Sharing the Wealth! Nia and the New Free Library by Ian Lendler

For as long as anyone could remember, the Littletown Library had been there. The people stopped paying attention to it. The librarian retired, and nobody noticed....

Finally a tornado passed through and took the old library away with it.

NO ONE QUITE KNEW WHAT TO DO WITH THE EMPTY SPACE.

Someone suggested a skyscraper. Another wanted a parking lot. Nia's idea was different.

"WE NEED TO REBUILD THE LIBRARY."

The mayor pooh-pooh her idea, saying that people just didn't read anymore. The banker thought it cost too much.

A DISTRACTED MOTHER SAID, "MY SON AND I GET EVERYTHING WE NEED ON LINE. I'M LEVEL 10!"

But Nia had a different idea. It took a while, but soon she had written a red wagon full of books. She asked the Grocer.

"THIS IS THE NEW FREE LIBRARY! "WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHECK OUT A BOOK?"

"HEY, YOU WROTE THIS WRONG?" SAID THE GROCER.

Everybody's a literary critic! Nia handed him a pencil and told him to fix the mistake, and he got busy.

"MY SON'S PHONE JUST DIED."SAID THE BUSY MOM. "COULD HE LOOK AT ONE OF YOUR BOOKS?"

A man complained that Nia's Where the Mild Things Are is not the right title.

And when the boy complained that the drawings were terrible, Nia gave him a pencil with a nice new eraser. Another person said Nia'a Sherlock story had the wrong ending, so she told him to write a new one. Everyone found out that writing and illustrating books is hard, but soon Nia has a conspicuous big pile of rewritten books. So the grocer gave her some empty crates for bookshelves. Others thought it would be good to have walls and a roof to keep the books dry. Everyone found some building materials and tool boxes to help.

"A GOOD LIBRARY HAS TO HAVE LIONS IN FRONT" SAID SOMEONE.

Somebody volunteered the lions from the facade of the bank.

"WAIT! WE NEED A LIBRARIAN!" SEVERAL SAID.

Many of them volunteered, a snazzy opening was scheduled, and soon the new library was filled with kids listening to stories and people checking out books and senior citizens learning to use computers.

A LIBRARY IS BUILT BY MANY HANDS!

And in Ian Lendler's just published Nia and the New Free Library (Chronicle Books, 2021), that's how Newtown soon had a fine new library. Artist Mark Pett's humorous caricatures of townspeople sets off wll Ian Lendler's deadpan rewriting of the classic folktale, Stone Soup. " "(A) charming, kid-friendly take on grassroots activism." says Shelf Awareness.

Role Reversal! How to Read to a Grandma or Grandpa by Jean Reagan

READING IS A BLAST, BUT IF YOU WANT TO MAKE IT EXTRA FUN, READ TO A GRANDMA OR GRANDPA.

It's fun to turn the tables on your parents and especially to suprise your grandparents. They've done a lot of things for you, and you've already got experience in babysitting grandparents. Now it's time to try something new: show off your literary skills and read to them! But where to begin?

Like the old advice about making rabbit stew, to have a successful read-aloud session, you start with the sine qua non of story time--

FIRST HELP THEM FIND A GOOD BOOK!

YOU know all the good places to look--under your bed, in your bed, on the bookshelf, in the car, and especially in the library. (Book selection is their specialty!)

Then find a comfy, cozy place like an easy chair, a rocker, a bunch of pillows on the floor, and if your grandparents live too far away, there's always your laptop and ...

ZOOM!

Brush up on techniques of reading aloud--you know, turn the pages properly, speak clearly, all that stuff. (You know the drill.) Then there's the matter of style of presentation: Practice up on your funny voices, deep voices, whispery voices, scary voices, itsy-bitsy baby voices..... Let them tell you the part they liked best. Take turns reading. If they like non-fiction books, like how to make cookies or do science experiments, let them try out what they've learned.

And when you come to "The End," how will you know if you are a success?

YOUR GRANDMA OR GRANPA WILL PROBABLY ASK "CAN YOU READ IT AGAIN, PLEASE?"

In this new one in Jean Reagan's best-selling How To role-reversal series, How to Read to a Grandma or Grandpa (How To Series) (Alfred A. Knopf, 2020), youngsters get to experience a chance to practice their reading skills with their grandparents while having a subtle lesson in giving back to their family, as they do in Reagan's earlier hits, such as How to Babysit a Grandma and a Grandpa boxed set (How To Series), How to Raise a Mom and How to Surprise a Dad (How To Series), all illustrated in comic style by artist Lee Wildish.

