Mother Goose's Songs & Rhymes

 This week, I'm sharing some nursery rhyme picture books.  This includes traditional Mother Goose rhymes and songs along with newer rhymes.  Here are a few of my favorites . . . .

This Little Piggy by Tim Harrington

Expands on the traditional counting rhyme, revealing exciting things the second set of toes does which inspire the first set to try more "fun stuff" too.

After the Fall by Dan Santat

After falling off the wall, Humpty Dumpty is very afraid of climbing up again, but is determined not to let fear stop him from being close to the birds.

Crankee Doodle by Tom Angleberger

Find out just why this Yankee was so cranky in this hilarious take on a traditional nonsense song every child learns in school but doesn't understand.

Mary Had a Little Lamp by Tim Harrington

Mary takes her "bendy," gooseneck lamp wherever she goes, much to the dismay of her parents and classmates, but after leaving it at home during summer camp, Mary finds that she has outgrown her need for her odd companion.

If You're Hoppy by April Pulley Sayre

In rhyming text reminiscent of the traditional song, "If you're happy and you know it," presents various animals that are hoppy, sloppy, growly, flappy, or slimy, scaly and mean.

More Books --

5 Little Ducks by Denise Fleming

The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon by Mini Grey

The Completed Hickory Dickory Dock by Jim Aylesworth

A Dog Needs a Bone by Audrey Wood

Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo and Flo! by Laurel Molk

The Farmer in the Dell by John O'Brien

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush by Jane Cabrera

If You're a Monster and You Know It by Ed Emberley

The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani

Jack and Jill by Daniel Kirk

Little Miss Muffet by Iza Trapani

Mary Had a Little Lamb by Mary Ann Hoberman

The Neat Line: Scribbling Through Mother Goose by Pamela Duncan Edwards

Old MacDonald Had a Farm by Gus Grimly

Over the Moon by Rachel Vail

A Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Salley Mayor

Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera

The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort

Three Little Kittens by Barbara McClintock

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Car by Kate Dopirak

Check these and more nursery rhyme and song books out on display at the Arnold Branch through June 5, 2021.

Robot Reads

This week, I am sharing chapter books featuring stories about robots . . . .

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.

Fuzzy by Tom Angleberger
When Max (Maxine Zealster) befriends her new robot classmate Fuzzy, she helps him navigate Vanguard Middle School and together they reveal the truth behind the Robot Integration Program.

Brother From a Box by Evan Kuhlman
Sixth-grader Matt Rambeau finds out what it is like to have a brother when his father, a computer genius, creates a robot kid that goes to school with Matt, shares his feelings and ideas, plays, does chores, fights for his "life" when chased by spies, and becomes a part of the family.

The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi
Living in isolation with a robot on what appears to be an alien world populated with bizarre life forms, a twelve-year-old human girl called Eva Nine sets out on a journey to find others like her. Features "augmented reality" pages, in which readers witha webcam can access additional information about Eva Nine's world.


More Robot Stories --
The Boneshaker by Kate Milford
A Boy and His Bot by Daniel Wilson
Cats vs. Robots: This is War by Margaret Stohl
Eagar by Helen Fox
The Fran with Four Brains by Jim Benton
Frank Einstein & the Antimatter Motor by Jon Scieszka
Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities by Mike Jung
How Lunchbox Jones Saved Me from Robots, Traitors, and Missy the Cruel by Jennifer Brown
Janitors by Tyler Whitesides
Monstrous Devices by Damien Love
Tin by Padraig Kenny
Under Their Skin by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through December 5, 2019.

Who-Dun-It? It's a Mystery!

This week, I'm sharing some of my favorite mystery chapter books for kids . . .

Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger
Horton, an upstanding kitchen boy in a castle in nineteenth-century England, becomes embroiled in a mystery surrounding a series of thefts, which is also connected to the pursuit of a very eligible and wealthy young lady's affections.

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny -- Detectives Extraordinaire by Polly Horvath
Middle-schooler Madeline's hippie parents have been kidnapped from Hornby Island, Canada, by foxes, and Madeline, upon discovering that she can understand animal languages, hires two rabbit detectives to find them.

Below by Megan McKinlay
On the day Cassie was born, the mayor flipped a lever and everyone cheered as Old Lower Grange was submerged beneath five thousand swimming pools' worth of water and now, twelve years later, Cassie is drawn to the mysterious manmade lake.


More Mysteries for Kids --
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
The Forgetting Machine by Pete Hautman
The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarity
Knightley & Son by Rohan Gavin
Madhattan Mystery by John H. Bonk
Murder Is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens
The Mystery of Meerkat Hill by Alexander McCall Smith
Ruby Redfort: Look Into My Eyes by Lauren Child
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
Sensible Hare and the Case of Carrots by Daren King
Snowize & Snitch: Highly Effective Defective Detectives by K.H. Briner
The Trouble with Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery by Doreen Cronin
Walls Within Walls by Maureen Sherry
Who Could That Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through January 13, 2016.

Sing a Song with Your Child

I love music!  Other than reading, it is probably the thing I love the most.  So it's wonderful when music and books are blended together.  Here are some of my favorite picture books based on songs . . .

The Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long
Frogs sing and do their own version of the Hokey Pokey.

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.

If You're Hoppy by April Pulley Sayre
In rhyming text reminiscent of the traditional song, "If you're happy and you know it," presents various animals that are hoppy, sloppy, growly, flappy, or slimy, scaly and mean.

Crankee Doddle by Tom Angleberger
A pony tries to convince his cranky owner to take a ride into town. Includes notes about the song, "Yankee Doodle."


More Books --
All Through the Night by John Hughes
Dance by the Light of the Moon by Joanne Ryder
Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (A Letter from Camp) by Allan Sherman
Hey Diddle Diddle by Eve Bunting
I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont
I'm a Manatee by  John Lithgow
If You're A Monster and You Know It by Rebecca Emberley
Jazz by Walter Dean Myers
Jazzmatazz by Stephanie Calmenson
Mary Had a Little Lamb by Mary Ann Hoberman
The Middle Child Blues by Kristyn Crow
Naamah and the Ark at Night: A Lullaby by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The Nuts: Sing and Dance in Your Polka Dot Pants by Eric Litwin
One Grain of Sand: A Lullaby by Pete Seeger
Over at the Castle by Boni Ashburn
Punk Farm by Jarrett Krosoczka
Rock & Roll Mole by Carolyn Crimi
Take My Out to the Ballgame by Maryann Kovalski
There Was a Cowpoke Who Swallowed an Ant by Helen Ketteman
This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Jane Cabrera
Who Bop? by Jonathan London
You're A Grand Old Flag by George Cohan
Zin! Zin! Zin! A Voilin by Lloyd Moss


Check out these books on display at the Arnold Branch through April 15, 2016.

I Just Want to Laugh

While emotional books are great at times, often we just want a book that will make us laugh.  So here are some of my favorite funny picture books . . .

Crankee Doodle by Tom Angleberger
A pony tries to convince his cranky owner to take a ride into town. Includes notes about the song, "Yankee Doodle."

Cats Are Cats by Valeri Gorbachev
Miss Bell loves her cat Tiger, despite his tendency to act like a tiger.

Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos
A picture book about baby Billy, who is born with a mustache, and his parents, who must figure our if it's a Good-Guy mustache, or a Bad-Guy mustache.

Sylvie by Jennifer Sattler
When Sylvie the pink flamingo learns her color comes from the little pink shrimp she eats, she decides to expand her choices, trying everything under the sun and, unfortunately, overdoing it.

Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox
A prince tries to get Rapunzel to throw down her hair so he can rescue her, but she mishears him and throws down random objects from her room instead.


More Funny Picture Books --
Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
Beware of Tigers by Peter Horacek
The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak
Brief Thief by Michael Escoffier
Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman
Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett
Cowlick! by Christin Ditchfield
Don't Squish the Sasquatch! by Kent Redeker
Ducks Don't Wear Socks by Jon Nedwidek
The Entertainer by Emma Dodd
Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round by Teri Sloat
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems
I'm a Shark! by Bob Shea
Is Everyone Ready for Fun? by Jan Thomas
Let's Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas
Little Nelly's Big Book by Pippa Goodhart
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Mail Harry to the Moon! by Robie H. Harris
Moo! by David LaRochelle
A Pet for Petunia by Paul Schmid
Put It on the List! by Kristen Darbyshire
This Is a Moose by Richard T. Morris
This Is Not My Hat! by Jon Klassen
This Little Piggy by Tim Harrington
The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli
Who Needs a Hug? by Jeff Mack


Check out these books on display at the Arnold Branch through December 23, 2015.

Over at the Castle

This week we learned about castles during our Eyewitness program.  So I thought I would share some books that feature castles as a setting . . . 

Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger

Horton, an upstanding kitchen boy in a castle in nineteenth-century England, becomes embroiled in a mystery surrounding a series of thefts, which is also connected to the pursuit of a very eligible and wealthy young lady's affections.

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

Princess Celie must defend Castle Glower, which add rooms, stairways and secret passageways every Tuesday, when her parents are ambushed while travelling.

The Castle Behind Thorns by Merrie Haskell

When Sand, a blacksmith's apprentice, wakes up in a broken castle, he must find a way to put it back together.

Crandall's Castle by Betty Ren Wright

Charli's impulsive uncle, Will Crandall, decides to buy the town's abandoned, possibly haunted castle and fix it up as a bed-and-breakfast, but Charli and Sophia, a clairvoyant orphan who has come to stay with the Crandall family, know his plan is somehow dangerous.

Midnight Magic by Avi 

In Italy in 1491, Mangus the magician and his apprentice are summoned to the castle of Duke Claudio to determine if his daughter is indeed being haunted by a ghost.

The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech

Two orphaned peasant children discover a mysterious pouch, the contents of which lead them to the majestic Castle Corona, where their lives may be transformed forever.

More Stories Featuring Castles --

The Beasts of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson

Brand-New Page by Tony Davis

Castle of Shadows by Ellen Renner

The Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett

East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Jackie Morris

The House of Arden by E. Nesbit

The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye

Pure Dead Magic by Debi Gliori

Stealaway by K.M. Peyton

A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine

Origami Yoda

One of the most unique takes on the Star Wars movies are the Origami Yoda books by Tom Angleberger.  There are currently five books out with more coming in the future.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future. Includes instructions for making Origami Yoda.

Darth Paper Strikes Back
Harvey, upset when his Darth Paper finger puppet brings humiliation, gets Dwight suspended, but Origami Yoda asks Tommy and Kellan, now in seventh grade, to make a new casefile to persuade the School Board to reinstate Dwight.

The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee
McQuarrie Middle School's students miss Origami Yoda when Dwight leaves for Tippett Academy, but he sends Sara a paper Fortune Wookiee that seems to give advice just as good as Yoda's--even if, in the hands of girls, it seems preoccupied with romance.

The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett
Dark times have fallen on McQuarrie Middle School. Dwight is back--and not a moment too soon--as Kellen, Sara, and the gang face a new Menace: the FunTime Educational Program. FunTime is supposed to raise students' standardized test scores. Instead, it's driving everyone crazy. The students turn to Origami Yoda for help.

Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue
One month before the state standards test are to take place, the Origami Rebel Alliance has found powerful allies in unexpected places in their fight against the FunTime test preparation program, but Principal Rabbski has not yet declared her allegiance.

Crankee Doodle by Tom Angleberger

Have you wondered what the real story was behind the song "Yankee Doodle"?

Why did he ride to town?
Why did he put a feather in his hat?
And why did he call the cat "macaroni"?

Well this book answers those questions!

His horse desperately wants to go to town.  He is cranky and does not want to go. 

How will the horse eventually get him to go to town?

Check out this book and find out!

A hilarious "history" that everyone will love.