Arte Kids Book Series

| Tasha

123 Si!: An Artistic Counting Book in English and Spanish Colores Everywhere!: Colors in English and Spanish Hello, Circulos!: Shapes in English and Spanish

123 Si!: An Artistic Counting Book in English and Spanish by San Antonio Museum of Art

Colores Everywhere!: Colors in English and Spanish by San Antonio Museum of Art

Hello, Circulos!: Shapes in English and Spanish by San Antonio Museum of Art

The San Antonio Museum of Art, the San Antonio Library Foundation and Trinity Press have worked together to create a new series of books for children.  The first book, 123 Si!, was published in 2011 and the next two books followed in 2012.  There are plans for a series of 9 books with two more titles being added in the spring of 2013. 

All three books combine art from the collections at the San Antonio Museum of Art with concepts that toddlers can relate to.  The result are books that are bright and colorful but that offer a wonderful depth of subject matter too.  The books are fully bilingual, giving terms for numbers, colors and shapes in both English and Spanish.  Fully embracing early literacy, the books offer ideas for questions on each page, giving parents cues as to what to talk about in each picture.  It is done in such a way that it’s simple, easy and non-threatening.  Additional information on the art is available at the end of each book.

Three very successful board books that combine bilingual content, great art and basic concepts, these books belong at any library serving a Spanish-speaking population.  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from copies received from Trinity University Press.

Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers 2012

| Tasha

Every year VOYA (The Voice of Youth Advocates) offers a list of the top books of that year for middle school readers.  Middle school can be particularly difficult to purchase for, since students in that age range are transitioning to full teen reads, yet not everything in the teen collection may be appropriate for them.  So here are the best books of 2012  for that age selected by VOYA:

Almost Home The Apothecary Buddy

Almost Home by Joan Bauer

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy

Buddy by M. H. Herlong

The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale Child of the Mountains Chomp

The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy

Child of the Mountains by Marilyn Sue Shank

Chomp by Carl Hiassen

Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact Deadweather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg, #1) A Diamond in the Desert

Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact by A. J. Hartley

Deadweather and Sunrise by Geoff Rodkey

A Diamond in the Desert by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

Double Eva of the Farm Fighting for Dontae

Double by Jenny Valentine

Eva of the Farm by Dia Calhoun

Fighting for Dontae by Mike Castan

Jump into the Sky Kepler's Dream Laugh with the Moon

Jump into the Sky by Shelley Pearsall

Kepler’s Dream by Juliet Bell

Laugh with the Moon by Shana Burg

Liesl & Po The Lions of Little Rock One for the Murphys

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine

One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

13790755 Poison Most Vial: A Mystery The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen

Pip and the Wood Witch Curse by Chris Mould

Poison Most Vial by Benedict Carey

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen

Shadow on the Mountain Sway Three Times Lucky

Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus

Sway by Amber McRee Turner

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

Ungifted Vessel Wonder

Ungifted by Gordon Korman

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

Wonder by R. J. Palacio

Maze Runner–The Movie

| Tasha

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)

The film version of Maze Runner by James Dashner has been given a release date.  Director Wes Ball was announced last summer.  Now we know that the movie will be released on February 14, 2014.  This puts it a month earlier than the film version of Divergent, another teen dystopian film based on a book.  Should be quite a year!

Dashner has a new series starting this fall too!

Review: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

| Tasha

etiquette and espionage

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

I must admit right up front that I haven’t read Carriger’s adult series The Parasol Protectorate.  So it is with fresh eyes that I came to the first book in her new teen series.  Here we meet Sophronia who at age 14 is rough and tumble enough for her mother to send her to a finishing school, hoping that she will learn proper manners and decorum before her older sister’s debutante ball.  Sophronia thinks she is being sent to a dull school only about curtsying and clothes, but Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality turns out to be about far more than Victorian manners and society.  Instead Sophronia is thrust into adventure right from the trip to school, finding herself the heroine when they are attacked on their travels.  As she discovers her real gifts are embraced by her new school, much of which would chagrin and alarm her mother.  This blend of boarding school and steampunk espionage will not stay on library shelves for long!

Carriger has created a great world in her book, one that I understand is the same as that in her adult novels.  Populated with vampires and werewolves as well as humans, the world that Sophronia is sent to at school reveals that there is far more to life than her mother would approve of.  The setting of a school that floats in the air also adds that distance and isolation that works so well in boarding school novels. 

Happily, Sophronia is a girl who loves adventure and though she may disdain her mother’s focus on fashion and decorum, begins to learn that as well.  She is a brave character, one that is unafraid to go against societal rules.  It makes for a book that is rambunctious and wildly fun while at the same time filled with wide skirts, hats and frippery.  It’s a charming mix.

With the popularity of steampunk, this is one book that belongs in every public library collection for teens.  With no sex and plenty of action, middle school readers will also enjoy it immensely. It’s a very fun read, so expect demand for the upcoming books as well.  Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from library copy.

This Week’s Tweets and Pins

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter and Pinterest accounts this week that you might find interesting:

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Eric Carle, Author Of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, Announces New Book Called ‘Friends’ – http://buff.ly/159CeEr

Happy Birthday, Judy Blume! – http://buff.ly/15c74fy

I want to go to this school –> RT @librariancheryl: NYC to Name School in Honor Maurice Sendak http://huff.to/12Gz1wj via@HuffPostBooks

Miami Beach home of children’s book author Syd Hoff declared a historic literary landmark – Miami Beach http://buff.ly/X5Cr4O

EBOOKS

The e-book revolution is bypassing U.S. elementary schools – Computerworld http://buff.ly/X5Dt0I

Impelsys Enters Library Ebook Market, Joining OverDrive and 3M | Digital Book World http://buff.ly/15fALfD

LIBRARIES

top 10 productivity tips

ALA LibraryLab – Google+ – the mingling of librarians and Boing Boing readers – http://buff.ly/XzMWR1

BONK! Performance Series at Racine Public Library | Library as Incubator Project http://buff.ly/X5TBiT

Gaby Roslin: Why parents need Britain’s local libraries to be saved – Telegraph http://buff.ly/WTQZro

Hackerspace intro: Metrix Create:Space in Seattle, Washingtonhttp://buff.ly/X5QY0m

PUBLISHING

http://Beatrice.com » I Have Nothing to Say About Bookish http://buff.ly/WQgGsJ

READING

Your Brain on Books: 10 Things That Happen to Our Minds When We Read | OEDb http://buff.ly/159aOhK

WRITING

Ray Bradbury’s Tips on How To Sell 8 Million Books | Bestseller Labs – http://bit.ly/Yqt3c9

TEEN READS

Locus Online 2012 Recommended Reading List http://wp.me/p1iTZw-1Qb

MIND MELD: SF/F Book Recommendations for Teens 13-16 – SF Signal-SF Signal http://buff.ly/XzMQsB

VOYA’s Perfect Tens

| Tasha

VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) rates their reviews in two categories: quality and popularity.  Only 2% of the books for teens that they review get a perfect 5 in both categories, meaning that it would be “hard to imagine it better written” and “every young adult who reads was dying to read it yesterday.”  Here are those amazing few reads that VOYA gave a perfect ten:

As Dead As It Gets (Bad Girls Don't Die, #3) Ashen Winter (Ashfall, #2) Between the Lines

As Dead as It Gets by Katie Alender

Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Bitterblue (Graceling Realm, #3) Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles, #1)

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steven Sheinkin

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Burning Blue Camp Carnival of Souls

Burning Blue by Paul Griffin

Camp by Elaine Wolf

Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) Don't Turn Around (PERSEF0NE, #1) The Drowned Cities (Ship Breaker, #2)

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Don’t Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

Endlessly (Paranormalcy, #3) Everbound (Everneath, #2) The Fault in Our Stars

Endlessly by Kiersten White

Everbound by Brodi Ashton

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Hysteria   Origin

Hysteria by Megan Miranda

Issues in the Digital Age Reference Series

Origin by Jessica Khoury

Out of Sight, Out of Time (Gallagher Girls, #5) Palace of Stone (Princess Academy #2) The Secret Prophecy

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

Princess Academy: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale

The Secret Prophecy by Herbie Brennan

The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus, #2) Sons of the 613 This Is So Not Happening (He's So/She's So, #3)

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

Sons of the 613 by Michael Rubens

This Is So Not Happening by Kieran Scott

Through to You What Came from the Stars Who Could That Be At This Hour? (All The Wrong Questions, #1)

Through to You by Emily Hainsworth

What Came from the Stars by Gary D. Schmidt

Who Could That Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket

Winter Town 

Winter Town by Stephen Emond

The Yawning Rabbit River Chronicle by J. L. Kimmel and David Ceccarelli

Review: Lulu and the Dog from the Sea by Hilary McKay

| Tasha

lulu and the dog from the sea

Lulu and the Dog from the Sea by Hilary McKay

Released on March 1, 2013.

