Celebrating National Library Week – Books About Libraries
Toddlers (Ages 1-3)
Kevin Goes to the Library!
by Liesbet Slegers
Explores the cyclical nature of borrowing library books and emphasizes the many joys of reading as Kevin, a young boy, describes his experiences at the library.
Lola at the Library
by Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw
Every Tuesday Lola and her mother visit their local library to return and check out books, attend story readings, and share a special treat.
Read to Your Bunny
by Rosemary Wells
Brief rhyming text and colorful illustrations tell what happens when parents and children share twenty minutes a day reading.
Picture Books (Pre K-K)
Carlo and the Really Nice Librarian
by Jessica Spanyol
When Carlo the giraffe and Crackers the cat visit the new library, they meet Mrs. Chinca, a very friendly and helpful librarian who just happens to be an alligator.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
by William Joyce
Morris Lessmore loves words, stories and books; after a powerful storm carries him to another land, dreary and colorless, he finds a single book in color that leads him to an amazing library where, he learns, the books need him as much as he needs them.
Beatrice Doesn’t Want To
by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
A humorous story of a stubborn little girl, a patient older brother, and the magical workings of the local library. Beatrice doesn’t like books or reading—and she especially doesn’t like accompanying big brother Henry to the library three days in a row. But that’s where he has to take her while he works on his dinosaur report. Is there anything at the library that could possibly change her mind?
Early Readers (Grades 1-3)
Can I Bring Woolly to the Library, Ms. Reeder?
by Lois G. Grambling, illustrated by Judy Love
Will a child’s woolly mammoth create havoc if he is allowed in the library? Our young narrator tries every logical reason to explain why this wouldn’t be the case.
The Day Dirk Yeller Came to Town
by Mary Casanova, illustrated by Ard Hoyt
When outlaw Dirk Yeller arrives in Cowtown looking for something to take away his cat-scratch fever, young Sam, whose pa says he is “a world-a-trouble and curious as a tomcat,” knows just what this dangerous and jittery criminal needs to calm him down.
I.Q. Goes to the Library
by Mary Ann Fraser
After going to the library with Mrs. Furber’s class every day of Library Week, I.Q., the class pet, hopes to take out a funny book with his own library card.
Children’s Fiction (Grades 4-6)
The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity
by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Adam Rex
When twelve-year-old Steve Brixton, a fan of Bailey Brothers detective novels, is mistaken for a real detective, he must elude librarians, police, and the mysterious Mr. E as he seeks a missing quilt containing coded information.
Punished!
by David Lubar
Logan and his friend Benedict are playing tag in the library. Logan gets caught when he runs into a mysterious man. When Logan doesn’t apologize sincerely, the mysterious gentleman punishes him by causing him to speak in puns. Only finding seven examples each of oxymorons, anagrams and palindromes within the time limits will return Logan to normal.
Inkheart
by Cornelia Funke
Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can “read” fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service. This is an action-packed, fast-paced fantasy that is the first in a trilogy.
Teen Fiction and Nonfiction (Ages 12 & up)
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
by Brandon Sanderson
Alcatraz Smedry seems destined for nothing but disaster. On his 13th birthday he receives a bag of sand, which is quickly stolen by the cult of evil librarians plotting to take over the world. The sand will give the librarians the edge they need to achieve world domination. Alcatraz must stop them by infiltrating the local library, armed with nothing but eyeglasses and a talent for klutziness.
The Grimm Legacy
by Polly Shulman
Elizabeth has a new job at an unusual library—a lending library of objects, not books. In a secret room in the basement lies the Grimm Collection. That’s where the librarians lock away powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales: seven-league boots, a table that produces a feast at the blink of an eye, Snow White’s stepmother’s sinister mirror. When the magical objects start to disappear, Elizabeth embarks on a dangerous quest to catch the thief before she can be accused of the crime or captured by the thief.
Here Lies the Librarian
by Richard Peck
Fourteen-year-old Eleanor “Peewee” McGrath, a tomboy and automobile enthusiast, discovers new possibilities for her future after the 1914 arrival in her small Indiana town of four young librarians.
