Cat's Colors by Airlie Anderson

While I thought the storyline was a little weak, especially at the end, I just loved the art so much that I'm going to happily recommend this book.

Soft brown and gray paw prints cross the lighter gray endpapers, which are followed by a set of endpapers with splashes of brilliant color. It all comes together with a little white cat, "doing gray-day things". Then, she decides to collect some colors. She gets a spot of green from the tree, a splash of red from the roses, a swirl of blue from the pond, and so on. Eventually she curls up with her colors to sleep and the next day...has a rainbow of kittens!

The simple story, perfect for toddlers, has some nice turns of phrase but the real draw for me is the art. I enjoyed Anderson's stylized pictures with their bold outlines in Momo and Snap and she once again uses simple forms along with the addition of splashes of color to create a visually pleasing landscape. It will not only work well to teach children about colors, but is a fun, sweet storytime choice that parents and children alike will enjoy.

Verdict: While there are many more classic "learn your color" titles, the art in this one is so pleasing that I would happily add it to the canon and heartily recommend adding it to your collections.

ISBN: 9781846437618; Published 2016 by Child's Play; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

Nonfiction Monday: Back off! Animal Defenses: Undercover Animals by Higgins

I'm quite pleased with these newer titles from Jump's new imprint, Pogo. Although this isn't exactly what I'm looking for in my collection development right now, specifically, I would definitely put it on a list for later.

This title is part of a series about animal defenses; this one is about camouflage. Each chapter features a different type of hiding skills - the first features animals who blend in, with their background or in other ways. "Costume Changes" shows how animals change their colors to hide. The third chapter (each chapter is 2-4 pages long) shows animals that mimic other poisonous or deadly creatures. There are several additional animals pictured in thumbnails throughout the book. The main text is followed by an activity creating your own camouflage, a glossary, and brief index.

Verdict: I'm currently focused on books specifically about individual animals (trying to replace our ancient Nature's Children titles) but animals hiding is always a popular subject with the kids. This is a nice overview with a clear introduction to the topic and fun seek and find activities throughout the book. Additional titles in the series cover animals with armor, electricity, slime, venom, and more. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781620313077; Published 2016 by Pogo/Jump; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

This week at the library; or, May where did you go?

What's happening in my head and at the library

• Monday
• Staff meeting, working through more summer reading stuff and things on my desk, planning school visits.
• Tuesday
• More planning and stuff. Things keep happening. 
• Wednesday
• I ask myself why? WHY?
• Thursday
• 2nd grade field trip (3 classes, 70 students)
• Had to reschedule to today because of the weather. And then it didn't rain yesterday and poured this morning. At least summer is nearly planned and I've decided everything else can either wait until after summer or I'm just going to give my staff extra chocolate and let them deal with it. A first grade class came over in the morning for a project - I just had to have books prepped for them and show them where to be. I love how beauuuutifully behaved all the kids here are! The second graders were also awesome and really enjoyed exploring the library. Their favorite books were Glow and The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde. I did have to stop a couple of them from delightedly playing with the babies they discovered in the play area. I reminded them that you have to ask the mom before playing with babies that aren't yours!
• Friday
• 2nd grade field trip (3 classes, 52 students)
• Normally I would be handling these kids alone but, b/c of other things going wrong this week, Jess came in an extra day! So there was a bright lining after all. I scheduled a gazillion Facebook posts and left early.

Projects in progress and completed

• Summer reading and program planning
• Weeding - 700s

What the kids are reading: A selection

• Warriors
• It's a tiger
• Selection
• lexiles again. and again.
• Harry Potter - first time reader
• Twilight read-alikes - Coffin Club and Shiver
• summer school teaching - diversity/multicultural
• Pony books - Magic ponies

The Genius Factor: How to capture an invisible cat by Paul Tobin

Delphine has only just noticed Nate Bannister. He's very quiet and a little odd, but only when she sees him being tested by some strange people does she realize he's not at all the average, boring kid she thought he was.

The next thing she knows, she's gotten caught up in his insane adventures, trying to corral an invisible (and giant) cat, escape from tea-drinking assassins, riding hippos, having discussions about emotions with a car and....what has she gotten herself into??

Eventually all ends well (more or less) and Delphine goes back to her ordinary, everyday life. But....once she's gotten a taste for adventure with Nate, she wants more...

