The Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, pictures by Marla Frazee.

I couldn’t help but grin ear-to-ear when I finally got my hands on the new Clementine book.  I knew that I was in for a treat unlike any that I have had since the first book came out.  And I was certainly right!

Clementine remains the same firecracker of a little girl.  She is such a refreshing change from all of the pink and sparkles that so often surround girls’ books.  Continuing the tradition of Ramona, Clementine firmly refuses to cooperate and resolutely stays exactly who she is. 

In this book, Clementine faces the dread of a school talent show after realizing that none of her talents work on stage.  In pure Clementine style, she does come up with some ideas for acts that her parents refuse to let her try.  In the end, it all works out for our curly-headed heroine. 

The illustrations by Frazee are the perfect accompaniment to the storyline.  They are a large part of what makes these books so very charming.  But it is Pennypacker’s humor and warmth that create such an amazing world.  Clementine’s parents are wonderfully drawn.  I particularly enjoyed the part of the book where they try to bribe one another so that they don’t have to be the one to take Clementine shopping.  That scene is also part of an amazing description of why it can be hard to choose one thing when you head to a store.  Lovely writing that completely captures the dilemma.

Read this aloud to classes, hand it to any elementary age person who enjoys doing things their own way, and share it with adults who need a chuckle.  Highly recommended along with the first book, I would also hand this to parents who look exhausted and worried about any one of their children.  Clementine has a way of getting parents to realize that there is beauty in wise-cracking children who refuse to conform.

A Second Is a Hiccup: A Child’s Book of Time by Hazel Hutchins, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton.

This book winningly puts the concept of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and more into a language that children can immediately relate to and understand.  The words of the book dance along poetically and ends with the warmth of a hug.  The illustrations are lovely as well, demonstrating the friendly, loving world that the words create. 

I highly recommend this as a great poetic addition to units for learning to tell time.  Less about the hands of a clock or strict definitions, this is more about how the time feels and what you can do in the space of that amount of time.  It will appeal to children not interested in the numbers of time but in the experience of it.

The Pink Refrigerator by Tim Egan. 

Ah how I love books like this that open the imagination and ask kids to soar along with them.

Dodsworth lives a very quiet life.  He did get up early to head to the junkyard to scrounge items for his shop, but then he spent the rest of the day watching TV and napping.  He just loved doing nothing at all.  That is until he found the pink refrigerator at the junk yard with a lovely magnet that he could not force loose.  The magnet held up a note that said “Make Pictures” and inside the refrigerator were all sorts of paper and paints.  Dodsworth was thrilled with how much the items would be worth in his shop, but even though he had a buyer almost immediately he couldn’t bear to part with them.  Instead he made pictures himself.  When he returned to the junkyard, another note is under the magnet telling him to “Read More” and it is filled with books.  Dodsworth finds himself reading his day away rather than watching TV.  The notes continue to open up Dodsworth sheltered world, getting him to play music, cook, and plant a garden.  When Dodsworth returns to the pink refrigerator again, he finds a note that tells him to “Keep Exploring” and the refrigerator is empty, but the magnet falls off.  Now Dodsworth has a choice to make about what he is going to do, return to the shop and watch TV or keep on exploring.

The illustrations and language by Tim Egan are a perfect pairing, both showing how dull Dodsworth’s (don’t you love the name and all that it evokes?) world has become.  It does my librarian’s heart good to see TV turned off and books, art, crafts, and more become the center of someone’s life.  Too many children live as Dodsworths in their own lives.  Perhaps this will inspire them to look beyond their own walls and explore what interests and inspires them!  Let’s hope so!

Share this with kindergarteners and first graders.  It is a very nice story to bring when you are asked to read to elementary grades.  Not only will it keep the children interested, but the message is a good one to share, especially when reading to children.

The Moon Might Be Milk by Lisa Shulman.

Rosie wants to know what the moon is made of, so she asks Cat who says that the moon is made of milk.  Rosie agrees that that might be so, but decides to ask another animal.  It isn’t until she asks her Gran what the moon is made of that she gets an answer that satisfies her. 

And so a story is created that has the rhythm and repetition of a classic story and is infused with warmth and wonder as well.  The book does have more words than some picture books, but because of the repetition, they are made more friendly and accessible.  The illustrations are friendly and warm, perfectly rounding out the world that the words create. 

This is a good read-aloud for kindergarteners or first graders who can use it to ask themselves the question of what the moon is made of.  I would recommend it for evening or pajama storytimes as well as any storytime where you are reading It Looked Like Spilt Milk.  Somehow they just seem like a natural pair.

Big Smelly Bear by Britta Teckentrup.

