New Books

Alpha Oops! The Day went First- By Alethea Kontis- j E Con
Letter A starts to introduce itself and is interrupted by activist letter Z, demanding fair and equal turns at going first

Tugga-Tugga Tugboat- By Kevin Lewis- j E Lew
Learn about the day in the life of a Tugboat.

Amy & Ivan- By Charise Mericle Harper- j E Har
These two little green birds, nine big trucks, and one warm surprise.

The New Girl and me- By Jacqui Robbins- j E Rob
On Shakeeta's first day at a new school, most of the girls are eager to show her around, but Mia hangs back shyly.



Bear Dreams- By Elisha Cooper - j E Coo
Bear, a cub, cannot sleep. He watches his wakeful woodland friends from the mouth of his cold, dark cave and feels that life has treated him very unfairly. Why do they have fun while he has to hibernate?

ZuZu's Wishing Cake- By Linda Michelin - j E Mic
When Zuzu smiles at the new boy next door and he doesn't smile back, she thinks that he may need a telescope; she makes one and delivers it to his home. When he doesn't appear outside, she thinks that perhaps he needs sunglasses, and so she makes him a pair. Finally, her wishing cake (bread and jam piled in layers and a dandelion on top) draws him out of the house and overcomes a language barrier, making him smile back.

Trouble at the Dinosaur Cafe - By Brian Mosses - j E Mos
A bouncy, boisterous, colorfully illustrated story. Several prehistoric beasts are sitting down to enjoy their snacks at the Dinosaur Cafe when along comes Tyrannosaurus, who is not satisfied with gobbling and gulping up menus–he wants meat! Iguanadon sneaks away to phone Terry Triceratops for help.

Can you say Peace? - By Karen Katz - j E Kat
One side of each spread features a lively scene from a particular country (Meena lives in India), while opposite, a close-up portrait shows a child who wishes readers peace in his or her own language: Meena says shanti (SHAHN-tee). The last few pages make the point that no matter where they live, all children want the same things, to go to school, to walk in their towns and cities, to play outside…to share food with their families…and feel safe.

Celebrity Cat - By Meredith Hooper - j E Hoo
Felissima Cat, an artist, and her fellow London felines take a nocturnal visit to an art gallery and discover a paucity of cats in famous paintings. Returning to her studio, she repaints Van Gogh's Chair, de Hooch's The Courtyard of a House in Delft, and Rousseau's Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!), adding the missing cats. Her friends are pleased and applaud her improvements, and Felissima soon becomes a celebrity.

Half of an Elephant - By Gusti - j E Ros
A clever and unique picture book that is illustrated with digital images of objects arranged in collages. One night, all of a sudden, the world split in two. An elephant loses his back half, and the sections wander around the world trying out new partners and discovering the advantages of being separate.

I've Got an Elephant - By Anne Ginkel - j E Gin
A little girl has an elephant that she sleeps with at night, but when she leaves for school in the morning, her lonely pal "goes out and brings home an elephant friend." The next day, the two elephants join her at school.

One of Those Days - By Amy Krouse - j E Ros
Ever have just one of those days where nothing goes right. Thats just what happens to Rosenthal. But does the day ever get better.

Max's Words - By Kate Banks - j E Ban
Benjamin saves stamps and Karl keeps coins. The youngest boy decides to accumulate words. He carefully selects them from newspapers and magazines, cutting out and sorting them by category: colors, foods, small ones, big ones. He copies entries from the dictionary onto pieces of paper and adds them to his mounting collection.

Little Sap and Monsieur Rodin - By Michelle Lord - j Fic Lor
This fictionalized tale is based on actual events that occurred in the early 1900s, when five- and six-year-old Cambodian girls were trained at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh in the art of their countrys traditional dance. Lord describes how Little Sap, a girl from a family of poor rice farmers, wins a place in the royal dance troupe.

Galileo's Journal 1609-1610 - By Jeanne K. Pettenati - j Fic Pet
Galileo records events during eight months of his life, a pivotal time when he heard about the invention of the telescope, developed his own, and made landmark discoveries about the moon, Jupiter, and movement of objects in the sky. After observing four shifting "stars" near Jupiter over a period of time and deducing that they were moons orbiting the planet, he concluded that he had found further evidence that the sun is the center of the solar system.

A Place Where Sunflowers Grow- By Amy Lee-Tai - j Fic Lee
Everything seems grim about young Mari's life in the desert camp, where "the mountains, the vast sky, and the blazing sun made [her] feel as small as a sunflower seed." However, with gentle encouragement from her parents and art teacher, Mari crayons colorful pictures that lift her spirits, paralleling the sprouting of sunflower seeds in her mother's parched garden.

Dectective LaRue Letter from the Investigation- By Mark Teague - j Fic Tea
Ike LaRue tells his story through a series of misleading letters to his owner. When two neighborhood cats disappear, the pup winds up a jailed suspect. A black-and-white illustration depicts his pitiful plight as he would like Mrs. LaRue to imagine it–sadly blowing on a harmonica in jail.