Young Picture Books
Big Hugs, Little Hugs
by Felicia Bond
This small but sweet board book is just right for baby’s first Valentine (and really for the rest of the year as well). All the animals are giving hugs, which gives us the perfect excuse to hug our own little one.
Love Monster
by Rachel Bright
Who could love a slightly hairy, I suppose-a-bit googly-eyed monster? You’ll learn how he finds love in this engaging story that reminds us that there’s someone for everyone.
Dinosaur Kisses
by David Ezra Stein
Stein clearly understands toddlers—what they love and what they think is funny. This dinosaur wants to give kisses, but who wants one from a big dinosaur? It’s already a storytime favorite for us.
Emerging Readers
Extraordinary Jane
by Hannah Harrison
Most everyone would secretly like to be extraordinary like their heroes. Jane is a circus elephant who doesn’t think she has any talent, but a loving and perceptive ringmaster recognizes her uniqueness and brings it to light. The old-fashioned drawings are perfect for this timeless story.
Princess Tales adapted
by Grace Maccarone
The traditional stories that we know so well are retold here in glorious detail, and we get a added bonus. The illustrations hide details that we are asked to find. The eye spy format works well here with the tales to start the page. One person can find the clues while the other is reading.
A Curious Robot On Mars!
by James Duffett-Smith
This fun story of abandoned spacecraft uses the theme of NASA’s Curiosity, the Mars rover, enticing all of us to learn more about the objects that we’ve left behind. They are more than 100 million miles above Earth, but it’s sure looks fun.
Children’s Fiction & Non Fiction
Founding Mothers: Remembering The Ladies
by Cokie Roberts
We are huge fans of Cokie Roberts and her entertaining history books about the women who shaped our country. Many of their stories are not told in history books. Now we can share these stories with young readers with this pictorial history illustrated by Caldecott Honor-winning Diane Goode.
EverAfter High: The Storybook of Legends
by Shannon Hale
At EverAfter High, the children of fairytale characters prepare themselves to fulfill their destiny as the next generation of Cinderellas, Prince Charmings and Little Red Riding Hoods. Each year, the students sign the Storybook of Legends to seal their fate. But this year, Raven Queen, the daughter of the Evil Queen from Snow White, is not sure she wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps. What if she wants to determine her own destiny? An entertaining twist on fairy tales.
Ophelia and The Marvelous Boy
by Karen Foxlee
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful but evil Snow Queen. She yearned to dominate the world, and only The Marvelous Boy, chosen and trained by the good wizards, stood in her way. She imprisons the boy. Three hundred years later, Ophelia is exploring the museum where her father is mounting an exhibition. She’s lonely and wandering on her own when she discovers a boy trapped in a room. He begs her to help him defeat the Snow Queen and what follows is a truly marvelous story.
Teen Fiction & Non Fiction
Manor of Secrets
by Katherine Longshore
Lady Charlotte Edmonds and kitchen maid Janie Seward both live at The Manor. Charlotte is being groomed to become the wife of Lord Andrew, but longs to be with the mysterious footman. Janie simply longs for more than a life of servitude. Their lives intertwine as both attempt to forge their own futures rather than following the wishes of family and convention.
This Star Won’t Go Out
by Esther Earl (with foreword by John Green)
A beautifully compiled collection of letters, journal entries, and sketches of Esther Grace Earl who passed away in 2010 at the age of 16. Family and friends help fill out the story of this amazing teenager. It is both heartbreaking and hopeful. John Green, author of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, was a friend of Esther and dedicated his best selling novel to her.
Reality Boy
by A.S. King
Gerald Faust is the 16 year-old survivor of a reality TV show. He’s matured, is seeing a therapist, and is holding down a job after school. Still, all people see is the five year-old whose tantrums shocked and entertained viewers a decade ago. What the viewers didn’t see was the MUCH darker reality that the cameras never caught. All Gerald wants to do on the eve of his 17th birthday is to escape the town, his family, and the retarded label that was forced on him. Oh, and maybe learn how to have a girlfriend.
