Take a peek at these new arrivals in the Children's Room!
Picture Books
A Closer Look by Mary McCarthy (PreSchool-Grade 2)
Open your eyes. Open your mind. Open your imagination. Look! What do you see? Mary McCarthy's beautiful handmade-paper collages will transport young children on a journey of discovery.
Minerva Louise on Christmas Eve by Janet Morgan Stoeke (Ages 9-12)
"What is that fat guy in the red suit doing on the roof?" wonders Minerva Louise one snowy evening. She follows him down the chimney and, to her surprise, sees a big tree inside. The harebrained hen can’t make any sense of it, but young children will cackle with delight as they follow Minerva around on her Christmas Eve adventure with the jolly fat fellow. She even gets a present!
Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo (Ages 4-8)
It is just before Christmas when an organ grinder and monkey appear on the street corner outside Frances’s apartment. Frances can see them from her window and, sometimes, when it’s quiet, she can hear their music. In fact, Frances can’t stop thinking about them, especially after she sees the man and his monkey sleeping outside on the cold street at midnight. When the day of the Christmas pageant arrives, and it’s Frances’s turn to speak, everyone waits silently. But all Frances can think about is the organ grinder’s sad eyes -- until, just in time, she finds the perfect words to share.
Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones (Ages 4-8)
Clever Aunt Ant has just moved to the zoo. Speaking in homophones, she describes the quirky animal behavior she sees. There’s the MOOSE who loved MOUSSE and ATE EIGHT bowls, and the WHALE who was ALLOWED to WAIL ALOUD--and that’s just for starters.
A Thunderstruck Stork by David J. Olson and Lynn Munsinger (PreSchool-Grade 2)
Webster the stork is proud of his work delivering animal babies. But when he crashes into a hot-air balloon, something goes wrong in his head. Soon the bats are brought a young moose, the sparrows get a piglet, and two tiny frog parents receive an enormous newborn elephant! Can this mess ever be fixed?
I Love My Pirate Papa by Laura Leuck (PreSchool-Grade 2)
It's a yar vessel that can carry this crew of burly pirates, the captain, and his scrappy little son. From the crow's nest to the hold, from the high seas to the island of buried treasure, this boy hangs out with the most rough-and-tumble of rogues. And at the end of each day, he gets tucked in by the fiercest pirate of them all: his loving and tender dad.
Easy Read Books
Custard Surprise by Bernard Lodge (Ages 4-8)
When two chickens open a diner, you never know what might end up on your plate. But what begins as a recipe for disaster ends with a barrelful of laughs, a barrelful of fun, and a barrelful of custard surprise!
Annie and Snowball and the Prettiest House by Cynthia Rylant (Ages 4-8)
Annie and her pet bunny, Snowball, live right next door to Annie's favorite cousin, Henry, and his big dog, Mudge. Annie likes her home, and loves living next door to Henry, but she wishes her house were pretty instead of plain. Can Henry and Mudge come to the rescue with a plan to make Annie's house beautiful?
Frank and the Giant by Dev Ross (Kindergarten-Grade 1)
Frank, an adventurous little frog, is playing with his friends when suddenly his ball flies off and bounces into the house of a giant! Frank's friends are too scared to help him get his ball back, so he sneaks into the huge house all by himself. There, he is discovered by the giant, who seems big and scary to Frank, but who is really a friendly little boy.
Chapter Books
Still Just Grace by Charise Mericle Harper (Ages 9-12)
In this sequel to "Just Grace," Grace learns how wrong first impressions can be as well as the true meaning of friendship. A fun new boy has just moved in next door to Grace's best friend, Mimi. When Grace has to go away on a family trip during school, she is terrified that when she comes back Mimi will be best friends with Max instead! After her trip, not only does it seem her fear has come true, but Mimi is even friends with the disgusting Sammy. Now Just Grace has to team up with two other Graces in her third-grade class for a school project, including the Big Meanie.
No Talking by Andrew Clements (Grades 3-6)
The fifth-grade girls and the fifth-grade boys at Laketon Elementary don't get along very well. But the real problem is that these kids are loud and disorderly. That's why the principal uses her red plastic bullhorn. A lot. Then one day Dave Packer, a certified loudmouth, bumps into an idea -- a big one that makes him try to keep quiet for a whole day. But what does Dave hear during lunch? A girl, Lynsey Burgess, jabbering away. So Dave breaks his silence and lobs an insult. And those words spark a contest: Which team can say the fewest words during two whole days? And it's the boys against the girls. How do the teachers react to the silence? What happens when the principal feels she's losing control? And will Dave and Lynsey plunge the whole school into chaos?
Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell (Grades 3-6)
Emmy was a good girl. At least she tried very hard to be good. She did her homework without being told. She ate all her vegetables, even the slimy ones. And she never talked back to her nanny, Miss Barmy, although it was almost impossible to keep quiet, some days. She really was a little too good. Which is why she liked to sit by the Rat. The Rat was not good at all . . .
Billy Hooten: Owlboy by Tom Sniegoski (Grades 3-6)
Billy Hooten is a weird kid. He gets beat up a lot, and spends the rest of his time doggedly trying to build a robot. One day, Billy Hooten hears a cry for help coming from the cemetery that borders his backyard. Against his better judgment, he runs toward it. And after that, everything changes for Billy Hooten. Because Billy Hooten, you see, is Owlboy. A quickthinking, goggle-and-feather-wearing superhero who protects the bizarre and monstrous citizens of Monstros City, a city that exists under Billy's hometown of Bradbury, Massachusetts. But is Billy truly worthy of the moniker Owlboy?
The Edge Chronicles: Clash of the Sky Galleons by Paul Stewart (Ages 9-12)
In the penultimate book in the Edge Chronicles series, Quint is travelling with his father, Wind Jackal, on a mission to track down and bring to justice Turbot Smeal, the man who started the fire that killed their family. Having left behind his studies at the Knights Academy, Quint is now eager to learn from his father what it really means to be a sky pirate. But, consumed by his desire to capture Smeal, Wind Jackal’s judgment is flawed, and his actions endanger the lives of his crew -- and his son.
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban (Grades 4–6)
Ten-year-old Zoe Elias has perfect piano dreams. She can practically feel the keys under her flying fingers; she can hear the audience's applause. All she needs is a baby grand so she can start her lessons, and then she'll be well on her way to Carnegie Hall. But when Dad ventures to the music store and ends up with a wheezy organ instead of a piano, Zoe's dreams hit a sour note. Learning the organ versions of old TV theme songs just isn't the same as mastering Beethoven on the piano. And the organ isn't the only part of Zoe's life that's off-kilter, what with Mom constantly at work, Dad afraid to leave the house, and that odd boy, Wheeler Diggs, following her home from school every day.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow series (1-7) by Rob Kidd (Ages 9-12)
These all-new stories are filled with high adventure, swashbuckling, heave-hoing, and all the plank walking you can shake a sword at. Best of all, theyre stories young boys (and girls!) will not want to put down! Pirates of the Caribbean is an undeniably powerful franchise with an instantly recognizable cast of characters.