Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Welcome to Silver Street Farm by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Katherine McEwen

I saw a recommendation for a later book in this series and thought I'd start with the first one. I'm always looking for new beginning chapter series that will be popular but are something a little different.

This is Nicola Davies' first fiction series, all her other titles being nonfiction or poetry. It includes a lot of the things that Davies feels strongly about; animal rights, urbanization, and getting kids to have hands on experience and care about the world around them.

Gemma, Meera, and Karl love animals and can think of nothing better than having their own farm. There's just one problem; they all live in small apartments in the city. Then they hear about an abandoned train station that sounds perfect, and it's great timing since Karl's aunt accidentally buys a couple sheep. Suddenly animals are showing up left and right and everything is falling into place. But then the city council tells the children that they're planning to tear down the station and build a new car park. Will they have to give up their farm?

I really liked that Davies included a variety of characters without making a big deal out of it, or creating one of those girl group series where it seems like they're trying to bring to life one of those "dolls of all nations" sets. These are just kids who like animals and are friends. The story is pretty much pure wish fulfillment from beginning to end, but it's no less enjoyable for that. The kids just happen to have the requisite knowledge to care for the different animals they collect, there just happens to be a local news source that wants to promote their story, the whole city backs them up in creating a city farm, and the stereotypically evil city councilors immediately back down. At the end of the story, a farm manager shows up out of the blue - and informs them that she doesn't need to be paid.

Verdict: Not every story has to be realistic, and kids who love animals will revel in the joyful fantasy of having their own farm. The story is funny and only devolves into didactism in a couple places. As a debut beginning chapter book it's quite passable. If you already have the standard animal lovers' beginning chapter books (Daisy Dawson, Lulu, Down Girl and Sit, and Sophie) and need more in this genre, this is one worth considering.

ISBN: 9780763658311; Published 2011 by Candlewick; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Added to the library's order list

Monday, July 29, 2013

Nonfiction Monday: Deadly! The truth about the most dangerous creatures on earth by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Neal Layton

This little book with its quirky facts and humorous illustrations joins a series of nonfiction collaborations between Nicola Davies and Neal Layton. Previous titles include Poop, Extreme Animals, What's Eating You and Just the right size.

This book tackles deadly and dangerous animals. Not just big predators like sharks and bears, but smaller bugs and other animals. The book begins with a chart of the animals that will be covered and their danger factors, then moves on to more details. There are big cats, dogs and wolves, sharks, crocodiles, a variety of undersea creatures, winged predators, snakes, and a selection of bugs and insects. Some are deadly to humans, some only to other animals. The final chapters discuss how humans live - or die - with deadly predators, from milking snakes of their venom to the destruction of sharks worldwide. The book also includes an index and glossary.

Davies' writing style in this book is a perfect match for Neal Layton's gory caricatures. The book talks honestly but in a humorous way about the dangers of these animals and how, despite their deadly abilities, they are often at risk from humans or misunderstood. There are pictures of a crocodile ripping apart a zebra, exploding ants, shocking electric eels, and more.

Verdict: This will appeal both to kids who like weird and gross facts and to those who like serious nonfiction. While my preference is for photographs in nonfiction, the pictures in this book do suit the writing style and will attract kids who want something that looks funny as well as informative. 

ISBN: 9780763662318; Published 2013 by Candlewick; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library

Saturday, July 27, 2013

This week at the library; or, The Week That Time Forgot

Programs
Random Commentary
  • Staff meeting on Monday and general craziness the rest of the time. We're swinging into the final stretch and time has seemingly stopped. Of course, the crazy business of summer has not prevented me from starting plans for the fall! I'm trying to focus on the positive, but it's been a very frustrating couple of weeks. Fortunately, I have a lovely storage area/puppet theater in my Storyroom with thick curtains that muffle the screams nicely.
  • I'm working on putting together a plan for "neighborhoods" in my library. If you're interested, take a look and tell me what you think! I have already run it by several library friends and the other department heads and gotten a thumbs up, but I still have to convince my director. https://www.sites.google.com/site/jllprogrammingresources/home/neighborhood-manifesto
  • Friday was much more peaceful than I had expected - fortunately (for me, if for no one else) it poured rain and I didn't have to do a program at the town's summer festival, we just hung out in the Storyroom instead. I did have to fiddle with the urinal, but no bodily functions were actually involved, so it could have been worse.
  • Saturday was...well, Saturday. Crazy. How can I think with all this crazy going on?
  • To relieve the tension, I give you Funny Things Kids Say and also cute pictures.
  • Summer reading is still too easy - we need to add lasers!
    • Kid 1: "I've read more than 14 hours already, I've finished the whole super reader log!"
    • Me: "We should have another program, huh? What comes after you're a super reader?"
    • Kid 1: "Yes! The MUTANTS" (obviously a superhero fan)
  • The Lego police: Kid 2 talking to Kid 3 by the Legos (everyone's a critic)
    • Somebody broke that one!
    • Why did somebody break it?
    • I don't know. You should fix it.
    • Hey, I like this wheel one
    • I don't like the design, it could be better
My new pet. Just cuz it's cool
I read 1,000 books!

Great Scott - hieroglyphics

Great Scott

William the Pharaoh

Max the monkey did not behave

Friday, July 26, 2013

Grasshopper Magic by Lynne Jonell, illustrated by Brandon Dorman

I generally don't review sequels, but I picked this one up without realizing it was the third in a series and it seems to stand well enough on its own.

The general premise of the series seems to be that there's magic in the ground under and around the house of the four willow kids, Abner, Tate, Celia and Derek. In the two previous stories, the magic involved hamsters and lawn mowers. In this story, obviously, it's all about grasshoppers.

Abner accidentally finds himself signed up to be a major part of the town's historical parade and he isn't looking forward to it at all, especially having to read a speech in front of a lot of people. His siblings decide the best way for him to conquer his fear is by testing his bravery and it just so happens they have the perfect thing for him to try...roasted grasshoppers!

Unfortunately, they all temporarily forget about the magic underground...and that grasshoppers start out as underground larva! A lot of crunching later, Abner and Tate has some serious hopping ability. It's all fun and games until they realize someone else might be affected too. Abner gets a chance to realize he really is brave when it matters, whether it be saving a baby or ignoring the taunts of other kids, and they all have some wild, high-jumping experiences.

At 100 pages, this is an easy, friendly fantasy for kids ready for longer chapters. It's not perfect - the whole thing wraps up way too neatly, there are a lot of random plot ends that could have been cleaned up, and there are too many kids for any of them to really develop as characters, but it's a light, fun fantasy that kids will zip through and enjoy. An additional purchase.

ISBN: 9780375870842; Published May 2013 by Stepping Stone/Random House; ARC and review copy provided by the publisher

Saturday, July 20, 2013

This week at the library; or, Book Sale week!

Programs
Random Commentary
  • It's all downhill from here. Monday went by in a swirl (heh heh) of toilet plunging, minor catastrophes, and general Mondayishness.
  • We had an awesome group for Duke Otherwise on Tuesday and he was a great performer, very fun, friendly, and connected wonderfully with the kids, I hope we'll have him back again for future Storywagons. We had 82 kids and parents (for our town that means about 60 kids and 20 adults btw) which is a really good number for a performer we haven't had before.
  • Then we had an "accident" in the children's area, a chat with a patron reminded me that I need to turn in a local grant request NOW, I found out Pattie will be out of town and I've got 3 storytimes to cover in two weeks and our director brought back news of a particularly....exciting city council meeting. I am thinking I better recreate my resume and references (lost when my computer crashed) now rather than later.
  • Wednesday. Had a good group for storytime, too hot to think or really do anything though. So. Hot.
  • Thursday. Starting with the little girl who cut her hand on the youth services desk (whatever idiot thought sharp corners on the children's desk was a good idea?), continuing with a whole mess surrounding the community room (it's in the library, but booked through parks and recreation and a whole bunch of other stuff involved with that is going on) and then standing outside in the sun for Messy Art Club. I ended about 15 minutes early b/c everybody had left.
  • Friday. I repeated the same thing for We Explore that I did for Messy Art Club. Fortunately, it was a little cooler. Not much, but a little. Friday's catastrophe was the appearance of huge, sopping wet stains on the children's area carpet. They are a total mystery. They are HUGE, several feet in diameter and soaking wet. We are baffled.

Oz display made by my aide
Oz display and movie poster

Emerald City of Oz

Storywagon: Duke Otherwise
 



 

Friday, July 19, 2013

Saturday is Dadurday by Robin Pulver, illustrated by R. W. Alley

I thought this was going to be another one of those saccharine mommy (or in this case daddy) love books and avoided it for some time. I should have realized that Robin Pulver's conventional but cheery stories and Alley's endearing pen and ink style would not let me down.

Mimi loves her special days with her dad. Every Saturday is Dadurday and together they plan wonderful adventures, from making pancakes to going to the library. But what will happen to Dadurday when Dad's work schedule changes?

Pulver and Alley have created a story that's sweet without being saccharine. Kids and parents will easily recognize their own feelings of disappointment and frustration when things don't work out. I loved that the author portrayed so clearly a child's devastation when a tradition that they've come to expect ends and the frustration with grown-up concerns that don't make sense in their world. There's no happily-ever-after where Dad's schedule gets changed back and everything comes right, but Mimi manages her own happy ending, growing up a little as she learns to be flexible and see things from another perspective.

There's plenty of solid cheeriness in Alley's illustrations showing the mischievous dog, tired Dad, and exhausted Mom, not to mention the twins, but the real genius of the pictures is the simple delight the reader sees in the bond between father and daughter as they celebrate Dadurday together in many different ways.

Verdict: Of course this will be a popular choice around Father's Day, but it makes a sweet father-daughter read any time of the year. The best storytime audience will need to be a little older, say kindergarten to pick up all the details of the story and empathize with Mimi's feelings and actions.

ISBN: 9780802786913; Published 2013 by Walker Books/Bloomsbury; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Added to the library's order list

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Flying Beaver Brothers and the Mud Slinging Moles; Birds Vs. Bunnies by Maxwell Eaton III

Since I got a galley that included both of the next Flying Beaver Brothers books, I'm going to do a double review today. I loved the first Flying Beaver Brother books and I'm SO EXCITED to see more.

First, volume 3, Mud-Slinging Moles! I had to admit, I was a little disappointed by this volume. Ace and Bub are just hanging out on their island when suddenly giant gloppy sink holes start appearing and things begin sinking! They make a journey to see the all-knowing, wise marmot, but he's not much help. Fortunately, they wind up discovering the culprits - confused and confusing moles - and also realize they need to work together as brothers to get things done.

There's nothing wrong with the story, it's just...bland. I'm not sure orange was the best color scheme for the mud-themed adventure and it's not as well laid out as previous stories, so it's kind of confusing. Just kind of meh.

Now the fourth volume, Birds vs. Bunnies, is awesome. Like the first two stories, it's unique and funny. Although the plot of this volume isn't as original as the others, Eaton gives it a fresh spin and his own tongue-in-cheek humor and I giggled my way through with joy.

Bub and Ace think life is great and spending a week on Little Beaver Island relaxing will make it even better. But when they get there, they discover the birds and bunnies are in the middle of a rapidly escalating fight. Are they just too different to ever get along, or is there a mysterious person amping up the tensions?

Several giant mechanical contrivances, a lot of confusion, and one mysterious mastermind later, Bub and Ace have reunited the birds and bunnies and everything is peaceful once more...maybe.

