Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

But what if the sky really *was* falling? DUCK!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Duck!, by Meg McKinlay/Illustrated by Nathaniel Eckstrom, (Aug. 2019, Candlewick), $15.99, ISBN: 9781536204223

Ages 3-7

It’s a quiet afternoon at the farm when a duck comes running, panicked, yelling, “DUCK!” The horse, cow, pig, and sheep each correct him, reminding him that he is the duck, and they have far lovelier qualities (like a fine pink snout or a fine pair of cloven hooves). The duck remains insistent, until the animals are tired of him and lecture him. At that point, Duck tells them to run… just in time for a house to come crashing down on the group. A newspaper headline strewn about the downed house notes that there are tornadoes in Kansas… and there’s a street sign in the debris that says, “Kansas”.

Duck! is a fun spin on the classic Chicken Little tale, with a cumulative spin added. Each animal that corrects Duck adds his own name and qualities onto the growing list of animals Duck is trying to warn. The artwork is wonderfully subtle here – alert readers will get the idea that something’s up when they see something in the sky, right next to a cloud… is that a house? As the spreads progress, the house gets closer, the sky gets darker, and leaves and household objects start entering the pages. The entire book is a sight gag and a play on words, and I love reading this to the kids. My son likes reading Duck’s parts, and I take the other animals.

The illustrations are done in pencil, acrylic, and digital and are colorful and are full-bleed, taking up each spread with something to see. The sky starts out as a light blue and darkens as the story moves forward; the characters’ faces are comical enough to mimic while telling the story for maximum laughs. Don’t miss this one.

Originally published in Australia in 2018, you can find free, downloadable activities and discussion questions at author Meg McKinlay’s website.

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade, Middle School, Tween Reads

All hail Doug, King of the Mole People!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

King of the Mole People, by Paul Gilligan, (Aug. 2019, Henry Holt & Co.), $13.99, ISBN:  978-1-250-17134-4

Ages 8-12

Doug Underbelly just wants to be a normal seventh grader, but the fates are stacked against him: he and his dad live in a house that looks straight out of a scary movie, and the only meals his dad makes are from the eels that are plentiful around the house grounds; the weird girl at school follows him around, too. And it doesn’t help that he’s covered in mud and worms most of the time… but that’s what happens when one is king of the mole people, as Doug is. He doesn’t really want to be their king, but it was thrust upon him, and even though the throne is awfully uncomfortable and his royal advisor most definitely is plotting against him, he’s doing his best. But there’s trouble rumbling down below: the Slug People are getting fidgety and fussy, and it looks like the Mushroom Folk and the Stone Goons are going to get involved, too. What happens when giant worms start rising up and wrecking everything above ground? Doug has to get things under control, and quick – and maybe that weird girl will be more of a help than he expects.

This laugh-out-loud middle grade book is the first in a new series that kids are going to devour. It’s got gross-out humor, there’s some touching moments, and Doug is the underdog character that we all love to cheer for (and laugh at). He’s got a fatalistic yet snarky outlook on life, and his attempts to be normal – from signing up for sports and drama, to deciding he’ll crush on a popular girl, because everyone else does – are sweetly hilarious and painfully relatable. Magda, the “weird girl”, is a goth girl with brains and depth, and she keeps Doug on his toes. Doug’s royal entourage/mole people buddies are sweetly literal and not terribly bright, but loyal.

Kirkus says it best: “The Wimpy Kid’s got nothing on the King of the Mole People—he’s got more laughs and more mud”. Betsy Bird has a fun interview with author Paul Gilligan on School Library Journal, and you can find an excerpt, trailer, and downloadables – including your own crown – at the publisher’s King of the Mole People website.


From Macmillan’s website

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

The team-up I’ve been waiting for: Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl, by Ben Hatke, (Sept. 2019, First Second), $14.99, ISBN: 9781250191731

Ages 8-12

The latest Ben Hatke graphic novel brings together two of his best series: Zita the Spacegirl and Mighty Jack. It’s a team-up he teased in 2017’s Mighty Jack and the Goblin King, and I have been waiting patiently for two years to find out what was going to happen.