So Many Ways! All of the Factors of Why I Love Tractors by Davina Bell

I'M OFF ON AN OUTING WITH MY MOM TODAY,

AND WE'RE NOT JUST GOING TO THE PARK TO PLAY.

They roll past the usual destinations--the pool, the school.... so... where will they be?

IT'S THE LIBRARY!

"HELLO, THERE, FRANKIE MCGEE!"

<

MISS SQUID, THE LIBRAIAN SAYS TO ME!

Mom smiles. This is a kid who loves books! How great is that? Frankie makes a beeline for the shelves and comes right back with a big grin and holds a book up for Mom to see.

It's a book about tractors, one of what seems like the zillions he's already checked out. How 'bout trains and planes, boats and trucks, she suggests? With all the books available for free, why, says she, does Frankie McGee's have to to be... about TRACTORS?

"I'D LOVE TO EXPLAIN THE MANY GLORIOUS FACTORS

THAT GO INTO THE LOVE I HAVE FOR ALL TRACTORS," SAYS FRANKIE.

You see, says Frankie McGee, all those vehicles are great at what they do, but all of them, from cement mixers to submarines, from firetrucks to steamrollers, mostly do just one thing! But tractors, well, they are the Swiss Army knives of vehicles! They have glorious attachments and adaptations to deploy or add on. They can tow or sow, plow up snow, pull a boat, haul a goat, harrow wide furrows, tote a tree.... Frankie goes on and on. Mom shakes her head in frustration, but the librarian checks out the tractor book with a big smile and some good advice for Frankie and for Mom.

"YOU KNOW YOURSELF BEST.

WHEN YOU WANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT, COME FIND ME!"

In this cheery homage to single-minded readers of the primary sort, Davina Bell's brand-new All of the Factors of Why I Love Tractors (Greenwillow Books, 2021) bounces along brightly in lively rhymes that salute youngsters who know what they want. Many kids like a smorgasbord of subjects, but others prefer to stick to a favorite subject, sometimes to the dismay of parents. But, as Pete the Cat says, it's all good, and as Frankie points out, when he knows a book by heart, he can read it to himself--or to his mother, who will, with the help of illustrator Jenniy Lovlie's tractor-filled endpapers and pages, no doubt learn the many factors that make tractors irresistible.

"... a rollicking love letter, not just to tractors, but also to libraries," says Book Page.

Books By Burro!Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown

ON A HILL BEHIND A TREE THERE IS A HOUSE. IN THAT HOUSE THERE IS A LITTLE GIRL NAMED ANA.

Every day Ana gets up and helps her family with the chores--bathing her baby brother, feeding the goats and collecting the eggs the hens have laid to sell in the village market. But all the while Ana wishes she were back in her cool house reading her libro, her book. She only has one, given to her by her teacher in the village school, the school that is now closed. Ana loves her book and reads it to her brother, but she wishes she could have a new one to read.

But then one day she hears the tacatac of hooves coming up the hill. Riding a burro is a man leading two more, equipped, not with saddles, but with bookshelves filled with libros. The man says he is a bibliotecaro, a librarian, bringing books to the children in the area. He reads a cuento, a story, to her and her little brother, and both of them get to choose some books from the biblioburros, Alfa and Beto

SO MANY CUENTOS!

SOMEONE SHOULD WRITE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR BURROS," SHE TELLS THE LIBRARIAN.

"WHY DON'T YOU?" HE ASKED.

Ana reads all her books and then reads them all again and again. She teaches her little brother his alfabetos, too. And when she's done, she gets out her paper and colored pencils and writes her own book of stories. But when will the biblioburros come back?

Ana begins to believe they are not ever coming, but then....

THE BIBLIOBURRO MAN IS BACK!

And he is happy to read Ana's story to all the children, in Monica Brown's tribute to Colombia's biblioburro librarian, Luis Soriano Bohorquez, in Waiting for the Biblioburro (Tricycle Press). Youngsters used to frequent forays to their public libraries and bookstores will be amazed to learn that a donkey loaded with books can be a library and will be intrigued with the idea of choosing books off the back of donkeys. This book is perfect for Library Week observances, and kids will be surprised to learn of checking out books from boats on rivers and harbors and of books for kids brought on the backs of camels. This is also a good time to learn about libraries on horseback or borne by mules and wagons here in the last century and still delivered by bookmobiles in the countryside or in big city neighborhoods.

Share this one along with Heather Hensen's and David Small's That Book Woman and Maggie Ruurs' My Librarian is a Camel: How Books Are Brought to Children Around the World.

Borrow the Book: Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora

It was midnight. The light of the moon followed the tired old car. Tomas missed his own bed in his own house in Texas.