This series is turning quite rainbow-hued and this fourth volume goes all out in the purple department. Although the basic plot isn't particularly unique, it's the clever details and deadpan humor that sets it apart and makes this a hilarious read for kids and grown-ups alike. You wouldn't think it was possible to get subtleties of expression in the thick lines and blunt art of Eaton's style, but it's amazing how much he can express with just a turn of the head and a few panels.

Verdict: While the Mud Slinging Moles was a bit disappointing, Birds vs. Bunnies more than makes up for it and you'll want to collect the whole series. It's a great beginning chapter book series for emergent and beginning readers with it's simple art and text, but the subtle humor will make older kids and even adults enjoy reading these over and over again and giggling every time. A great addition to the solid color, small format graphic line that includes Babymouse, Lunch Lady, Squish, and B. C. Mambo.

Mud-Slinging Moles
ISBN: 9780449810194; Published July 2013 by Alfred A. Knopf/Random House; ARC provided by publisher at ALA Annual 2013; Purchased for the library

Birds vs. Bunnies
ISBN: 9780449810224; Published July 2013 by Alfred A. Knopf/Random House; ARC provided by publisher at ALA Annual 2013; Purchased for the library

Saturday, July 13, 2013

This week at the library; or, Annnd, the craziness (and the police) are back

Programs
Random Commentary
  • Finally got all the pictures up for the Stuffed Animal Sleepover
  • Monday was crazy. We broke our no police streak, staff meeting, and....stuff. However, all the toilets are unplugged! It's nice while it lasts...
  • Tuesday, another very, very busy day. The Storywagon was awesome and I definitely plan to hire them again on my own.
  • I'm feeling kind of frustrated that I didn't get all my summer programs planned ahead of time like I was trying to do back in May. I didn't finish planning and preparing Wednesday morning's storytime until...Wednesday morning. But there simply aren't enough hours in the day and with all the issues and emergencies and unexpected drama of the spring, I simply didn't have time. So, flying by the seat of my pants here. Not my favorite thing, but at least I have enough of a backlog of storytimes that I am not planning them from scratch.
  • My director was going to supervise YA Gaming, since her office is across from the teen room, but she had a meeting come up at the last minute, so I had to race up and down the stairs for the first couple hours until she got back. Not that many kids actually came, but the less supervision the more misbehavior there will be...last time I actually worked on stuff in the teen room for a lot of the afternoon, but I wasn't able to do that this time b/c everything I needed to do was downstairs. Of course, adults complained that the kids were too noisy, yet another reason why our teen area is badly situated, although some of the complaints were just.... Anyways, I will probably not do gaming again in this room, much as I would like to. 
  • I am feeling really frustrated. Everything I tried to do something else came up and derailed it. Realized we were running out of 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten folders, discovered I was out of the labels that have to be sent out to a printer (or so I think, the way this week is going they will suddenly show up again somewhere). One of my aides was sick and I am still training the other, which is stressful for both of us as we figure out what we're doing, so not having a second person there to take care of the rapidly accumulated shelving...something I had planned for Friday fell through and I had to run around and plan something else. Suddenly realized I did my math incorrectly and we were going to be short of summer reading prizes soon so I had to select and re-order things. All minor things, but just...frustrating. I am very frustrated right now, if you didn't get the message.
  • I am trying to be happy with small victories and let the stress roll off with little things - like my successful readers' advisory today. Girl only wants to read Babymouse, mom only wants her to read chapter books on her level. Solution: Compromise with Dragonbreath and Bad Kitty and everyone is happy!
  • Thursday - toilets plugged again. WHY?? I am now the official library toilet plunger. Can I put that on my resume? 49 people showed up to Lego Club, but we're also putting a sound system in the community room, so I jammed everybody into half the room. It was cozy, but nobody complained.
  • I left after my program on Friday morning (with my director's permission). I went to Walmart for needed program supplies and then home to get the materials for the quilting program in August ready. It's not practical to lug all my cutting boards and ironing boards to work and I had to do the prep now so I could purchase and prepare whatever additional material was needed.
  • Which I will do this weekend.
  • and yes, i found the labels. typical.
Puppet Story Theater
The pillow puppets

Ms. Kate and her old lady story apron

Old man and the bluebird

How the duster puppet is made

What's under the blanket?

