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Check out our newest media format- PLAYAWAY AUDIO BOOKS.
Playaway Audio Books are unabridged recordings of books on individual MP3 players. The audio book circulates with a case and batteies. Purchase a set of ear buds for a small fee or use your own. Great for the car, the beach, vacation, or anywhere you go!
Just arrived-- "Learn Anywhere" language instruction on Playaway. Featured languages are French, Italian, Spanish, German, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic.
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.
Check out these new arrivals in the Children's Room!
Picture Books
How to Build a Snowman by Scholastic, Inc. (Baby-Preschool)
A very first winter board book with different textures to touch and feel on every page.
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Ages 4-8)
A concept book about the order of things: "First the EGG / then the CHICKEN / First the TADPOLE / then the FROG," and so on.
Dog and Bear: Two Friends - Three Stories by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (PreSchool-Grade 2)
Guides children on the first steps to reading with three sweet, funny stories about a stuffed bear and a frisky dachshund who happen to be best friends.
1 2 3: A Child's First Counting Book by Alison Jay (PreSchool-Grade 3)
One little girl wakes up to a wondrous fairy-tale world. She spies two dancing feet from the Golden Goose tale, three hungry bears just visited by Goldilocks, and four royal mattresses between the Princess and the Pea. Simple in format, with many objects to count on each colorful page, 1 2 3 is just right for children learning their numbers 1 through 10.
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson (Grades 1-4)
Clover has always wondered why a fence separates the black side of town from the white side. But this summer when Annie, a white girl from the other side, begins to sit on the fence, Clover grows more curious about the reason why the fence is there and about the daring girl who sits on it, rain or shine. And one day, feeling very brave, Clover approaches Annie. After all, why should a fence stand in the way of friendship?
Bilingual (Spanish-English)
Hello Night/Hola Noche by Amy Costales (Ages 4-8)
A mother and baby take an evening stroll and say goodnight to their neighborhood.
Goodnight Moon 123: A Counting Book/Buenas Noches, Luna 123: Un Libro Para Contar by Margaret Wise Brown (Ages 4-8)
Count all the way to one hundred stars and look for the familiar things from Goodnight Moon, everyone's favorite bedtime story.
Busca los objetos familiares de Buenas noches, Luna, el libro favorito de todos para leer antes de dormir, y cuéntalos hasta llegar a cien estrellas.
My Colors, My World/Mis Colores, Mi Mundo by Maya Christina Gonzalez (Ages 4-8)
Little Maya longs to find brilliant, beautiful, inspiring color in her world...but Maya’s world, the Mojave Desert, seems to be filled with nothing but sand. With the help of a feathered friend, she searches everywhere to discover color in her world. In the brilliant purple of her mother's flowers, the cool green of a cactus, the hot pink sunset, and the shiny black of Papi's hair, Maya finally finds what she was looking for.
Chapter Books
Phineas L. MacGuire...Gets Slimed! by Frances O'Roark Dowell (Ages 9-12)
Phineas L. MacGuire (a.k.a. Mac) has three goals for fourth grade:
1. To be the best fourth-grade scientist ever.
2. To be the best fourth-grade scientist ever.
3. To be the best fourth-grade scientist ever.
It's a tall order, but he's confident that he can achieve it, especially since his friend and rival scientist, Aretha, has asked him to help her earn a scout badge by creating the mold that produces penicillin. After all, who knows more about mold than Mac? And how many fourth graders can say that they've reproduced penicillin? None, as far as Mac knows. But then he has to manage Ben's campaign for class president and deal with his new babysitter, Sarah Fortemeyer, the Teenage Girl Space Alien from the Planet Pink who accidentally got rid of his dried worm collection and now he has to find it. How is he supposed to find time to focus on mold?
The Perfect Hamburger and Other Delicious Stories by Alexander McCall Smith (Ages 9-12)
A book of food-related short stories for children from bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency mysteries).
My Weird School #19: Dr. Carbles Is Losing His Marbles! by Dan Gutman (Ages 9-12)
It's Thanksgiving, but the kids at Ella Mentry School aren't feeling very thankful. That's because Dr. Carbles is grumpier than ever, and he wants to fire Mr. Klutz! Will A.J. and his friends be able to save their principal's job?
To Catch a Mermaid by Suzanne Selfors (Grades 4-6)
Boom Broom doesn't think his life could get any worse. Ever since his mother was swept away by a twister, his family has gone crazy. They refuse to leave the house and Boom and his sister Mertyle are looked after by Halvor, the Viking descendant who rents the room over their garage. When Boom finds a baby mermaid who seems to grant unlimited wishes, he thinks his luck has turned around. That is, until his sister is hit by the curse of the merfolk. Now Boom and his best friend Winger must find a way to return the merbaby to its mother and save Mertyle before it is too late!