Tomas and his family were farm workers who picked fruits and vegetables for Texas farmers in the winter and for Iowa farmers in the summer. During the day Tomas and his brother bring water to the workers, and when it is very hot, his grandfather sits with him and his brother in the shade of a tree and tells them stories. Tomas know them all, every word of them.

One day Papa' Grande said, "Tomas, you know all of my stories. There are many more in the library. You are big enough to go by yourself. Then you can teach us new stories!"

So one morning Tomas found himself peering through the glass of the front door of the town library.

It was HUGE!

There were so MANY books! But a kind librarian offered him a cool drink of water and asked him what kind of books he would like to read.

"TIGERS AND DINOSAURS!" Tomas said.

Tomas read and read for hours.

"Tomas?' said the librarian softly. The library was empty. the sun was setting. "Would you like to borrow two books?"

The kind librarian checked them out to herself and gave them to Tomas to take back with him, and all summer Tomas read books from the library. Sometimes he taught Spanish to the librarian and sometimes she showed him books on new subjects he had never thought of. Tomas also read the new stories to Enrique, Papa' Grande' and his parents. And when it was time to return to Texas, Tomas came to say goodbye to the librarian. She gave him the gift of a book of his own.

Tomas Rivera never stopped reading, and one day he became a chancellor of the University of California in Riverside, as told in Pat Mora's Tomas and the Library Lady (Random House). Moving and inspiring, this story for middle elementary readers tells the true story of the enrichment that reading and libraries can make in a life of a child and in the life of the community. Young elementary readers will identify with Tomas and find this simple story encouraging them to enter a library and let it open up the world to them. Of Raul Colon's illustrations, Kirkus Reviews says "Colon's dreamy illustrations capture the brief friendship and its life-altering effects in soft earth tones, using round sculptured shapes that often depict the boy right in the middle of whatever story realm he's entered."

A Taste for Literature: Library Books Are Not for Eating by Todd Tarpley

THE DAY MS. BRONTE CAME TO SCHOOL, STORY TIME WAS EXTRA COOL.

But she had this unfortunate habit....

COULDN'T BEAT IT....

ONCE SHE READ A BOOK, SHE'D EAT IT.

The class was aghast. They loved their books. They felt they had to repeat that library books are not to eat!

Librarian McSmartly envisioned her book stock shrinking. What was Ms. Bronte thinking? Ms. McSmartly had to preserve her collection! MS. Bronte vowed to end her greedy prediliction. But on her way out, she gobbled a booktruck full of fiction.

Ms. Bronte promised to change her diet. The Lunch Lady dished her up stew and cottage cheese. But that didn't seem to please Ms. Bronte, who scarfed up all the kitchen's recipes.

Maybe big Coach Burley can could her straight--and alter the choice of what she ate. But the coach was more concerned that his soccer field needed mowing, which seemed to set Ms. Bronte's juices flowing! But after she ate Burley's book of soccer plays, she vowed to change her ways.

IT'S NOT THAT I FIND BOOKS SO YUMMY! BUT NOTHING ELSE HERE FILLS MY TUMMY!

Coach Burley offered Ms. Bronte a deal.... Make his overgrown playing field her daily meal!

Author Todd Tarpley's latest school story, Library Books Are Not for Eating! (Doubleday, 2020), fits right on the menu with last year's hit gustatory yarn, We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins. (See my review here). Author Todd Tarpley is the past master of wordplay, rhymes, and comic plots, and Tom Booth's, er, tasteful illustrations make this one a humorous introduction for that first classroom lecture on library book care. Other hit books by Todd Tarpley are Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep! Naughty Ninja Takes a Bath, Three Grumpy Trucks, and his classic, Ten Tiny Toes.

Join the Reading Circle! Biscuit Loves the Library by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

Biscuit is walking nicely on his leash. He and his girl are about to go into the library.

The room is full of kids--checking out books, returning books, reading books, and climbing up on stools to reach books. But Biscuit is busy checking the baskets full of toys--toy bears, toy dogs, and toy bunnies--and the baskets of books about bears and bunnies, but no dogs!

Biscuit finds earphones to listen to stories, but that's not what he is looking for!

Wait! What's over there? A round rug with a big comfy chair? There are kids on the rug with a curious cat in a carrier, two hamsters hanging out in their habitat, and a snoozing little puppy. But Biscuit makes a B-for-Biscuit line for the lady pulling a book off a low shelf.

"You found the librarian and a book about BISCUIT!"

WOOF!

"LET'S READ!"

