A Library Book for Bear

A Library Book for Bear
by Bonny Becker; illus. by Kady MacDonald Denton
32 pages; ages 3-7
Candlewick, 2014

"Bear had never been to the library. He has seven very nice books at home..." And as far as bear was concerned, those were all the books he would ever need.

Themes: friendship, pickles, books

Opening: "One morning, Bear heard a tap, tap, tapping on his door. When he opened the door, there was Mouse, small and gray and bright-eyed." Mouse is ready to go to the library, but now Bear is having second thoughts. He doesn't need any more books.

What I love about this book: Mouse's insistence that there are "many delightful books in the library" - and his never-give-up attitude. Also his never-ending assistance in finding books for Bear.
"Rocket ships! Ridiculous!" says Bear.
"I am not interested in wooden canoes!" declares Bear.
All Bear wants is to go back home.... until he hears the story lady reading a book about his very favorite thing: pickles.

Beyond the book: When was the last time you went to the library to look for a book? And was it the same kind of book you always check out? If so, maybe you need to go on a Library Adventure. Here are a few ideas:

• Look for the biggest book in the library. Then take your picture next to it. 
• Travel somewhere exotic. Spin the globe and choose a country. Then find some travel books to check out for an armchair adventure. Hop on the computer and look for photos of the country you've chosen. Make a map of your "travels" and draw some "photos" to show what you did or where you went.
• Go to the cookbook section and find a new recipe. Then go to the store (and farmer's market), get the ingredients, and get cooking. 
• Look through the books on plants and animals and learn to identify something new. Then go out and look for it.
• Find a book of Baby names and make a list of funny name combinations. Then adopt a new name for the day.
• Check out a book by an author you have never read before.

Today we're joining PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copy provided by publisher.

Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library

What if you had so many books you had to build a library to hold them? That's what Thomas Jefferson did... the Library of Congress.

Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library
by Barb Rosenstock; illus. by John O'Brien
32 pages; ages 8 & up
Calkins Creek, 2013

From the title page illustration (TJ constructing a library using books) to the end notes, this book is chock-full of fun information. There are quotes from Thomas Jefferson: "I cannot live without books" (1815), and cool facts. Did you know that in Jefferson's time, books were commonly sold unbound? People took the pages to a bookbinder who covered the book and stitched it all together.

Barb Rosenstock pulls us into the story from the get-go. Thomas Jefferson learned to read early, and never stopped. He "gobbled books the way a starving man eats," writes Rosenstock. By the age of six he'd read every book in his father's library. So when he started collecting things... it seems only natural he'd collect books.

When he was elected president, Jefferson supported the Library of Congress - in fact, he tripled the number of books in its library. Later, during the War of 1812, British soldiers set fire to the Capitol and burned the Library of Congress. What did Tom do? He sorted and labeled and boxed up more than 6500 of his own books and sent them off to Washington, DC to start the new Library of Congress. Since then, the Library of Congress has grown. It now owns more than 155 million items that take up 800 miles of shelf space. And one of those items is .... this book.

How appropriate, then, for this week's Nonfiction Monday to be hosted by Abby the Librarian. Bloggers who love children's nonfiction will share the cool books they are reading over at her site. Review copy provided by publisher.

The Book Boat's In!

The Book Boat's In
by Cynthia Cotten; illustrated by Frane Lessac
32 pages; ages 4-8
Holiday House 2013

One day when Jesse goes into town with his dad, he sees the book boat tied up along the canal wharf. It's part library, part bookstore.  Jesse browses the shelves and finds the perfect book: The Swiss Family Robinson, with a bright read cover. The cost: twenty cents. But Jesse doesn't have 20 cents.

He figures he can earn that money before the book boat returns - in a week. So Jesse works odd jobs around town: sweeping the general store, chopping wood, running errands. This story of life around the canal is illustrated with folk-art paintings that set the mood and keep us in the 1800's.

If we can have book boats, anything is possible: book burros, books on bikes, even libraries in old phone booths. This is a great story for book lovers of all ages.

Review f&g provided by publisher.

Return of the Library Dragon

Return of the Library Dragon
by Carmen Agra Deedy; illustrated by Michael P. White
32 pages; ages 4-8 (and, really, anyone who loves libraries and/or dragons)
Peachtree, 2012

After guarding the books of the Sunrise Elementary school library for the last 557 years, Miss Lotty is retiring. "If you leave, who will read to the little kids?" ask Milo. "The new librarian," says Miss  Lotty.

Then, disaster strikes. The books go missing, the card catalog is abandoned in the hallway and, it looks like Mike Krochip - the new tech-loving library fixer-upper is banishing print from the library. Miss Lotty is smoking mad over the booknapping, and Mike tries to sooth her ruffled scales by assuring her that children using flashy MePods will forget what books look like.

Wrong Thing to Say to Lotty.... who makes Mike hot under the collar, threatening to melt motherboards and more unless her books are returned. But all's well that ends well, as some famous scribe wrote.

This is a fun book for kids of all ages from those who read pictures to those who read the endpapers, which include such nuggets of wisdom as:

 "Google can bring you back 100,000 answers; a librarian can bring you back the right one." ~Neil Gaiman

 Review copy provided by publisher.