On Top of Spaghetti by Paul Brett Johnson.
This is great fun.  The book is based on the class song, but Johnson has created an original story to complement it.  Yodeler Jones owns a Spaghetti Emporium that is successful until a Fried Fritter Fricassee parlor opens next door.  So Jones invents the most delicious meatball ever, but then… somebody sneezes.  The illustrations are colorful and bright.  They will project well for a storytime and children will have fun joining in the sections of song. 

Thelonius Monster’s Sky-High Fly Pie by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Edward Koren.
Released May 9th, 2006.
This book had my four-year-old talking for days, which is exactly what you want a book to do for a child.  Thelonius Monster ate a fly and decided that flies would make a great pie.  So he created a crust and covered it in goo.  Then he went all around to likely spots gathering flies.  He then dumped them into the goo where they all stuck.  He invited his friends to come and share in the delicious fly pie.  But in the end, the monsters do not get to devour the pie after all.
The book is grand fun.  Disgusting, icky, messy, and pure child heaven.  I occasionally do a gross storytime for preschoolers and kindergarteners.  This one will fit right in.  It has a great storyline throughout with a surprise ending that will have kids giggling in glee.  Share this with any child who loves bugs, dirt, and monsters.  This is a winner!

Once Upon a Tide by Tony Mitton, illustrated by Selina Young.
Released May 9th, 2006.
What appears to be a beach tale of two children with buckets and shovels, really is an adventure story.  It is the story of Bess and a boy who build their own sailboat on the beach.  They then take the boat out to sea where they meet a whale, discover an island, and dig up a treasure chest.  Then they return to the beach and create a beach house from the boat where they live “forevermore.”  The text is rhyming and lilting, suiting the rhythm of the book.  The illustrations are filled with beach details, active and will project well for a storytime.  My only quibble with the illustrations is that the two characters are portrayed as children throughout the story until the final spread.  Then they are adults with children of their own, but wear the same clothes and retain their childlike features.  It is jarring enough to make you turn back to the beginning of the book to see if they were supposed to be adults all along. 
Because the text on each page is brief and there is lots of action in the book, it is a good choice to share with toddlers and preschoolers.  

Bebe Goes Shopping by Susan Middleton Elya, illustrated by Steven Salerno.
This is a wonderful bilingual picture book where the Spanish portion of the text is used almost effortlessly.  Somehow the author has also managed to make it trip off even the most hopeless tongue.  It is the story of Bebe who goes to the market with his Mama.  It is a normal trip to the store where the little one grabs things off the shelves and is finally settled down with some animal crackers.  The illustrations are a retro/modern style that suit the story perfectly.  They add pizzazz and color to the book.  There is a glossary at the end with a pronunciation guide and English translations of the Spanish.  This is great fun and can be shared at any storytime about food, shopping, or animals.  This is definitely one to be read aloud with gusto.

Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck.
Peck does it again!  He has created a rollicking, fun, fast book that is welcoming to both boys and girls.  Peewee lives with her brother Jake in rural Indiana where they are trying to make a living at running a garage.  But it is 1914, and the automobile is just starting out.  To add to their troubles, their competitors who live in town are willing to damage people’s cars for business and to rob others.  Everything changes when a tornado rips through the community, damaging the library that has been closed for years.  Four female library students who also drive cars arrive in town to be the librarians.  Peewee has suddenly found role models for being a lady.  But sometimes Peewee finds herself sitting on the sidelines when she would rather be in the race.  Can a young lady do both?
This is a great book to share aloud.  Peck’s language begs to be read to others so that his humor and jokes will shine.  He returns us to a moment in time that we are able to relive through an amazing heroine.   Share this with others in classrooms and sell it to kids looking for a funny book that is definitely fast moving.

Clay by David Almond.
Released on July 25, 2006.
David Almond returns to his themes of faith and amazing creatures in his new book. Davie is a Catholic boy who fights with the Protestant kids living nearby. Their battles have gone on for generations in the community. He and his best friend, Geordie have a hideout in a quarry that they continually add new defenses to and an archenemy named Mouldy. But when a new boy, Stephen Rose comes to town, Davie’s world changes. Stephen can create life-like features out of clay and spends much of his days sitting in a shed in the garden creating Apostle figures. Davie does not want to befriend Stephen, but is slowly drawn into the weird life that Stephen has created with his mentally ill aunt. As time goes by, Davie begins to believe that he and Stephen have special powers and that they may even be able to create life.
The book is filled with questions of right and wrong and good and evil that are not easy for Davie or readers to answer. It is a complex blend of reality and miracles where what has really happened seems to shift and change as the story weaves on. The language is both straight-forward and lyrical at the same time, adding to the tension in the book. This is a perfect book for discussions, because so much of the story can be interpreted either literally or spiritually. I always appreciate a book that doesn’t give young readers easy answers. This is the sort of book that is a perfect introduction to complex literature.
All of that said, I am not sure it will be an easy sell to young adults. This will be one that will have to be hand-sold or introduced into discussions. It would make a great booktalk for teens, especially if you leave them dangling about the story line. So, read this one yourself, share it with the sophisticated readers in your community, and see how many you can hook with a good booktalk.

Celebrate! Connections among Cultures by Jan Reynolds.
This is a tremendous book filled with clear, colorful, evocative photographs. The photographs and the text lead us through how similarly people from around the world celebrate special occasions. We all use food, music, fire, and dance. Many of the photos are of ancient cultures that Americans will know little to nothing about. So it gives us a glimpse into how these poeple live and ties our modern lives together with theirs in celebration.
This is a book to be lingered over and enjoyed. The photographs will not project well to a large group, but that should not stop using this with children, especially when doing multicultural programs or units. The end of the book features a map that lets children see where in the world all of the peoples in the book live.

Mama’s Wild Child/Papa’s Wild Child by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Nora Hilb.
This is a charming book that far exceeds many of the flip type books on the market. Each double-page spread tells of either a mother or father animal parent that takes care of their child in a special way. So when you read the Mama side of the book, you get examples of mother animals like chimps, seals, whales, and llamas. And then when you flip the book, you get great examples of father animals that care for their young like penguins, seahorses and swans. The illustrations are done in soft tones that make this a perfect book for bedtime. The picture book will work well both for children who enjoy stories and those who like animal facts. It will also work well for animal units or a read aloud.

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley.
This book has gotten several starred reviews and deservedly so!  An easy way to describe this book is a retelling of Cinderella, but that doesn’t really do it justice.  The original story is so well-hidden in a detailed book that it is hard to recognize it except for certain elements.  It is the story of Bella, a knight’s daughter whose father is so distraught over her mother’s death at Bella’s birth that he sends her away to be raised by peasants.  While living with the loving but poor family, Bella meets a young prince who is growing up in a nearby castle and they become fast friends.  But Bella doesn’t know that she is anything more than a peasant girl.  When Bella is a teen, she is suddenly summoned back to her father’s home because he has remarried.  She is so ill-suited to be in a knight’s house that they have her sleep in the kitchen.  The story continues to build into an adventure where Bella has to save the prince. 
This is a marvelous retelling that completely remakes the story into something modern and spectacular.  Bella is a worthy heroine for girls to relate to.  I also enjoyed that the story shows the points of view of other characters like Bella’s stepmother and stepsisters.  Point this out to girls who enjoy fantasy, romance, or princess books.