Check out these new tween (grades 5-8) books in the Children's Room!
The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson
In the quiet hour before dawn, anything can happen. A third daughter can dream of being a creature of flight and magic, of wearing a swan-skin like her sisters. But Doucette must run the castle household while her older sisters learn to weave spells. Her dream of flying is exactly that--until the day she discovers her own hidden birthright. Sudden, soaring freedom--it is a wish come true. Yet it comes with a price. As Doucette struggles to find her own way in the world, she risks losing the one she loves most of all.
Airman by Eoin Colfer (author of the bestselling Artemis Fowl series)
In the late nineteenth century, when Conor Broekhart discovers a conspiracy to overthrow the king, he is branded a traitor, imprisoned, and forced to mine for diamonds under brutal conditions while he plans a daring escape from Little Saltee prison by way of a flying machine that he must design, build, and, hardest of all, trust to carry him to safety.
Dusssie by Nancy Springer
Dusie always knew puberty was going to be confusing, but she never realized it was going to be catastrophic--until she wakes up one morning to find that her hair has turned into a writhing mass of slithering snakes and discovers the real truth about her family: her mother is a Gorgon--right out of Greek mythology--and she was named after her mother’s younger sister, Medusa. Her mother had hoped that Dusie’s being half-mortal would protect her from inheriting the family curse. Still reeling from this revelation, Dusie tries to keep her snakes under wraps. But after a boy she likes in school almost exposes her, she discovers another family secret--just one look from Dusie’s snakes has the power to send someone right into his own personal Stone Age. Talk about "if looks could kill"!
Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park (author of A Single Shard)
In Brooklyn in 1951, a die-hard Giants fan teaches nine-year-old Maggie, who is a "Bums" (Dodgers) fan, how to use a technique to keep score of a baseball game which creates a special friendship between them.
Ranger's Apprentice Book Four: The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan
Still far from their homeland after escaping slavery in the icebound land of Skandia, Will and Evanlyn's plans to return to Araluen are spoiled when Evanlyn is taken captive by a Temujai warrior. Though still weakened by the warmweed's toxic effects, Will employs his Ranger training to locate his friend, but an enemy scouting party has him fatally outnumbered. Will is certain death is close at hand, until Halt and Horace make a daring, last-minute rescue. The reunion is cut short, however, when Halt makes a horrifying discovery: Skandia's borders have been breached by the entire Temujai army. And Araluen is next in their sights. If two kingdoms are to be saved, an unlikely union must be made. Will it hold long enough to vanquish a ruthless new enemy? Or will past tensions spell doom for all?
The Sisters Grimm: Books 1-4 by Michael Buckley
(Book One: The Fairy-Tale Detectives, Book Two: The Unusual Suspects, Book Three: The Problem Child, Book Four: Once Upon a Crime)
In the tradition of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events and The Spiderwick Chronicles comes a new humorous mystery of fantastic circumstances. The Sisters Grimm (Book One): The Fairy Tale Detectives introduces us to two orphaned sisters, Sabrina and Daphne, who are sent to live with their mysterious grandmother, Relda Grimm. Grandmother Grimm lives in a strange town in New York State, known for its extraordinary number of unexplained and unusual crimes. As soon as the sisters arrive, they begin to unravel a mystery that leads to their ancestors' magical beginnings. Sabrina and Daphne learn they are descendants of the Brothers Grimm, who were actually detectives of the magical phenomenon perpetrated by the Everafters, a parallel race of magical beings. They soon discover it is the Grimm family's legacy to keep the Everafters in line and the two sisters are the sole heirs to this challenge!
The Big Field by Mike Lupica
For Hutch, shortstop has always been home. It's where his father once played professionally, before injuries relegated him to watching games on TV instead of playing them. And it's where Hutch himself has always played and starred. Until now. The arrival of Darryl "D-Will" Williams, the top shortstop prospect from Florida since A-Rod, means Hutch is displaced, in more ways than one. Second base feels like second fiddle, and when he sees his father giving fielding tips to D-Will--the same father who can’t be bothered to show up to watch his son play--Hutch feels betrayed. With the summer league championship on the line, just how far is Hutch willing to bend to be a good teammate?
Check out the latest music CDs available in the Children's Room:
JULY
VANTAGE POINT
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS
THE RUINS
STOP-LOSS
COLLEGE ROAD TRIP
21
SHINE A LIGHT
AUGUST
NIM'S ISLAND
THE COUNTERFEITERS
MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY