Amy Krouse Rosenthal...

...is truly one of my favorite picture book authors. See her website here. I look forward to her new books and lately I have been getting a lot of them. Recently I read Duck! Rabbit! to a storytime group and they really enjoyed it. It's about two kids who look at the same drawing, but one kid sees a duck and the other sees a rabbit. Each tries to convince the other that he's right.

I also really love Little Pea, Little Hoot, and Little Oink. They are such cute stories that all feature a fun reversal: Little Pea hates candy but has to eat it for dinner, Little Hoot wants to go to bed early but his parents insist they stay up late, and Little Oink would like a clean room but has to make it messy. The illustrations are lovely as well in all three books.

Any kid suffering from jealousy should read Spoon. Spoon is jealous of his friends Knife, Fork, and Chopsticks. At the same time, his friends are jealous of Spoon. Who else but Spoon could dive headfirst into a bowl of ice cream, or relax in a cup of hot tea? It's a sweet, comforting story.

A Fun Read

Recently I've been thinking about the chapter books I will pick to read to the kids during our upcoming weekly read-a-thons (starting Thursday, June 4 at 10 a.m.). I decided on Sara Pennypacker's hilarious book Clementine to start with. I challenge anyone to read the first five pages of the book without laughing. I will seriously give you a prize if you can do it.

Clementine is a very impulsive girl who has trouble staying focused on the teacher when she's in school. She always means well, but usually ends up getting into trouble because she doesn't think things through very often. Anyone would like this book, but I think it would be especially fun for kids in grades 2-5.

School Visits and Summer Fun

Last week I visited several Monticello schools to talk to the kids about our upcoming summer reading program, which starts in just two weeks! I am hoping that everyone will find something to enjoy at the library this summer, whether it's the luau and other kids' activities, the Teen Book Club, or just hanging out and reading for fun (and getting prizes to do it!)

We're going to have a Library Safari, Animal Bingo, crafts, and presentations with live animals through the course of our 8-week program. Leave a comment or call the library if you are interested in learning more about the activities.

Those of you who read this also know that I read A LOT of books for kids. I am always, always reading and I usually have lots of good recommendations. I have recently finished reading all 20 of the 2010 Rebecca Caudill books, and I'm glad to talk to kids about those as well as any other book they might like to read. Note: we do not do AR testing at the library, so if you're reading something and want to take a test later, you might need to take notes or have some other kind of refresher as the next school year approaches.

Nonfiction on the Rebecca Caudill List

Freedom Walkers by Russell Freedman is a really wonderful nonfiction book that was honored by inclusion on the 2010 Rebecca Caudill list. I just finished reading it last week and I truly enjoyed it. (I love anything with a lot of Martin Luther King Jr. quotes!) I thought it gave a really balanced account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and a lot of really interesting information about Rosa Parks and the other major players. It was well-researched and told in a narrative format, making it accessible to kids. Check it out!