Biscuit discovers that he is a super star pup even at his neighborhood library, in Alyssa Capucilli's
Biscuit Loves the Library (My First I Can Read) (HarperCollins), a fun, super-easy read about books and libraries for emergent readers and fans of cute puppies! When it comes to those first books for reading, a dog called Biscuit is a kid's best friend. Share this one with another visit to an important place, Biscuit Goes to School (My First I Can Read).

Brainy Bookathon! Stink and the Midnight Zombie Walk by Megan McDonald

"Brains! Take that! You're dead, Fred Zombie!"

"I'm not dead! I'm un-dead!" said Voodoo Zombie.

Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting-Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie's eyeball fell off.

Only one more week!" said Stink.

"Till what?" asked Judy Moody, poking her head in Stink's door. Sometimes she was a Nosy Parker!

"DUH! The Midnight Zombie Walk!" said Stink and Webster together.

And it's a Zombie-craZy week for Stink and his big sister Judy Moody and all the kids at Virginia Dare Elementary School. The whole school is having a monster readathon, going for one million minutes of reading, to be celebrated Friday at a Zooper Zombie Bash!

ZOMBIES INVADE BLUE FROG BOOKSTORE THIS SATURDAY 9 P.M.
Book Release Party for Nightmare on Zombie Street, Book 5
MIDNIGHT ZOMBIE WALK

Between totaling up their minutes of reading, the kids have a zombie-licious week. "Everything in Zombie starts with Z," said Stink, er, Zink, to Webzter." So Stink and Webster try to raise some cash to buy Book 5 of the Zombie zeries by having a Blowout Yard Zombie Sale and a Zmellatorium Ztand on their front sidewalk. Stink and Webster turn Stink's ventriloquist's dummy into Charlie Vampire, and Mrs. Moody appears, dressed in bloody-hand printed apron as the school Zombie Lunch Lady, to dish out servings of Scrambled Brainz (eggs) and Soppy Toes (mini-franks in red sauce) in the renamed school "Vomiteria;" and the two pranksterz scare the witz out of Judy with their talking Charlie Vampire, while the third graders sponsor a definitely un-dead Read-Aloud-athon for the first graders on Friday.

In Megan McDonald's Zombie-riferous Stink and the Midnight Zombie Walk (Candlewick Press), there's a strong plug for the joy of reading and hardly a moment without a zombie giggle, in this title in the author's best-selling series of beginning chapter books for young readers. "Gross, creepy, and hilarious, zayz Booklizt.

No Book Killers Allowed? Jasper John Dooley Public Library Enemy #1 by Carolyn Addison

After school Jasper John Dooley and his friend Ori rode their bikes to the library with Jasper's mom.

"I'll be back in ten minutes," Mom said. "Stay in the children's area, okay?"

Jasper and Ori weren't really listening. They were reading a new sign:

PRACTICE YOUR READING WITH MOLLY THE DOG
3:30 TO 4:30 P.M., Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Molly the Dog was frowning. Jasper decided he was going to pick a book to read that would make Molly look happy.

He picked a very interesting book about making things out of toilet paper tubes. He couldn't wait to start reading it so he would be ready for the next chance to read to Molly. He was in such a hurry that he decides to read in the bathtub. Bad idea!"

Jasper knocked the book into the suds. Dad tried to help by drying the book in the oven with his cheese nachos, but while they are trying out the nachos, the oven made a funny sound:

BLEEEEEP!

Smoke was pouring out. The book was burning and Dad grabbed the fire extinguisher. When the book kept on burning, Dad shoveled it out the back door into the rain.

Nobody would ever read that book again!

The book was toast! The only thing readable about the book was its price tag--$25.00!

Ori offered to help Jasper come up with the money to pay for the book. They decide to set up a stand in the front yard to make money.

"TOAST RESTERANT!
With butter $1--With butter and Jam $1.50

They had some customers, but their profits did not rise to their projected expectations.

Nobody paid.

Will Jasper ever raise $25.00? Will he ever get to read to Molly the Dog?

Or will he forever be banned in the library as THE BOOK KILLER?

But Jasper John Dooley and best buddy Ori Spivak had learned a few things about business ventures and come up with a KILLER DILLER fund raiser called the READ TO A PET FIESTA HOOPLA CELEBRATION (with Toast!), and all's well that ends well, in Carolyn Addison's laugh-filled installment in this beginning chapter book series, Jasper John Dooley: Public Library Enemy 1 (Kids Can Press). With a bow to helpful and forgiving librarians, this one, filled with Mike Shiell's numerous clever cartoon illustrations, is a great salute to libraries, books, reading, and private enterprise.

