By Jan Pease
New books are “springing into the library!” Do you know an emoji that stands for cringing at a bad pun? Anyway, here are some new titles that can be found in the Easy books at Litchfield Library.
“Another,” by Christian Robinson, is an interesting picture book that might be the earliest sci-fi book I’ve ever seen. Although the book is wordless, it presents a portal between two worlds. A girl and her cat enter an alternate world and encounter a nearly identical girl and cat. “Twilight Zone” for toddlers?
“B is for Baby,” by Atinuke and illustrated by Angela Brooksbank, is a sweet story set in West Africa. Atinuke is originally from Nigeria, but considers England home. B is for brother and baby, who stows away on big brother’s bike to visit their beloved Baba.
“Baby Day,” by Jane Godwin and Davina Bell, is another book for and about babies. Extreme repetition of the word, baby, will probably delight a very young child, but the Wednesday story hour folks didn’t seem to like it as much as I hoped they would.
Rourke Educational Media has developed a very easy-to-read series about problems children face. We have purchased six titles from this collection. They include books like “Ethan’s Stepmom” and “Forever Rhen” which deal with having a stepparent and experiencing divorce. The titles in the series have different authors, but can be easily searched using the library catalog. Other titles include issues such as making healthy choices, children with special needs, moving away, and food allergies.
Of all the books about dust bunnies, and there are several, the cutest one is “Dust Bunny Wants a Friend,” by Amy Hevron. This cumulative tale follows a lonely little dust bunny as it looks for a friend. Not to spoil the suspense, but as in many homes, the dust bunny finds his friends under a bed. This may be an overdose of cuteness!
The 2019 Theodore Seuss Geisel Award was given to Corey R. Tabor for his book, “Fox the Tiger,” a funny book about a fox who decides he would like to be a tiger because tigers are big and fast and sneaky. The other fox books are “Fox is Late,” “Fox and the Jumping Contest,” and “Fox and the Bike Ride.” This series is a fun way to help a child enjoy independent reading.
David McPhail has been writing children’s books for more than 40 years, and on his website he states that he enjoys it as much now as he did then. His new book, “I am Just Right,” deals with important events in a young child’s life. What happens when you outgrow your crib, your shoes, your trike, and you’re too big for Grandpa to pick up? Well, you’re growing up and learn to sleep in a bed, get bigger shoes, ride a real bike, and get wonderful hugs from Grandpa. I enjoy Mr. McPhail’s books now as much as ever.
Lisa Wheeler, who is known for books like “Sixteen Cows,” and “One Dark Night,” has released “A Hug is For Holding Me.” Today at story time, I asked “What are hands for?” Jim Gill’s song says, “Hands are for clapping.” One adorable little boy said, “Hands are for hugging!”
He is absolutely right. Happy Spring!
