Back to the Zoo...

I was finally able to present my Zoo storytime today and had about 60 people attend. A pretty nice size considering that anywhere between 30-90 show up during a summer storytime that doesn't require any kind of registration and is for any age. Overall, the stories where a hit. The kids could even guess what it was that I drew when I did a draw and tell story on the white board. I guess my artistic skills are better then I thought or those kids are just pretty bright!

This afternoon as I was looking over new picture books that came in, I found a prefect addition to the storytime. The View at the Zoo by Kathleen Long Bostrom. Too bad I didn't see this book in the morning. I could have put in out with the other display books at least. Oh well, next time I'll include it for sure.

Prisoners in the Palace

by Michaela MacColl

Summary "Recently orphaned and destitute, seventeen-year-old Liza Hastings earns a position as a lady's maid to sixteen-year-old Princess Victoria at Kensington Palace in 1836, the year before Victoria becomes Queen of England.”

The cover first drew my to this historical fiction title. This picture doesn't do the cover justice, but in person it has this metallic shine that really make the cover pop. As far as the story goes, I wasn't disappointed. MacColl did believable characters that you wanted to cheer for. I also enjoyed how she included newspaper clippings throughout to help tell the story. I don't know as much about this time period, but it seemed accurate from what I recall of that era. Not sure if there is as much kid appeal here though. Teens and adults will probably enjoy it more.

No Passengers beyond this point

by Gennifer Choldenko

Summary “With their house in foreclosure, sisters India and Mouse and brother Finn are sent to stay with an uncle in Colorado until their mother can join them, but when the plane lands, the children are welcomed by cheering crowds to a strange place where each of them has a perfect house and a clock that is ticking down the time.” This is one amazing book. I had trouble putting it down and couldn't get enough of it. Each of the characters is well written and has a distinct voice in the story. Choldenko switches narrators every few chapters, so you really get to see what each kid thinks and feel about what's going on. Mouse is both the most interesting and the most complex, in my opinion. She's the kind of kid that teachers love to have in their class, but sometimes makes you want to pull your hair out. The ending clears up most of the questions (and if you are like me you had TONS of questions) readers might have had though out the book. That's one thing that makes this book so great. It doesn't explain all the act, the reader is expected to get it or just keep reading. I like books like this that make the reader think about the event and draw their own conclusions. Of course, it's even better when the author eventually does fill you in on the secret!

Tiny Little Fly

by Michael Rosen

The cover first caught my eye of this new favorite title. I love the image of the tiger staring at the fly with one eye closed. (I'm partial to one eyed cats, since I own one.) The story kept my attention with simple rhyming text and artistic illistrations. While the story is enjoyable, the pictures are the real star here. Each brush stroke comes to life and readers will want to soak in all the details.

After seeing this story, I started thinking about if there were other stories about flies. What I found has inspired me to create a storytime all about flies! A good title for the sotrytime might be Shoo Fly! or Time FLIES...we'll see what sticks.

Some of the other titles I might use are:

Diary of a fly by Doreen Cronin

The jazz fly by Matthew Gollub

Old black fly by jim Aylesworth

Thelonius Monster's sky-high fly pie by Judy Sierra

and of course, There was an old women who swallowed a Fly!

Monster at the Library

For some reason I love Monster themed story times. A new picture book made me think about doing one again. The titles was Goodnight, Little Monster by Helen Kettleman. This was a cute book with rhyming text and adorable pictures. It might be hard to think of monsters as adorable, but these ones are! I love the purple freckles Little Monster and his Mom both have. The soft toy slug instead of a teddy bear is another nice touch. I would definitely include this title in the next Monster Storytime I plan.

With the right books the kids go crazy for this theme, boys especially. Not all monster books appeal to boys only. A really great monster story will attract boys and girls to it. Some of my favorite monster stories are:

Monster Hug by David Ezra Stein
Thelonius Monster’s Sky High Fly Pie by Judy Sierra
Monster at the end of this Book by Jon Stone
Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley
Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems
Frank Was A Monster Who Wanted to Dance by Keith Graves

Here Kitty kitty!

Cats make great characters in my opinion and I love most cat books. After seeing Where is tippy toes? by Betsy Lewin, I started thinking about all the great cat picture books that have come out in the past few years. Some of my favorites have been:

Chester by Melanie Watt
What will fat cat sit on? by Jan Thomas
There are cats in this book by Viviane Schwarz
I don't want a cool cat! by Emma Dodd
For the Love of Autumn by Patricia Polacco

Of course there are many more titles I could add to this list but that seems like a good start! Any other favorite cats books from last last few year to include?

The Wide-Awake Princess

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker. I'm a fan of most fantasy and love any good fairy tale, but something about the cover to this novel looked a too little disney cartoon like for my taste. Boy am I glad I didn't judge this book just on the cover! What looks like just another retelling of Sleeping Beauty take a different turn when Sleeping Beauty's younger sister doesn't fall alseep with the rest of the castle. I was pleasently surprised by the story and how other classic fairy tales got mixed in with the plot. The love story is also perfect for younger girls who are more interested in puppy love then a Twilight level romance.