Says Kirkus Reviews, "Another winning entry in an altogether satisfying series."

Choices, Choices: The Perfect Seat by Minh Le and Gus Gordon

As they emerge from Claire's Books, Little Moose begs Dad to read his new book right now--that is, when they find...

"The Perfect Seat."

They stroll along the sidewalk, past the doorman in front of the apartment building and into the local coffee shop. But their fancy high-back sofa is...

Too Big.

Among other problems, the fire hydrant is way too small for both of them.

A cast-off side chair in the alley is too old, and the swoopy, artsy chair in the store window is too, er, moderne. The child's seat on the back of the bike is a bit bouncy, and the top of the sliding board in the park is definitely...

Too Slippery!

The bus stop and taxi stand bench is a bit too public. And in the park, the squirrel's branch is too high, and the monument is too fancy-smancy. And when Dad gets tired and sits down heavily on the wall of the bridge, he falls off, book and all, and finds himself seated in the creek with the ducks. Dad's definitely feeling down about the whole outing as he takes a damp seat under a tree.

"Oh, I give up."

But the best seat of all is still available, as Dad's boy finds his lap, a little damp but still ready for a read, in Minh Le's The Perfect Seat (Disney Hyperion, 2019). Illustrated with great humor by Gus Gordon, his good-natured black line illustrations tell the story visually, punctuated by author Le's punchy text. Perfect for non-readers, and beginning readers as well, and satisfying for parents whose youngsters are sometimes a bit picky in their choices.

In a Winning Mood! Judy Moody: Book Quiz Whiz by Megan McDonald

Judy Moody is in a winning mood!

She, Judy Moody, was a book quiz whiz. A book wizard. A quizzard!

And for once, her pesky little brother Stink is on the same page with Judy!

Judy and Stink are two-fifths of the Grades 2-3 Virginia Dare School Book Quiz team, the Bookworms, along with three other super readers preparing for the First Ever Book Quiz Blowout. And they are totally psyched for the big competition.

Judy reads Pippi Longstocking hanging upside down, just like Pippi. Stink wears a cape stuck full of sticky notes to help him remember key facts. They read constantly and quiz each other with trivia questions about the books they've read. Mr. and Mrs. Moody draw the line against reading at dinner, but their parents read aloud with them after dinner. They try out speed reading--with mixed results. Judy and Stink love the idea of winning the trophy for their school. They only have one fear, the bete noir of the overstuffed mind...

BRAIN FREEZE!

And then they learn that their opponents, Braintree Academy's Bloodsucking Fake-Mustache Defenders, have a secret weapon, a fourth-grader who is still nine years old--whose intimidating name, is Mighty Fantaskey!

"They say she's read fifth-grade books like Harry Potter 5. She didn't just carry it around to look cool."

Will Stink remember that it's not Mr. Monticello's Library, it's Mr. Lemoncello's Library?

Will Judy defeat brain freeze and recall all of Pippi Longstocking's names, in order?

All early chapter book readers are the winners in Megan McDonald's latest entry in her much-loved, long-running series, Judy Moody, Book Quiz Whiz (Candlewick Press, 2019). With Peter H. Reynolds' familiar funny illustrations sprinkled liberally throughout, author McDonald's fifteenth Judy Moody tale will have kids laughing all the way, while slipping in quite a plug with piquant story references for many other beloved books for young readers. McDonald also provides an appendix of the books referenced in the plot and a chapter-by-chapter list of the varied books referenced, from Stuart Little to Trombone Shorty!

Logo-Pilferers Beware! The Word Pirates by Susan Cooper

It was early morning on the pirate ship.

"W O R D S!"

roared Captain Rottingbones.

"BRING ME FRESH WORDS! I NEED BREAKFAST!"

The Pirate King is ravening, and his crew releases their logo-hunting birds to ravage the shore-dwellers morning newspapers and steal author's manuscripts right from their typewriters, to feed their prey of fresh words to the Captain and crew.

Captain Rottingbones grabs and gobbles down the biggest word--antidisestablishmentarianism--for himself, while his crew fill their cereal bowls with bites like fib and pop and zip that stay crunchy in milk.

But Rottingbones' big maw is never filled. He cruises the oceans of the world, pillaging books and pulling words right out of the storytellers' mouths.

Still, Captain Rottingbones' logo-lust only grows more insatiable.

He had learned of a Word Wizard, a zany New Zealander, whose stories would be extra delicious.

He licks his large lips as he orders his mateys to set the sails for the South Seas, where the Word Wizard flourishes and delicious words flow fast from her lips and perfect from her pen.

And Rottingbones releases his voracious Bumblebirds to peel her tasty word morsels right from her pages. The story circle kids are first bemused, then confused, perplexed and then VEXED.

The Wizard was furious. So were the children.

"GIVE US BACK OUR WORDS!" the children yelled.

"WORDS ARE PRECIOUS!" the Wizard cried.

The Pirate Captain draws his cutlass. This is WAR. But the Word Wizard knows the pen is mightier than the sword, and she peppers the pirates with a scattering of Fi, Fie, Fos, a rapid fire of Rabbit Holes, and a barrage of Wild Rumpuses. And the story stealers are bested, their brains all a-buzz with stories!

What amazing things words could do if you didn't eat them!

And with their treasure trunk loaded with the seeds of literacy, the pirate ship sets sail, the world now safe for letters and syllables (and even Latin roots) and imagination blooms with all the words that are and can yet be, safe in books...

Like this one .

Words are the winners in this collaboration of superstars, multi-Newbery-winning author Susan Cooper (for The Dark Is Rising series) and noted author-illustrator Steven Kellogg, The Word Pirates (Neal Porter/Holiday House, 2019). Artist Steven Kellogg's warm and comic watercolor illustrations wash over this tale and welcome Cooper's apt logophilia, flowing through this one with obvious love for her craft. A book which ends with pirates learning their letters and the youngest picking up his pen to write, "Once upon a time..." is a welcome event. School Library Journal says, "Cooper's words are deliciously funny, and Kellogg'c comical style perfect complements Cooper's flair."

Hero Reader! MIGHTY READER and the Big Freeze by Will Hellenbrand

The bus driver closed the door.

Hugo looked for an empty seat.

All he saw was a pack of unfamiliar pooches.

But new-pooch-on-the-bus Hugo is in luck. When he finds a place to sit, he finds that his seatmate, Barkley, is both friendly and an eager reader. He shares his favorite book, The Adventures of Mighty Reader, and passes along the good news:

"You picked a great day to start. We're having a substitute teacher and an author visit today."

Their substitute, Mr. Wulff, introduces Hugo, shows the class a book, Spring is Here: A Bear and Mole Story a hot-off-the-press book by their visiting author, and chooses Barkley to read the visiting author's book, which is--Spring is Here: A Bear and Mole Story.

But then the unthinkable occurs! Barkley the Bulldog has a total BOOK BRAIN FREEZE!

But PRESTO-CHANGE-O! Little Hugo the Hound suddenly morphs into a caped crusader--MIGHTY READER. He reminds Barkley that he's read other books by the same author. He advises him to observe what's happening in the illustrations on each page and look for words he knows. And then, the big book freeze is on meltdown, and Barkley speed reads through the WHOLE BOOK, acting out the pictures and reading with great expression like a true SUPER READER!

Barkley is just taking a bow when the visiting author arrives--a shaggy dog bearing a bunch of story books by the famous writer and illustrator--Will Hillenbrand, who admits some of his secrets:

"There are many ways to make a story, but for me the pictures always come first. Oh, I hit bumps along the way. Mistakes often help me see how to make my work better."

Barkley checks out all of Hillenbrand's books!

"I don't think you can have too many favorite books."

Author-illustrator Hillenbrand uses comic-book-style panels and speech bubbles to promote reading (and to plug a bunch of his books) in his latest, Mighty Reader and the Big Freeze (Holiday House, 2019). With over 70 books under his belt, this new one by Will Hillenbrand is the perfect choice for author visits and Library Week events, along with good advice for the reluctant or novice readers out there who could use a little superhero assistance in morphing themselves into power readers.

Meta-Menace? Get Me Out of This Book: Rules and Tools for Being Brave by Kalli Dakos and Deborah Cholette

I'm Max. I'm a bookmark who used to be SCARED TO DEATH of books. The pictures freaked me out!

When I was put on a page with a king cobra, I couldn't LOOK, and I SHOOK, and I SCREAMED--

Max the Bookmark has a phobia!

He knows it's silly. It's sensible to be scared of real cobras and sharks. But being scared of illustrations? That's embarrassing, all right, especially IF your job is being a bookmark. Your job is to mark any page the reader picks! If he wants to stay employed, Max needs remediation, and he decides to advance his education with a some coursework--the Special Bookmark Badge!

Rule One is to Breathe Deeply.

At least breathing comes naturally. But the Rule Two is harder. Make a Plan. In other words, think about what you can do. There's always something. And that's when Rule Three comes in: Try to imagine good outcomes. Think Good Thoughts.

But talk is cheap! The next thing is important and goes without saying: practice, Practice, PRACTICE.

Max can't wait to try out his new skills with The Scariest Book EVER!