It's a bird!

I can see something at the edge...

It's the boogie-man! This was our favorite part, the kids loved the marionette

Friday, July 12, 2013

Dig, Scoop, Ka-Boom! by Joan Holub, illustrated by David Gordon

Sometimes simple is the best. It can be difficult to find really simple, basic easy readers. Apart from Mo Willems and Ethan Long, they tend to be bland, boring, or the vocabulary is way too advanced. I am getting more and more parents asking for really simple easy readers with just a few words per page (thank you 4k and your push to make all the kids read earlier) so I am looking even harder for level 1 easy readers that are truly easy.

I was delighted when this showed up on my desk and I discovered that not only is it super easy, it's a subject kids will enjoy with attractive pictures. Each page has one to two short sentences that rhyme with the sentences on the facing page, "Rocks are big. They can't stay./Loader lifts them all away."

As you can tell from the cover, it's all about construction machines, with a different machine illustrated in bold colors on each spread. In the final pages, the reader sees the construction vehicles are actually toys being used by kids in a sandbox.One of the five children and one of the two parents have darker skin and two of the children are girls. The adults change (clothes and skin colors) in the next spread, so presumably there's more parents off-scene in the first picture, but it's a little confusing. Stickers are included in the paperback version I received for review, but I'm assuming they wouldn't be in the hardcover or library bound editions.

Verdict: A good simple reader for kids who like machines and construction. Nice bold text and illustrations, simple vocabulary with some new words for the kids to try. An excellent addition to your easy reader collection. Buy it!

ISBN: 9780375869105 (pb edition); Published June 2013 by Random House; Review copy provided by publisher; Added to my order list for the library

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Benny Breakiron in the Red Taxis by Peyo

Papercutz has brought another classic comic strip from Peyo (creator of Smurfs) to the US. Personally, I really enjoyed this story. I like the slapstick humor and old-fashioned design of French comics. However, I can't really see buying this for kids at my library.

Benny Breakiron, a sort of French Dennis the Menace with superpowers, is having an average day and visiting his friend, Monsieur Dussiflard, the taxi driver. Then he discovers that a new fleet of red taxis, owned by Mister Hairynose, is putting Dussiflard out of business. Benny is suspicious and rightly so; it's not long before he and Dussiflard have been kidnapped, Mister Hairynose has gotten the police on his side, and Benny finds himself shipwrecked! Fortunately, his super strength (which disappeared earlier b/c he had a cold) comes to the rescue and he foils the plots of Mister Hairynose and the town is back to normal again.

One of my main objections is how small the font size is. This didn't matter in the Smurfs, when kids would recognize the characters and pick up the comics, but with an unknown character like Benny, most kids flipping through the book will be put off by the tiny print and small size of the panels. Otherwise this is funny but it has a very classic look and feel to it that just won't work in my small-town library.

Verdict: If your library has kids who are really into the classic French/Belgian comics - Tintin, Asterix, Smurfs, etc. they're probably going to be all over this. As I said, I personally really like these. However, they just won't be popular at my library where the kids are almost exclusively interested in more American offerings like Babymouse, Lego Ninjago, Lunch Lady, and classic superheroes. Papercutz' hardcovers are very affordable, so it won't break the budget too much to try out a volume if you're not sure how well they'd circulate.

ISBN: 9781597074094; Published May 2013 by Papercutz; Review copy provided by the publisher; Added to my "considering" order list for the future

Monday, July 8, 2013

Nonfiction Monday: Look up! Bird-watching in your own backyard by Annette LeBlanc Cate

Sometimes it seems weird to be constantly encouraging kids to go outside. After all, I'm a library (well, not me personally, but you know) and I want kids to read, something that usually happens indoors. Also, it feels a bit hypocritical because while I do have a mini-garden and walk almost every day, I'm really not much of an outdoors person. However, to me libraries are more than books and when I say that I don't mean they're all about digital stuff. I mean that the library is a starting point for exploring the world, something I try to emphasize in as many of my programs as possible.

