash cards – make it fun by having a volunteer hold up cards during the storytime, just like Armadillo!

Author Josh Crute has a Hornswoggled activity kit free for download at his website, including a word meaning activity.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Two fun books about cats

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Inside Cat, by Brendan Wenzel, (Oct. 2021, Chronicle Books), $17.99, ISBN: 9781452173191

Ages 3-5

Caldecott Honor author/illustrator Brendan Wenzel brings readers a new story about cats from a different point of view. Where 2017’s They All Saw a Cat showed us how other creatures perceive cats, Inside Cat shows us how a house cat perceives his world. Using rhyme and repetition, we follow Inside Cat as he wanders through a room, stops at windows, and looks outside. Cat’s imagination fills in what he perceives the rest of the outside world entails, from birds wearing clothes stolen off a clothesline to a giant salt shaker shaking snow just outside the window frame. Inside Cat is pretty confident that he knows everything about what goes on in the outside world… until he ventures outside for the first time. Mixed media illustrations and playing with color let readers create their own stories about what goes on outside Cat’s window – or their own! Endpapers get in on the fun. A story that encourages imagination and plays with perception, kids will love hearing Inside Cat again and again.

Inside Cat has starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. While I didn’t see an Inside Cat activity kit, you can use many of the cat-tivities (I had to) from the kit for They All Saw a Cat.

 

Bathe the Cat, by Alice B. McGinty/Illustrated by David Roberts, (Feb. 2022, Chronicle Books). $17.99, ISBN: 9781452142708

Ages 3-5

Grandma’s coming to visit, and it’s time to clean the house! Daddy is calling out chores, all written out with fridge magnets, but Cat will do anything to get his name off that list. As the chores get wackier and wackier, Daddy and Papa are desperate to know who’s messing with the list! I mean, really: sweep the dishes? Scrub the fishes? The clock is ticking! Can these dads and their kids get it together and get the house clean in time? A laugh-out-loud story about a cat who’s a step ahead of its family, with bright, eye-catching pencil and watercolor artwork. There are two brown-skinned dads and a diverse group of kids, and the chaos is fun and relatable as they turn into a whirlwind of misguided chores as Cat, firmly set against having a bath, gives knowing smiles and side-eye expressions in between spreads showing them playing with the magnet letters and creating all sorts of wacky chores. There are thoughtful details, like various Pride flags decorating the refrigerator and Grandma’s tote bag (I see you, Philly!). A fun, quietly meaningful book that embraces the chaos of family life and shows a fun, positive depiction of an LGBTQ+ family. Pair with Friday Night Wrestlefest by JF Fox and Micah Player for more stories about family hijinks.

Download a fun activity kit, complete with a chore list and wacky word scramble, to hand out at storytime.

Posted in Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Going Outside board books introduce concepts in nature

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Going Outside: Look, by Amy Huntington, (Sept. 2021, Kane Miller), $5.99, ISBN: 9781684642465

Ages 0-3

This new concept board book series invites readers to mindfully explore their world, concentrating on their senses.  In Look, a toddler and her parent help rehabilitate an urban space, creating a community garden where there was once litter and neglect: “Bags of paper, bottles, cans, / Bits of plastic, shards of glass. / Friends and neighbors, pitching in. / Look, what can you see?” Spreads show the community working together to clean up the area, boxing up garbage and tending to the land, planting and watering the earth, creating a welcoming garden. The artwork moves from a darker, almost gloomy cityscape to a warm, green space that local wildlife returns to, with gentle repetition to encourage readers to point out what they see on each spread. Ask your littles what they see and how it differs from the previous spread: are there more plants? Less junk and litter? Notice how the cityscape fades further into the background as the garden – the focus of the story – grows and flourishes. The toddler and her parent are brown-skinned; the community is diverse.

Download a coloring page for Look from publisher Kane Miller and have them ready to hand out.

 

 

Going Outside: Listen, by Amy Huntington, (Sept. 2021, Kane Miller), $5.99, ISBN: 9781684642472

Ages 0-3

The companion book to Look, Listen follows a toddler and his parent as they go on a nature walk on a rainy day. The focus here in on the sounds around the two: “Winds whisper. Winds whoosh. / Rain pitters, patters, pours, / Through the leaves. / Listen, what can you hear?” The fonts play with language, stretching and bending to elicit sounds from readers. The repetitive question, “What can you hear?” invites readers to think about what the characters must be hearing, based on the verse, or even what they themselves hear in their environments. This is a great book to read twice in a seating if you can manage it: ask your readers to close their eyes and listen to a reading first, asking them, to form a picture in their minds of walking through a woodsy area on a rainy day. Animals add to the soundscape on each spread, as deer sniff, moles scratch, birds tweet, and frogs croak. The parent and child are people of color. Watercolor illustrations create a peaceful landscape and foster a love for nature.

