OH, NO! IT GLOWS!

Quick, close the drawer. Don’t let the creepy underwear out! Jasper Rabbit is all grown up and decides he is ready for some “cool” underwear. When Jasper Rabbit gets home, he realizes his cool underwear glow in the dark….oh so creepy. Although Jasper Rabbit isn’t afraid of the dark, he decides he has had enough of this eerie, glow-in-the-dark underwear, so he decides to get rid of it. However, his underwear keeps coming back. What's a rabbit to do?

Read Creepy Pair of Underwear, written by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown, to find out if Jasper Rabbit is able to put an end to his creeeeepy underwear. And see if you can find enough pairs of creepy underwear to earn a spooky prize at our library hunts, now through November 4th at Downtown Central Library and October 30th through November 3rd at Grandview Library.  

Ages 4-8

SCHOOL'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Everyone always talks about how they feel about going to school, but does anyone know how the school feels? No one really knows the difficulties the school faces with waking up to noisy children.  

School's First Day of School by Adam Rex is a hilarious book describing the first day of school...from the school's point of view. The school building is the main character who shares his feelings and purpose. This is a wonderful picture book to share with young readers ages 4 through 7.  

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

In the latest book from the popular series, Andy and Sandy enter a talent show at their school. Sandy encourages Andy to dance with her, but Andy is shy because he doesn't know how. Sandy is a good friend and helps Andy by teaching him. With lots of practice, Andy is feeling more confident than ever. How well will they do in their big debut? 

Andy & Sandy and the Big Talent Show, by beloved author-illustrator Tomie DePaola, ​is the perfect series for beginning readers all around. Andy and Sandy will delight the hearts of young children through the beautiful illustrations and story of true friendship. Tomie DePaola expertly captures the essence of friends overcoming fear together. 

This book, and the other titles in the Andy & Sandy series, are great early readers for children in kindergarten through second grade. 

WHERE COULD ELEPHANT BE HIDING?

Have you ever played hide-and-seek with an elephant before? A boy is doing just that, but it seems the large animal is nowhere to be found. Can you see the elephant blending into the pages as the beautiful colors and illustrations try to fool your eyes? Will the boy find elephant in the end? 

Have You Seen Elephant? written and illustrated by David Barrow has beautiful and colorful illustrations, and is perfect for readers who enjoy silly stories and fun games.  

A great read aloud for children ages 2 and up.  

WHAT'S ON THE POND?

The pond is a beautiful place as the young boy and his dog in this story come to find out. Be still and you can observe the sounds and chatter of many different animals surrounding the pond. There's a commotion that connects all of the animals together. Though in the end all is forgotten, and peace and tranquility come back to the pond as the day ends. 

On Duck Pond written by Jane Yolen, with art by Bob Marshall, beautifully illustrates the habitat of animals that live around the duck pond. Descriptive words are used to spark your imagination as you flip through the pages.  What animals do you see at the duck pond? How does the duck pond make you feel? 

This book is a perfect read-aloud for children ages 4 and up. 

WRITING TAKES PRACTICE, LITTLE PLANE

Little Plane is ready to learn how to write, but first he must go to school to practice. Little Plane learns writing by flying in arcs, dives, and loopity-loops.  He's excited to practice every day, but has trouble completing the loopity-loops, which make him too dizzy. How will Little Plane become the perfect writer that he so desperately wants to be? 

Little Plane Learns to Write, written and illustrated by Stephen Savage, is a beautiful picture book about learning to write the ABC's. A perfect book for airplane lovers, it also teaches children that writing takes practice... and with enough practice, you can accomplish anything.

This is a great read-aloud for children ages 3 and up.

SECRETS

Secrets always start off with a whisper, but that whisper can be heard by many beautiful things in this world. Where does a secret travel to after a little girl shares it with her puppy? 

Secrets I Know written by Kallie George and art by Paola Zakimi, is beautifully illustrated. This book needs to be read more than once as it may start off slow at first. In the end, the whisper that the girl is seen sharing with her puppy carries itself to the stars in the night sky. The illustrations and words in this story are descriptive and colorful.

A perfect read for children ages 4 and up. 

SEE OTTO

Attention adventure and robot lovers, this book is for you. Otto the robot loves to seek adventures despite the dangers. Otto sets off to explore space in his spaceship but things don’t go as planned and he lands on Earth.  What will he find there? 

See Otto, part of The Adventures of Otto series written by David Milgrim, tells an exciting story of a robot through easy and repetitive vocabulary and illustrations.  It's perfect for readers who enjoy space, rockets and adventures, and those practicing to read on their own. 

ALL WE KNOW

All We Know by Linda Ashman is a beautiful book about a mother who shares information about the world with her child. It's a lovely poem in rhyme, exploring feelings, nature and discovery. The text is accompanied by simple, soft and realistic watercolor illustrations by Jane Dyer.

This is a great read-aloud for preschoolers.

SAMURAI RISING

Yoshitsune was a young boy when his father’s life was taken ruthlessly during the war. This was the way of life for a samurai warrior during 12th Century Japan.   As in any war there are two sides: the winning side, Taira, and the losing side, Minamoto.  Both samurai clans fought to the end.

Afterwards Kiyomori, a Taira leader, allowed baby Yoshitsune to live with the monks rather than have him killed. Young Yoshitsune did not grow up to look like a warrior from a long line of samaurai, but was a frail, unskilled man who  yearned to escape the monastery in order to live up to the Minamoto legacy and overthrow the Taira clan.

It is not often that a reader will find a non-fiction children’s book that captures one's attention like a novel.  This particular book is captivating when describing the characters and the battles in careful detail. The author, Pamela Turner, does not hold back nor does she sugarcoat scenes; instead, she has shared the story in such a way that leaves the reader completely immersed in history. Turner does a noteworthy job providing pronunciations of names in Japanese as well as offering notes for her sources.

Samurai Rising is highly recommended. Find out what became of young Yoshitsune. 

For ages 13 and up.

ASTRONAUT!

What does an astronaut do while on the job?  Follow Jenny, Chen and Kim as they demonstrate their daily tasks. A Robo-bot is also on board with them at the space station when they realize that he is broken.

Astronaut by Lucy M. George and Ando Twin wonderfully illustrates the life of astronauts through fictional characters.  The text is short, yet uses advanced vocabulary.  This book includes detailed, clear and bright drawings with accompanying text.

Great for early elementary school readers!