Submitted by Catherine from Lexington Park!
Not every little girl wants to play princess and dress-up. Violet, in Violet the Pilot, by Steve Breen, is much more interested in turbo engines than tiaras. With the help of her pup, Orville, Violet works as hard as she can to follow her dreams of building the best and most creative airplanes in the world. When kids in her class make fun of her for her obsession with machines, Violet decides to show everyone just how amazing her new airplane is. But along the way, things work out a little differently, and Violet gets to see how good it is to just be yourself, and to be proud of all you do. With beautiful and funny pictures that tell the story just as much as the words, this will be a wonderful book for little girls or boys who think outside the box.
Being Different
Freckleface Strawberry
Submitted by Catherine from Lexington Park!
When you’re a kid, being different can be hard. Freckleface Strawberry, written by Julianne Moore, and illustrated by LeUyen Pham, tells the story of a little girl with red hair, and freckles from head to toe. Tired of being the only freckle face in her class, Freckleface Strawberry tries everything from markers to ski masks to hide those dots. But by the end of the story, Freckleface Strawberry decides that maybe having freckles isn’t so bad after all. With illustrations and dialogue that really seem to capture the thoughts and expressions of kids, Freckleface Strawberry is a great story that shows that being different doesn’t matter all that much when you like who you are.
Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude
Finally the book we’ve all been waiting for! A biography of Gertrude Stein for children! Seriously, when I first saw Getrude is Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Calef Brown, I wondered “Is this really necessary?” But I found it to be a wonderful, kid-friendly, and interesting story. Gertrude Stein is known for her poetry (which inspires the title and text of Gertrude), her friendship with many avant-garde modern artists such as Picasso and Hemingway, her long-time companionship with Alice B. Toklas (which is summed up gracefully with “Gertrude and Alice are Gertrude and Alice”) and her poodle, Basket!
Ron’s Big Mission
Ron’s Big Mission by Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden, and illustrated by Don Tate, is a truly inspirational story. Ron McNair loved to go the library and look through books about airplanes and space. But he couldn’t check them out and take them home, because he was black, and this story takes place in the south during the time of segregation. Only white people could have a library card, and Ron thought this was unfair. One day he had enough. In protest of the unfair rules, he climbed up on the library’s front desk and refused to come down. They called the police! They called his mom! Finally the librarian gives him a card and Ron takes his books home. And Ron grew up to be an astronaut! When he tragically died in the Challenger accident, they dedicated his childhood hometown library to his memory.
Little Beauty
No doubt inspired by the stories of gorillas who have been trained to speak sign language and care for pets comes Little Beauty by Anthony Browne. In it we meet a very special gorilla who has everything he needs, except a friend. He communicates to his handlers that he desires company and they provide him with a kitten. The gorilla loves his cat. He feeds her milk and honey, carries her everywhere he goes, takes naps with her, they even go to the potty together! But one night they watch a movie and it makes the gorilla very angry! When he smashes the TV set in a rage, the zookeepers wonder if they should take his kitty away. Find out the thrilling conclusion to this saga by checking out Little Beauty today!
A Taste of Colored Water
Matt Faulkner’s A Taste of Colored Water is an engaging story about an important issue. When Abbey Finch informs Jelly and LuLu that she saw a fountain of colored water in the big city, they decide they need to see it for themselves. It’s probably just one of Abbey’s crazy stories, but what if isn’t? Can you imagine a fountain of water all the colors of the rainbow? And probably the flavor of assorted fruits! So they decide to tag along the next time Uncle Jack has to drive to the city. But Jelly and Lulu live in the south during the civil rights movement. And the “colored” sign over their fountain of water, is just part of the unfair Jim Crow laws popular there at the time. It’s an unfortunate discovery for them to make. Being children, they wonder “what color does a person have to be to get a taste of colored water?”