After Zita and her friends arrive from their space-hopping adventures, Jack and his family have been housing and feeding the group. Lily, Jack’s neighbor, who helped him fight the giants and rescue Maddy, his sister, is on edge, though. Is she jealous of Zita, or is there something more to it? Meanwhile, the giants are growing stronger and getting ready to invade above-ground: the gate between worlds is growing weaker, and they’re ready to use it to their advantage. Zita, Jack, Lily, and Maddy have to get ready to battle once more.

I’ve been a fan of Ben Hatke since 2012, when I first read Zita the Spacegirl. I love Hatke’s art, I love his storytelling and world-building, and I love sharing his books with the kids at my libraries. Hatke is a great storyteller, giving each of his characters a rich backstory and exciting quest. He also weaves the fantastic with the everyday, giving us robots, dragons, giants, goblins alongside a terrified mother, the complexity of navigating tween friendships, and the frustration of being “ordinary”.

Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl is a wonderful chapter in the Zita/Jack saga. Is it the end? Well… you just have to pick it up and read it for yourself. Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl has a starred review from Kirkus.

Posted in Intermediate, Middle Grade, Non-fiction, Non-Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

Wild History! Books about prehistoric animals

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Kids love dinosaurs. This is a known fact, and my groaning 567.9 section is proof positive of it, but I like to branch out a little and get kids checking out what other prehistoric animals there are to learn about. There are several great new books out that will give my 567 section a nice boost.

Forgotten Beasts: Amazing Creatures That Once Roamed the Earth, by Matt Sewell, (July 2019, Pavilion), $19.95, ISBN: 9781843653936

Ages 7+

Originally published in the UK in 2018, Forgotten Beasts contains over 45 illustrated portraits and profiles of birds and beasts that roamed the planet alongside and after the dinosaurs. There’s the Opabinia, a 2-inch arthropod from 508 million years ago through 1936, when the last Thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial, went extinct. There are some names kids will recognize, like the ginormous shark, Megalodon; the saber-toothed tiger, also known as the Smilodon Fatalis, and the Woolly Mammoth (for the Ice Age fans!). Each picture is skillfully rendered in muted watercolors, showing readers that prehistory wasn’t relegated to muddy greens, browns, and grays. Each profile includes the animal’s size, weight, time period, and diet, and a descriptive paragraph or two, and a timeline helps readers envision when these animals, alongside dinosaurs, roamed the Earth. Endpapers feature the stars of the book in miniature, parading across the pages. A nice book to beef up your non-dinosaur prehistoric collections.

Life: The First Four Billion Years (The Story of Life from the Big Bang to the Evolution of Humans), by Martin Jenkins/Illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith, (Sept. 2019, Candlewick Studio), $24.99, ISBN: 978-1-5362-0420-9

Ages 10-14

The cover alone will make readers stop and give this book a look. Starting with the Big Bang, Life: The First Four Billion Years brings readers along on a journey through Earth’s first four billion years, ending right before we humans show up. Life starts off with foldout spreads that detail the beginning of Earth; from there, the book moves into the Ice Age, life’s beginnings in the water, its move to land, the ages of dinosaurs and of mammals, and the breakup of Pangea and formation of the continents, and the “Road to Us”: evolution of homo sapiens. Illustrations are the focal point of the book, and Kate Greenway Medal winner Grahame Baker-Smith is at the top of his game, creating landscapes both lush and stark, with black and white and color artwork of a prehistoric world. Award-winning author Martin Jenkins writes for upper middle graders and older, making the science of prehistory accessible to all ages. A glossary and illustrated timeline of the planet make this a stunning volume to have on your shelves.

