The Royal Tutor series by Higasa Akai

Heine Wittgenstein has just accepted the prestigious position of royal tutor to the young princes of Granzreich.  Meet the four princes as Heine attempts to get them to accept him as their tutor.


This manga series is beautifully drawn.  The characters are all distinct in their personalities.  This is a great series for those who enjoy history or tales of royalty.

Royal Readings

This week, I'm sharing chapter books for kids featuring royalty.  Here are a few of my favorites . . .

Up and Down Scratchy Mountains by Laurel
Lucy, a milkmaid, and her best friend Wynston, a reluctant prince, go in search of information about Lucy's missing mother--even though Wynston is supposed to be searching for a proper princess to marry.

Prince Puggly of Spud: and Kingdom of Spiff by Robert Paul Weston
When Prince Puggly attends a ball in the Kingdom of Spiff, he is laughed at by all the Spiffs, except for the Princess of Spiff who helps him teach her fellow Spiffian citizens a lesson.

The Birthday Ball by Lois Lowry
When a bored Princess Patricia Priscilla makes her chambermaid switch identities with her so she can attend the village school, her attitude changes and she plans a new way to celebrate her sixteenth birthday.

The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool by Margaret Gray
When plain-looking Princess Rose longs for the beauty to snare handsome Prince Parsley, and the wise fool Jasper longs to restore wisdom to the kingdom, they end up working together and find they must face the magical Godmother Board of Trustees.


More Royal Stories --
Castle of Shadows by Ellen Renner
Crown Me! by Kathryn Lay
Girl in a Cage by Jane Yolen
Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
Lady Lollipop by Dick King-Smith
The Little Lame Prince by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
Pennyroyal Academy by M.A. Larson
The Player King by Avi
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Princess Cora and the Crocodile by Laura Amy Schlitz
The Princess Imposter by Vivian Vande Velde



Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through July 13, 2018.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star: Books for Night Time

This week, I'm sharing some of my favorite night-time stories for kids.  Here are a few of my favorite picture books . . . .

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Jane Cabrera
A version of the well-known song featuring animals from around the world as they wonder about the twinkling star.

Slow Loris by Alexis Deacon
All the animals at the zoo think Slow Loris is very slow, until one night when they see something a little unusual.

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
Snowmen play games at night when no one is watching.

Bears in Beds by Shirley Parenteau
Big Brown Bear gets his four fellow bears into their cozy, warm beds without much trouble, but in the middle of the night a strange sound frightens them awake.

Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DaCosta
Late at night, when all is quiet and everyone is asleep, a ninja creeps silently through the house in search of treasure.


More Books --
10 Little Ninjas by Miranda Paul
All Through the Night by John Hughes
At Night by Jonathan Bean
Baby Bedtime by Mem Fox
Beautiful Moon: A Child's Prayer by Tonya Bolden
Dusk by Uri Shulevitz
Flashlight by Liz Boyd
Good Night Owl by Greg Pizzoli
Good Night, Pillow Fight by Sally Cook
Henry's Night by D.B. Johnson
How to Catch a Star by Olivier Jeffers
I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed by Lauren Child
Imagine a Night by Rob Gonzales
Let's Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas
Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
The Midnight Library by Kazuno Kohara
Musical Beds by Mara Bergman
Naamah and the Ark at Night: A Lullaby by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The Night Pirates by Peter Harris
The Night World by Mordecai Gerstein
No Go Sleep! by Kate Feiffer
The Nuts: Bedtime at the Nut House by Eric Litwin
Peekaboo Bedtime by Rachel Isadora
Sleep Train by Jonathan London
Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy by Denise Fleming
Touch the Brightest Star by Christie Matheson
Who Will Tuck Me In Tonight? by Carol Roth
Wynken, Blynken & Nod by Eugene Field

Check these and more night-time books out at the Arnold Branch on display through July 6, 2018.

The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children by Keith McGowan

Sol and his sister Connie have just moved to town with their father and new stepmother.

What they don't know is why they moved.

There is a witch in town -- the witch of Hansel and Gretel fame -- who is willing to take children from parents who no longer want them.

This with has her sights on Sol and Connie . . . .



This is a great modern update to the Hansel and Gretel story.  All of the characters are interesting with secrets that form who they are.  It was interesting to see the mesh of science and fantasy throughout the story.  I would recommend this to those who like fairy tale retellings or family stories.

Top Secret! Stories of Espionage

This week, I am sharing stories of spies and espionage for teens.  Here are a few of my favorites . . . 

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency, MI6.

Sleeper Code by Tom Sniegoski

Just when he has met a beautiful girl and his outlook is improving, sixteen-year-old narcoleptic Tom Lovett begins to suspect that his dreams and hallucinations of killing people may be something more real and terrifying.

Girl in Blue by Ann Rinaldi

To escape an abusive father and an arranged marriage, fourteen-year-old Sarah, dressed as a boy, leaves her Michigan home to enlist in the Union Army, and becomes a soldier on the battlefields of Virginia as well as a Union spy working in the house of Confederate sympathizer Rose O'Neal Greenhow in Washington, D.C.

Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel

In 1716 London, an orphaned sixteen-year-old girl from a good family impersonates a lady-in-waiting only to discover that the real girl was murdered, the court harbors a nest of spies, and the handsome young artist who is helping her solve the mystery might be a spy himself.

More Books --

Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund

Also Known As by Robin Benway

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Code Name: Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

Love by Morning Star by Laura L. Sullivan

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich

Mind Games by Kiersten White

The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

Streams of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci

Tempest by Julie Cross

Traitor's Kiss by Erin Beaty

Zero Day by Jan Gangsei

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through June 29, 2018.

It's a Hard-Knock Life: Stories of Orphans

This week, I'm sharing chapter book stories featuring orphans . . . .

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier
Raised to be a thief, blind orphan Peter Nimble, age ten, steals from a mysterious stranger three pairs of magical eyes, that lead him to a hidden island where he must decide to become a hero or resume his life of crime.

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
When ten-year-old orphan Peter Augustus Duchene encounters a fortune teller in the marketplace one day and she tells him that his sister, who is presumed dead, is in fact alive, he embarks on a remarkable series of adventures as he desperately tries to find her.

Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones
Although an orphan, Earwig has always enjoyed living at St. Morwald's, where she manages to make everyone do her bidding, but when she is taken in by a foster parents who are actually a witch and a demon, she has a hard time trying to turn the situation to her advantage.

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.


More Tales of Orphans --
Audacity Jones to the Rescue by Kirby Larson
Baker's Magic by Diane Zahler
Bubble by Stewart Foster
The Door by the Staircase by Katherine Marsh
The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen
Fast Break by Mike Lupica
Greetings from Witness Protection! by Jake Burt
The League of Beastly Dreadfuls by Holly Grant
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin by Elinor Teele
The Orphan and the Mouse by Russell Freedman
Unhooking the Moon by Gregory Hughes
Wanderville by Wendy McClure
When Mischief Came to Town by Katrina Nannestad

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through June 22, 2018.