Submitted by Catherine from Charlotte Hall!
Crickets chirp, the wind blows, and birds tweet. But if you’re yelling and carrying on, you’ll never hear any of it. In Bartleby Speaks! written by Robin Cruise, and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, young Bartleby Huddle simply does not speak. He’s a happy baby, but a relatively quiet one. He’ll coo and chortle, but words just aren’t his thing. As he grows older, his family worries about his lack of words, so they try everything (as loudly as possible) to get young Bartleby to speak. But alas, no amount of opera, cello playing, tap dancing or woofing can convince Bartleby to chime in. But in the end, it’s Bartleby that teaches his family that you need to stop and listen to really have something to say. See this book listed in our catalog
Henry and the Crazed Chicken Pirates
Submitted by Sue from Leonardtown!
Henry & the Crazed Chicken Pirates by Carolyn Crimi and illustrated by John Manders. The Buccaneer Bunnies are back with another adventure starring Henry and the crew of the Salty Carrot! Henry finds a message in a bottle. The message isn’t friendly at all, and Henry is worried. The rest of the crew is busy playing games, like coconut bowling, and sail swinging, when Henry tries to tell them about the note. “Stop worrying about that old note,” says Black Ear. Henry can’t, and starts reading everything he can about it. Soon he has enough information to start his own book, which he calls “Henry’s Plan for Impending Danger from Unknown Enemy Who Wrote the Scary Note.” When crazed chicken pirates finally arrive, Henry must warn everyone and save the day using his own advice from his book! Does Henry’s book help? Will the crew be saved? And what will happen to the crazed chicken pirates? If you like adventure and pirate stories, join Henry and the crew of the Salty Carrot for a swashbuckling good story. Arrrrr! See this book listed in our catalog
The Treasure Bath
Submitted by Melissa from Lexington Park!
The Treasure Bath, by Dan Andreasen, is an imaginative tale of a little boy who is disappointed about “bath time.” The book begins with a little boy helping his mother with baking. As you can imagine, little ones and baking can create one big mess. So, off to bath time he goes, glumly of course. Through vivid illustrations, and imagination, you will journey with the boy as he discovers a bath tub sea of interesting characters! They lead him to a map, and then a treasure chest. Inside the chest… well, you’ll just have to check out the book in order to know the rest! It’s a “giggly” twist, ending in sweet surprise! Picture books without any words have always been a personal favorite. These wordless tales encourage imaginative thinking, and allow your child to develop their own words to the story. This sort of imaginative story telling actually encourages the development of narrative skills and sequential learning. See this book listed in our catalog
Ted
Submitted by Tess from Lexington Park!
Ted is a really cute book by Tony DiTerlizzi, the fabulous co-author/illustrator of the Spiderwick Chronicles. In this story, a young boy who feels neglected by his father finds solace in an “imaginary” friend, a large raspberry-colored, rabbit-like creature named Ted. Ted has a lot of ideas of ways to have fun, starting with a harmless game called Monopoly-Twister, but soon evolving to more destructive activities like giving each other haircuts, or turning dad’s study into an indoor swimming pool. Finally the boy’s father forbids him to play with Ted ever again! Ted lets us in on a little secret though: when Father was little, he had an imaginary friend named “Ned” who his father forbid him to play with… If your child has an imaginary friend, they will probably relate to Ted, which I think is loosely based on DiTerlizzi’s own childhood! See this book listed in our catalog
The Composer Is Dead
Submitted by Tess from Lexington Park!
The Composer Is Dead is a wonderful book by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Carson Ellis, and featuring music by Nathaniel Stookey! As the title indicates, the composer is, well, decomposing, and it’s up to one handsome and intelligent inspector to find the culprit. He will question the entire orchestra! Is the murderer lurking in the strings? No–they were performing waltzes all night. How about the woodwinds? Inspector thinks they’re pretty sneaky until the clarinets compliment the shiny buttons on his jacket. It might be the brass! But they were off playing important songs, as they boisterously proclaim. It must be the conductor! Wherever you find a conductor you find a dead composer! Beethoven, Bach, Brahms–all dead! Actually, anyone who plays an instrument is guilty of butchering a composer every now and then… If you want justice, go to the police, “but those who want something a little more interesting should go to the orchestra!” See this book listed in our catalog
Snow
Submitted by Allana from Leonardtown!
Snow by Cynthia Rylant. Before you open this book, you may want to put on a jacket, and maybe a hat and some gloves, because as you read this lovely book, you’ll feel like diving into a pile of snow. You may also feel the urge to make snow angels, or engage in a snowball fight! Using simple but flowing language, Cynthia Rylant has created a wonderful wintry scene, and the illustrations, although chilly and icy in appearance, will warm your heart. “The best snow is the snow that comes softly in the night like a shy friend… this is the snow that brings you peace.” One of my favorite illustrations is the one with all the children’s faces at the window, with snowflakes billowing around creating a frosty frame. Gorgeous! I love the contrasting images of the cozy inside with the glittering landscape of snow covered hills and trees outside. This is a wonderful book for any season! See this book listed in our catalog