Archive for category The Reading Room

In this book by Matthew Clark Smith and illustrated by Giuliano Ferri, a moth with a sixth sense. A wasp that hunts beetles nearly twice its size. The lives of fascinating creatures such as these were unknown until one man introduced them to the world.

Meet Jean-Henri Fabre, one of the most important naturalists of all time. As a boy in the French countryside, Henri spent hours watching insects. He dreamed of observing them in a new way: in their own habitats. What he discovered in pursuing that dream was shocking; these small, seemingly insignificant creatures led secret lives—lives of great drama!

With its lively, lyrical text and richly detailed illustrations, this intriguing picture-book biography introduces the man who would forever change the way we look at insects, bringing to life the fascinating world of dazzling beetles, ferocious wasps, and other amazing small wonders that exist all around us. Appropriate for ages 6 and up.

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Join Lennon and Maisy Stella, stars of the hit show Nashville, (and now authors!) in their first-ever picture book sing-along adventure!

It’s the perfect day for fun in the sun as the girls prepare to set off for a sandy paradise. With boogie boards in tow and homemade lemonade in hand, they are off to splash the day away.

Grab your ol’ flip-flops and your sunblock, too, and sing along with Lennon and Maisy in their debut original picture book and song. Perfect for ages 4-8 years.

Check out their music video for In The Waves:

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Fans of John Green and Matthew Quick: Get ready to die laughing.
 
Denton Little’s Deathdate takes place in a world exactly like our own except that everyone knows the day on which they will die. For Denton, that’s in just two days—the day of his senior prom.

Despite his early deathdate, Denton has always wanted to live a normal life, but his final days are filled with dramatic firsts. His anxiety builds when he discovers a strange purple rash making its way up his body. Is this what will kill him? And then a strange man shows up at his funeral, claiming to have known Denton’s long-deceased mother, and warning him to beware of suspicious government characters. . . . Suddenly Denton’s life is filled with mysterious questions and precious little time to find the answers.

Debut author Lance Rubin takes us on a fast, furious, and outrageously funny ride through the last hours of a teenager’s life as he searches for love, meaning, answers, and (just maybe) a way to live on. Appropriate for ages 14 & up.

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Giraffes Can’t Dance (by Giles Andreae), is a touching tale of Gerald the giraffe, who wants nothing more than to dance. With crooked knees and thin legs, it’s harder for a giraffe than you would think. Gerald is finally able to dance to his own tune when he gets some encouraging words from an unlikely friend.

With light-footed rhymes and high-stepping illustrations, this tale is gentle inspiration for every child with dreams of greatness. For ages 4 and up

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In Herve Tullet’s book, Press Here, press the yellow dot on the cover of the book, follow the instructions within, and embark upon a magical journey! Each page of this surprising book instructs the reader to press the dots, shake the pages, tilt the book, and who knows what will happen next!

Children and adults alike will giggle with delight as the dots multiply, change direction, and grow in size! Especially remarkable because the adventure occurs on the flat surface of the simple, printed page, this unique picture book about the power of imagination and interactivity will provide read-aloud fun for all ages!

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It’s wintertime at Greenglass House. The creaky smuggler’s inn is always quiet during this season, and twelve-year-old Milo, the innkeepers’ adopted son, plans to spend his holidays relaxing. But on the first icy night of vacation, out of nowhere, the guest bell rings. Then rings again. And again. Soon Milo’s home is bursting with odd, secretive guests, each one bearing a strange story that is somehow connected to the rambling old house. As objects go missing and tempers flare, Milo and Meddy, the cook’s daughter, must decipher clues and untangle the web of deepening mysteries to discover the truth about Greenglass House—and themselves. Written by Kate Milford  and illustrated by Jaime Zollars. For readers ages 11 & up.

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You might think a book with no pictures seems boring and serious. Except . . . here’s how books work. Everything written on the page has to be said by the person reading it aloud. Even if the words say . . .

BLORK. Or BLUURF.

Even if the words are a preposterous song about eating ants for breakfast, or just a list of astonishingly goofy sounds like BLAGGITY BLAGGITY and GLIBBITY GLOBBITY.

Cleverly irreverent and irresistibly silly, The Book with No Pictures is one that kids will beg to hear again and again. (And parents will be happy to oblige.) Ideal for ages 5 and up.

 

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It was high summer and a traveling fun-fair had come to the village…Peter Rabbit and Benjamin were forbidden to attend. But even the best-behaved rabbit can’t keep away from a fun-fair; and Peter is far from being the best-behaved rabbit. With Benjamin at his side, Peter sneaks into the fair where a roller-coaster ride of an adventure begins…When Peter finds himself scooped up by a rather grumpy little girl and separated from his cousin he is helpless and very afraid. It takes the determined bravery of Benjamin to rescue Peter from the frightening hurly-burly of shouting stallholders and whirling rides. Written by Oscar-winning actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson, and illustrated by Eleanor Taylor, the book stays faithful to the original tale of Peter Rabbit created over 110 years ago by author Beatrix Potter.

Watch Emma Thompson read from her series of Peter Rabbit books:

 

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Archibald’s Next Big Thing by Tony Hale, Tony Biaggne, and illustrated by Misty Manley and Victor Huckabee, is the extraordinary adventure of an extra-ordinary chicken named Archibald Strutter. His three brothers and one sister have each found their “Big Thing” (including a brother chicken who impressively grows human hair) and the only Big Thing Archibald has planned is what he’s eating for lunch. This all changes when he receives a mysterious blue card that reads “YOUR BIG THING IS HERE!” So, accompanied by a friendly bee named BEE, Archibald takes the card and heads off on a fantastic journey in hopes of finding his NEXT BIG THING. It’s a story that reminds us that, while looking for the next big thing isn’t a bad thing, we should always remember that big and beautiful things are all around. For ages three and up.

 

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Gerald is careful. Piggie is not. Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.

Gerald and Piggie are best friends.

In We Are in a Book! Gerald and Piggie discover the joy of being read. But what will happen when the book ends?

Using vocabulary perfect for beginning readers (and vetted by an early-learning specialist), author Mo Willems has crafted a mind-bending story that is even more interactive than previous Elephant & Piggie adventures. Gerald the elephant and his porcine companion Piggie realize that they are in a book. With that distinction comes power that makes them giggle: At whim, they can make the children reading them say funny words like “banana”! But with that power comes the realization that, with only a dozen pages left, their book will end. Is there any way to keep the fun going?

This is a book  that, though entertaining for children ages 3-5, is also ageless in its humor and imagination.

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