Thursday, February 26, 2015

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown

Mr. Tiger lives in a town full of civilized animals.  Everything was very proper and well-mannered.

Mr. Tiger was bored.

So Mr. Tiger decides to start going just a little big wild . . .


Mr. Tiger Goes Wild is a great stories about being true to yourself.  It also shows how just one person can make a huge difference in the lives of those around him.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Sports Stories for Teens

Sports books are stories filled with underdogs, becoming your best, and overcoming difficulties.  They are stories of becoming who you are.  Here are some great sports stories for teens . . .

Final Four by Paul Volponi
Four players at the Final Four of the NCAA basketball tournament struggle with the pressures of tournament play and the expectations of society at large.

Hard Hit by Ann Warren Turner
A rising high school baseball star faces his most difficult challenge when his father is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Soccerland by Beth Choat
Flora Dupre has a chance to fulfill a life-long dream when she receives an invitation to tryout for the Under-15 US Girls' National Soccer Team at the International Sports Academy.

Three Clams and an Oyster by Randy Powell
During their humorous search to find a fourth player for their flag football team, three high school juniors are forced to examine their long friendship, their individual flaws, and their inability to try new experiences.

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
Intellectually and athletically gifted, TJ, a multiracial, adopted teenager, shuns organized sports and the gung-ho athletes at his high school until he agrees to form a swimming team and recruits some of the school's less popular students.


More Sports Stories --
Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Pena
Boost by Kathy Mackel
Crash Course by Matthew Reilly
Game Changer by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Gym Candy by Carl Deuker
Hard Ball by Will Weaver
Kick by Walter Dean Myers & Ross Workman
The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Open Ice by Pat Hughes
Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian
Pop by Gordon Korman
Rebound by Bob Krech
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Summerland by Michael Chabon
Winger by Andrew Smith


Sports Stories for Teens will be on display at the Arnold Branch through March 14, 2015.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy by Nikki Loftin

Lorelei's new school is amazing.  The students get to decide whether to study what the teacher is teaching.  They can walk out of the classroom whenever they like.  They're fed two mouth-watering meals a day and given bowls of candy at their desks.  And the playground is every child's dream.

But there is something sinister going on at Splendid Academy!

Lorelei's teacher Ms. Morrigan seems to be fattening up the students with all the food she is forcing them to eat.  Lorelei and her new friend Andrew start to wonder if she is actually a witch who wants to eat the kids.

But that can't be true, can it?

Evil witches are only in fairy tales . . . .


This was a great fantasy / fairy tale story for kids in grade school.  The mix of the fairy tale witches working together is truly wicked.  A sinister story for those in a creepy mood.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Me & My Family

Family stories are great to read.  Whether the idealized family that we all long to have or the dysfunctional family that makes us feel better about our own, family stories are fun to read . . . .

Family Ties: The Theory, Practice, and Destructive Properties of Relatives by Gary Paulsen
'I'm the greatest family member you'll ever meet.' Kevin Spencer has a history of big ideas going completely awry. This time around, it's personal--suddenly he's kind of in charge of a double wedding in his backyard, and a whole tribe of wacky relatives is crowding him out of his own house.

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry
In this tongue-in-cheek take on classic themes in children's literature, the four Willoughby children set about to become "deserving orphans" after their neglectful parents embark on a treacherous around-the-world adventure, leaving them in the care of an odious nanny.

Jack Strong Takes a Stand by Tommy Greenwald
Tired of being forced to participate in sports and take extra lessons and tutoring to become well-rounded in anticipation of college, middle-schooler Jack Strong stages a sit-in on his couch until his parents ease up.

Tracking Daddy Down by Marybeth Kelsey
Daredevil eleven-year-old Billie has an exciting summer, in spite of her overprotective stepfather, when she figures out where her father and uncle are hiding after robbing a bank and enlists her cousin's help in convincing them to surrender.

Leaving the Bellweathers by Kristin Clark Venuti
In Eel-Smack-by-the-Bay, put-upon butler Tristan Benway writes a memoir of his years spent working for the chaotic and eccentric Bellweather family in their lighthouse, as he prepares for his long-awaited departure from indentured servitude.


More Family Stories --
Andrew North Blows Up the World by Adam Selzer
The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm by Patricia McLachlan
Brother from a Box by Evan Kuhlman
Cupcake Cousins by Kate Hannigan
Finding Family by Tonya Bolden
The Game by Diana Wynne Jones
The Magic Half by Anne Barrows
My Invisible Sister by Beatrice Cohn
Part of Me: Stories of a Louisiana Family by Kimberly Willis Holt
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
Trophy Kid, or, How I Was Adopted by the Rich and Famous by Steve Astinksy


These books are on display at the Arnold Branch through March 7, 2015.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

I am born on a Tuesday at University Hospital
Columbus, Ohio,
USA --
a country caught

between Black and White.

Jacqueline Woodson's memoir written completely through poems tells of her childhood from being born in Ohio, living with her grandparents in South Carolina, and moving to New York City with her mother and siblings.  She spends her early years in the racially divided South where they march for equal rights.  Her grandmother gives her religion.  Her grandfather becomes her "Daddy".  She later moves to New York City just before starting school where she has problems reading quickly like the other kids.  Yet she wishes and dreams that one day she will be a writer . . .

Each day a new world
opens itself up to you. And all the worlds you are --

gather into one world

called You

where You decide

what each world
and each story
and each ending

will finally be.


Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is the 2015 Coretta Scott King Author Medal winner for most distinguished book by an African-American author, a 2015 Newbery Award Honor Book for best book for children, and a 2015 Robert F. Sibert Award Honor Book for best information book for children and teens.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Old MacDonald Had a Farm . . .

Farm books are always a popular topic with kids.  We recently put up a display of farm picture books for young children.  Here are a few of my favorites from that display . . .

Hungry Hen by Richard Waring
A greedy fox watches a hungry hen growing bigger every day, knowing that the longer he waits to eat her, the bigger she will be.

The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown
Early one morning, a little scarecrow whose father warns him that he is not fierce enough to frighten a crow goes out into the cornfield alone.

Chicken, Chicken, Duck by Nadia Krilanovich
Easy-to-read, rhythmic text about a group of farm animals, led by a tenacious duck, who play a noisy game together.

The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson
While all the other animals on the farm enjoy eating their regular food, the cow chooses to eat the one thing that she loves best.

Farmyard Beat by Lindsey Craig
The sounds of the farm animals create a lively beat that keep Farmer Sue, the chicks, sheep, and other farm animals awake.

A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke
Minerva Louise, a snow-loving chicken, mistakes a pair of mittens for two hats to keep both ends warm.


More Farm Picture Books --
Albert & Lila by Rafik Schami
April Foolishness by Teresa Bateman
Bed Hogs by Kelly DiPucchio
Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Century Farm: One Hundred Years on a Family Farm by Cris Peterson
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
Cock-A-Doodle Quack! Quack! by Ivor Beddiel
Dooby Dooby Moo by Doreen Cronin
Down on the Farm by Merrily Kutner
Farm by Elisha Cooper
Farm Flu by Teresa Bateman
A Farmer Boy Birthday by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round by Teri Sloat
Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell
The Farmer in the Dell by John O'Brien
Grandpa's Tractor by Michael Garland
Leon and Albertine by Christine Davenier
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch by Anne Isaacs
No Milk! by Jennifer Ericsson
Oink-A-Doodle-Doo by Jef Czekaj
Old MacDonald Had a Dragon by Ken Baker
On the Farm by David Elliott
Pigs to the Rescue by John Himmelman
Princess Pig by Eileen Spinelli
Rooster Can't Cock-A-Doodle-Doo by Karen Rostoker-Gruber
Sakes Alive! A Cattle Drive by Karma Wilson
Scarecrow's Hat by Ken Brown
Serious Farm by Tim Egan
Silly Tilly by Eileen Spinelli
Zinnia and Dot by Lisa Campbell Ernst

These and more stories about farms will be on display through February 28, 2015.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

And the Winner Is . . .

The Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award
2014 Winner has been announced!


Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos

When Baby is born his parents are shocked to find he has a mustache.  What does it mean?
The nurse reveals that we must wait to see if it is a "bad guy mustache" or a "good guy mustache".  And so we see how Baby's mustache affects him through time.

Monday, February 2, 2015

It's A Love Written in the Stars . . . Romances for Teens

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, many teen's thoughts turn to love.  Here are some great teen books featuring star-crossed romances . . .

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt
When Lord Death comes to claim sixteen-year-old Keturah while she is lost in the King's Forest, she charms him with her story and is granted a twenty-four hour reprieve in which to seek her one true love.

Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
Seventeen-year-old Vince's life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of an FBI agent.

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
Sparks fly when sixteen-year-old Lucy Patterson and seventeen-year-old Owen Buckley meet on an elevator rendered useless by a New York City blackout. Soon after, the two teenagers leave the city, but as they travel farther away from each other geographically, they stay connected emotionally, in this story set over the course of one year.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
For three years, seventeen-year-old Cas Lowood has carried on his father's work of dispatching the murderous dead, traveling with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat, but everything changes when he meets Anna, a girl unlike any ghost he has faced before.

Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine
The star-crossed tale of Romeo and Juliet, told through the eyes of Romeo's cousin, Benvolio, a thief known as the Prince of Shadows.


More Tales of Star-Crossed Loves
Alienated by Melissa Landers
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler
Crash Into You by Katie McGarry
Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
Everynight by Claudia Gray
In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo
Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood by Jame Richards
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski


These books will be on display at the Arnold Branch through February 20, 2015.