SAME BUT DIFFERENT

An amazing book about how diverse we  are. I love the great photographs of all the children in the story.  What's the Difference? by Doyin Richards is for preschoolers and up. 

DIXIE WANTS AN ALLERGY

While getting to know her classmates on the first day of school, Dixie discovers that many of the students in class have allergies to a variety of things- peanuts, wheat, or eggs.  When Dixie hears of the special things that are offered to her classmates because of their allergies, she wishes that she was allergic to something too.  She eagerly seeks things that might cause her to have an allergic reaction, but nothing seems to work!  When she finally comes across something that does cause a reaction, she quickly becomes ill and regrets that she wished for an allergy to begin with.

Tori Corn wonderfully addresses the subject of children's allergies in this story.  Although some children are treated differently due to their allergies, others can quickly learn that it is for a very good reason- not just for special attention.  A fun book for adults and children to share together.  

For PreK-2nd grade.

DADS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN!

When fathers finish a long day at work they do what’s close to their heart—Play!!

When Dads Don’t Grow Up by Marjorie Blain Parker for babies, toddlers and their dads. 

THE CURE FOR BORING BOOKS

MRS. PIGGLE-WIGGLE (a book by Betty MacDonald) lives in an upside-down house and loves children. Many of the kids in her town don't like doing their chores, talk back to their parents, and misbehave in many other ways. Rather than scolding the children, the parents turn to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for her miraculous cures and antidotes for these rare childhood "diseases" their children seem to have, such as "Won't-put-away-toys-itis." 

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's healing methods are so funny and different, you may even read the other books in the series, just to make sure you don't have any of these strange childhood problems. Other books in this series include HELLO, MRS. PIGGLE-WIGGLE, MRS. PIGGLE-WIGGLE'S MAGIC, and MRS. PIGGLE-WIGGLE'S FARM, and are great for readers in 3rd grade and up.

JULY 2012

A NEW COOKING MAGAZINE

Finally, a cooking magazine for kids.

Chop Chop, quarterly cooking magazine, has a lot of easy and tasty recipes for children of all ages to cook. If you’re looking for something to do together as a family this summer, check out the two magazines we have. If they are both checked out, click on the picture of the sandwich take to see the online recipes.

The spring 2012 issue encourages little ones to try radishes, has a recipe for grapefruit granita, a taste test for different greens in a mixed bag of salad as well as how to trim and prepare an artichoke. Most recipes have a minimal amount of ingredients or prep work but. This new magazine is perfect for families and kids who enjoy cooking.

SUMMER TRAVEL

It's summer vacation and everyone knows that means ...ROAD TRIP!!!! What else will you do do with the kids for the next two and a half months? Check out these two books about two families crossing across all fifty states.

Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America by Lynne Cheney and Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser is inspired by Cheney's experiences with her grandkids to write what is basically a history book in the guise of tour book. It's lavishly illustrated and accompanied with lots of tidbits about each state on a double page spread. Sometimes the information is too much and your eyes kind of glaze over but overall it's chockful of stuff and it's great to pore over a few states at a time with your kids.

Go, Go America: 50 States of Fun by Dan Yaccarino has a more retro feel, theYaccarino family way back when perhaps? Yaccarino also gives each state a double page introduction with his stylish minimal approach to illustration. There are kooky historical facts, obscure head scratching laws as well as the more straight forward info all rolled into one really fun book for everyone from the very young all the way up.


And if you don't get to go to all 50 states this summer, these books might inspire you to look for a fun event going on in your local town or discover an intereseting fact about your area . Start your station wagon, I mean your SUV, or maybe Prius? Well, your car. Start exploring everybody!

For readers of all ages.

MAGIC TEACHER

THE MAGICAL MS. PLUM by Bonny Becker is about an elementary school teacher that seems to be magic. Every year, students know there is something special about Ms. Plum, but no one from the year before will tell them what it is. Every student in Ms. Plum's class has something they need to overcome, and she is just the teacher to help! Perfect beginning chapter book for 2nd-4th grades.

NEVER ENOUGH FAIRY TALES...

