You Can't Believe Everything You Read! If You Ever Want to Bring A Circus to the Library, DON'T! by Elise Parsley

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING AT THE LIBRARY!

You can't believe everything you read, even a sign at the library.

But Magnolia is a girl with a thing for BIG IDEAS, and when she sees that summer reading festival sign, she suddenly sees herself as a circus impressario. Get ready, laddies and lassies, all you little library patrons. Cue the circus march! It's ...

MAGNOLIA'S CIRCUS--THE GREATEST SHOW YOU'VE NEVER SEEN!

Magnolia mounts the high wire for a twirl and a leap... and a fall....

The crowd gasps, but our Maggie bounces up, and with a wave of her hand, announces firmly...

You can do anything in the library--except CLAP!

Send in the CLOWNS! Magnolia takes a pie in the face with elan! But she shushes her audience.

You can do anything in the library--except CLAP and CHEER!

Some other traditional circus activities run into conflict with the library staff. Concessions, for example. The crowd is rowdy and especially messy with the popcorn and peanuts.

Magnolia tries to wow the crowd into silence with her piece de resistance--the human cannonball act!

The crowd waits, hushed, as the countdown continues: 5-4-3-2-1-??

Just so you know, if your cannon is a dud, you'll hear...

BOOOOOO!

By now, Magnolia's circus crowd is out of control. She quickly looks around for something to distract them before they riot!  She's pretty sure you can do anything in the library except clap, cheer, and RIOT!

She spots a booktruck nearby, loaded for shelving, and grabs a likely-looking book and...

Magnolia starts to read aloud.

The rapt kids are seemingly enchanted. Suspense builds as the three goats gruff, one by one, trip-trap across the bridge. Magnolia has the kids in the palm of her hand-- until there is a sudden misfire of her cannon....

BOOOOOMBA!

A misfiring cannon can make a mess of your neighborhood library, in Elise Parsley's latest in her Magnolia Says Don't series, If You Ever Want to Bring a Circus to the Library, Don't! (Little, Brown and Company, 2017).  Don't believe everything you read is Magnolia's new mantra, as she carefully crafts a new library poster--YOU CAN READ A NICE, QUIET BOOK IN THE LIBRARY.

Elise Parsley's third tall tale of what NOT to do takes advantage of her penchant for conceiving a character capable of instantly concocting capricious and absurd adventures, as she did in her top-selling If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't! and If You Ever Want to Bring a Piano to the Beach, Don't! (see reviews here). Magnolia is a girl who apparently always learns the hard way, and Parsley's wild digital illustrations and near disasters scenes are kid-pleasing slapstick action and visual jokes. This one will be popular for Library Week readalouds.

She Still Loves Books: Miss Brooks' Story Nook by Barbara Bottner

MISS BROOKS HAS STORY NOOK FIRST THING BEFORE SCHOOL, AND I DON'T LIKE TO MISS IT.

BUT WHENEVER I TAKE A SHORTCUT PAST BILLY TOOMEY'S HOUSE, HE GRABS MY HAT AND YELLS, "I'M GOING TO GET YOU, MISSY!"

IT'S VEXING.

But this morning it's raining and Missy makes it to Story Nook just in time. But before Miss Brooks. decked out in pirate hat and eyepatch, can start reading her seadog tale to the early birds, with a clap of thunder the lights go out!

Being a crackerjack librarian, Miss Brooks improvises instantly.

"IT'S TOO DARK TO READ. SO LET'S HUDDLE IN CLOSE AND MAKE UP OUR OWN TALES," SAID MISS BROOKS. "EVERYONE HAS A TALE TO TELL."

"I GOT NOTHING!" MISSY SAID.

With complaints from Plum, who prefers a kitty story, Violet, who wants ghost stories, and Wilbur, who demands there be aliens, Miss Brooks points out that all stories begin with an interesting character and a problem that requires action. Missy knows that kitties, ghosts, and even aliens can't solve her Billy Toomey problem, so she goes for broke.

"AN OGRE LIVES DOWN THE STREET FROM ME. SHE HAS A BUNCH OF WILD ANIMALS!"