Prehistoric: Dinosaurs, Megalodons, and Other Fascinating Creatures of the Deep Past, by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld/Illustrated by Julius Csotonyi, (Sept. 2019, What on Earth Publishing), $18.99, ISBN: 978-1-912920-05-1

Ages 7-11

Traveling backwards from present day to 541 million years ago, this slim volume is packed with illustrations, infographics, and easily digestible information about the earth through 17 eras. There’s information about climate change, ecosystems and extinctions. A running timeline at each right-hand page margin keeps readers up-to-date on the era and presents a visual representation of time covered as the book progresses.

Color illustrations are museum-quality; you can easily envision these bringing life to exhibits at any museum you may go to. Keeping in mind a younger and middle-grade audience, the information is broken up into short paragraphs, bold infographics, and callout facts. Back endpapers act as a visual table of contents. Keep Prehistoric in mind for your nonfiction sections; hand any of these books to your Apex Predators and Prehistoric Actual Size fans.

Prehistoric is produced in association with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

Posted in Middle Grade, Non-fiction, Tween Reads

The truth about cats and dogs (and gerbils, birds, fish, and other pets…)

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Nat Geo Kids is all about the pets these days: they’ve just released Doggy Defenders, a series of books on working dogs, and they’ve also put out some great desk references about cats, dogs, and an Big Book to get younger readers excited about the world of animal companionship. Here’s a glimpse at some of the books out.

Cat Science Unleashed: Fun Activities to Do With Your Feline Friend, by Jodi Wheeler-Toppen/Photos by Matthew Rakola, (Aug. 2019, National Geographic Kids), $12.99, ISBN: 978-1-4263-3441-2

Ages 7-12

A companion to last year’s Dog Science Unleashed, Cat Science Unleashed is all about the cats, with a glimpse into cat biology and physiology, cat facts, and cat-tivities to engage the scientists in your life. Eleven kid scientists have tested their cats – you’ll meet them on a spread in the book – and invite readers to join them in discovering how cats see at night and how to discover their favorite smells. Activities include building a hiding spot for your cat’s toys (other than my living room floor? Have to get my kid on that) and making toys to test your kitty’s stalking prowess. There’s a glossary and list of further resources at the end A fun volume, and with a new science fair season on the horizon, this could be a fun way to give your kiddos’ cats the spotlight at school in addition to home.

Cat Breed Guide: A Complete Reference to Your Purr-Fect Best Friend, by Stephanie Warren Drimmer & Dr. Gary Weitzman, DVM, (Sept. 2019, National Geographic Kids), $19.99, ISBN: 978-1-4263-3439-9-

Ages 8+

This is a compact, thorough desk reference to cats, perfect for an animal lover, cat fan, and anyone either writing a report about felines or researching a new pet. The guide provides a look at feline history, with a cat family tree, a history of cats and how domesticated cats became household constants, even cat-related superstitions and folktales. There are profiles on more than 60 cat breeds, organized by short hair and long hair breeds, and each profile offers a quick “cat stats” box that provides notes on country of origin, size, coat, grooming, and “catitude”. There are gorgeous photos, fun facts, and general adorableness throughout, plus a section on cat-related careers, a glossary, and further resources. I’m always trying to keep my domestic animals/pets books stocked, so this one will be a nice add to my shelves.

 

Dog Breed Guide: A Complete Reference to Your Best Friend Fur-Ever, by TJ Reser & Dr. Gary Weitzman, DVM, (Sept. 2019, National Geographic Kids), $19.99, ISBN: 978-1-4263-3445-0

Ages 8+

A companion desk reference to the Cat Breed Guide, Dr. Weitzman and TJ Reser team up to give readers a comprehensive guide to canines, from their wolfish origins to today’s modern breeds. Organized into 10 sections, dog profiles include full-color, squeal-worthy photos and stats-at-a-glance: country of origin, height, weight, coat, grooming, exercise needs, and K-9 qualities. There are sections on show dogs, canine senses, and how to talk to your dog, and a section on adopting and training a puppy. There’s a glossary and more resources.

Together, the Dog and Cat Breed Guides provide a handy reference for pet and animal lovers.

