By Jan Pease
If you have noticed some bare shelves in the children’s area, don’t despair. We are shifting books to make it easier for patrons to locate what they want. Juvenile nonfiction is now located near the picture book collection. All juvenile chapter books, both hardcover and paperback, are now shelved together. The books on CD are now on the north wall. We no longer have audio books on cassette, because that technology has come and gone. The manga (Japanese graphic novels) are now on the east wall. The Spanish language books are also on the east wall. Several staff members have been involved in the process, and I’m so grateful for their help. Signs will eventually make all this clear.
If you have noticed some bare shelves in the children’s area, don’t despair. We are shifting books to make it easier for patrons to locate what they want. Juvenile nonfiction is now located near the picture book collection. All juvenile chapter books, both hardcover and paperback, are now shelved together. The books on CD are now on the north wall. We no longer have audio books on cassette, because that technology has come and gone. The manga (Japanese graphic novels) are now on the east wall. The Spanish language books are also on the east wall. Several staff members have been involved in the process, and I’m so grateful for their help. Signs will eventually make all this clear.
One
of the new
books that people on the library staff have noticed is Animal Hospital: Rescuing Urban Wildlife, by Julia
Coey. This book was
published in the United States
and Canada by Firefly Books, and it centers on the work of the
Toronto Wildlife
Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Like
the
Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Roseville, and the Raptor Center
in St. Paul,
an amazing number of wild animals live and thrive in urban areas
in Canada. Gorgeous color
photographs and interesting
information make this
small book seem
much larger. 
Michael Hall was nominated for the Minnesota
Book Award
this year for Red: A
Crayon’s Story . He
followed that crayon story with Frankencrayon, a truly
funny story with
great illustrations. There
is drama,
there is mystery, and there is even a mad scientist. Some
of the jokes may require some explanation, but this story of very vocal crayons
is simply hilarious. By the way, I called it as the winner!
Some interesting math makes Absolutely One Thing, by Lauren
Child a potential
hit. She brings back
Charlie and his
little sister Lola for an adventure that is funny and
enlightening. After all,
how many of us understand how many
is a squillion? And is it
even a number?
Maggie
and Michael
Get Dressed is a book by Denise Fleming, whose books for
preschoolers are
marvelous. Michael tries
his outfit on
his dog, Maggie, who is boisterously patient, before putting his
clothes onhimself. Their relationship reminds me
of days when our
daughter dressed her dog, Scruffy, and pushed him in her doll
stroller. 
I have never seen a picture book about
tattoos but Alison
McGhee uses a daddy’s tattoos to give structure to Tell Me a Tattoo Story. The illustrations by Eliza
Wheeler are
perfect. A boy loves to
hear the stories
behind each of his dad’s many tattoos and his dad gently tells
each one. One of the most
beautiful tattoos
commemorates the most difficult time in his life, when he was away
during the
war. I love that the book
opens with the
dad doing dishes while wearing a tank top that gives glimpses of
his colorful
artwork.