Miss Brook draws out more details, and before she knows it, Missy is clearly skewering Billy Toomey. Her ogre is named Graciela, and she has scary pets in her basement--hyenas, lions, alligators, and a giant snake that escapes from its cage. Plum quails at this development and whispers that kittens would be nicer.

Miss Brooks points out that Missy needs to keep developing her plot. Glad to comply, Missy cheerfully has the giant snake slither into Billy's house and constrict him so tightly his eyes pop.

"WHY CAN'T THERE BE KITTENS?" WHIMPERED PLUM.

Missy ignores the interruptions, and goes on to have her lion dispatch Graciela the Ogre. The End, she thinks.

But there're no shortage of literary critics in that story circle.

"WHY WOULD YOU GET RID OF GRACIELA? SHE WASN'T BOTHERING ANYBODY!" SAID PLUM.

"SHE GETS ON HER SPACESHIP AND RETURNS TO HER PLANET..." OFFERED WILBUR. "THE GHOST PLANET...." ADDS VIOLET.

"I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO THAT SNAKE," SAID MISS BROOKS.

Miss Brooks suggests that there are some loose ends dangling in Missy's plot. That snake is still loose, and presumably Billy Toomy survives to snatch her hat the next time she takes a shortcut to school. What Missy's story needs, she points out, is a satisfying ending, a resolution.

Barbara Bottner's newest tale, Miss Brooks' Story Nook (where tales are told and ogres are welcome) (Random House, 2014), is a satisfying sequel to her best-selling Miss Brooks Loves Books (And I Don't) (see review here) continuing the account of Missy, the former book hater, who is now also a storyteller whose hat is strangely safe from Billy Toomey, thanks to her inspired conclusion just for Billy. Michael Emberley again does the artistic honors in clever and comic portrayals of the Bottner's "interesting" characters and plenty of snicker-provoking details that illustrate the twists and turns of Missy's story for kids to peruse.

"Characters come alive with distinct voices and appearances, and the twin plots flow smoothly, if purposively, to the requisite "happy ending," reports Kirkus Reviews.

And for special celebrations of reading and libraries, pair this one with Bonnie Becker's just published A Library Book for Bear (Bear and Mouse). for a whang-dang-doodle duo.

Card Me! Amelia Bedelia's First Library Card by Herman Parish

"NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE LIBRARY," SAID THE LADY IN THE LOBBY.

AMELIA BEDELIA FINISHED HER JUICE BOX. SHE LOOKED AROUND FOR A PLACE TO PUT IT.

Little Amelia spots a receptacle with a monster with a slot which forms his wide mouth and a sign that says "FEED ME!"

Neat, she thinks. This library has a trash can just for kids, and she stuffs the juice box through the monster's mouth, just as the library lady brings the group over to show them where to return books. Uh, Oh! Amelia Bedelia is embarrassed to think of her sticky juice box dripping inside the book return box with the returned books.

But the children's librarian is cool.

"WE'LL CHECK THIS IN TO THE TRASH," SHE SAYS.

Next Mrs. Reilly says it's time to visit the stacks.

AMELIA BEDELIA DIDN'T SEE ANY STACKS!

Little Amelia is still looking for stacks of something as they head for the Children's Room, where the librarian reminds the children that if they return their books after the date due, they'll get a FINE. Well, Amelia Bedelia thinks, that beats a TERRIBLE, any day!

In the ongoing adventures of the first-grader Amelia Bedelia, there's many a misunderstanding, a ton of puns, and a mix of malapropisms in the process of acquiring her first library card and taking care of her first library book.  Into each life some rain must fall, and little Amelia finds that books can get wet in a thunderstorm as quickly as she can, but the Bedelia family soon has a new bibliophile in Herman Parish's latest, Amelia Bedelia's First Library Card (Greenwillow, 2013).  With a beguiling character like the young Amelia Bedelia, piquantly portrayed by illustrator Lynn Avril, and a useful introduction to the process of becoming a proper public library patron, this latest in the Young Amelia Bedelia series makes a great lead-in to a visit to the library for individual kids or class field trips.