 

Little Kids First Big Book of Pets, by Catherine D. Hughes, (July 2019, National Geographic Kids), $14.99, ISBN: 978-1-4263-3470-2

Ages 4-8

I love the NatGeo Kids Little Kids First Big Book series! There are 17 books in the series now, and they’re great for pre-readers to look through, while emerging readers can more confidently navigate the pages. Words are bold, the pictures are big and bright, and there’s tons of fun facts, quizzes, and info to be found. The First Big Book of Pets is all about our favorite companions, from dogs and cats to birds, reptiles, fish, mice… you name it. Interactive questions throughout the book prompt discussion, games at the end of every chapter help reinforce concepts and give librarians like me an excuse to have fun, pet-related programming, and fact boxes give kids info at-a-glance about different pets. If you know a kiddo who wants a pet, but isn’t quite decided on what pet to get, hand them this guide – it’s geared toward educating kids about different pets’ needs, and our responsibilities to animals once we adopt them. A section for parents includes a recipe for baking dog biscuits, pet jokes and tips and ideas to engage kids about pets. There’s a glossary and list of additional resources. The Little Kids First Big Books are really popular with my library kids, so this one is another win for my shelves.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Bear and Spider return in Bear Out There

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Bear Out There, by Jacob Grant, (June 2019, Bloomsbury Children’s Books), $17.99, ISBN: 978-1-68119-745-6

Ages 3-6

Bear and Spider’s newest adventure – the follow-up to 2018’s Bear’s Scare – sends the two friends on an outdoor hunt for Spider’s kite. Bear is just not an outdoorsy bear. Why bother? Everything he needs is inside! But Spider really wants to fly his new kite, so Bear relents and goes out for a little while. Spider’s kite gets pulled away by the wind, and Bear reluctantly offers to help him find the kite, but he complains the whole time, not noticing the nature all around him; focusing only on what he perceives as noise and weeds. When the rain comes, Bear is even more miserable, until he realizes that he hasn’t been a very supportive friend. He offers to help Spider keep looking, and sure enough, the rain stops and they locate Spider’s kite. The two friends end the day with a sweet compromise: they sit outdoors, having tea, and flying kites together.

As in his earlier story, Bear has a bad habit of not seeing what’s in front of him. His perception is skewed; something the art lets us readers in on as an inside joke. What he sees as “filthy ground, itchy plants, and pesky bugs”, we see as a sedate forest spread; what he sees as “yucky weeds”, we see as flowers that a turtle enjoys smelling; what he calls “noisy twitter” is the hooting of baby owls. Spider is there to be our “can you believe this guy?” foil, descending from his thread, wide-eyed and staring off the page, directly at us. At a rushing waterfall amidst gentle, rolling hills and butterflies, Bear’s exclamation of “such an unpleasant forest” is met with Spider, legs thrown up in the air in frustration. When Bear realizes he’s been selfish, letting his pessimism get in the way of helping his friend, things lighten up – literally; the rain stops falling and the kite is located. It’s all about perception, and friendship is all about compromise.

This one is a sweet follow-up, and reminds me of Arnold Lobel’s classic friends, Frog & Toad. Visit Jacob Grant’s website for more of his artwork and information about his books.

Posted in professional development

Good for Parents & Professional Development: How to Raise a Reader

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

How to Raise a Reader, by Pamela Paul & Maria Russo/Illustrations by Vera Brosgol, Lisk Feng, Monica Garwood, & Dan Yaccarino, (Sept. 2019, Workman), $19.95, ISBN: 978-1523505302

I like finding good books to recommend to parents and to add to my own professional development, so I picked up How to Raise a Reader. Written by two editors of The New York Times Book Review, How to Raise a Reader is all about inspiring parents, caregivers, and educators to promote a lifetime love of reading. Organized into four parts – Born to Read, Growing a Reader, Your Middle-Grade Reader, and A Reader for Life, with a fifth section providing book suggestions by themes and reading levels (not A-Z, more like age and grade) – this is a handy Readers’ Advisory volume to have at your fingertips, and a good suggestion to hand parents who want to work toward growing their own readers. There’s advice, tips and facts about early childhood learning, and booklists, booklists, booklists. Illustrated in full-color by popular children’s book illustrators, this is a book that will make you fall in love with reading again, too. It’s easy to read; easily skimmed if you need to look for one specific section or booklist; and filled with an upbeat, positive attitude: you can do this! You can get kids to love books!

