Toddlers (Ages 1 – 3)
Blue Chicken by Deborah Freedman
In this deceptively simple picture book, author-illustrator Deborah Freedman has created an irresistible character that springs to life and wreaks havoc in a farmyard with a pot of blue paint. The innocent chicken just wants to help, but things get worse and worse (and bluer and bluer) the more she tries.
Job Site by Nathan Clement
The bulldozer, the excavator, the loader, and other pieces of heavy machinery all have important tasks to accomplish at the job site: digging, lifting, carrying, dumping, moving, shaping.
My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz
Follow one little girl as she learns how to welcome the coming year and experiences all the festivities surrounding this special holiday. This warm and lively introduction to a delightful holiday will make even the youngest child want to celebrate Chinese New Year in his or her own home.
Picture Books (Pre K-K)
Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution by Pat Miller
Squirrel knows that New Year’s Day is a great day for making resolutions. But what does it mean to make a resolution, anyway? As she makes visits around the forest, she learns about New Year’s resolutions and helps her friends get started on theirs. If only she could think of a resolution of her very own…
Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond
While Charlie, a sleepy basset hound, talks about the busy life of a ranch dog, his best friend Suzie, a Jack Russell terrier, gets all the work done.
Stuff by Margie Palatini
Edward cares more about his possessions than spending time with his friends, until he becomes trapped in his house full of “stuff.” Hungry and bored, he learns to care about the “stuff” that really counts.
Early Readers (Grades 1-3)
The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale by Ying Chang Compestine
On Chinese New Year’s Eve, a poor man who works for the richest businessman in Beijing sends his son to market to trade their last few eggs for a bag of rice. Instead, the boy brings home a magic wok that changes their fortunes forever.
The Dollhouse Fairy by Jane Ray
Worried about her father’s trip to the hospital, Rosy goes to play with the special dollhouse he built for her and finds Thistle, a very messy and mischievous fairy, who needs a place to stay while her injured wing mends.
How Did That Get in My Lunchbox?: The Story of Food by Chris Butterworth
Opening a lunchbox and diving in can be one of the best parts of a young child’s day. But how did all that delicious food get there? Who made the bread for the sandwich? What about the cheese inside? Who plucked the fruit? And where did the chocolate in that cookie get its start? From planting wheat to mixing flour into dough, climbing trees to machine-squeezing fruit, picking cocoa pods to stirring a vat of melted bliss, here is a clear, engaging look at the steps involved in producing some common foods. Healthy tips and a peek at basic food groups complete the menu.
Children’s Fiction (Grades 4-6)
Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck
In 1887, the social-climbing Cranstons voyage from New York to London, where they hope to find a husband for their awkward older daughter. Secretly, they are accompanied by Helena and her mouse siblings, for whom the journey is both terrifying and wondrous as they meet an array of titled humans despite their best efforts at remaining hidden.
The Other Felix by Keir Graff
Felix has nightmares. Every night when he falls asleep, he goes to the land of monsters, and when he wakes up he’s back in his bed with mud on his feet and torn pajamas. One night, Felix meets a boy who knows how to fight the monsters—a boy who looks just like him and is also named Felix. The Other Felix is a story of growing up for kids who have graduated from Where the Wild Things Are but are still fascinated by the world of dreams.
The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley
From the age of seven, when she became a scullery maid in a castle, Molly has seen visions of the future. Years later, her visions lead Molly and her friend Tobias on an adventure to keep Alaric, the heir to the throne, safe from a curse. Should she share her visions and risk being seen as a witch, or keep silent and allow danger to surround the royal family?
Teen Fiction and Nonfiction (Ages 12 & up)
Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber
Perry’s parents insist that he take Gobi, a reserved Lithuanian exchange student, to senior prom. After an incident at the dance, Perry learns that Gobi is actually a trained assassin who needs him as a henchman on a mission in Manhattan.
Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
Imagine an alternate universe where romance and technology reign: where tinkerers and dreamers craft and re-craft a world of automatons, clockworks, calculating machines, and other marvels that never existed; where scientists and schoolgirls, fair folk and Romans, intergalactic bandits, utopian revolutionaries, and intrepid orphans solve crimes, escape from monstrous predicaments, consult oracles, and hover over volcanoes in steam-powered airships. In this volume, fourteen master storytellers push the steampunk genre’s mix of sci-fi, fantasy, history, and adventure in fascinating new directions.
Entwined by Heather Dixon
Confined to their dreary castle while mourning their mother’s death, Princess Azalea and her eleven sisters join The Keeper, who’s trapped in a magic passageway, in a nightly dance that soon becomes nightmarish.