What, exactly is the point of this long introduction? This book does an awesome job of piquing kids' interest in the outdoors and making what might sound like a boring hobby (bird-watching) something kids might try out a time or two.

At only 50 pages long, this may look like a lengthy picture book, but every nook and cranny is packed full of information; including the endpapers! The endpapers have a humorous guide to bird-watching; what to take (including the right kind of friend) where not to go, how to sit and watch. After introducing herself and explaining how she became interested in bird-watching, Cate jumps right in and talks about why, where, and how to look for birds in your own backyard, town, or city, record what you see, and especially identify different kinds of birds. She says right off that she's not an ornithologist, just an enthusiast, but the identification pictures of various birds are pretty clear, not to mention funny.

There were a couple pictures, like the wheel of brown birds, that weren't labeled and in some places there is so much information packed in that it's a little overwhelming and confusing, but overall this is a fun book about a hobby most kids don't think about and are unlikely to have tried.

Verdict: If you're looking for slightly unusual books to add to your hobbies and "stuff to do" section, this fits the bill. It's funny just to read on its own too, with lots of humorous comments from the birds and the author as well as facts about birds and their habitats.

ISBN: 9780763645618; Published 2013 by Candlewick; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library

Saturday, July 6, 2013

This week at the library; or, Breathing Space!

Programs
Random Commentary
  • Several years ago I decided not to have any programs during the July 4th week. This still catches people by surprise, but having that little breathing space in the summer is important. Besides, Pattie is gone because she goes by the school schedule and I can't possibly sub for all her programs!
  • I was still at ALA on Monday, but lots of work awaited me on Tuesday. Even though we don't have programs it's busy, busy, busy, all week long!
  • June numbers were very good and July is looking good as well for summer reading
    • 39 teens so far (only had 20 last year)
    • over 400 kids ages 3-12
  • On Friday we had the Stuffed Animal Sleepover. It takes a couple hours to take all the photos - we had 42 animals this year (note that the photo album is linked to the program above, but it's not done - I'll edit it and add more photos on Monday) and our cataloger and I took about two hours to do all the pics, then our director developed and organized the pictures for the kids to take home.
  • It feels like a picture-ish week. Have some pictures.
Teen display put together by my aide. Only use we made of the CSLP art for teens this summer.
My library book to read shelf

My review books and misc. to read shelves

My sort of currently reading shelves. The white shelves and the stack of picture books and the stack of comics. The regularly shelved books are just...books.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Toys in space by Mini Grey

I've been in a blah mood about the stacks of picture books I've been reading lately. Nothing wrong with them, just...bland. Nothing unique, nothing stand-out.

Then Toys in Space arrived in my mailbox (or, rather, on my desk at work. I have minions.)

Mini Grey is always unique and stand-out. Her stories don't always work exactly for my audience, but they're always different! A lot of them, like the Traction Man series, deal with toys and this one is the same. In this story, the toys awake to find that they have been left behind, outside, at night for the first time. At first, they're awed by the amazing night sky, but then they start to get scared and nervous and worried. Fortunately, WonderDoll knows just what to do; tell a story. In her story, the toys are taken into space by aliens who turn out to be quite a bit like ordinary human children, especially since they're just looking for their own lost toys. The (suspiciously glove-like) alien treats them to a party, the toys help return all missing toys the world over, and they get back to their yard just in time.

The illustrations are laid out with the space adventure overlaying the toys lying in the backyard, so children can clearly see which part of the story is "real" and which is the story the WonderDoll is telling. The toys have Mini Grey's inimitable style, with bulging eyes and stiff, frozen forms in the "real" world as they wait to be played with and exuberant movement in their imaginative world.