RAPUNZEL AND OTHER MAGIC FAIRY TALES selected and illustrated by Henriette Sauvant, and translated by Anthea Bell was a short but sweet conglomeration of some all-time favorite fairy tales and some I'd never heard. I was initially attracted to this collection of fairy tales because of it's size and beautiful cover page. I especially liked this collection because you could easily read these fairy tales out loud to a group of kids without losing their attention. The illustrations are gorgeous and tell a tale by themselves. A great book to read for grades 2 and up!

LOIS LOWRY STRIKES AGAIN!

I am beginning to think that Lois Lowry can write about anything. Author of award winning books like Number the Stars and The Giver, not to mention the Anastasia Krupnik series among other greats, she's managed to pen a fabulous story for the "dark comedy" genre that will remind you of Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket! THE WILLOUGHBYS is an atypical story about a miserable family with misearble parents who decide they don't like their kids anymore, hire a nanny and leave town. The oldest boy is the bossiest kid you'll ever meet, the twins have the exact same name but alternate days they can wear the one sweater they own, and the only girl is really the smartest but is too shy to say anything. Down the street lives a miserable candy bar inventor who lost his family. But the two families intertwine in very strange ways, and make for a delightful tale. For grades 4 and up.

A DOG'S CRAZY LIFE

You'll probably never meet a dog this crazy, or maybe you own a dog who does some of the things that Marley, a huge yellow Labrador Retriever does. He chews through walls, runs away from home, rips pillows into tiny pieces! What a mess! But he is also one of the most loyal, loving dogs you'll ever hear about. Make sure you pick up MARLEY: A DOG LIKE NO OTHER by John Grogan. It's a non-fiction book, which means that all the things that Marley does REALLY HAPPENED! For 5th grade and older.

TO RESCUE A PRINCE

Cornelius the wizard, Gurkintrude the fey, Hans the giant, and Odge the Hag are in charge of rescuing the prince from the human world on the other side of the Gump. That is THE SECRET OF PLATFORM 13, also the title of this book by Eva Ibbotson. Nine years earlier, the last time the Gump passageway between the worlds was open, the prince was kidnapped by an evil woman named Mrs. Trottle. The King and Queen have longed for the return of their only child, and send the crew of four from the Island, an almost mythical place hidden to most humans by a thick mist. But the nine-year-old boy, Raymond, turns out to be a lot less like a prince than they would've hoped, and some strange events change the lives of more than one boy by the end of the book! For 4th grade and older.

KIDS FOR LUNCH

The biggest crocodile in all of Africa is out to find a tasty child for lunch. He considers himself to be quite an intelligent crocodile as he has devised many secret plans for capturing his meal. Unfortunately he shares these plans with many other jungle animals along the way, and they all end up ruining his great ideas and his lunch! Roald Dahl, author of THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE is always a fantastic author and talks about the slimy, yucky, creepy things that are often funny, sneaky, and a little crazy. Quentin Blake illustrates most of Dahl's books and does a wonderful job of capturing the character of the sneaky mean crocodile.

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR SATURDAY

THE SATURDAYS by Elizabeth Enright can give you some great ideas! Every week the Melendy family, Miranda, Oliver, Mona, and Rush, gets their allowance. Separately, there's not much to do with it except save up for something big. However, the four come up with a great plan to pool their money. Each week, on Saturday, one of the siblings gets to go on their very own adventure with all the money they've pooled. Each brother and sister has a unique and exciting excursion. Even though this book was written a long time ago, the kids do things on their adventures that you can still do today! For 3rd grade and older.

SET THE WORLD AS YOUR STAGE!

Here is something different and exciting that you can do with your friends during the summer. Get as many of them as possible and start acting out these plays that you will find in the book called THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES: 20 GREAT PLAYS FOR CHILDREN edited by COLEMAN A. JENNINGS. You can use your own clothes and furniture in acting out many of your favorite stories. You will be able to recreate the dialogues from stories like The Secret Garden and Jungle Book to mention a few. Just put couple of chairs in the front of your 'stage' and ask your parents to be in the audience. This will be a very cheap and fun way to entertain them as well as you.

For grades 5 and older.