Never overwhelming, the information is presented in easily digestible sections and fact boxes. Get yourself a desk copy to keep on hand, and consider adding this to your parenting sections. And encourage those parents when they come in, looking scared and lost. Remind them that reading kids’ books is fun, and tell them that they should never feel bad about reading along with their kids, too! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a parent confide that they “aren’t really readers”, or “haven’t picked up a book in SO long”. Kids’ books are the best way to get back into reading – let this book and your expertise be the pep talk bewildered or just plain tired caregivers need.

Posted in Early Reader, Non-Fiction, Preschool Reads

Real-Life Paw Patrol: NatGeo Kids brings you Doggy Defenders!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

This has to be one of the most adorable easy nonfiction series I’ve come across yet: National Geographic Kids has a new series, Doggy Defenders, that introduces readers to working dogs: Willow, The Therapy Dog; Tiger, the Police Dog; Dolley, the Fire Dog; and Stella, the Search Dog. Look at these doggies!

from NatGeoKIDS Twitter @NGKIDS

Each book introduces us to a working dog, their humans, and takes us through a training session and a workday. Stella the Search dog and her human, Trooper Diaz, find a lost hiker; plus, she gets to ride in a helicopter and wears sunglasses! Tiger the Police Dog works with Officer Rodriguez and inspects the Washington, DC Metro. Dolley the Fire Dog and her human, Captain Herndon, teach kids about fire safety and then get to work, where Dolley sniffs out the cause of a fire. Willow the Therapy Dog and her human, Megan, cheer people up by visiting a hospital, a school, a retirement home, and a library.

Each book includes back matter on the team, including a Q&A with the human half of each team, and safety and kindness tips for readers to remember. The books have short, easy-to-read sentences with loads of sight words, making this a great step up for early readers who are ready to take on more challenging material. And the photos! The photos! Look at Stella and her sunglasses!

And here’s Willow with Megan!

I love these books, and hope we get more in this series. These work as early nonfiction career books, too; they can function as companion books to books on firefighters, police, and therapists. The kids in my library will gobble them up, and my kiddo devoured all four the day they arrived at my home. Got Paw Patrol fans? Show them these books and tell them these are the real Paw Patrol dogs! Visit National Geographic Kids’ Doggy Defenders site for a slideshow and more information about the books.

 

Stella the Search Dog, by Lisa M. Gerry/photos by Lori Epstein, (Aug. 2019, Natonal Geographic Kids), $9.99, ISBN: 978-1-4263-3449-8

Willow the Therapy Dog, by Lisa M. Gerry/photos by Lori Epstein, (Aug. 2019, Natonal Geographic Kids), $9.99, ISBN: 978-1-4263-3447-4

Tiger the Police Dog, by Lisa M. Gerry/photos by Lori Epstein, (Aug. 2019, Natonal Geographic Kids), $9.99, ISBN: 978-1-4263-3297-5

Dolley the Fire Dog, by Lisa M. Gerry/photos by Lori Epstein, (Aug. 2019, Natonal Geographic Kids), $9.99, ISBN: 978-1-4263-3229-9

Ages 3-7

Posted in Uncategorized

A greener, gentler world: The Green Giant

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Green Giant, by Katie Cottle, (July 2019, Pavilion Children’s Books), $16.95, ISBN: 978-1-84365-430-8