This second book in the Lulu series continues the story of Lulu, a seven-year-old girl who loves all kinds of animals.  In this story, Lulu goes on vacation by the seaside with her parents, her dog,  and her cousin, Mellie, who is also seven.  At the seaside, they stay at a small cottage and Lulu quickly finds out about a stray dog who has been living off of garbage along the beach.  Lulu sets out to make friends with the dog, but no one else is enthusiastic.  Mellie just wants to build her kite, Lulu’s mother just wants to read the stack of books she brought along, and her dad wants to work on his running.  But Lulu knows that this stray is actually a very special dog, she just has to convince the rest of them.

McKay has a knack for creating characters and experiences that read as vibrantly true and honest.  In her books, there are lost kite bits, sand tracked into the house, trashed garbage cans, and too many shopping trips for forgotten items.  At the same time, there is also the love of a dog, a family that truly spends time with one another, and the success of plans coming together in the end, perhaps not exactly as planned.  As with her previous books, I have always wanted to live in a McKay novel in the midst of the loving mess.

I must also mention that this is an early reader series featuring a modern family of color.  Nothing is made of this fact in the stories.  It is just there, not a plot point, just a fact.  It’s handled with a matter-of-fact nature that I wish we saw more of in books for children.

A great addition to this growing series, the second Lulu book is sure to please fans of the first and bring new fans to the series too.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from digital copy received from Albert Whitman & Company.

Review: Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli

| Tasha

hokey pokey

Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli

No adults live in Hokey Pokey, just kids.  They fall asleep right where they leave off playing and then jump up again to start playing the next day.  There are plenty of places to play: the Doll Farm, Thousand Puddles, Snuggle Stop, and Trucks.  Jack is one of the biggest kids at Hokey Pokey. He rides a legendary bike, Scramjet, captured from the herds of wild bicycles that roam the plains.  But when Jack wakes up one day, Scramjet has been taken and by a girl!  As Jubilee rides Scramjet around Hokey Pokey, everyone soon realizes that something is changing.  Jubilee paints the bike yellow but as she tries to get under Jack’s skin, Jack realizes that he himself is changing.  It must have something to do with hearing a train whistle no one else can hear.  But trains never come to Hokey Pokey despite the train tracks.

I was captured by this book the moment I read the first page.  I knew that I was in for a treat from Spinelli that is unlike anything he’s every written before.  This is a wonderfully wild and fanciful book that will remind readers of Peter Pan, yet it is brightly modern and not afraid to be dark too.  Spinelli uses a new language in Hokey Pokey, one that is easily understood but that also marks that we are somewhere new.  Take this description of children at play in Hokey Pokey, “…kids big and little everywhere streaking, leaping, chasing, shrieking, warring, hopscotching, footballing, hide-and-seeking, jumproping, hokeypoking, razzing, dazzing, runamucking, chuckleducking…”  The language he uses has a wonderful rhythm to it that is evident throughout the book.

The setting of Hokey Pokey is such a large part of this book.  Some places remain rather mysterious while others are completely explained in action in the story.  When readers are given a glimpse of some of the other wonders of Hokey Pokey, they can immediately relate to what it is because all of it is about childhood and play.  As Jack moves towards adolescence in the story, the book changes too.  It becomes more filled with questions, more angst pervades it.  This is a story of leaving childhood and all of its bright, candy-colored play behind and heading into the unknown.

Gloriously fun to read, this book was impossible for me not to love.  Spinelli writes with a lovely playfulness and yet beneath it all is truth.  A truly outstanding read for middle graders.  Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Review: I Haiku You by Betsy Snyder

| Tasha

i haiku you

I Haiku You by Betsy Snyder

This diminutive book is filled with equally small haiku poetry.  Each poem is a celebration of either love for someone else or a warm moment in time.  There are poems about warm soup, purple popsicles and lemonade.  Each one is a tiny look into a universal and noteworthy moment.  Turning from one page to the next, the book manages to avoid being overly sweet through its humor and the sense of joy that pervades it.  In other words, these are far more organic and natural poems than Hallmark ever manages to create.  Instead these are wonderful little gifts of haiku that are invitations to celebrate the small moments of life that we share with one another.

Snyder has created illustrations that are equally warm and special.  Done on cream paper, the illustrations have pops of purples, oranges, reds and yellows but still have a softness.  The result is a book that is cheery and warm.

A perfect Valentine’s Day gift, this book should also be useful as an introduction to the haiku format.  Or one could just curl up at bedtime and share some short and lovely poetry.  What better way to create beautiful dreams?  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.