Max masters the task of facing up to snakes, sharks, cockroach armies, skeletons, and hairy seven-headed monsters. After all, what's the worst thing that can happen?

"Tomorrow someone will turn the page in the book."

Fears of ink on a page are not really the issue, as Max loses his logophobia, in Kalli Dakos and Deborah Cholette's tongue-in-cheek how-to manual, Get Me Out of This Book: Rules and Tools for Being Brave (Holiday House, 2019). Sarah Infante provides humorous illustrations of this metafictional protagonist as a stand-in for the fearful to keep the narration light and funny.

Fears are normal, but kids troubled with persistent anxieties may find that this well-executed picture-book bit of bibliotherapy, actually borrowed from the Navy Seals training book, may transfer to handling fears and phobias in the real world. Says Kirkus Reviews, "An ambitious blending of emotional and psychological tools with fantasy that will serve the right reader well."

Savor the Word: How to Read A Book by Kwame Alexander

First find a tree--a Black Tupelo or Dawn Redwood will do. It's okay if you prefer a stoop--like Langston Hughes.

An author usually wants to tell you WHY you should read--preferably his or her own book-- preferably immediately.

But this author wants to tell you HOW to read a book.

And being a poet, by the way, he uses a METAPHOR!

Peel its gentle skin, like you would a clementine.

Dig your thumb into the bottom.
Squeeze every morsel
of each plump line
until the last
drop of magic drips....

The words inside a book are likened to the ripe, juicy sections of a citrus fruit, in Caldecott Medalist's Kwame Alexander's lyrical poem-book about the book, perhaps best read in a tree... or on the front steps... or perhaps in bed, as Alexanders suggests...with another metaphor.

Get cozy, between the covers...

Alexander exhorts his readers not to hurry, to take time to savor how the words go together, to think, imagine, get inside that waking dream that is a story, another time and place where you can inhabit for a while, be someone else, and live a different life before you come to...

THE END.

Winner of the Caldecott Award for his top-selling middle school novel, The Crossover (The Crossover Series), and other noted works (read reviews here) Kwame Alexanader has become a strong advocate for reading and poetry, as he shows in his latest book, illustrated magically by the Caldecott-winning Melissa Sweet. To say artist Sweet uses mixed media for this book is an understatement, as she crafts her collages from found objects, including an old paint can lid, with watercolors and gouache paints and handmade papers and hand-printed text. This new book is clearly a work of love by author and illustrator in their latest, How to Read a Book. (Harper, 2019).

Says Kirkus Reviews, "A linguistic and visual feast."

Love, A Blanket, and a Good Book: Madeline Finn and the Shelter Dog by Lisa Papp

Madeline Finn really, really wanted a puppy. And finally, Mom said yes.

Mrs. Dimple's big shaggy dog Bonnie has three puppies ready to go to new homes. But how can Madeline choose the right one?

"Why don't you see if someone picks you?" says Mrs. Dimple.

So I close my eyes and think of the name I chose. "Star," I whisper, and the littlest one climbs right into my lap.

Mrs. Dimple tells Madeline how she adopted Bonnie at the animal shelter. As she learns how to care for Star, Bonnie feeds her, forgives her for making messes, and gives her a blanket in which Star snuggles while Madeline reads to her. But Madeline worries about the animals at the shelter who have no forever home.

And when she visits the shelter with Mom and Mrs. Dimple, there is Mr. Chips, a dog who doesn't ever wag his tail. There are sad kitties and lonely bunnies with droopy ears.

Madeline goes into motion. She scours the linen closet for soft, old towels for the homeless animals, yet there are not enough for all of them.

When she reads to Star, he makes a soft little woof.

"Does anyone read to the shelter dogs," she asks Mom.

And when Mom sadly doesn't say yes, Madeline knows what to do. She makes posters for the library:

Saturday 10:00

Come read to the shelter animals.

Bring a blanket and a book.

At first, Madeline is the only reader there. But then a crowd of kids with blankets and freshly checked-out library books show up for a Saturday read-in at the animal shelter, in Lisa Papp's Madeline Finn and the Shelter Dog (Peachtree Books, 2019). Papp's gentle storytelling is sweetly personal and perfectly paced, paired with her charming, softly textured pastel illustrations that warm the heart and fill it with compassion for homeless animals. Papp manages to tell a realistic story of one child and her pet while putting in a plug for both shelter animals and their supporters and libraries and reading. Pair this one with Lisa Papp's first Madeline story, Madeline Finn and the Library Dog.

