On Our Shelves: New Picturebooks

September 23, 2014August 20, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Just in time for back to school, we have been cataloging new books in the children’s area like mad. In the process I have seen some great books, and had to check some out to read for myself and share with my own children. There have even been some that are staff storytime picks. Here are some of my favorite picturebooks that have recently been added to our collection.

The Pigeon Needs a Bath! by Mo Willems. The latest entry in the best-selling series that includes the Caldecott Honor-winning Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! finds a mussy Pigeon refusing to take a bath and insisting he had one a month earlier

Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won. Elevated from a bad mood when he receives an exciting new hat, Elephant cheers up his equally grumpy friend Zebra before marching to the homes of other downcast friends who join them in a fabulous hat parade

Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio and Christian Robinson. After a chance encounter at the park and a switch of places, Antoinette the bulldog and Gaston the
poodle learn that family is about love, not appearances, in an adorable doggy tale from a New York Times best-selling author.

Ninja! by Arree Chung. A little boy flexes his ninja chops in an adventure that finds him silently creeping through his home and overcoming formidable obstacles, like the coffee table, to pounce upon his unsuspecting father’s tummy.

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat. An imaginary friend waits a long time to be imagined by a child and given a special name, and finally does the unimaginable–he sets out on a quest to find his perfect match in the real world.

As usual, I cannot stop there. Here are some more new picturebooks, and a few easy readers thrown in for good measure, as suggestions for some fun and family friendly reading. My New Friend Is So Fun! by Mo Willems, Brimsby’s Hats by Andrew Prahin, Poppy the Pirate Dog’s New Shipmate by Liz Kessler, Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot by Dav Pilkey, Tulip Loves Rex by
Alyssa Satin Capucilli, How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth by Michelle Robinson, Little Big Horse: Where’s my Bike? by Dave Horowitz, and The Loch Mess Monster by Helen Lester.

Ahoy, It’s International Talk Like A Pirate Day Again!

September 19, 2014September 13, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Here is it, September 19 and my favorite holiday, International Talk like a Pirate Day! It is a day that always inspires the wearing of pirate hats and much shouting of ‘Ahoy! Matey’ and ‘Shiver me Timbers’ in my house. Thankfully my kids get into the day along side me, and so do a number of my friends and coworkers.

Last year I created a list of picturebooks and related non-fiction children’s books to celebrate the day. We can revisit that post here. This year I am going to take a different look at pirates, and offer up a selection of adult non-fiction about pirates that will sate your desire for adventure and travel, and perhaps whet your appetite for even more information. If you are still looking for more after reading this post, we do have a display in the lobby, near the adult fiction, of pirate related books that just might catch your eye!

1. The Pirate Hunter: the True Story of Captain Kidd by Richard Zacks

2.The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire by Susan Ronald

3.The Pirates of Somalia: Inside their Hidden World by Jay Bahadur

4.Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan’s Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe that Ended the Oulaws’ Bloody Reign by Stephan Talty

5.Dead Men Tell No Tales: the Lives and Legends of the Pirate Charles Gibbs by Joseph Gibbs

6.Blackbeard: the Real Pirate of the Caribbean by Dan Parry

7. Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved out an Empire in the New World in their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom–and Revenge by Edward Kritzler

For even more pirate information you might want to explore; The World Atlas of Pirates: Treasures and Treachery on the Seven Seas, in Maps, Tall Tales, and Pictures by Angus Konstam, The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805 by Richard Zacks, Expedition Whydah: the Story of the World’s First Excavation of a Pirate Treasure Ship and the Man Who Found Her by Barry Clifford with Paul Perry, The Honourable Company: a History of the English East India Company by John Keay, Savage Kingdom: the True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America by Benjamin Woolley or A Pirate Looks at Fifty by Jimmy Buffett.

Books to Read To or With Children Entering Kindergarten

August 26, 2014July 25, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / 1 Comment

Do you have a child starting Kindergarten or Preschool this fall? Or perhaps you have an older child that still enjoys sitting and sharing a picturebook or even a board book with you on occasion. There are a ton of great books that come highly recommended and find themselves on the countless “100 Picturebooks to Read before Kindergarten” lists. Since I cannot leave well enough alone, I have made my own list of books that my children and I loved and I think should be on those lists. I am trying to avoid the classics like Goodnight Moon and aim for the lesser known books that you might not run across otherwise.

1.Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems

2. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

3. This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

4.Pete the Cat : I love my White Shoes by Eric Litwin; art by James Dean

5. Dooby Dooby Moo by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

6.Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett

7. Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

8. Ten Apples up on Top! by Dr. Seuss writing as Theo. LeSieg

9. Elmer by David McKee

10. Skippyjon Jones Up & Down by Judy Schachner

And as usual, I cannot stop there! Here are some more suggestions: Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Skippyjon Jones in the Doghouse by Judy Schachner, The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone,Runny Babbit: a Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein, And to Think that I saw it on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss, The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems, Naked Mole Rat gets Dressed by Mo Willems, I Want my Hat Back by< Jon Klassen, Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, Wolf Won’t Bite! by Emily Gravett, SuperHero ABC by Bob McLeod, and Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

Getting Excited to Go Back to School

August 21, 2014July 25, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

It’s time to start thinking about going back to school, starting school, or starting at a new school. Here are some fun books to help soothe the nerves and get some of our younger kids eager to set off to school come the last week in August.

It’s Back to School We Go: First Day Stories from Around the World by Ellen Jackson, illustrated by Jan Davey Ellis

Back to School, Mallory by Laurie Friedman; illustrations by Tamara Schmitz

Louise the Big Cheese and the Back-to-School Smarty-Pants by Elise Primavera;

illustrated by Diane Goode

Back to School Tortoise by Lucy M. George; illustrated by Merel Eyckerman

Robert and the Back-to School Special by Barbara Seuling; illustrated by Paul Brewer

Back to School by Maya Ajmera, John D. Ivanko; with a foreword by Marilyn Jachetti Whirry

Back to School for Rotten Ralph by Jack Gantos; illustrated by Nicole Rubel

Back to School with Betsy by Carolyn Haywood

Splat the Cat: Back to School, Splat! by Rob Scotton; text by Laura Bergen

Pinky Dinky Doo: Back to School is Cool! by Jim Jinkins

I Don’t Want to go Back to School by Marisabina Russo

Arthur’s Back-to-School Surprise by Marc Brown

10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in August

August 12, 2014July 25, 2014 / Louise / Leave a comment

Thrills, history, fantasy, and a bit of romance are all coming to Cheshire Library shelves in August. Just the thing to get us through the lazy, hazy days of summer!

Every month, librarians from around the country pick the top ten new books they’d most like to share with readers. The results are published on LibraryReads.org. One of the goals of LibraryReads is to highlight the important role public libraries play in building buzz for new books and new authors. Click through to read more about what new and upcoming books librarians consider buzzworthy this month. The top ten titles for August are: