Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut: Bowling Alley Bandit by Laurie Keller

I will make a confession: I am not a fan of Laurie Keller. I just don't get her art style and I've never been a fan of her brand of humor. However, I know that kids love, love, love Arnie the Doughnut and her other books. I even had a parent the other day tell me how much she loved the movie "I didn't know there was a book!" Um, yeah, there is. So, despite my personal feelings, when I saw that Arnie was moving into chapter-dom, I picked up a galley to preview.

After his many adventures, Arnie is settling down to belonging to Mr. Bing and being his doughnut-dog. One of Mr. Bing's favorite things to do is go bowling and naturally, Arnie goes along. There's always plenty going on at the bowling alley, but it's especially intense when there's a competition going on. Will Mr. Bing, with the help of Arnie's magic sprinkles, win the day? Or will he be sabotaged by a mysterious ill-wisher? Can Arnie find out what's going on?

The art in this galley is black and white, but I'm not sure if the final edition will be color or not. Honestly, it doesn't really matter. Although it's not to my personal taste, I can perfectly see why kids love Keller and this chapter book will pick up many more fans for this wacky author. Small chunks of text are interspersed with illustrations, speech bubbles, panels, and text in odd fonts and layouts. You'd think that a bowling tournament would be pretty boring, but Keller's silly humor and Arnie's unintentional funnies - like expecting all inanimate objects to talk back to him - make it laugh-out-loud funny.

Verdict: Whether you have Arnie fans or not, quite a few kids will find this easy chapter book a hoot and will be glad to recommend it to their friends and wait eagerly for the sequels. Recommended.

ISBN: 9780805090765; Published June 2013 by Henry Holt/Macmillan; ARC provided by the publisher at ALA Midwinter 2013; Purchased for the library

Nonfiction Monday: Frog Song by Brenda Guiberson, illustrated by Gennady Spirin

Confession: Sometimes I read books in storytime without previewing them. I'll do a quick flip to make sure there's not too much text, and then off we go. Pretty much everyone will tell you this is a bad idea, but it's always worked fine for me.

That's just to say that when I was doing a frog-themed outreach visit back in May, I scooped up a variety of frog books including Frog Song which I'd just received from Junior Library Guild, and pulled it out to read for the first time to a group of four year olds. I had expected that I'd need to skip pages, but to my surprise they were spellbound and we read the entire thing through from beginning to end.

The book opens with a brief paragraph celebrating frog sounds and their love of water and then moves on to describe a series of frogs from the Scarlet-sided pobblebonk of Australia to the Darwin's frog of Chile. Each frog is distinguished by a particular feature of their life cycle or behavior and each description includes a delightful variety of frog sounds. If you are reading this book aloud be prepared to make chirp, brackbrack, buzzzz, and mwaa as you work your way through the frogs. There are sounds for laying eggs and rain, splashing into ponds, and more as well.

While my personal preference for illustrations in nonfiction is photographs, Spirin's rich illustrative style fits well with the lush colors and details of the frogs and their habitats. The pictures are always beautiful, but in some places the setting and backgrounds aren't entirely clear as the atmosphere seems to have overtaken the realism. This didn't seem to bother the kids, who were mostly indifferent to the aesthetics of the art anyways and were more interesting in discussing whether the frogs were farting or pooping (the picture in question is actually of a midwife toad carrying eggs).

There is a section on "frogs of the world" with a cameo of each frog from the illustrations and more facts about each one including their geographic range, length, and a quick fact. There is also a final author's note about the plight of frogs and a bibliography.

Verdict: This is a great addition to nonfiction that can be used in storytime. For kids younger than four, it's easy to pick only a few of the frogs to read about and older kids will enjoy poring over the illustrations to find more details and reading the additional backmatter. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9780805092547; Published 2013 by Henry Holt; Purchased for the library

This week at the library; or, Summer Reading Week 1

Programs

• Summer Reading
• Dance into Summer with Ella Bella Ballerina
• Preschool interactive
• YA Gaming
• Lego Club
• We Explore Boats

Random Commentary

• Summer is in full swing. I still have empty program slots in July, I haven't even looked at the ALA conference schedule, and none of my storytime plans are finished, but we're having fun anyways!
• In addition to the programs list above, Pattie also started back her storytime list (Tiny Tots, 2 sessions of Toddlers 'n' Books, Books 'n' Babies) and I also attended a 3 hour supervisor workshop on Thursday.
• My director misplaced a stack of bills which reminded me...I lost a receipt! Where is it! Panic ensues! Resignation sets in. I must grovel and fill out forms and try to remember everything I bought...swimming pools...cupcake mix....sigh.
• I must have underestimated from last year - we are already running out of bookmarks and we have had to print way more super reading club sheets than I had anticipated.
• On the other hand, almost nobody came to Preschool Interactive. I am trying to imagine a library with no preschool storytime.
• A decent number - about 8 - dropped in to play Wii. It was set up for four hours, so that's about 2 kids an hour and approximately 20 trips up and down the stairs to keep an eye on the room. 65 people showed up to Lego Club, which is about what I expect for summer. It always feels like more because they tend to stay longer than during the school year. Lots of new families, which is exciting.
• In the first step towards my Neighborhoods Manifesto, I have received permission to add series information to our juvenile fiction call #. Yay!
• Great crowd for boats - I have decided to make my summer we explores all drop-ins, similar to messy art club.
• Also had several groups from summer school drop by to pick out books in their *choke* lexile levels. Some we knew were coming, some were a surprise, but they were all well-behaved and at least they're reading!

No Bath, No Cake! Polly's Pirate Party by Matthias Weinert, translated by David Henry Wilson

I am generally not a fan of pirates. I don't like pirate books for the same reason I don't read medieval romances; I simply can't suspend my disbelief. While everyone else is swooning over the romance, I'm thinking "OMG NO PLUMBING". I've read several histories of pirates and privateers and several books about modern-day pirates and a subject less-suited to a cute kids' book I cannot imagine.

However! Sometimes it really does work well and I have to put aside my prejudices. North-South is one of my favorite small publishers and this is a little gem of a book with a delightful translation.

Four pirates are excited to get an invitation to Polly's birthday party - but Pete the Parrot says they can't go until they take a bath, get some smart clothes, choose a suitable present (girls have to have cute dollies) and wrap it. Finally, they get to the party, only to be greeted by an infuriated Polly who invited pirates, not these strangers! and was hoping for a good present, not a stupid doll! Shortly afterward, Pete the Parrot is tied to the mast, the pirates are back in their comfortable clothes, and their original presents of a saber, cannon, rope, and a wooden leg are joyfully accepted. "It was a wonderful birthday party after all...and they had tons and tons of cake."

The illustrations are delightfully detailed with lots of humor and sly jokes. Most of them are presented as small cameos within the page, each illustrating the text below. The pirates' outrage as Pete forces them to bathe "No bath, no cake!" dress up, "No smarty, no party!" and purchase a suitable present is hilarious.

I read this to several 4k classes to test it out and I will admit that it's not an ideal read-aloud book for a large group. They did enjoy it - especially the scenes with the pirates in their underwear - but the pictures are really too detailed for group reading and would work best one-on-one. There were also gasps of horror at the use of the word "stupid" although the kids had no problem yelling "they're all fat!" when the pirates came out full of cake.

Verdict: While not the perfect storytime book, this is the perfect book for a silly read-aloud one-on-one or with a very small group that can get up close and see the details. Older children who can pick up on the humor will especially enjoy this title. I do occasionally buy titles that aren't storytime material and this one is definitely going on my order list.

ISBN: 9780735841123; Published 2012 by North-South; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library

Twinky the dinky dog by Kate Klimo, illustrated by Michael Fleming

Twinky is tired of being treated like a toy dog. He wants to be a big dog and do big dog things. But can he convince the big dogs that he's not a dinky dog?

The basic plot is not a new one - there are plenty of books about little fancy dogs wanting to be treated like big dogs - but the mischievous rhymes and delightful illustrations make this a stand-out treatment of the classic plot.

The rhymes are interspersed among the normal easy reader text as Twinky goes from being a big dog only in his own head to being accepted by the other big dogs and finally by his owner. There's also a nice and very subtle lesson; although the other dogs initially laugh at them, they also welcome him and teach him big-dog rules once he explains what he wants. In other words, the other dogs judge him by his actions, not by his size.

Fleming's illustrations are a nice fit for the story with lots of blocky and colorful shapes. Although the art is simple, there's enough detail included, especially in Twinky's face and ears, to illustrate the emotions he's going through. They're also super cute!

Verdict: This is a fun new easy reader that will make a great addition to any easy reader collection. Kids who like funny stories and dogs will pick this one up and I'd also suggest it to parents looking for titles to gently teach kids about not judging by appearances and welcoming kids who are different.

ISBN: 9780307976673; Published May 2013 by Random House; Review copy provided by the publisher; Purchased for the library

Nonfiction Monday: A selection of rabbits

 This week I'm looking at rabbits, but with less success than my examination of squirrels. It's really, really hard to find good books on wild rabbits.

The first title is in a series entitled How do we live together? This is a very simplistic title that mainly focuses on how people coexist with rabbits. One of the photographs looked a lot like a hare to me, but I could be wrong. Another shows an adorably cute little bunny sitting in a live animal trap and the caption reads "Traps are not a very nice way to get rid of rabbits." There are a few suggestions on how to keep rabbits out of gardens and then the book ends by saying "It is our job to find ways to live with rabbits. Then we can all enjoy spending time together outdoors." The audience for this book is unlikely to care that rabbits eat crops and the solutions are only going to work for a small garden anyways. This series seems kind of pointless.

Next, we're back to the Backyard Wildlife easy reader series. This one is ok, but still too simplistic for what I'm looking for. Also, the rabbit pictured on the cover looks like a Rex or Satin domesticated rabbit, not a wild rabbit. Pass on this one as well - it's not worth $20 of my budget.

The last book I found is from a series called See How They Grow and while it contains the most comprehensive information on rabbits' life cycle and habits, it's mostly geared towards pet owners with sections on domestic rabbits, how to choose a pet, and how to take care of pet rabbits. I already have quite a few books on pet rabbits and don't need any more.

Verdict: This was an unsuccessful review. No other libraries had any current titles on wild rabbits for me to borrow, so I'm going to have to buy blind and hope I get something good. 

How do we live together? Rabbits by Katie Marsico
ISBN: 9781602796225; Published 2010 by Cherry Lake

Backyard Wildlife: Rabbits by Derek Zobel
ISBN: 9781600144431; Published 2010 by Bellwether Media

See how they grow: See how rabbits grow by Kathryn Walker
ISBN: 9781435828315; Published 2009 by Power Kids Press

This week at the library; or, Summer Countdown (hope there's no explosion at the end of it)

Programs

• School Visits
• Summer Reading
• Summer Reading Kick-Off: Welty Environmental Center, Wiggly Worms

Random Commentary

• Monday - I visited the 6th grade at the middle school, presentations at 8am, 9am, 10am, and noon. This is why I'm not a teacher; I could never get up that early every day! I feel that 7am is the ideal time to arise. I got to the school around 7:30, just in time for a fire alarm drill. The first group is always a bit meh (I'm not the only person who doesn't like being up that early), the 9am group is 100 kids and I only have 20 minutes, the last two groups are more awake and alert. Some of the teachers said they'd like to come to the library next year and I am all for anything that A. does not involve me trucking 3 milk crates of books on my dolly all over the place and B. has the kids checking out books.
• Then we had a staff meeting, paperwork and training for my new aide, etc. Happily, my director had volunteered to take my Monday evening at the desk, so me and my tired feet got to go home at 5.
• Tuesday - Westside school visit, last away-from-the-library visit! Lots of very, very enthusiastic readers - the 1st graders wanted to cheer wildly after every book that I showed and the kindergarteners were so excited they simply couldn't sit still! On the down side, apparently fifths disease is running through the school. I picked that up from the daycare kids last year and it was MISERABLE (yes, I know adults aren't supposed to get it). I will now bathe myself in disinfectant.
• Wednesday - 80 5th graders from Jackson came for a tour, scavenger hunt, and booktalking, plus a lecture on "How Not to Get Kicked Out of the Library When You Are Sixth Graders" My director ran the tour and scavenger hunt, and I did the talking. We split them in half and then switched. I do need to remember to split the candy in half - we mysteriously ran out for the second group. Otherwise it went really well. School visits DONE!
• Thursday - all sorts of misc. last minute things and 3 hours on the desk, during which I worked on my never-ending series project.
• Friday - last minute run to walmart, found swimming pools, YAY. Finished preparing for summer reading, processed all my new books, filled all the displays, cleaned out the Storyroom.
• Saturday - Summer reading begins! I borrowed a staff member to supervise the Welty Environmental Center program in the community room (they did Wiggly Worms and it was great - about 60 people) and I did "sign-up" i.e. hand out materials and explain programs in the lobby with Anna, our adult svs librarian doing the adults (and covering for me when I had to go somewhere, which happened frequently b/c Parks and Rec booked someone over us in the Community Room) It's so much easier now that we only count participation, not registration. Makes things a lot faster. I went through Super Reader Club forms really fast, but not many Rubber Ducky Readers (they'll sign up at storytime next week).
• Click here for a photo album of the Welty Center program. If you live in Wisconsin or Illinois, within driving distance of Beloit, I strongly recommend their programs!
• Our windows were inspired by this bulletin board from Miss Meg's Storytime
• HA remembered what I forgot that I wanted to remember - have a laptop available for people to sign up for programs, the information desk got too busy.