Verdict: This may not be the best read-aloud, especially for a younger group, since it requires a certain amount of sophistication to catch on to the story and there's multiple speech bubbles in addition to the text, but older children will enjoy this latest addition to Grey's repertoire and if you have Toy Story fans they're sure to pick up the idea quickly and enjoy the clever storytelling.

ISBN: 9780307978127; Published May 2013 by Random House; Review copy provided by the publisher; Purchased for the library

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Ivy Takes Care by Rosemary Wells, illustrated by Jim LaMarche

Make it on your calendars people, I have not only read, but loved a work of historical fiction. I don't do this often - as you can see, I don't even have a tag for this genre!

It's 1949 and times are hard on the Nevada ranch where Ivy's parents work. Her best friend Annie has gone off to her annual (and expensive) summer camp in Maine and the fight they had before she left makes Ivy wonder if she has a best friend anymore. It's going to be a long summer with no one but troublemaker Billy Joe around. Then Ivy gets an idea to heal her friendship and her parents suggest a way she can make some money from her love of animals. Soon, she's caring for horses, training a dog for one of the ranch guests, and seeing a whole new future ahead. But when Billy Joe does something even more dangerous than usual and Annie returns for school, will Ivy ever have friends again?

LaMarche's soft illustrations are the perfect touches to this gentle, hopeful story. Ivy's struggles with friendship and her love of animals will resonate with a lot of kids, especially those living in rural areas where money is tight. I especially liked the way Wells lightly interweaves historical details (cost of things, dates, people only being able to get divorces in Nevada) into the story but keeps the focus on Ivy and her family. The story is firmly realistic; although there's drama with the animals (and Ivy's friends) there's no climactic finale when she gets all the money she needs and Annie comes back to be her friend. The gap between wealthy Annie and poor Ivy isn't simply washed away by their friendship for each other, but Ivy learns to cope with the changes in herself and her friends and find joy in her life and the animals she loves.

Verdict: Kids who love animals and historical fiction will be big fans of this simple but heartfelt story. It's not a daunting length (only 200 pages) and I'd especially recommend it for kids who prefer working with animals and being outdoors to sitting down with a book; Ivy's practical approach to life and the realistic illustrations of animals and the accidents that befall them will make this a popular title.

ISBN: 9780763653521; Published 2013 by Candlewick; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Added to order list

Monday, July 1, 2013

Nonfiction Monday: Pedal it! How bicycles are changing the world by Michelle Mulder


Last week I reviewed Orca Footprints' book about children being involved in the food process, Down to earth: How kids help feed the world. This week I'm looking at the other title so far in this series, about bicycles.

The book opens with a history of bicycles, including facts on how they changed history, especially the lives of women. The second chapter explains how modern bicycles work, gives a brief tutorial on learning to ride a bike, and talks a little about some of the new things bikes are doing, like being made out of bamboo or being used to harness electricity. The third chapter talks about some of the ways bicycles are used, from fun tournaments to everyday life. "Pedaling for change" the final chapter, explains how bicycles are changing the world today, offering people new opportunities and helping the environment.

Interspersed throughout the chapters are photographs of bicycles in action, personal anecdotes from the author's own life, and historical details and modern facts about bicycles. The back matter includes books, a movie and websites, acknowledgements and an index.

I appreciated that while the book didn't really address people who can't practically switch to a car-free, bicycle-centric life, it also didn't rant and rave about them. Bicycles are great, but it's not practical for, say, people living in Wisconsin to bike 11 miles to work in several feet of snow (or 11 miles to work any day, on a highway, for that matter. I'd have to be in serious physical condition to attempt that feat. I'm not) However, there is lots of practical advice for kids wanting to bike more often and parents wanting to make their lives a little more healthy and less car-dependent. The history sections were interesting and not too lengthy and kids will especially like the many photos and information on the ways bicycles are used around the world.

Verdict: This might be a little more popular in an urban environment, but there are quite a few kids who ride bikes in our area and even a few parents, so I think it's worth purchasing in any library, just for the look at how bicycles are used around the world.

ISBN: 9781459802193; Published 2013 by Orca; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library