I’m looking forward to seeing what Amy Huntington has planned for our other touch, taste, and smell! Download a coloring page for Listen at Kane Miller’s webpage.

 

Posted in Fiction, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Non-fiction, picture books, Preschool Reads

Another Holiday Gift Guide!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Last minute shoppers, I feel you. I AM you. Last minute 2021 book budget shoppers, I got you, too. Spent your 2021 dollars? No problem; these books are set to keep your readers happy next year, too.

The Secret of the Magic Pearl, by Elisa Sabatinelli/Illustrated by Iacopo Bruno/Translated by Christopher Turner, (Oct. 2021, Red Comet Press), $21.99, ISBN: 9781636550060

Ages 7-11

New kid on the block Red Comet Press has been hitting home runs this year! The Secret of the Magic Pearl is a magical story for kids who love picture books, newly independent readers who are ready to take on denser material, and chapter book readers alike. Hector is a boy living with his family in an Italian coastal town. He wants to be a deep-sea diver like his father, and his family organizes underwater expeditions for tourists. But Amedeo Limonta, a man who “lost his sailor’s soul and betrayed the sea”, forces Hector’s family out of business so that he can continue on his obsession: to find a legendary Pearl and sell it. Hector, determined to save his family and his connection to the sea, has to figure out a way to throw a wrench into Amedeo’s plans.

Originally published in Italian in 2019, this book is gorgeous. The story is about love of family and a passion for the sea. First-person narrator Hector immediately warms readers with his voice, full of fun details and emotion. The artwork is simply beautiful, bringing a sense of movement and wonder. Together, the words and artwork make for a breathtaking fantasy that readers will return to time and again. Red Comet has been great about creating activity kits for their books, too; download one for The Secret of the Magic Pearl here.

The Secret of the Magic Pearl has starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly.

 

Guitars (Made by Hand series), by Patricia Lakin, (Nov. 2021, Aladdin), $17.99, ISBN: 9781481448352

Ages 8-12

The Made by Hand series by Patricia Lakin is a great nonfiction series to have available to your middle graders and middle schoolers. The newest, Guitars, is a great introduction to the art and science of guitar music, including a history of the instrument, the science behind how electric and acoustic guitars work, and a tour through luthier (a maker of string instruments!) Meredith Coloma’s custom guitar-making workshop. Color photos detail the step-by-step process of making both electric and acoustic guitars, and there’s a fun and easy STEM challenge for kids to learn how sound travels over string (we used to call it a tin can telephone). A timeline, list of guitar greats, a glossary and further resources make this a must-have for music collections and for kids with an interest in science or music.

Do I have a program in mind for this? Glad you asked! PBS Kids has a great DIY Guitar activity here, and all the materials are available in the home! The Michigan Children’s Hospital has a similar DIY here, using a tissue box instead of a cereal box. Get the band together and jam at Christmas!

 

My Christmas Wish for You, by Lisa Swerling & Ralph Lazar, (Oct. 2021, Chronicle Books), $14.99, ISBN: 9781452184364

Ages 3-7

A sweet poem about Christmas and good wishes to last the whole year long, My Christmas Wish for You is the latest book from Happiness Is… creators and spouses Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar. This poem works for children and adults alike, and is full of goodwill and cheer; reading it, you can’t help but feel warm inside, with couplets like “Friends joined together in goodwill and song, / a welcome to others… the sense you belong”, and “Mugs of hot chocolate for tummies’ delight, / breathing like dragons to warm up the night”. Whimsical illustrations show a variety of people and pets celebrating the Christmas season as hearts and stars abound. It’s a great little gift book, and a wonderful way to bring the chaos of Christmas Day to a close, as we all look hopefully toward a new year.

 

A Donkey Called Mistletoe (Jasmine Green Rescues), by Helen Peters/Illustrated by Ellie Snowdon, (Sept. 2021, Walker Books US), $6.99, ISBN: 9781536222463

Ages 7-10

This is one of my favorite more recent intermediate series. Jasmine Green is an aspiring vet who, with her best friend, Tom, rescue all sorts of animals they discover around Jasmine’s Oak Tree Farm. Luckily for the two friends, Jasmine’s mom is an actual veterinarian and her dad is a farmer, so they can learn from the pros! In this outing, Jasmine and Tom learn that their neighbor is moving to an assisted-care facility and is rehoming his animals, including his donkey, Mistletoe. Jasmine, stricken by the thought of Mistletoe moving far away, impulsively offers to adopt him and keep him at Oak Tree Farm, but her little brother, Manu, proves to be a challenge: Mom isn’t sure Manu will be safe around Mistletoe, and vice versa! But Jasmine is not giving up on Mistletoe, and when a Christmas play needs an extra donkey, she knows exactly what to do. These stories are such feel-good stories, balanced by realistic moments that remind kids that animals need special care by professionals. Previous books have touched on orphaned and abandoned animals and reckless pet ownership, and this story, centered on an elderly man going into assisted care and worrying about finding homes for his animals, reminds kids once again that pets of any kind are a commitment. Black and white illustrations throughout give deeper texture to the narrative, and a quiz on donkeys invites readers to test their knowledge. I will always love this series, and am happy to booktalk them to my animal-loving readers.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Christmas, Here I Come!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Hi, all! I was down for a few days, between a birthday (I rebooted 50 this year, since turning 50 in 2020 was a bit of a bust), and getting a booster, which kept me in bed for a day. But I’m back, and ready to talk up more books! Let’s get started with a new one in the Here I Come! series:

Christmas, Here I Come!, by D.J. Steinberg/Illustrated by Laurie Stansfield, (Oct. 2021, Grosset & Dunlap), $5.99, ISBN: 9780593094242

Ages 4-7

A collection of 22 short poems celebrating Christmas, Christmas, Here I Come! is the latest in D. J. Steinberg’s Here I Come! series. These fun poems are perfect for readalouds, celebrating everything from holiday standards like snickerdoodles – “Start with one and you’re going to want oodles. / You can keep your bicotti and strudles” – and the infamous fruitcake: “As a paperweight, you can’t beat it. / But pretty, pretty, pretty pleeeeeeeeease-just don’t make me eat it!”. Letters to Santa, Christmas decorating, the special feel to the air when it’s that time of year – everything we relish has a moment in this fun 8×8 book. Laurie Stansfield’s illustrations are colorful, featuring a diverse cast of human characters all celebrating this time of year together. The book comes with stickers, so it’s a great extra gift idea, but if you’re circulating copies, you may want to slice the stickers out so your book doesn’t get wrecked (and hand the stickers out as prizes).

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

He Came With the Couch… but who is he?

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

He Came With the Couch, by David Slonim, (Sept. 2021, Chronicle Books), $7.99, ISBN: 9781797211886

Ages 3-7

Sophie’s family needs a new couch, but the one they decide on comes with a little someone extra: a blue figure with a yellow, round nose, and spiky brown hair. He doesn’t talk, doesn’t interact, just sits. On the couch. Sophie wants to keep him, her parents aren’t so sure, but he’s not budging. A doctor diagnoses him with “upholsterosis”, but getting him out of the house isn’t helping. The family is resigned to getting used to their new roommate when he saves the day, prompting a trip to get a new chair – and a new friend. Oil-paint-and-pen-on-linen artwork delivers the humor.

Originally published in 2005, He Came With the Couch is cute, has some humorous moments, and is an overall good additional purchase.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Welcome to Lucia’s Casa!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Mi Casa is My Home, by Laurenne Sala/Illustrated by Zara González-Hoang, (Aug. 2021, Candlewick Press), $16.99, ISBN: 9781536209433

Ages 3-7

Lucia welcomes readers to her casa, where she lives with her “big, loud, beautiful familia”! Readers walk with Lucia through her home and neighborhood, where she shows readers the puerta (door) where she waits for packages from family in Puerto Rico and Spain; the cocina, la sala, where she builds the best pillow and blanket forts and snuggles up to watch las películas with her family, la cocina, where her Abuelo makes his holiday masterpieces, and more. This warm, welcoming story is like taking a trip through a friend’s home, filled with family, laughter, and activity. Family pictures adorn the walls, shoes and toys are strewn about, and the brightly colored interiors make this an inviting story that readers will enjoy spending time with, and the mix of English and Spanish vocabulary into a gentle Spanglish feels like you’ve just gotten settled on the comfy couch in your family’s sala. The only thing that, for me, was missing was a glossary of terms for readers who may not be as versed in Spanish, so I’ve created a quick reference here. Mi Casa is My Home is a celebration of family, of culture, and of being together. I love it and my bilingual Latinx library kids will cheer for it. An author note provides context.

Mi Casa is My Home has a starred review from School Library Journal.

Posted in geek, geek culture, Graphic Novels, Guide, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, picture books, Preschool Reads

Find gift ideas here!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

It’s another roundup: you’ll find a few more ideas here, I hope, if you’re in “just one more person… gift… book” mode, or, if you’re like me, you’re eyeballing your December book budgets and in “I’ve got a little bit more left, I can fit one more book in this cart” mode. Either way, I hope you enjoy.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, by Clement C. Moore/Illustrated by PJ Lynch, (Nov. 2021, Candlewick Press), $17.95, ISBN: 9781536222852

Ages 3+

The latest release of Clement C. Moore’s classic 1823 Christmas poem, PJ Lynch imagines a sweeping Christmas tale, with watercolor and gouache illustrations rendered in shades of greens and blues to set the sleepy, evening mood. Saint Nick arrives on the scene, bringing warm reds and oranges. Lifelike artwork brings the team of reindeer to life, with texture and movement as they dance across the sky, carrying Santa and his sleigh full of toys. This telling of Moore’s A Visit from St. Nicholas is set in what looks like pre-Victorian England, in the time the poem was written. The artwork beautifully captures the stillness of Christmas Eve and St. Nicholas’s Christmas magic.

Every Christmas Eve, I read two stories to my own kiddos (yes, one is 22 and one is 18, but they still humor me): Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express and Clement Moore’s A Visit from St. Nicholas. I’m looking forward to reading PJ Lynch’s version this year.

 

I Wish I Had a Wookiee And Other Poems for Our Galaxy, by Ian Doescher/Illustrated by Tim Budgen, (Sept. 2021, Quirk Books), $19.99, ISBN: 9781594749629

Ages 6+

Ian Doescher – Star Wars fans will recognize the name as the scribe of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars saga – is here to delight readers with his Star Wars poems created especially for kids (of all ages). He celebrates fandom with over 100 poems, complete with illustrations by Tim Budgen, whose artwork will appeal immediately to readers familiar with Jeffrey Brown’s Jedi Academy graphic novel series. He covers each of the three trilogies and embraces all the characters – and fans – of the Star Wars Universe, with poems like “Resourceful Sith”, where a child gets hold of supplies to make themselves into Darth Maul; “Snow Day on Hoth”, where kids enjoy a snow day in the greatest of ways: “My sister was a rebel leader, / And I was Luke in my snowspeeder. / The neighbor twins were Empire troops, / Approaching us in AT-AT groups”. He remembers us parents with poems like “Dad’s Luke Skywalker Figurine”, “Mom, the Medic Droid”, and “Old Mr. Jones and His Star Wars Collection”. Illustrations in black, white, and color are on almost every page. Put this right next to your Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky books, and make sure to have some fun Star Wars coloring pages available. For all of us who imagined their rooms as the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit, this book’s for you.

 

 

Jop and Blip Wanna Know #1: Can You Hear a Penguin Fart on Mars?: And Other Excellent Questions, by Jim Benton, (June 2021, HarperAlley), $12.99, ISBN: 9780062972927

Ages 6-10

Jop and Blip are two robots with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. They have the deep questions here in this first volume of Jop and Blip Wanna Know, a new series from graphic novelist Jim Benton. Here, they take the science apart to learn whether or not we could hear a penguin fart on Mars; if one could eat a dragon sandwich, and why we have two of sensory organs like nostrils, eyes, and ears. Panels are vibrant and the back-and-forth dialogue is fun to follow: kids who love the Elephant and Piggie books will jump right in here. The sillier side of science inspires these questions, sure, but the reasoning is solid and there’s so much to learn packed in here, including the origin of the sandwich, what dinosaurs really looked like, and yes – whether or not we can hear a penguin farting on Mars. This first book is organized into three chapters, each exploring a different question, with an activity at the end of each. Like Blip says, “…everything is worth knowing”! Think of this as a Science Comics series for your newly independent readers, and add it to your collections.

Fun learner-led program: If you have access to World Book Online through your library, check out the Webquests in the Educator Tools area. They’re printable activities on different topics that challenge readers to follow step-by-step directions to navigate the database and learn about the topic by watching videos, seeing images, and reading the text (which can also be read out loud via the database). While there are no “farting penguins” Webquests (yet), it’s a fun way to introduce research and navigating databases. This Dinosaurs Webquest is a good place to start.

Jop and Blip Wanna Know: Can You Hear a Penguin Fart on Mars? has a starred review from Kirkus.

Where’s Waldo? Santa Spotlight Search, by Martin Handford, (Sept. 2021, Candlewick Press), $18.99, ISBN: 9781536220131

Ages 5-9

The holiday season brings a new Waldo adventure. The Spotlight books are fun because they add a little more detective work into the mix; dark plastic “winter scenes” on each spread call for a special Spotlight Searcher to slip in and shed a white background against the searching area. There are 6 scenes (including the one on the opening spread) to search, and every challenge calls for readers to search the crowds for Santa, Waldo and friends, and a changing list of objects, from a hatless Santa Claus to solving a jumble by finding letters on building blocks. Visit a Santa Meet and Santa’s Workshop; go Christmas Shopping; enjoy some Festive Baking; join a Jolly Jamboree, and get ready for Christmas Eve. A great learner-directed book to have in a Waldo Corner in your children’s room, and a great way to keep kids busy during Christmas gatherings.

Brightly has Where’s Waldo? printables available, and Nerd Craft Librarian, whose blog I miss, had a great Where’s Waldo? Scavenger Hunt that you can still be inspired by here.

 

Do You Know? Space and Sky, by Virginie Loubier/Illustrated by Robert Barborini, Audrey Brien, Hélène Convert, Christian Guibbaud, & Cristian Turdera (Oct. 2021, Twirl Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9782408029166

Ages 5-8

I really enjoy this Do You Know? series for intermediate and middle grade readers, and Space and Sky – the latest – is another hit. Organized into four areas – The Sky, The Solar System, Studying the Universe, and Exploring Space – Space and Sky takes a lot of information and makes it readable and organized for younger learners. Space and Sky covers everything from Earth’s water cycle, weather, and seasons to the planets, space exploration, and how we use technology to study the earth. It’s a funnel type of learning, going from the small to the large, and it helps readers understand where we are in relation to our universe. Let’s Review pages at the end of every section provide learning activities, and colored boxes at the bottom of right hand pages direct readers to related topics in the book. Colorful artwork throughout provides fun images of people and nicely detailed maps and infographics. A full index helps readers locate what they’re looking for.

If you have a puzzle area in your children’s room, consider a Space Day and display Space and Sky along with books like Stacy McAnulty’s planets and space series, Nat Geo Kids’s Space Encyclopedia, and a fun puzzle, like the NASA puzzles (if you have the space) or Melissa & Doug’s Solar System puzzle (we use a lot of Melissa & Doug at my library – so sturdy!).

 

 

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Sleepover bonding time with Grandpa: Time for Bed, Old House

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Time for Bed, Old House, by Janet Costa Bates/Illustrated by AG Ford, (Sept. 2021, Candlewick Press), $16.99, ISBN: 9781536209983

Ages 3-7

Isaac is looking forward to his sleepover at Grandpa’s house, but he’s a little nervous about being away from home. After and evening of games and snacks, Grandpa and his dog, Snuffles, teach Isaac how to put the house to bed. As they go through each room, turning off lights and pulling down shades, Isaac is initially frightened by the sounds the old house makes, but Grandpa wonderfully observes that “this old house makes sleepy sounds, just like you… you yawn. You stretch. I bet you even snore”. As they end up in Isaac’s room and settle down for the night, Isaac is content, saying good night to the house, and looking forward to the next day.

This is a wonderful and cozy story about a grandparent and grandchild. Janet Costa Bates’s quiet storytelling wraps readers up like a blanket, tucking them in with her words. AG Ford’s watercolors envelop readers in the welcoming setting, with warm golds leading Isaac and Grandpa through the house as they help ready it for the night, and cooler blues and purples to provide the cover of darkness. When Isaac goes to bed holding Bear, a smile on his face, readers won’t be able to help but smile themselves, having heard a wonderful story. Front endpapers show Snuffles heading toward Grandpa and Isaac, most likely; back endpapers show him sleeping in his dog bed. The opening spread begins the story as we see Grandpa and Isaac on Grandpa’s porch, waving goodbye to a car pulling away, presumably Isaac’s parents, with his mom waving out the window. Isaac and his family are people of color. A perfect bedtime story, grandparent story, and first sleepover story for all collections.

Time for Bed, Old House has starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Kirkus and has also been named a Book of Distinction by the Bulletin for the Center for Children’s Books.