Boris on the move by Andrew Joyner

This Branches title is easier than several of the others and reads almost like an easy reader, not a chapter book.

Boris lives in a bus. Once upon a time, his parents traveled the world in their bus. But then he came along and the bus was parked for good. He's never been outside Hogg Bay. Boris dreams of adventure and one day...the bus is on the move! Boris is hoping they end up in Africa, but it turns out they're just going to the Greater Hogg Bay Conservation Park. But it turns out there's adventure everywhere - not to mention new friends.

The bright, cheerful colors of the illustrations make this simple story really pop and there's plenty of jokes and humor to keep kids interested. Again, this isn't a stand-out, must-have series but if you have an unending need for beginning chapter books, this will do well for the younger readers.

Verdict: There are a lot of simple elements in this story, but they all come together neatly to make a story that kids will enjoy and parents will approve. I'd put this in easy readers for the kids who aren't quite ready for chapter books yet.

ISBN: 9780545484428; Published May 2013 by Scholastic; ARC provided by publisher at ALA Midwinter 2013; Purchased for the library.

Looniverse: Stranger Things by David Lubar, illustrated by Matt Loveridge

Now we're moving over to the "boy-themed" side of the Branches series. It's hard to call it anything else when the two series featuring girls are all about fashion and bffs and the series featuring boys are about Things Happening. However.

Popular author David Lubar takes on this series and we meet Ed, a boring, normal kid. But when he finds a mysterious coin...he's still a boring, normal kid. It's everyone else around him who's gone loony! Flying kids, super-strength, and all sorts of weird things happen. Will Ed get rid of the coin and all the strangeness in the world? Will his friends ever want to be around him again? Or will they realize that even boring, normal Ed has something a little...loony about him?

Lubar seems to have two speeds, wacky-funny and creepy-funny. This falls into the wacky-funny camp. I will admit that I didn't think much of it the first time I read it through, but looking at it again I think a lot of that was due to the illustrations, which aren't very good. They seem to be going for a cartoonish look, but just fall into the amateurish range with the slightly distorted faces and big eyes. Not as many beginning chapter readers go for the wacky-funny as most people seem to think, but Lubar is a pretty strong author and I have lots of fans of his Weenie series.

Verdict: I think this one is worth trying, especially if Scholastic eventually picks a better illustrator or the illustrations actually look better in the finished book, which is entirely possible.

ISBN: 9780545496025; Published May 2013 by Scholastic; ARC provided by publisher at ALA Midwinter 2013; Purchased for the library

Nonfiction Monday

Welcome to Nonfiction Monday! Please leave your posts in the comments and I will arrange them in exquisite order throughout the day.

100s: Ghosts, aliens, sasquatches and other things that aren't real...or ARE THEY?

• All about the books with Janet Squires features Jim Arnosky's Monster Hunt

300s: Money, Government, and their friends, Disasters and Military

• Jeff Barger at NC Teacher Stuff has a look at National Geographic's Everything Money

500s: Science, Math, and Wiiiild Animals!

• Resh at Stacking Books has a review of Jim Arnosky's Thunder Birds
• Laura Salas has a review of Finding Hope
• My own contribution is a selection of books about squirrels (reminds me I need to pick up more wire)
• Ami at A Mom's Spare Time has How do Hot Air Balloons Work?
• Sonderbooks has a review of Wild Horse Scientists

700s: It's the Arts! Sports, Entertainment, and Stuff You Can Do

• Ms. Yingling has a recommendation for Lego Minifigures Character Encyclopedia to go with her review of (fiction) Otis Dooda
• Roberta at Wrapped in Foil is back with Everybody Moves, a book to inspire kids to get up and move!
• The Cath in the Hat has Sneaky Art, full of fun crafty ideas for the summer
• Anastasia Suen Book of the Day: Hoop Genius, about the creation of basketball
• Tammy at Apples with Many Seeds has something a little different - Imagination Illustrated, the Jim Henson Journal
• Two baseball books, two authors - Cindy Dobrez and Lynn Rutan review You never heard of Willie Mays? and Miracle Mud at Bookends

900s: History, Geography, Culture: It happened when? It happened where? What happened?

• Tara at A Teaching Life has a book list of Civil War titles she uses in teaching
• Jeanne Walker Harvey at True Tales and a Cherry on Top features Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors, a picture book biography of Elizabeth Blackwell
• Alex Baugh at Randomly Reading has a review of Cowboy Up! Ride the Navajo Rodeo