Woodpeckers by Sneed B. Collard III

I like woodpeckers. I get downy woodpeckers at my birdfeeders sometimes, which is always fun. Also, did you know that woodpeckers and toucans belong to the same order, Piciformes? I learned that whilst cataloging! Enough dithering, on to the book.

In a casual, friendly manner, Collard talks about woodpeckers; the different types, their behaviors, effect on the environment, and current state of vulnerability. He makes mention of pop culture, like saying that you can't mistake a woodpecker's drumming unless you're absorbed in Shark Week or Minecraft. He talks about his own experiences with these fascinating birds - he and his son took the photos in the US and abroad. The photographs are occasionally blurry, but generally of a high, professional standard. The layout of the book is a large, picture book style with a lot of white space around the edge of the light font.

Back matter includes an author's note, encouraging readers to revisit the author's earlier book, a glossary, index, and photo bloopers.

The author is correct that there aren't many books for kids on woodpeckers and certainly nothing approaching narrative nonfiction, not since Hoose's Race to save the Lord God Bird in 2014. This accessible title combines humor and the author's friendly, down-to-earth text to create an informative, attractive volume on birds that should be better-known.

Verdict: A strong addition to middle grade nonfiction on animals; recommended.

ISBN: 9780984446094; Published May 2018 by Bucking Horse Books; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

Meet Yasmin by Saadia Faruqi, illustrated by Hatem Aly

With the success of the delightful Sofia series by Jacqueline Jules, Capstone has added another own voices beginning chapter series, this time featuring spunky Yasmin Ahmad, a Pakistani-American.

Like the Sofia books, these are available in single titles or in a chapter-book style collection, which I am reviewing here. It includes four stories: Yasmin the explorer, Yasmin the painter, Yasmin the builder, and Yasmin the fashionista. In the first story, we meet Yasmin who is learning about maps. She draws a map of her hometown, but gets lost when she goes to the farmer's market with her mother. Will her map help her find her way back? In the second and third story, we see Yasmin at school, working on art and science projects and putting her unique spin on things. The four story returns to Yasmin's home and her extended family as she enjoys dressing up in her mother's clothes with her grandmother, Nani.

At the back there are questions about the stories, a glossary of the Urdu words in the text, a page of facts about Pakistan, a recipe and crafts, and a profile of the author and illustrator.

The bright illustrations show the spunky and enthusiastic Yasmin with dark skin, short black hair, and gold earrings. Her father is casually dressed and her mother wears a hijab outside the house. She appears to live in a fairly diverse area; her teacher is white, with short, spiky hair, but a variety of races and families are shown in the school.

I felt there was a little more wish-fulfillment in Yasmin's stories than in Sofia's life. Sofia has to deal with siblings, sometimes feeling left out in her big, noisy family, and not always getting her own way. Yasmin seems to be the sole focus of her family and lives in what appears to be a prosperous urban area. Despite her doubts, she easily wins an art contest (and free lessons with a famous artist) and her mother appears to have an extensive collection of beautiful clothing.

Verdict: This is a sweet look at a loving family, but it's not quite right for my audience. I appreciate that it gives my readers a look at a different culture which they are very unlikely to have encountered in our small town, but the economic status and single-child family is more of an outlier than the family's culture. We'll stick with Sofia, which is very popular in my library.

ISBN: 9781684360222; This edition published August 2018 by Picture Window/Capstone; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

Small Readers: Mr. Monkey bakes a cake by Jeff Mack

Mr. Monkey, who looks like a human with a tail, furry ears, and large muzzle, is baking a cake. He dumps in bananas, sugar, and other ingredients, making a huge mess. However, he ends up with a great cake! Which he's too full to eat, having stuffed himself with bananas. Fortunately, there's a cake contest in town and he sets off to complete. Along the way, he runs into a series of catastrophes; he jaywalks and is almost run over by a tattooed cyclist, fends off birds, is chased by dogs, nearly gets attacked by a gorilla... finally, he arrives at the competition.... but he's too late! The competition is over. Could things get any worse? Well, that gorilla is still on the loose...

Cartoon illustrations show the series of mishaps, slapstick, and luck that Mr. Monkey encounters. Throughout the story, there's a small black girl in the background, carefully carrying her own pink-frosted cake and she gets incorporated into the happy ending. This comes in at a good beginning reader level - it's a 220 lexile level and would come out to a red sticker, or beginning reader (one step above emergent readers) in my library.

I'm... torn about this one. I really don't know what to decide in conclusion. On the one hand, I'm sure kids will like this. The cartoon illustrations and panels, slapstick humor, and colorful art are similar to other popular series like Jump-into-chapters, Elephant and Piggie, and Ethan Long's titles. There's a nice diversity in the background characters - the little black girl and tattooed bike rider with a basket full of flowers. But... for anyone who's been following children's literature discussions online there's been a lot of controversy (not just recently, it's always been around, it's just recently cropped up again) about depicting humans as monkeys, children as monkeys, etc. because of the racist overtones. I'm not going to comment one way or another on that - I don't feel qualified to judge and I haven't purchased most of the books discussed for other reasons - but this one... why is Mr. Monkey a monkey? He doesn't talk, and yet he's very anthropomorphic - and there's a very stereotypical gorilla in a cage. It just feels... off. Maybe I'm overly sensitive to it because of the ongoing discussion, but maybe this is a good thing to feel sensitive about?

Verdict: I don't know. Kids would like it and read it, but the depiction of a half-man/half-monkey feels off to me. I honestly doubt the author had anything but funny cartoons in his mind when he wrote/drew this - his work is very silly, similar to Ethan Long. It's got many excellent reviews, including some starred reviews. So... I really don't know. Am I overthinking this? Should I get it since I know the kids will like it? Discuss it in a book club? What do you think?

ISBN: 9781534404311; Published July 2018 by Simon & Schuster; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

Oskar can... by Britta Teckentrup

I'm always fascinated by authors who can create books with very different styles; Britta Teckentrup has created nonfiction titles like the peek-through series, simple toddler books, and more reflective picture books. Her cut paper illustrations are very similar and yet she uses them for different effects in each title.

There is an earlier book about Oskar the raven, although I haven't personally read it. In this title, he is exploring things that he can do - simple things like jumping almost as high as his friend Mo, more complicated things like making the perfect cup of tea. The book ends by asking the reader what they can do.

The backgrounds are earth shades of green and brown, blue and cream. Oscar is a static image, set against each background with a few simple props - a soccer ball, red skis, and stack of stones.

Verdict: Artistically, it's interesting but I don't see it being a very good storytime choice. The things Oskar can do are so varied that they don't really parallel a child's experience (ski? ride a tandem bicycle?) and although it could be fun in a fanciful way it just doesn't really stand out. My favorite Teckentrups remain her peek-through and seek-and-find titles.

ISBN: 9783791373614; Published 2018 by Prestel; Review copy provided by publisher

Who eats orange? by Dianne White, illustrated by Robin Page

I was worried that this would be another Steve Jenkins-like title (nothing against him, it's just that he's very prolific and all the books start to run into each other after a while) but it turned out to be something quite new and outstanding (no, it's not by Steve Jenkins, but Page illustrates/works with him a lot, so that's what I immediately thought when I saw the cover).

So. Simple rhymes introduce different animals and the colors of the food they eat. Starting with the title, "Who eats orange? Bunnies in their hutches do./Chickens in the hen house too." shows a grey rabbit munching a carrot and vibrant red chickens pecking at cantaloupe melons (they do like these - I've fed them the rinds). The story continues with a goat eating an orange, a pig eating a pumpkin, and gorillas... "No! Gorillas don't eat orange. They eat..." turn the page to discover what gorillas, giraffes, zebras, and hippos eat! As you continue you'll note that the animals are loosely divided into sections - domestic animals, African animals, ocean creatures, wild animals of North America, tropical creatures, and so on. The book ends with a pudgy white hand in a red sweater scooping up a handful of blueberries and a rainbow of foods that people eat.

Back matter explores the habitats of each section - farm, Africa, ocean, forest, rain forest, and tundra. The vibrant digital illustrations mimic paper collages but have a smoother edge. Each animal and food is set against a white background and the simple art and text makes this ideal for toddlers.

Verdict: This is one of those excellent nonfiction titles that can be expanded for many different audiences. Read it in storytime with toddlers, helping them recognize animals and colors; read it with preschools and learn different kinds of fruit, vegetables, and other foods; study it with elementary students to discuss habitats and the similarities and differences between what animals and people eat. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9781534404083; Published August 2018 by Beach Lane; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

This week at the library; or, I am not at the library

I took vacation. We close at 5:30 on Wednesday and are closed Thursday-Friday, then re-open on Saturday. The only event was Paws to Read on Monday and I left a lot of projects for my staff to work on, mostly decorations for life-size Candyland.

I often joke that my "vacations" are more of a change of venue. I slept (a lot), wrote many, many reviews, worked on Cybils, did the dishes and cleaned, did some shopping, worked on sewing projects, and generally relaxed. Ok, there was some collection development in there. I find it relaxing.

The Grand Escape by Neal Bascomb

When I think of dramatic prisoner of war escapes, I usually think of Colditz in WWII - mostly because my sister was obsessed with it (there were Lego models). So I was fascinated to read this account of the "original" escape in World War I of a group of soldiers and pilots who escaped from the notorious German prison of Holzminden.

Bascomb builds the story slowly, starting with a rough outline of the war and the role pilots played - including the dangers they faced. As one by one men are captured and the war continues, the various characters make escape attempts, fail, and gradually come to be incarcerated in a notorious prison camp. Not all survive; if they make it through the initial deadly crash of their primitive planes, they still have to survive escape attempts and recapture, not to mention brutal treatment in the prison camps.

Eventually, a band of men, all of whom have made multiple attempts to escape, are housed together at Holzminden. There, despite the brutal treatment by the commandant Karl Niemeyer, they work together to plan a daring escape. It's not an easy task; some attempts are made and end in death or solitary imprisonment. Some men are sent to other camps. There are traitors and close calls, not to mention the physical labor and dangers of their risky escape tunnel. But eventually, a record number of men make their escape.

Throughout the book Bascomb details the various personalities of the men, bringing them to life as individuals. He doesn't shy away from cruel treatment, the realities of life as a POW, or even a frank discussion of how class continued to affect the soldiers even in a prison. Although honest, the book isn't overly graphic. It's aimed at a middle school audience but a strong middle grade reader would be able to handle it.

Verdict: This is the first book I read of Scholastic's new imprint, Focus, and I'm really excited about it! Action, adventure, history, and an author who doesn't shy away from the realities of war or whitewash the soldiers into one big happy family, including the different attitudes depending on the soldiers' countries, class, and their own personalities. This is sure to grab the attention of history and adventure fans alike.

ISBN: 9781338140347; Published September 2018 by Scholastic Focus; ARC provided by the publisher; Purchased for the library

Megabat by Anna Humphrey, illustrated by Kass Reich

I'm generally a little skeptical about stories starring sensitive boys - they tend not to circulate in my library. But this one won me over and I can definitely see an audience for this sweet and funny story.

Daniel Misumi is scared of his new house. It's old and creaky and, worst of all, there's a weird puddle in the attic which is also his bedroom! But when he takes up a jelly roll for dessert he discovers the source of the puddle... a talking bat! (It's tears, not pee. Just so you know.) Daniel and the bat quickly become friends and the bat gets a new name - Megabat! Plus a toy lightsaber! The next hurdle is Daniel's reluctant meeting with the next-door neighbors. Sweet Talia is instantly ready to help Megabat find his way home, but they've got bigger problems than just keeping Daniel's parents from finding out about Megabat. Now they've got to deal with Talia's nasty big brother, Jamie.

After some research at the library, Daniel figures out where Megabat's real home is. Will he be willing to let his new friend go? And can Megabat safely find his way home or will tragedy ensue? Along the way, there's a besotted and not-so-stupid pigeon, the thwarting of a villain (i.e. Jamie) and lots of silly bat talk.

Soft charcoal sketches decorate the pages, showing Megabat's homeland "Papaya Premium", Megabat pretending to wield a lightsaber, and other highlights of the story. A note at the back tells the readers more about bats and advertises the next book in the series.

Verdict: This slow and sweet story won't be for every reader, but there will be plenty of young readers who appreciate the slow building of a friendship and the quirky little bat.

ISBN: 9780735262577; Published August 2018 by Tundra; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

Small Readers: My toothbrush is missing by Jan Thomas

Jan Thomas' easy reader series, The Giggle Gang, continues with this hilarious book. The first spread shows a mysterious paw reaching for a red toothbrush labeled "dog". The next page includes the title, My Toothbrush is Missing! in a speech balloon. The story begins with Dog, who is missing her toothbrush, and Donkey, Sheep, and Duck, who are worried but unhelpful. Dog tries describing her toothbrush and Donkey helpfully shows up with various options... but, as Dog exclaims after each try "that is not my toothbrush!" Sheep is increasingly exasperated as she identifies an egg beater, broom, and other items. Duck just can't believe her eyes! Finally, Donkey gives up and gets back to scrubbing her hooves... with Dog's toothbrush???

Thomas' bright colors and cartoonish illustrations have long been a favorite of the toddler and preschool set; I've also regularly recommended her books to beginning readers. Now that publishers have caught on, both old and new titles are being published in easy reader format to great acclaim. This funny story includes bold text that is easy to read, carefully arranged speech balloons and illustrations that make the story easy to follow, and her trademark surprise twist at the end of the story.

Verdict: I've been using these titles in book clubs, to recommend to emerging readers, and to read-aloud for years - each new addition is just as popular as the last. While they don't have the character recognition of Elephant and Piggie, they're a fun staple in any easy reader collection.

ISBN: 9780544966352; Published 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Purchased for the library

Penguin & Tiny Shrimp don't do bedtime! by Cate Berry, illustrated by Charles Santoso

Penguin and Tiny Shrimp may be in pajamas, and they may have brushed their teeth, but this is NOT a bedtime book!

There are no soft beds! No squishy pillows! This is a book with fireworks, swinging on vines in the jungle, and sailing through shark-infested waters! This book is just a party all the time. It will never make you sleeeeeepy. Yawn.

Santoso's grainy, colored-pencil illustrations (yes, it says they were created digitally but they LOOK like colored-pencil) show a perky penguin and silly shrimp racing through the Serengeti, unboxing a uni-hippo, and finally, much against their will, falling asleep.

Verdict: Kids will giggle themselves silly over this anti-bedtime book and maybe, possibly, get a little sleepy by the end. Perfect for a pajama storytime.

ISBN: 9780062491534; Published 2018 by Balzer + Bray; Borrowed from another library in my consortium