Nonfiction Monday: Best Friends Forever! and more true stories of animal friendships by Amy Shields

I read this for my Bookaneers book club last spring. I have a whole bunch of these nonfiction chapters, but they don't check out as often as I think they should - I think the kids don't see them back in the nonfiction or are daunted that they'll be too long when they do find them. Personally, I'm not a fan of sentimental "animal friends" stories, but parents and kids (when they find them) looooove them.

This collects the stories of four animal pairs. Roscoe and Suryia, pictured on the cover, are an orangutan and stray dog. They live on an animal sanctuary and enjoy many activities together, including swimming, something orangutans don't normally do in the wild. Koko is the famous gorilla who loved kittens and this is a bittersweet story as his first kitten was killed in a car accident. Jasmine was a rescued greyhound who became the unofficial "mother" of an animal rescue in England and bonded specially with a fawn, Bramble. Owen and Mzee is a well-known story of a baby hippo who adopted a tortoise as his mother until he was able to be reintroduced to a hippo family. I appreciated that the final chapter pointed out that, although people were upset that Owen and Mzee didn't stay together, he was better off with his natural family and Mzee was facing potential injury by staying with the hippos.

A section at the end previews another National Geographic Kids Chapters book and an index and resources for more information are also included. Each chapter is bordered with a different color and pattern, making it easy to find your place. The chapters include sidebars and pages of information about the animals in the wild and "did you know?" factoids. There are photographs every couple of pages and the text is written in a simple, easy to read format. Pronunciation guides for more vocabulary likely to be unfamiliar are included directly in the text.

This turned out to be a popular choice for book club and the kids were eager to read more of the stories. The two kids who got the books were able to read them even though one of them was not a highly accomplished reader, and at the end of the semester I gave some paperbacks away for their free book to take home and the kids were very excited.

Verdict: I recommend having at least some of this series in your library. I think I haven't done a really good job of promoting them and they'll have more circulation when kids realize that they're accessible and interesting. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781426309540; Published 2013 by National Geographic; Purchased for the library

This week at the library; or, Back to work!

This is a sad shelf

What's going on; in my head and at the library

• We're back to the full push of summer this week! The local summer camp/school visited twice. On their official visit on Wednesday I gave them cutouts to make superheroes. We had a smaller group at Lego Club - people enjoying the fine weather and pool while they can probably.
• Friday was rather exhausting. I worked in the children's gardens and we have reached 943 in summer reading sign-ups.

Some Projects Completed/In Progress This Week

• Working on the series spreadsheet and collection development
• Updated 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten and finished the first draft of 500 Books Before Middle School



This is a happy shelf!
Yes, I am hilarious
and my staff loves me

• Working on updating training materials, evaluating and scheduling staff for August.

Programs

• Playgroup with Pattie
• Toddlers 'n' Books (2 sessions) (Pattie)
• Storywagon: Comedy Magic with Lou Lepore
• Books 'n' Babies
• Lego Club
• Go Go Garden

Ongoing and New Stealth Programs and Displays

• 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten (Updated)
• Summer Reading

What the kids are reading; A Selection

• Rise of the earth dragon - sequels
• Rick Riordan, Tunnels, Hypnotist
• "good book" - recommended Paul Dowswell, Skulduggery Pleasant, and Churchill Club
• Travel books for London and Paris
• Doctor Ted - we don't own it, so I recommended Here comes doctor hippo and here comes doctor firefighter instead
• Teen beach movie 2 (no, I'm not buying it)
• Vampire Kisses manga - no more, so I showed some of the other things we had.
• Choose your own adventure type books - I showed them Twisted Journeys, original choose your own adventure, and Can you survive but they were all a little too scary. Then I remembered we had some Club Penguin Pick Your Path and those were perfect.
• "the dog book" after staring blankly into space I suddenly remembered it was a Disney Palace Pets book she was asking for. Yay me! I may not remember my own name, but I remember a book I saw for 30 seconds last week...
• Specific request for Can You Survive? I need more of these
• School visit - Harry Potter, American Girl, Mermaid Tales, Princess in Black, Nascar, Baby animals, My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish, Star Wars, Choose your own adventure, Twisted Journeys, books with local interest, Critter Club and more.
• Jurassic park books for preschoolers. Um....dinosaur books?
• Reluctant reader who likes to sew - Jeanology and Generation T
• Lots of interest in Extreme Adventures now that I have the new covers.

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson

I've seen several books promoted as read-alikes for Raina Telgemeier's Smile and sequels, but I've never found one that I would recommend as a read-alike - until now. Don't get me wrong, plenty of those other recommendations are great reads on their own, and fans of Telgemeier might be induced to try them. But I need something that desperate fans will grab in 30 seconds or less, as that's about how much time I have in the summer, with hordes of children demanding books now!

It all starts in 5th grade when Astrid's mom takes her and her best friend Nicole on a surprise visit to see...roller derby! Astrid is in love and immediately starts dreaming of being a roller derby star, just like her new hero Rainbow Bite. Of course, Nicole will come along too....but it turns out Nicole has other plans and roller derby isn't exactly how Astrid imagined it would be. Astrid's dreams start falling apart - and so does her friendship with Nicole. After some growing pains, there's a satisfying, if realistic, ending.

The artwork is colorful and realistic, with lots of expressive faces and a contemporary, digital feel. It will quickly remind fans of Telgemeier's distinctive work, but it stands well on its own. Jamieson's art has a finer line than Telgemeier's more blocky style and there's more distance in the panels, showing more of the setting and interaction between the characters. There are also sequences explaining roller derby that look hand-drawn and add a cute, friendly feel to the story.

Aside from the obvious interest if you have Telgemeier fans, this stands well on its own. It's a familiar story about grade school friends who are growing into different people and have new interests and ideas, but the roller derby adds a unique twist to the story. It seamlessly blends advice about sticking to something you love, even when the going is tough, along with growing and changing friendships.

Verdict: This will fly off the shelf with the cover alone, but combine that with "it's like Drama but with roller derby!" will make it a hot item (even if the kids aren't sure what roller derby is). I'm probably going to wish I'd bought more than one copy. Everyone else should buy copies too! Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9780803740167; Published 2015 by Dial/Penguin; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library

Read, Read, Read said the Baby: You're Getting a Baby Sister by Sheila Sweeny Higginson, illustrated by Sam Williams

This is what I think of as a novelty book. It's a rhyming celebration of getting a baby sister, along with a very didactic list of warnings about the things babies do and how you have to be patient until they grow up.

"You might look for a hug
when you're not feeling great.
But when mom's feeding the baby,
You'll just have to wait."

There's nothing particularly new or unique about the text and if the child is not yet worried about having a new sibling they will be after they read this. The art is cute but not particularly memorable either.

I don't really see the point of marketing this as a board book. The age of child that is going to be able to understand the concept of being patient with the baby is going to be much older than a board book audience. The book also includes an spread at the back to personalize - space to write in the name of your new sibling, space for a picture, etc. There's also a baby brother version. I did appreciate that there is some diversity in the children pictured.

Verdict: I can see giving this as a gift at a baby shower or something similar, but I don't think it's particularly useful for a general library collection. There are a lot of new sibling/baby books out there that are better.

ISBN: 9781442420502; Published 2012 by Simon and Schuster; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

The Little Gardener by Emily Hughes

I loved Emily Hughes' art in Wild but I felt that the writing didn't live up to the art. This seems to be a little bit of a problem for Flying Eye Books, which certainly has amazing art but sometimes the text falls short. However, when I got a galley of The Little Gardener I was delighted to find that Ms. Hughes seems to have blossomed as a writer, as well as an illustrator.

The story begins with a rather sad garden. "This was the garden. It didn't look like much." However, the tiny gardener who lives there loves it and does all he possibly can to tend to its needs. Despite his best efforts, only one thing really grows in the garden; a beautiful flower. Eventually, even the inspiration of the flower fails to keep up the spirits and energy of the little gardener and he goes to sleep, exhausted. As he sleeps through the seasons, some strangers are inspired by the beautiful flower and a wonderful thing happens...

The text is simple and this makes it a good fit for the uplifting, hopeful story. It doesn't detract from the real focus, the artwork, but it adds an extra dimension to the story and provokes discussion about the story and pictures.

