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Recommended for Kids

Summer Walk

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Title: Summer Walk by Virginia Brimhall Snow
Format: Book
Who It’s For: Kids (And Adults)

Are you looking for an engaging read that not only sparks your child’s imagination but gets their body moving?   With these times of social distancing and isolation it can be difficult to find safe, fun ways for our littles, and no so littles, to connect with the outside world.

In Summer Walk, we have a rhyming tale of a summer adventure shared between Grammy and her grandkids.  The story walks us along as they discover and identify 24 insects.  The detailed pencil sketches of this family unit form an intricate backdrop for the bold and colorful featured insects.  Following the story, there are fun insect facts, as well as, a nature themed craft and activity you and your child can do together.  They become the perfect learning extensions when you get back from your own Summer walk.

I love this book not only because it is a doorway to the outdoors which seamlessly melds learning with doing, but because it reminds me of my own children and the time they spent making memories with their Grammy.

Find it in the catalog , check it out and begin making your own summer memories today!

Packs: Strength in Numbers

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Packs: Strength in Numbers by Hannah Salyer
Format: Book
Who Its For: Kids

Take a look at nature and you will find groups-herds, flocks, swarms of creatures big and small. In Packs: Strength in Numbers, Hannah Salyer celebrates this unity and diversity found in the animal world. With her illustrations of dusty bison on the march, or wolves streaking through snow-quiet forest, she gives us a close up view of just how animals, birds and insects work together to survive and thrive, in hunting, traveling, growing food, singing, protecting the young. This book contains loads of information about the habits of these creatures which will satisfy the curiosity of little naturalists, and big ones too (for example, did you know that a herd of wildebeests can have up to a million animals, and is called an implausibility? Me either!) The book ends with a gentle reminder that working together is always better for creatures and humans alike.

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Niko Draws a Feeling

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Niko Draws a Feeling by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Simone Shin
Who it’s for: Kids
Format: eBook

Niko carries his paper and colored pencils everywhere he goes, in case he is inspired to make a picture. He loves to draw, but Niko doesn’t draw the things he sees. Instead, he draws the way they make him feel. His parents, teacher, and friends don’t seem to understand his pictures. When Niko draws the way the sun feels warm on his face, they can’t understand why they don’t see the sun.

Niko draws a picture of himself and how he feels, but he doesn’t share it with anyone. Until one day, a new family with a girl Niko’s age moves in next door. Has Niko finally found someone who understands?

Niko Draws a Feeling shows children that art can be representative. It doesn’t always reflect actual things we can see. Sometimes it reflects how the artist feels. And as viewers of art, we all experience it differently as well. The illustrations in the book encourage children to think about what they see when they look at Niko’s pictures.

This title is part of OverDrive’s Always Available collection. The eBook is available with no wait on OverDrive/Libby for everyone with a library card!

Bonaparte Plays Ball

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Bonaparte Plays Ball by Margery Cuyler, illustrations by Will Terry
Format: Book
Who Its For: Kids

 

Aliens! Monsters! Skeletons! And …baseball??! Yes, you get all this and more in Bonaparte Plays Ball. It’s the Weird series and vying for the championship are the Little Monsters and the Mighty Aliens. Bonaparte, a determined little skeleton with an unfortunate habit of quite literally falling apart, is anxiously watching the game begin. The Aliens score a 3 run homer and pile on the insults, and he sees his teammates wilt under the onslaught. The Monsters are tagged out, struck out, and worn out; now it’s 5-0 Aliens! Can Coach Roach’s pep talk turn this team around? Can Bonaparte deliver for his team without going to pieces?

Margery Cuyler has hit a home run with this book, and fans of all things monster, alien or baseball are sure to agree. I think you’ll enjoy Will Terry’s creative illustrations too (looking at you aliens!).

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The Wolf Will Not Come

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The Wolf Will Not Come  by Myriam Ouyessad, illustrated by Ronan Badel
Who its For: Kids
Format: Book

It’s the end of the birthday celebration for Rabbit and time for bed. But Rabbit needs the answer to one burning question before sleep-“Are you sure the wolf will not come?” “Very sure”, Mom reassures little Rabbit. “The wolves are far away in the mountain woods”. But one anxious question leads to another. “There is a woods nearby, how can you be sure there is not a wolf hiding there?” asks Rabbit. “That woods is small. A wolf couldn’t hide there.” “But what if it knows how to stay out of sight?”. Question after question, as Rabbit imagines (with pictures to match on the opposite page) how a clever and crafty wolf could make it all the way to their apartment. Finally, “Goodnight, my Rabbit” says Mom and the room goes dark. Until… [Knock, Knock, Knock!] Who’s that? Is it the WOLF??? What do you think? This book filled with gentle French charm and mild suspense will keep your little ones guessing till the surprise ending.

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The Moon Within

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The Moon Within by Aida Salazar
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids

Celi Rivera has many questions. What should she do about these new feelings she has for her classmate Iván? How should she best support her closest friend as they experiment with their gender expression? And will her mother really insist on throwing her a traditional moon ceremony when Celi’s first period arrives? This lyrical novel in verse does a fantastic job of portraying that lifechanging and magical, yet incredibly awkward, prepubescent time in one’s life when it feels like there are more questions than answers. Like its forebear, Judy Blume’s Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, this book would be an indisputably beneficial and relatable read for any person who has ever had questions about growing up.
Find it in the catalog