Shakeup? Shakedown? Abner and Ian Get Right-Side Up by Dave Eggers

The curtain has gone up...

and so have the actors, apparently. Abner and Ian are sideways, perpendicular to the earth, itself a vague silhouette on the backdrop.

"Uh-oh."

"What?"

"Can't you see? We're sideways!"

Yes, Dear Reader, it's happened again. You have opened a meta-book, one of those interactive volumes where the characters expect you to do all of the work.

"We can ask that kid," suggests Abner.

"Hey, Kid! Do us a favor. Shake the book, then turn the page!"

Well, they're not stuck on the side of the page anymore. Now they are suspended from the top.

Ian is dubious about the efficacy of under-aged plot movers, but he's getting too woozy to argue.

Luckily, Abner is an experienced reader. He's cites that story where the author tells you to shake the book, and when you do everything is fixed. Ian says he's familiar with the genre, and after some banter, the two manage to cooperate on the cue.

NOW!

Nope! The Kid cooperates, but each shake seems to make things worse. Abner and Ian find themselves joined at the hip in the book's center seam. How do they get out of the gutter? More shakes find them disambiguated and discombobulated. It's time to try something different.

"Kid? Can you turn out the light and count to ten? We'll meet you on page 76."

And finally, Abner and Ian, feet planted on terra firma, should be ready to start the story, in Dave Eggers' latest theater of the absurd picture book, Abner and Ian Get Right-Side Up (Little, Brown and Company, 2019). But will they? Now Abner and Ian need a nap! All they need is for someone to close the book and make it be nice and dark in there. The End.

In this latest, a sort of spoof of Herve' Tullet's graphic metabooks such as Press Here Game and Mix It Up (Interactive Books for Toddlers, Learning Colors for Toddlers, Preschool and Kindergarten Reading Books) and Bill Cotter's Don't Push the Button! and sequels, artist Laura Park lets the illustrations tell the meta-story with some charm and wry humor. This one is a fun read-aloud for grown-ups (who will appreciate some sophisticated asides planted for them by the author) and especially for youngsters who cut their literary teeth on Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggy early reader series. Says Booklist, "A mind changer for anyone who every thought reading was a sedate occupation!"

Doing Time in Titular Limbo? Untitled by Timothy Young

Everybody's a critic! Carlos the Coatimundi and Ignatz the Capybara, nee Porcupine (the illustrator tired of drawing all those quills) are complaining, stuck in a book with no plot, setting, or theme. Marooned on a rock in a barren landscape, the two wannabe heroes long for a storyline in which they bravely battle dragons or monsters, bad hombres on horseback in the Badlands or atrocious octopi from a deep-sea capsule. What are they doing here, lost on big, empty pages, without even a premise?

"I've never seen a book about a coatimundi and a... wait, what are you again?"

"I'm a capybara, the world's largest rodent. He likes drawing lesser-known animals."

Carlos and Ignatz bemoan their lack of an exciting setting, only to find in a quick page turn that their creator has stuck them into a silly little red car in a page from Go, Dog, Go!

They seek refuge in the Children's Room of a library, longing to be the memorable main characters in books by other famous authors-illustrators of books like Make Way for Coatis, Coatimundi in Undies by Dr. Moose, Capybara Underpants by Dav Pilchard, Carlos and Ignatz Are Stuck in a Plothole, by Mac Barnowl and Jon Kinkajou, and Ignatz and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day, by Jaguar Viorst.

""He hardly writes a story. He just relies on characters like us to come up with the dialogue," Carlos kvetches.

And in true Timothy Young form, Ignatz and Carlos remain marooned in the desert of storyland with not a denouement in sight, until--

-- in the oldest plot device ever--DEUS, er, DINO EX MACHINA----they suddenly become dinner for a big, green T. Rex which, with both characters still lamenting a lack of foreshadowing from within its stomach, galumphs off into the sunset.

"Well, I didn't see that coming," says Carlos."

It looks like a setup for Untitled, Too, (The Sequel) in Timothy Young's latest titular spoof of the popular metafiction trope, the story within a story. Young, who professes to be a disciple of Marx Brothers movies, Monty Python, Mad Magazine, and Steve Martin, is in great form in his just-published picture book, Untitled (Schiffer Press, 2019). Author-illustrator of Looney Toon-ish-style parodies such as The Angry Little Puffin, I Hate Picture Books! and If You Give the Puffin a Muffin, Young also provides a double-page spread of library shelves with dozens of take-off titles from classic children's books that will keep young readers giggling as they peruse his parodied titles and authors. This one is a real tour de force of kiddy-lit lampooning for savvy readers to discover in a stealthy lesson in the ever-popular elements of fiction.