The art is lovely. The endpapers are a cheery yellow with a dancing line of plants and flowers. The use of perspective, showing the tiny gardener against the wasteland of his garden, gives the reader a perfect feeling of what a daunting task he has taken on. Everything in the garden droops and curves in muddy hues of green and brown, until you see the one perfect flower, a glowing, multi-petaled creation with a crown of golden stamens. As the mysterious someone's dark brown hands begin to tend the garden, the background lightens and more flowers pop up until the last spreads show a lively landscape of color and light.

Verdict: This simple but heartfelt story with its gorgeous illustrations would be the perfect addition to a storytime about gardening, helping others, or resiliency. I can't wait to include it in my own gardening storytimes and it should definitely be on the shelves of every public library, whether urban or rural.

ISBN: 9781909263437; Published August 2015 by Flying Eye Books; Galley provided by publisher for review; Purchased for the library

Nonfiction Monday: Tricky Vic by Greg Pizzoli

It's taken me a long time to write this, as I feel somewhat...conflicted about the book.

It's the true story of a con man named Robert Miller born in the Czech Republic in 1890. He began his career as a gambler and philanderer and eventually made Europe too dangerous for himself, especially with World War I on the horizon. Traveling to the United States, according to legend he managed to connect with Al Capone and set out to con new territories. Eventually, however, the police caught on to his scams and he traveled back to Europe. There he pulled off his biggest, most famous con: selling the Eiffel Tower. However, his fortunes went downhill after this and when he was caught counterfeiting money he was captured. After a dramatic escape, he was recaptured and died after twelve years in Alcatraz.

Back matter includes a glossary, sources (books, newspaper articles, and websites and an author's note about the inspiration and background of the story. The art is a mixture of modernistic shapes, which fit in well with the historical time period, and photo collages, many of them from Paris itself.

The book is the size of a smaller picture book and each page is heavily illustrated. However, the subject matter is much more complex than the average picture book audience can handle. Which is basically why I feel conflicted. It's an interesting story, and I can see kids interested in history and in magic tricks (which many of the cons resemble) being interested in the subject matter, but I'm a bit at a loss as to what audience to promote it to. It feels as though it should be a lot more interesting than it is. I kept re-reading it, hoping it would grab me more on a second reading but it didn't.

Verdict: If you have a strong, older audience for picture book biographies or kids willing to read interesting/unique graphic nonfiction this would be perfect. Otherwise, I'm a little doubtful about adding it to the average public library collection.

ISBN: 9780670016525; Published 2015 by Viking/Penguin; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

Read 'n' Play

There were toys at my library when I came, seven years ago (I am getting ooooold). However, there were rather...dingy. I've built up the collection over the years to more than 60 toys, almost all narrative/imaginative play. Puppets and books, costumes, etc. I've been wanting to take this collection in a slightly more focused direction and when I saw on ALSC the idea for Early Literacy Boxes, I decided that was a good starting point.

I received $200 from our local VIP Aktion Club, which generally gives us a small grant every year. I try to spend this on tangible items for the children's area, so they can see their donations at work! The money went towards purchasing toys and board books for 12 sets. I purchased the toys from Ikea and a local store, Learning Shop. The library supplied bags, processing, and I put together early literacy tip sheets for each bag, which I laminated.

You can see my Read 'n' Play sheets here. Email me if you would like the publisher file! I debuted the bags at our baby storytime and they've been available for about two weeks. 10 of the 12 are checked out and half of them have circulated twice!

We also put the sheets into a notebook, so people can look through and see what toys we have. Next, I'm planing to tackle the main toy collection, replace as needed since some things have gotten very worn, and add imaginative play suggestion sheets.

This week at the library; or, We catch our breaths

Lining up for the toddler drive-in

What's going on; in my head and at the library

• We take a little break this week; no regular programs and things calm down a bit. Theoretically. In previous years, this is the week off between the two summer school sessions, but that was changed this year. We're closed on Friday and Saturday, which makes for a long weekend as well and people always pack in to prepare for a long weekend without the library. Wednesday was pretty quiet and I came in on Friday with some volunteers to take pictures for the Stuffed Animal Sleepover.

Some Projects Completed/In Progress This Week

• Finished updating the juvenile series part of the spreadsheet
• Working on updating 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten and creating 500 Books Before Middle School
• Monthly report

Programs

• Toddler Drive-In
• Stuffed Animal Sleepover

Ongoing and New Stealth Programs and Displays

• 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten
• Summer Reading

What the kids are reading; A Selection

• Wrestling books
• 1st Warriors book
• I've forgotten the others...

