Book Room

You’ve Got a Friend…

 Stick Dog Chases a Pizza by Tom Watson is not your everyday book about friends. It’s fun through and through and features “Stick Dog,” as protagonist, along with a crazy crew of canines buddies – Karen, the dachshund who chases her tail, Stripes, the dalmatian, Poo-poo, the poodle, and Mutt who is, “you know, a mutt.” This follow-up to… Read more »

Librarian’s Corner: Picture Books for Greeting Friends Around the World

Kids love to learn words and phrases in languages that are not native to them. These three picture books will help early elementary schoolers learn to pronounce and translate greetings and phrases in a variety of languages from around the world. Madlenka by Peter Sis shows how one little girl explores a world of cultures… Read more »

Librarian’s Corner: A Comic-Book Guy, the Need for Diverse Books for Young People, and the Power of Lifting Off the Invisibility Cloak

During this year’s Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington DC, graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang delivered a passionate speech. He spoke about the power of diverse books and comics, and engaging readers from any background. At the conclusion, his literary audience, not your typical comic book crowd, stood up and cheered. Yang is… Read more »

This Orq. (he cave boy.)

This Orq. (he cave boy.) written by David Elliott, illustrated by Lori Nichols (Boyds Mills Press, 2014) is the cutest-darn-story about two pals that I’ve seen in a long time . Elliott brilliantly captures the adoration and camaraderie between a boy and his pet wooly mammoth. Their friendship is utterly charming. Me like. Told in… Read more »

THE HAUNTED LIBRARY

THE HAUNTED LIBRARY PLUS A VERY SPOOKY #2 BOOK IN THIS SERIES: THE GHOST IN THE ATTIC By Edgar Award Winner, Dori Hillestad Butler Whoever heard of a friendship between a girl and a ghost? And who has been spooked at night, alone in bed, when sounds of creaking and someone moving around in the… Read more »

Maggi and Milo

In Maggi and Milo debut author Juli Brenning and illustrator Priscilla Burris explore the pleasant bond of friendship and the angst that comes about when a special friend is nowhere to be found. As the story goes, Maggi’s grandmother sent a frog hunting kit as a gift. Maggi and her trusty pup, Milo, set forth on… Read more »

NEVER SAY A MEAN WORD AGAIN

NEVER SAY A MEAN WORD AGAIN, A TALE FROM MEDIEVAL SPAIN Written by Jacqueline Jules and illustrated by Durga Yael Bernhard What could be more universal than name-calling and fighting – between children or adults? What could be harder to teach than effective conflict resolution? Choosing to become friends rather than to become an enemy, is… Read more »