The Bossier Baby by Marla Frazee

December 12, 2016 | Tasha

The Bossier Baby by Marla Frazee (InfoSoup)

Caldecott Honor winner, Frazee has returned with a sequel to Boss Baby. Unfortunately for Boss Baby, things in his corporation have started to change. His staff isn’t treating him the same way and suddenly there is a new CEO! She first restructures the organization, and then does the seemingly impossible: she’s even bossier than her big brother. She manages to get better perks than he ever got too. Boss Baby has had enough and starts to display outrageous behavior and then he just gave up. But luckily, his new CEO knows exactly how to handle a crisis like this.

All of the wonderful mix of babyhood and the corporate mix of the first book returns in the second. It’s a winning combination where corporate take over feels exactly the same as a new baby in the house. While the first book had a lot of parental perspective, this second one is all about the older siblings and his feelings of displacement. Told with plenty of humor, the book is hilarious and oh so true.

Frazee’s illustrations are exceptional, of course. They have a wonderful mix of page designs from montages of images to full double-page spreads. Each has a specific perspective that heightens the emotional feel of the story as well. Just look at the long shadow thrown by the new CEO, or the disruptive behavior which is sure to get children giggling.

A delight of a sequel, this book is ideal for children who have been the Big Boss in their family but are now dealing with their own takeover. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Beach Lane Books.

The Friendship Experiment by Erin Teagan

December 12, 2016December 5, 2016 | Tasha

The Friendship Experiment by Erin Teagan (InfoSoup)

Maddie isn’t looking forward to middle school. Her grandfather died over the summer and they are clearing out his house to prep it for sale. Her best friend has changed schools too. Maddie enjoyed writing Standard Operating Procedures for her grandfather, helping him cope with his dementia as his Alzheimer’s progressed. So she continues to write SOPs in her lab notebook and carry it with her all the time. She brings it to middle school and starts to document ways to cope with middle school and with the kids she eats lunch with. Meanwhile, middle school becomes a mix of good and bad. Maddie is allowed to work in the college’s science lab with her father. But her blood clotting disorder starts to flare up more, though not as much as her older sister’s. Maddie gets into a serious fight with her best friend, and manages to anger the new kids she has just started to become friends with. It’s clear that middle school is going to take a lot more experimenting to get right.

Teagan writes with a solid and consistent tone in this middle grade novel. Her touch is light and filled with humor, offering a way to see past the disasters that Maddie is facing in middle school. She weaves Maddie’s interest in science throughout the story. It is more than a hobby for Maddie, it’s a way of life. From her swabs of bacteria to the way she looks at projects, Maddie faces it all as a scientist.

Maddie is a warm and wonderful protagonist, still she is also entirely human. She makes plenty of mistakes in this novel, managing to lose all of her friends at once through actions all her own. She can be angry, impulsive, and inflexible and still readers will enjoy the time they spend with her and her scientific mind. The topic of hemophilia and the way the disorder is used in the novel is intelligently done, creating yet another source of angst and separation for Maddie.

A strong STEM novel that deftly shows that girls and science mix very well. No experiments needed to prove that hypothesis. Appropriate for ages 10-12.

Reviewed from e-galley received from Edelweiss and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

This Week’s Tweets, Pins & Tumbls

December 9, 2016December 8, 2016 | Tasha

Here are some cool links I shared on my Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts these last couple of weeks:

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

12 Best Children’s Books for the Holidays http://buff.ly/2gDnsQF #kidlit

The 30 Most Entertaining and Uplifting Quotes from Anne of Green Gables http://buff.ly/2h76bD1 #kidlit

Cuddle up in a cozy chair with the kids: These books spread holiday joy http://buff.ly/2hej7TT #kidlit

Introducing the Expanded Children’s Book Week 2017 http://buff.ly/2gVDuZh #kidlit

It’s a Mean, Sometimes Sad World — But Reading Can Help http://buff.ly/2heaAjO #kidlit

Q & A with Lois Ehlert http://buff.ly/2h31Z4B #kidlit

Turn children on to science through reading http://buff.ly/2h7cAyf #kidlit #science

Under Fire, Abrams to Cease Publishing ‘Bad Little Children’s Books’ http://buff.ly/2gOJaEj #kidlit

LIBRARIES

Authors slam Libraries Ambition report as ‘too little, too late’ | The Bookseller http://buff.ly/2h6OgZx #libraries

Be “more library” than ever – District Dispatch http://buff.ly/2gmhraS #libaries

The Better Angels: Committed to defending an inclusive society | Editorial http://buff.ly/2gIKc4C #libraries

Forget hackers. Libraries fear that it’s the feds who’ll go after your data. http://buff.ly/2gucRaV #libraries #privacy

Growing Up in a Library Is Exactly As Magical As You’d Imagine http://buff.ly/2hehTIe #libraries

How Employees Shaped Strategy at the New York Public Library http://buff.ly/2h75G8o #libraries

Making Newspapers and Libraries Cool Again – D Magazine http://buff.ly/2fXRIcF #libraries

The secret life of a librarian: What do you find in books? Bacon and condoms | Anonymous http://buff.ly/2gUJXBo #libraries

TEEN LIT

9 Books to Read If You Miss Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Hub http://buff.ly/2h6ko3a #yalit

Illinois Parents Call for ‘Smut’ Book Ban: ‘We Can’t Have 18-Year-Olds Reading About Sexual Issues’ http://buff.ly/2gPJG2E #yalit

On Normalizing Teen Singlehood in YA http://buff.ly/2gDCy8P #yalit

Veronica Roth Shares 10 Books She’d Love to Receive This Holiday Season http://buff.ly/2h77im4 #yalit

Women in Comics: Princesses with a Twist – The Hub http://buff.ly/2ghUBnh #yalit

Big Bob, Little Bob by James Howe

December 9, 2016December 5, 2016 | Tasha

Big Bob, Little Bob by James Howe, illustrated by Laura Ellen Anderson (InfoSoup)

When Big Bob moves in next door, Little Bob’s mother is happy that he will have a friend so close by. But the two boys are very different in more than just their size. Big Bob likes to roughhouse, play sports, and zoom trucks around. Little Bob likes to spend time quietly reading, play with dolls, and sometimes wears girl clothes. Big Bob teases him for a lot of these things until a new girl moves into the neighborhood and tells Little Bob that boys don’t play with dolls. Big Bob stands up to her and soon the three of them are playing in whatever way they like best, because both girls and boys can play with whatever they choose.

While the message here can get a little heavy handed at the end, this is an important book. It shows that gender norms are a spectrum, that boys who play with dolls don’t have to be given any additional labels unless they identify in a different way. It also embraces that girls too sometimes prefer playing games or choosing toys that are traditionally masculine. There is a broad acceptance here with children being given the space and time to realize that they were viewing the world through a limiting lens.

Anderson’s illustrations are playful and bright. The neighborhood is quirky and welcoming with plenty of place to play separately and together. The use of wild colors adds to the appeal with trees of tangerine and lemon/lime and garlands of flowers and hearts dangling from them.

A book about accepting differences, learning to get along and finding new friends, this picture book is strong pick for library collections. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

10 Great Books on Generosity & Giving

December 8, 2016December 6, 2016 | Tasha

One of the vital elements that we all have to keep hold of both in this holiday season and throughout the year is how to be generous. Money is of course part of this and so is attention and time. Here are some great books on giving back to the world around you:

A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams

Fandango Stew by David Davis, illustrated by Ben Galbraith

The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small

Give and Take by Chris Raschka

Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson, illustrated by Susan L. Roth

Miracle on 133rd Street by Sonia Manzano, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe

Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson, illustrated by Sydney Smith

Stone Soup by Jon J. Muth

Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts, illustrated by Noah Z. Jones

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books

December 8, 2016December 7, 2016 | Tasha

Chicago Public Library has released their Best of the Best Book Lists. They have lists specifically for various ages. Click the links below to head to each specific list:

Enjoy!

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

December 7, 2016December 5, 2016 | Tasha

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake (InfoSoup)

The author of Anna Dressed in Blood returns with a spectacular series opener. On the isolated and shrouded island of Fennbirn, magic still exists. Separated from the mainland, the island governs itself. Every generation triplets are born to the queen, each one heir to their own type of magic. But only one of them can become queen, the other two are destined to die. Katharine is a poisoner and she should be able to feast on poisons that would kill others, but her magic is weak though that fact is hidden. Arsinoe is a naturalist and should have the ability to grow plants and find an animal familiar, but her familiar has never come. Mirabella is an elemental, able to call down enormous storms and dance with fire. She has more power than any elementalist before her. Behind the three girls exists a web of politics and power willing to lie, steal and kill their queen onto the throne. Let the fight begin.

Blake has created a deep tension in this book that plays across the page beautifully. Everything is balanced on a knife’s edge, from the deception of the two weak queens to the unwillingness of the strong queen to kill her sisters. Readers get to see the mechanization behind the throne, the various factions teaching the queens, pushing them into power and punishing them when they fail. For each queen, there is pain, threats and powerlessness despite their station, each expressed in different ways.

The world building here is exquisite from the mist shrouding the island to the vague mentions of the mainland. It is the politics that frame the book, making the horror of the climb to power so immensely readable. The entire novel is riveting with pacing that is skillfully done, the slower sections allowing for the build of despair or horror, love or lust.

A dark delight of a novel that is a rich mix of fantasy and horror. Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from library copy.

You can check out the book trailer too!

2016 GoodReads Choice Winners

December 7, 2016December 6, 2016 | Tasha

GoodReads has announced the winners of their annual voting for the top book in a variety of categories. Here are the winners of the categories for books for children and teens:

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

YOUNG ADULT FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

MIDDLE GRADE AND CHILDREN’S

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

PICTURE BOOKS

The Thank You Book by Mo Willems

10 Great Books on Immigration & Immigrants

December 6, 2016 | Tasha

Immigration is huge in the news right now with the Syrian refugees, Mexican immigration to the United States, and the promises of the incoming administration. As libraries and librarians, we serve our entire community wherever they hail from. Here are some wonderful books to celebrate the power and importance of immigration for our nation and the world: