Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Curl up on a cold day with one of these new children's fiction books!

Mistress of the Storm by M.L. Welsh


A wind-swept, salt-sprayed novel that will whisk you away...
Verity Gallant knows she'll never be as pretty and popular
as Poppy, her perfect little sister - she doesn't quite fit in.
But when a mysterious stranger hands her an ancient
red book, everything changes.
Verity becomes embroiled in a tale of dark magic and intrigue; she
uncovers old rivalries and discovers new friends.  Together, she, Henry,
and Martha explore the secrets stirring in the ancient harbour town of Wellow.
But what will it take to stop a powerful witch hell-bent on revenge?

True Blue by Jane Smiley

True Blue is a beauty, a dapple gray, and when
Abby Lovitt gets to take him to her family's ranch,
she can hardly believe her luck.  The horse needs a 
home:his owner - a woman brand-new to the riding
stable - was tragically killed in a car crash, and no one
has claimed him.  Daddy is wary, as always.  But Abby is
smitten.  True Blue is a sweetheart, and whenever Abby calls out
"Blue, Blue, how are you?" He whinnies back.
But sometimes True Blue seems...spooked.  He paces, and
always seems to be looking form something.  Or someone.  Abby
starts to wonder about True Blue's owner.  What was she like?  What
did she look like?  And what are the strange whispers Abby sometimes
hears when she's with True Blue?

Maggie & Oliver or a Bone of One's Own by Valerie Hobbs

Maggie is always full of questions.  But a young
maid in a fine house isn't supposed to wonder so much, 
and one day Maggie is thrown out into the street with only
a tiny heart-shaped locket for a keepsake.  Who is 
the lady in the locket?
A little dog named Oliver is pushing his nose along an
icy sidewalk searching for his lost mistress, or at least
something to eat.  No matter how hard he looks, he can't find
either one, but he does see a girl with round blue eyes and a golden locket.
The girl calls him Lucky.
And perhaps Lucky is the right name after all, for the little dog
helps Maggie find a warm, wonderful home of her own-and one for him, too.

R My Name is Rachel by Patricia Reilly Giff

It's 1936, and twelve-year-old Rachel's family doesn't
have two nickels to rub together.
Rachel lives in the city with Pop and her younger
brother and sister, Joey and Cassie.  Rachel's mother
died long ago, but the family had a special friend in Miss 
Mitzi at the flower shop, and they know everyone on their block.
Pop needs a job.  His search for work lands the family on a farm
upstate, in North Lake.  But times are hard there, too- the school
and the library are closed.  Their isolated house is falling
apart.  Still, Rachel loves the farm.
Miss Mitzi and Rachel write to each other constantly, exchanging
letters that sustain Rachel as the three city kids adjust to life
in the country.  When Pop's job takes him away from home for
a while, Rachel is determined that she and Joey and Cassie will do just fine on the farm.




Wednesday, December 14, 2011

New picture books that are fun for adults and kids alike!

Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown

Meet Lucy. (a bear)  Meet Lucy's pet. (a boy)
She calls him Squeaker.  Lucy and Squeaker have the
best day ever.  Until things start to go wrong...
Do children make terrible pets? What do you think?

An Annoying ABC by Barbara Bottner

When Adelaide annoys Bailey, she sets off a chain reaction
of bad behavior among her classmates.  Soon Flora is fuming,
Kirby is kicking, Petunia is pestering, Todd is tumbling,
and Winthrop is weeping!
What will it take to fix this ABC catastrophe?  Readers will be
amazed to see what happens when Adelaide...apologizes.

Samantha on a Roll by Linda Ashman

"No Samantha. Not today. Please go put those skates away.
You're still too small. You don't know how! I can't help you-not right now."
But Samantha can't wait to try her brand-new roller skates.  While
Mama tends to other things, Sammy straps them on. First, she glides down
the hallway.  Then she tries the sidewalk.  Next she ventures a bit farther
down the street. She's doing great.  But when she finds herself cresting
Hawthorn Hill, it's too late to stop-in fact, she can't! Samantha is on a roll.

M.O.M. (Mom operating Manual) by Doreen Cronin

Mom/mam, mem/n. (homosabius momius)
1. a. a female parent; b. a lady of authority; c. utterer of "because I say so"
2. a complex machine who runs full speed on little fuel and almost no sleep whatsoever
also Wonder Woman.
Take care of Mom and she'll take care of you.




Thursday, December 8, 2011

Celebrate the season with these kid's holiday books

Celebrate Hanukkah by Deborah Heiligman

Families gather to sing songs, exchange fits, and remember
miracles that happened long ago.
Hanukkah is one of the most joyous holidays on the Jewish calendar, 
in in this book readers find out why.
Author Deborah Heiligman looks at how Jews from the
United States to Israel to Africa and India celebrate the
"Festival of Lights."

The Shortest Day by Wendy Pfeffer

Winter begins on the shortest day of the year, on or about 
December 21.  On short winter days, children walking home
from school drag long shadow behind them.  On long
winter nights, families eat dinner while it's dark outside.
Long agao, people grew afraid when each day had fewer
hours of sunshine than the day before.  Over time, they
realized that one day each year the sun seemed to stop
moving away and then started moving back toward them.
They celebrated this day by exchanging presents and decorating
their houses with evergreens.  Today people still celebrate the
winter solstice, not because they worry that the sun will disappear,
but because they know the days will get longer again.  They
celebrate because it's a new beginning.


Christmas Remembered by Tomie  dePaola

In this wonderful Christmas memoir, Tomie dePaola shares
his love of the season in fifteen vivid memories spanning six
decades filled with delightful twists and turns.
In the thirties at age three, Tomie watched his Irish-Italian family
and their friends prepare for and joyously celebrate the holidays.
It was no wonder that Christmas became his favorite time of the year.
Wherever he lived - as a teenager in Meriden, Connecticut, an art
student in Brooklyn, a novice monk at Weston Priory in Vermont, an
artist and professor San Francisco, or an artist and author in New
Hampshire - Tomie's enthusiasm for the Christmas season was
constant and infectious.


The Family Read-Aloud Christmas Treasury selected by Alice Low

Rejoice! Here is an irresistible celebration of the 
glory of Christmas, filled with all the sights, sounds, and
smells that make this holiday so special.  Well-loved poets
Jack Prelutsky, David McCord, A.A. Milne, E.E. Cummings, and
John Updike bring to life the quiet cheer of snowy days, the joys
of a brand new sled, the thrill of choosing and decorating the perfect
Christmas tree, the mysterious arrival of Santa Claus and his elves, and
of course, the delicious aromas of freshly baked Christmas cakes, apple
pies, and plum puddings. Families can join in their favorite carols and
songs, from "Away in a Manger" to "The Twelve Days of Christmas,"
and read aloud from more than fifty poems and stories, such as
Clement Clarke Moore's timeless "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and
the Christmas pageant from Beverly Cleary's popular Ramona and her Father.