Rutabaga the adventure chef by Eric Colossal

Ok, first in the interests of absolute honesty, I have to admit that the first thing that came to mind when I read this is a book called Wonton Soup by James Stokoe, which is absolutely NOT appropriate for children.

*pause while you all go google it*

So, moving on! The story opens with a mysterious, round-headed fellow searching the deepest, darkest jungle for a legendary sword...on which grow Legendary Bell Topped Mushrooms! Delectable! He's Rutabaga, the Adventure Chef, and after a little explanation to the adventurers searching for the sword (really, he just wants the cool mushrooms) joins forces with them. They're trying to save their town from a marauding monster, he's just looking for new tastes and exquisite dishes. What can a chef with nothing but a magical pot do to help?

This is a fun, silly, story with equal amounts of recipes and monster-slaying. The ARC was in black and white, but the final book will be in color and, judging from the cover, Rutabaga at least has darker skin (although honestly he looks rather more like his namesake than a person anyways...). The art is busy with lots of thick lines and vigorous activity. It grabs the eye and moves the reader on to the next chapter of the story immediately, although struggling readers may find it more difficult to follow the action.

Verdict: Fans of adventure/fantasy with a touch of comedy will enjoy this quirky graphic novel. It's hard to think of a really good read-alike to compare it to, since it's fairly unique in my experience, but it should be a hit with older middle grade kids who want something fun to relax with over the summer.

ISBN: 9781419713804; Published March 2015 by Amulet/Abrams; ARC provided by publisher at ALA Midwinter 2015; Purchased for the library

Small Readers: Justin and the Bully by Tony and Lauren Dungy, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton

There are not a lot of easy readers featuring actual kids, rather than anthropomorphic animals, non-white kids are even rarer, and sports are practically non-existent.

All of that being said, I still did not like this book, specifically its heavily didactic plot.

Justin loves soccer, so he's thrilled when he sees a sign-up for a soccer team in the park and his mom says he can play. His older brother and sister and father all agree that it's good he has signed up because he's good at kicking, he's fast, and he'll be a great teammate. But on the day of the first practice, he meets Taylor. She calls him "Shorty" and tells him he's too little to play and should go home. Justin doesn't feel so good about soccer anymore. When he finally tells his parents what happened, they convince him to try once more and talk to the coach. The coach talks to the team about bullying and being a team player, but Taylor doesn't join in the discussion. Justin feels a lot better about playing soccer. When they have their first game, Taylor calls Justin "Shorty" again and tells the other kids not to pass to him, but they stand up to him and Justin scores. Taylor gives Justin a high-five and "Now we are a team!" she and Justin shout.

Ok, I was going along fine there - yes, it's rather didactic in the "how you deal with a bully" way, but easy readers aren't generally a good place for sublety. The kids are spending most of their mental effort on decoding the actual words, comprehension is secondary. But when I got to the end, just....no. So, nobody specifically calls Taylor out - just a generic speech on bullying. Which....doesn't work. She doesn't participate in the discussion and is still calling him names in the middle of the game. It's pure luck one of the other kids heard her and was able to multi-task enough to play soccer and display moral courage at the same time. And, of course, the old tired stereotype of the underdog who wins the game and then everyone likes him. There's no apology from Taylor - she accepts him on the team because he scored a goal and what happens next time he misses?

Verdict: Not surprisingly, the authors of this book work for a variety of athletic/religious/kids organizations and have written a lot of inspirational/motivational books for adults. This appears to be one of a series of easy readers which are all more or less motivational/didactic and apparently feature the Dungy's kids in various sports. I would have gotten the book if they'd managed to change the unrealistic and stereotypical ending; as I said at the beginning, it's hard to find easy readers featuring real kids, diverse kids, and sports. But I don't want to hand kids a book that reinforces the implication that if they just make the goal (lose weight, not be so good at math, make themselves more popular, ignore the bully, make other friends etc.) the bullying will stop and they'll all be friends.

ISBN: 9781442457195; Published 2012 by Simon Spotlight; Borrowed from another library in my consortium