This is very wacky. It's definitely in that genre of adventure story that could easily be mistaken for a bedtime story. "And then what happened?" "um....then hippos showed up! But he had a friendship ray! But then he dropped it in the water!" Nate is constantly producing gadgets, unlimited funds, and scientific gabble to solve any problem that arises, so the sense of peril is never really there. Older middle grade readers are probably not going to be interested in this unless they're really into silly stuff. But younger readers, who might be more willing to read silly adventures, are unlikely to pick up a book this long (260 pages). It falls into that tiny audience of young but strong readers.

Verdict: These types of silly adventures don't circulate very well at my library and the genre is already quite full so I'd pass on this one. I'd reconsider if it was a graphic novel or shorter (100 pages or less).

ISBN: 9781619638402; Published 2016 by Bloomsbury; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

Before I Wake Up... by Britta Teckentrup

I love Teckentrup's bright, vigorous colors and textures so I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this book when it arrived and I saw that it seemed to be a very different style of art.

The text is a little girl's dream and, to be honest, is completely forgettable. It's written in stilted rhyme and is very random. "I swim with the whales/I dive into the ocean/I close my eyes/so full of emotion" or "When I open my eyes we're deep in a wood./We follow the path. I feel so good." So, let's move on from the text.

The art isn't really what I expect from Teckentrup; it's very dark and mostly in shades of black and brown with a few sharp splashes of color. Initially, I didn't like it. However, the more I studied it, the more interesting it became. There are several spreads that are layered with different prints, colors, and images. The lack of emotion on the face of the girl and lion makes each pictures seem like a separate landscape, a dreamscape of events and emotions, where the focus is on the background and what the reader imagines, rather than what is pictured.

Verdict: In the vast sea of bedtime books this doesn't really stand out and the text is mediocre at best. However, if you're looking for titles to stimulate the imagination or introduce children to different art styles this is a good choice.

ISBN: 9783791372464; Published 2016 by Prestel; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

Nonfiction Monday: Who eats what? Arctic food chains by Rebecca Pettiford

Yep, that's blood. No sentimentalizing of animals here - this is real life and these critters have to eat!

The book explains the basics of the Arctic biome, then explains a food chain. It uses precise language, "predator", "consumer", and "producer" and clearly shows each part of a simple food chain. In the sample, plants grow to feed a hare, the hare is eaten by a fox, the fox is eaten by a lynx, eventually the lynx dies. Its body is eaten by scavengers and broken down by insects and then feeds more plants which restart the cycle.

The book ends with a brief note about global warming, an activity encouraging the reader to build a food web, a glossary and index.

It just so happens that I've been looking for more specifically about the Arctic tundra, but regardless this was quite good. It's at an intermediate level and would work both as a read-aloud to younger, struggling children or in independent reading for elementary kids starting to research topics. The photos are realistic but not unduly gory and the simple graphs and diagrams are easy to follow.

Verdict: A great series to introduce younger kids to different biomes and the food chains within them. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781620313006; Published 2016 by Pogo/Jump; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

RA RA Read: Quick Reads: Books in Verse for Elementary and Middle Grade

There aren't a lot of novels in verse for middle grade readers, and there aren't many of those at our library - it's not a really popular genre for that age group. However, if you get kids who like the format, want something that's a quick read, and match them up with a couple really good selections it works out well. These are several books in verse, which my library owns, that middle grade kids will enjoy:

Younger Titles (Younger Elementary)

• Little Dog Lost; Little Cat's Luck by Marion Dane Bauer
• The Dancing Pancake; Where I live by Eileen Spinelli
• Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg (first in a series)

Middle Grade Titles

• Crossover; Booked by Kwame Alexander
• Love that Dog; Hate that cat by Sharon Creech
• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

This week at the library; or, I feel frazzled

A screenshot of the spreadsheets I'm working on

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

• Monday
• Supervisory things, cleaning off my desk, and going over lots of misc. details. First meeting of the Autism support group!! Only one person came, but it's a beginning!
• Tuesday
• Planning summer programs and continuing to work on weeding. Board meeting for a charter school group in the afternoon. I told the teens to be good when I left b/c our director was feeling frazzled and they didn't know what I meant!
• Wednesday
• Worked a half day. It was kind of crazy and then it wasn't. I worked on collection development spreadsheets because my mind was feeling a little fragile.
• Thursday
• Mother Goose on the Loose (Pattie)
• Still planning all the things.
• Friday
• Welty Environmental Center (4K field trips) (2 performances)
• This is why I took a half day on Wednesday. The regular presenter has moved jobs (how could you do this to us Lena??) and the volunteer covering was a little freaked out at the prospect of 100 four year olds! However, as I reassured him, kindergarteners aren't critical! They all had a lot of fun, learned about pollination, and were very well-behaved, even the ones who, as I like to say, have personality.
• Saturday
• It was a day. I have no more words. Next week I'll tackle more 

Projects in progress and completed

• Summer calendar is out
• Summer reading is mostly planned
• Collection development - I'm up to the 790s

What the kids are reading; A selection

• Tommy by Blumenthal
• Tricky lexile questions. I really wish that, if teachers require kids who are reading at 1200 or above to stick to their level, they gave them a LIST.
• Frogs (real frogs)
• YA read-alikes for Hush Hush - Cynthia Leititch Smith (already had) Forest of Hands and Teeth
• Red Queen
• Kung Pow Chicken - checked out, took Space Taxi instead
• Missing volumes of Star Wars Legacy - I think they're out of print
• Angry Birds books
• Little House continuations
• Kamisama Kiss
• Strong reader finished Wolves of Beyond, I suggested some other series but then got her interested in Redwall. I think that is a match made in heaven.
• Car books

Alamo All-Stars by Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale's latest hazardous tale of American history takes on an interesting subject - the Alamo. Despite having been raised in Texas, in Austin (which is quite close to the Alamo) I know very little about it other than some vague ideas gathered from historical novels. But there's a lot more to the story...

Hale expands his universe by bringing in a new magical history book - El Gran Libro Enorme de la Historia Mexicana - and Vicente Guerrero (along with his own executioners) to tell a story down south....

The story begins with a brief explanation of Mexican independence and then delves into the complicated story of Texas' early history. Hale carefully lays out the players in the complicated events from the various native tribes to different groups of settles. He even includes some animals, like rattlesnakes and armadillos! Despite the executioners' interest in hearing the stories of Jean Lafitte (pirate controlling Galveston) and maybe having an "executioner slumber party" the story marches inexorably on, introducing famous characters like diplomat Stephen Austin, reckless lawyer William Barret Travis, and their interaction with the changing scene of Mexican politics, from Guerrero to Bustamante to Santa Anna. There are side trips to learn about James Bowie, Santa Anna's rise to power, and constant unrest and uprisings across Texas. In the end, the Alamo is but one story among many on the complicated, violent road to Texas independence and eventual statehood.

Hale's color scheme for this title is a kind of sickly yellow and gray, suitable for the general color of Texas (Yes, I grew up there. No, I'm not a fan. It's green for like, two seconds in April and October.) and the cholera epidemic that overshadows the complicated political maneuvering and violent battles. Although he includes the well-known and "popular" characters - Crockett, Travis, Austin, Bowie, etc. he also includes as many references to and stories of native populations and local settlers as possible, keeping the book strongly representative of Texas' diverse population. Hale's stories are, as always, funny, informative, and fascinating reading but also include a nuanced portrait of the events and people involved.

Verdict: Another great history title from Nathan Hale! This will be a cinch to booktalk at upcoming summer events, whether or not you're in Texas. The whole series is highly recommended (although Big Bad Ironclad remains my all-time favorite).

ISBN: 9781419719028; Published 2016 by Amulet/Abrams; Purchased for the library

Dig In! by Cindy Jenson-Elliott, illustrated by Mary Peterson

I loved Jenson-Elliott's Weeds find a way but had a hard time clicking with this title. It's a very different format, as well as a different illustrator.

The repeated refrain "I dig in the dirt" heralds a number of discoveries. A pill bug which curls up, a spider who runs, a sprout that grows, etc. The simple story ends with one final discovery - add some water to the squishy dirt and get....mud!

The illustrations are blocky and have a textured look that fits well with the dirt. The worms, spiders, and other bugs are cute little cartoon critters. The hands digging into the dirt in each sequences are large, tan and have splayed fingers.

So, I do love the text. I like the repeated refrain, I like how it introduces very young children to what they'll find in the dirt in a simple way. This would click perfectly with our toddler storytimes and our garden project coming up this summer. I like the cheerful little cartoon worms and the texture of the dirt.

I just can't like the hands. They look weird and creepy to me. This is totally subjective and everyone else loves this. But I just can't get over the hands, and the way they look like sort of flat, floppy gloves. I also don't care for the shade of green used. Usually I won't pay much attention to little details like this that are totally personal, but I've had this for quite a while and I just can't like it.

Verdict: Everyone else likes this and I know my colleague will love using it in storytime. Just chalk it up to my personal weird issues and purchase it for your own gardening/dirt/worm programs with toddlers.

ISBN: 9781442412613; Published 2016 by Beach Lane Books; Review copy provided by the publisher; Donated to the library