Alphabetter: New Alphabet Books!

Of the making of alphabet books there is no end. Is it possible to have too many alphabet books? No way! We have two brand-new alphabet books to prove it.

In "All the Awake Animals are Almost Asleep," author Crescent Dragonwagon takes a not-sleepy child on an alliterative journey through not only the alphabet, but the animal kingdom as well. With the gentle rhythm of lines like, "Fox, fading fast, finds rest in the forest, while Frog just floats, letting her feet flop until they find firm footing near the ferns," your child will be lulled to sleep long before you reach Z. Illustrator David McPhail perfectly captures the dreamy wonder of the story with each sleepy animal. For the pre-k and kindergarten crowd.

For the slightly older crowd we have the outrageously funny "A is for Musk Ox" by Erin Cabatingan. The ego-centric musk ox hijacks a normal "a is for apple" alphabet book format and turns it into a showcase for the awesomeness of musk oxen. Illustrator Matthew Myers brings the formidable animals to life, giving this hairy beast his day in the sun--at last. Students from pre-school on up to third grade will find this tale side-splittingly funny. Watch the trailer below, and see what you think!

I say, bring on the alphabet books!! Click on the links to reserve a copy today.

--Andrea W., H.Q.

Kids Music Fridays: "Count Them As They Go" by Justin Roberts

Having a hard time sleeping? Has it been a rough week? Watch prolific kindie artist Justin Roberts' new music video "Count Them As They Go" and relax into the mellow harmonies of acoustic guitar, piano, and strings. The gentle 3D animation will have you all ready to snuggle down and let the stress go. And when you're done watching, you can click on the album cover below to request Justin's latest album, "Lullaby."

--Andrea W., H.Q.

Staff Review: "Planet Tad" by Tim Carvell

If you’ve read all the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, this book just might fill the void as to what
to read next. The humor is compelling , even if in a goofy, erudite-trite sort of way."Planet Tad"
already exists as a Mad magazine blog series, so there is a built-in audience for this novel. The
writing seems like a stream of stand-up comedy one-liners (or maybe two or three-liners). Given that Tim Carvell is the head writer for Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show on television, this makes sense.

Antics at school and home get described by Tad. Instead of using the word disgruntled with
his mom and staff at school, Tad uses “gruntled” (which he tells us is not a real word, but, I
looked it up and it is in the Oxford English Dictionary. It is a back-formation or derivative of
disgruntled), just to throw them off. They simply respond as if he had used disgruntled, as if they
weren’t really listening?

Tad submits a volcano science fair project, like twelve other guys in his class, using baking soda and vinegar. The teacher is unimpressed, but, Tad re-purposes the project. He enjoys taking it over his friend’s house, places Lego characters in front of it and videotapes the erupting volcano. Fun, huh?

Doug Holgate's  illustrations are silly...photo-shopping his parents wedding picture with dinosaur head/body parts is rather creative. The section about the Donner Party has a great illustration of a plate of food. You’ll have to experience it for yourself, I don’t want to give it away, but you can imagine.

Rishon F., Headquarters

2013 Children's Book Week

St. Louis County Library is thrilled to be an event site for the 2013 Children's Book Week running May 13-19. For the second year in a row, we will have wonderful authors visiting so keep checking our website to see who has been added. We already know that we will see the authors listed below.

While you are waiting for the author events, visit the Children's Book Week voting site where kids (and adults) can vote for some of their favorite books. Voting starts March 19 and ends on May 9.

Don't know much about Children's Book Week? Click here for more information.

Ridley Pearson will talk about the newest Kingdom Keepers book at the Daniel Boone branch on Tuesday, May 14 at 7:00 p.m.

Antony John and Heather Brewer will visit the Daniel Boone branch on Wednesday, May 15 at 7:00 p.m.

Jennifer Ward will present a story time on Saturday, May 18 at 10:00 a.m. at the Daniel Boone branch.

Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano will be at the Headquarters branch on Saturday, May 18 at 2:30 p.m.

Staff Review: "13 Gifts" by Wendy Mass

"13 Gifts" by Wendy Mass

Angelina D'Angelo is using her magic on another unsuspecting child in Willow Falls.  This time, it's Tara Brennan; she's spending the summer with her aunt and uncle.  Tara's parents are from Willow Falls, but this is the first time she's visiting.  Unfortunately, she's made a few unwise choices, and as a consequence, she must chase down some unusual items in this small town.  And she only has two weeks to get it done!  Sound crazy?  It is.  By her 13th birthday, Tara needs to sort everything out. Luckily, she's made some amazing new friends who are more than willing to help her. As a bonus: there's a big musical number at the end!

This book is a companion to the other two Willow Falls books.  Readers will recognize Tara's new friends as Amanda and Leo from "11 Birthdays" and Rory from "Finally."  If you've read those, you'll know some of the background on these other characters, but you can read the books in any order and still understand everything.  "13 Gifts" is a Mark Twain Reader Award Nominee for 2013-2014; grab it before everyone else does!  This series is best suited for grades 4-7.
If you liked this book, try one of these stories with a bit of magic:
--Angie R., Headquarters

Staff Review: "A Whole Lot of Lucky" by Danette Haworth

"A Whole Lot of Lucky" by Danette Haworth
Hailee Richardson's life just got awesome; her family won the lottery!  She knows things are going to change in big ways.  She can't wait to get rid of her Goodwill clothes and second-hand bike.  Finally, she has a smartphone and her very own laptop.  Just as suddenly, she gets another shock when her parents transfer her from Palm Middle School to Magnolia Academy for Girls.  Hailee leaves her best friend, Amanda, behind as she transitions to another place altogether.  It's a hard lesson, but Hailee learns that being rich and popular is not what she wants after all. 

I related to Hailee because I changed schools in sixth grade, too.  I didn't win the lottery or need to worry about smartphones and Facebook though!  It was fun to see how we did some of the same things and also made some very different choices.  This book is best suited for students in grades 5-8.  If this sounds like the kind of book you might enjoy, you may want to try these other stories of girls learning life lessons:

--Angie R., Headquarters

Old fashion fun

One of my favorite teen authors when I was a young librarian was Margaret Mahy. During her lifetime she wrote more than 120 teen, elementary and picture books. The Hans Christian Andersen Award winning author passed away in the summer of 2012. However, we continue to benefit from her skill as an author with “The Man from the Land of Fandango”. With jaunty verse, ‘And he bingles and bangles and bounces- He’s a Bird! He’s a bell! He’s a ball! The man from the land of Fandango is coming to pay you a call’ and rhyme that is just screaming to be read out loud. What is so nice about not only Mahy’s words but also PollyDunbar’s illustrations is they are innocent, joyful, fanciful and just plain fun. 

If you enjoy this title by Mahy and Dunbar you might wish to try “Bubble Trouble” which won the 2009 Globe Horn Book Award. “Bubble Trouble” is another fun, exuberant truckload of mayhem and mischief. Just right for children ages 4-8.

-- Robbin O., Headquarters