Big Smelly Bear never washed and he smelled so bad that the other animals avoided him, except for the flies that buzzed around him.  One morning, he woke up with a terrible itch in his fur that couldn’t be fixed by rolling in the dirt or rubbing his back on a tree.  Big Fluffy Bear offers to scratch his back if Big Smelly Bear takes a bath first.  Reluctantly, Big Smelly Bear agrees and finds that he has made a new friend just by bathing.

Children will immediately agree with Big Smelly Bear that baths are horrid.   But they will also agree that they don’t want to be avoided or have flies around them either.  The illustrations are large, bold and vivid and will project well to a group of preschoolers, the age that will enjoy this book the most.  The text is perfect to read aloud with lots of repetition and short amounts of text on each page.

Share with a preschool crowd for a bear or bathing unit.

Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Hide! by Candace Fleming and G. Brian Karas.

One of my favorite choices for story time reading has always been Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!  where a man desperately tries to keep rabbits out of his garden.  Fast forward to the fall and the same person is now trying to keep the tricky rabbits out of his warm, snug house.  

The book features the same child-friendly illustrations, the same child-friendly language and noises, and the same wonderful pacing of the first.  If you haven’t read Muncha, make sure you share that one first as a  gardening, bunny or harvest book.  This new one will work for winter stories or even spring, as well as bunnies. 

Perfect to share with a group or with one child, expect lots of giggles and encourage children to help with making the Tippy-tippy-tippy, Hide noises.

Uneversaurus by Professor Potts.

Guaranteed to fly off of your dinosaur shelves, the huge eye on the cover of the book changes to a reflection of a dinosaur when held in a different way. 

This nonfiction book for children offers speculation on what dinosaurs may have looked like.  Were they like today’s reptiles?  Did they use flashy defenses?  Could they change color with their environment?  No one knows.  My favorite line from the book is:  “Trying to guess what color dinosaurs were… is like chasing the end of the rainbow.”  The book is full of lovely imagery like that paired with silly cartoon comments from a pair of dinosaurs.  The entire format is designed with children firmly in mind.

This book will grab the imagination of children.  I would recommend it for art classes so that children can explore the many colors that dinosaurs could be.  Also use it for dinosaur units or just to lure children to ask for even more dinosaur information. 

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson.

This is another great character study for teens, except this one features a male protagonist.  At first I was worried about Laurie Halse Anderson writing a male lead, but I should have realized that it is because she nails her female characters so well that I could relax and just enjoy.

Tyler is a teen who got caught spraypainting the school.  He left his wallet behind.  So now he is considered the biggest loser in the school.  That is until his new bad boy status gets him the attention of one of the hottest girls in town.  His family life is troubled, his best friend goes by the name of Yoda and is dating his younger sister, and Tyler is faced with a life that goes up and down like a rollercoaster ride.  When he is accused of putting compromising photos of his girlfriend up online, Tyler has to decide whether it is worth living the life of a pariah once again. 

This book grabs you from the first page and never lets you go.  Relentless, deep and almost overwhelming, readers will understand the loser’s life that Tyler is living.  The characterization of every character from Tyler to his broken father to his younger sister to Yoda is spot on and reads perfectly.  They are far from cardboard characters, each displaying the wounds that they carry with them much as Tyler does.  Additionally, I enjoyed the fact that teen sexuality is addressed in a matter-of-fact way and with a great deal of humor. 

Readers of her previous novels will flock to this one, but make sure to get it into the hands of boys as well.  The knot-filled life that Tyler leads is one that many teens will recognize. 

Grief Girl: my true story by Erin Vincent.

As a teen I was obsessed with reading true stories that related to my life.  Actually at the time, I liked them the darker the better.  This book would have been right up my alley, and still is.

Erin Vincent writes the story of her teens when she lost her mother in an accident and then her father one month later.  It is a harrowing true story of grief and mourning and how the familiar list of the stages of grief does not really capture the process that mourners go through.  Through much of the book, Erin is lost and confused.  She has a miserable relationship with her older sister, a blissful relationship with her very young brother, and a very strange relationship with her uncle who manages their inheritance.  While some people stand by the children, many others desert them and go on to live their own lives.  The coldness of familiar faces is one of the major themes of the book. 

The writing is powerful, unflinching, and gripping.  Erin creates a book where readers will experience her pain and loss along with her.  Her honesty is amazing as is her sense of humor.  She is a true survivor who has written a true story that most teen girls will want to read.

Recommend this book to teens who enjoy books about loss, but also to those teens who enjoy a good dark tale filled with psychology.  Erin is the epitome of the teen narrator, capturing the teen experience brilliantly.