Ages 4-7

A little girl named Bea and her dog, Iris, spend summer vacation at Bea’s grandpa’s home in the countryside. One day, Iris chases a cat, sending Bea chasing Iris; the two discover a greenhouse packed with lush, green plants… and one of them is an honest-to-goodness giant! The friendly green giant befriends Bea, and tells her that living in the city was just too much: “…the city got more grey and it was hard to breathe. I had to leave”. Here in the magical greenhouse, the giant and all the plants have room to grow, and it shows: the illustrations depict bright, anthropomorphic foliage with smiling faces and outstretched branches and leaves. The greenhouse becomes Bea’s and Iris’s refuge for the summer, but all too soon, it’s time to go home. The giant hands Bea a gift of sparkling seeds, which she sprinkles outside her apartment window. A beautiful transformation takes place, turning the drab grey of the city into a green, yellow, and orange paradise! Will the giant return one day to see his friend’s handiwork?

The Green Giant is a lovely story about taking care of our world and encouraging green spaces. Katie Cottle takes an intuitive approach to talking green with younger children by creating a friendly green giant to explain that the city’s crowded, grey spaces made it too difficult to live – but, in an optimistic spark for the future, gives her seeds that will turn – maybe thanks to the greenhouse’s magic? – the concrete landsdcape into a living outdoor green space! The artwork is bright, bold, and primarily uses greens, oranges, browns, yellows, and blues, all coming to life from the a stark white background. Bea appears to be biracial; she is a child of color, and her grandfather presents as Caucasian.

Pair this with Ingrid Chabbert’s The Last Tree for an environmentally-focused read-aloud. You can also pair with Lois Ehlert’s classic, The Leaf Man, and invite kids to use leaves to make their own Green Giants and Leaf Men. Or invite parents to a container planting program, and encourage personal green spaces. Read an interview with author Katie Cottle on the Gardening Know How’s Blog, and visit her author webpage for more of her illustration work.

Posted in Non-Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Two YA nonfiction titles for the weird fact fans in your life

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Next up, with the new school year upon us, I look for nonfiction that will inform and entertain. Sometimes, I find nonfiction that is just so out there, I have to suggest them because they’re freaky, fun, and will give readers who equate nonfiction with boring a nudge and a wink, and maybe – just maybe – make a nonfiction reader out of one or three.

History’s Weirdest Deaths, by James Proud, (June 2019, Portable Press), $12.99, ISBN: 978-1-68412-757-3

Ages 15+

The title tells you all you need to know here: it’s a collection of stories and facts about freaky deaths throughout history. There are famous last words, unsettling statistics about Japanese pufferfish consumption, an unbelievable number of stories about people who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel, and unusual methods of execution. Each page has something new and bizarre to be discovered, like the story of 13-year-old William Snyder, who died in 1854 after “being swung around by the heels by a circus clown”. Or Joao Maria de Souza, who was crushed in 2013 when a cow wandered onto his roof and crashed through his ceiling, crushing him. There are also famous firsts: first death by robot, first death by auto accident, first spectator to die after being hit by a baseball during a game, and the first – and only known – jockey to win a race after dying. Illustrations add to the tongue-in-cheek morbid humor.

Strange Hollywood: Amazing and Intriguing Stories from Tinseltown and Beyond, by the Editors of Portable Press, (May 2019, Portable Press), $15.99, ISBN: 978-1-68412-677-4

Ages 15+

This is the latest in Portable’s Strange series and is loaded with stories about Hollywood, with a big emphasis on Hollywood’s Golden Age: stories about Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland, Elvis, and Audrey Hepburn get a lot of page space; teens may not know the names, but the stories are a hook. There are quotes, Tweets, and facts in here, too, making this an easily readable book with tidbits to make readers laugh or wince. The recent Twitter feud between Armie Hammer and Jeffrey Dean Morgan is in here, and there are highlights called, “Putting the REAL in Reality TV” that squeal on the dubious verity of some of the more popular shows out there. Crazy lawsuits get touched on, too, like Hormel Foods, makers of canned meat Spam, suing Jim Henson Productions over naming a villainous Muppet Treasure Island character Spa’am. It’s morbid in some spots, head-shaking and wincing in others. An additional grab if you have nonfiction readers who love the gossip rags. Illustrated in two-color throughout.