The Tide Pool Waits by Candace Fleming

A day in the life of a tide pool. Waiting is the name of the game. 

Thoughts: A fun, informative book with colorful, detailed illustrations suitable for the youngest children. Librarians will find this book especially timely as the Collaborative Summer Library Program's theme this year is oceanography. I'll be using this book for my beach themed event for kids ages 7-12. I learned about  many ocean animals that I'd never heard of before reading this book. The acrylic paint and pencil illustrations are perfection. The lack of outlines makes them have almost a dream like quality. The sections at the end of book (An Illustrated Guide to This Tide Pool, Let's Explore, and Where Do They Live?) offer more information for interested readers. Find a lesson plan with fun writing activities on the publisher's website here. 

Themes: Ocean, Beach, Ocean Animals 

(Illustrated by Amy Hevron. Neal Porter Books, 2022.)

Knight Owl by Christopher Denise

Owl wants to be a knight. Though owls aren't normally knights, the disappearance of many of the knights from the castle leads to Owl's career as knight. Not only does he excel as a knight, he solves the mystery of the disappearances and makes many friends. 

Thoughts: What a fun book! Owls are one of my favorite animals and I love the character Christopher Denise created in Owl. The illustrations are detailed and the color palette perfectly suits the story. I love all the yellow tones through the book's illustrations. The pizza was a great surprise. 

For an owls, dragons, and food themed storytime, pair Knight Owl with Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin, Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin, and Hoot Owl: Master of Disguise by Sean Taylor. 

Themes: Owls, Knights, Dragons, Pizza

(Christy Ottaviano Books, 2022.)

This Is (Not) Enough by Anna Kang

Giving gifts to friends isn't easy. You want them to know how much you value you them. When is a gift enough? 

Thoughts: I get it, I do, Anyone who's ever tried to find the perfect gift for a friend can relate to This Is (Not) Enough. The lengths the characters go to in their searches for the prefect gifts are hilarious. I especially like the knitting (although as a crocheter I must again state the need for more crocheting in children's books). The illustrations are bright and colorful with good use of white space. All the characters are endearing. Now that there's six books in this series, I'd love to plan a book party or special storytime. I only wish more activity kits or pages were available. 

As a librarian, this is my PSA to authors, illustrators, and publishers: We want activities to go along eith your books. Thank you! 

Themes: Gifts, Friends 

Other Books by Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant

• You Are (Not) Small
• That's (Not) Mine
• I Am (Not Scared
• We Are (Not) Friends 
• It Is (Not) Perfect

(Illustrated by Christopher Weyant. Two Lions, 2022.)

No Nibbling! by Beth Ferry

Derwood is planting a garden. He's vigilant about protecting it. When a young bunny starts visiting him and his garden, Derwood often has to remind Tabitha "No nibbling." Can a goat who wants to protect his garden ever be friends with a bunny who just wants a little nibble? 

Thoughts: Too funny! I love the wordplay and the misunderstanding that ensues. This will be a great book to share in storytime as well as with slightly older kids. Would pair well with Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming. The illustrations are soft colored yet detailed. I like the mixture of illustration styles as well as the speech bubbles. 

Themes: Goats, Rabbits, Gardens, Vegetables 

(Illustrated by A. N. Kang. Roaring Brook Press, 2022.)

Beyond the Burrow by Jessica Meserve

Rabbits like to be warm, safe, and cozy in their burrows. They like other rabbits, hopping, and carrots. One day, an unexpected incident with a carrot results in Rabbit going beyond her burrow. Cold there be more to life than other rabbits, hopping, and carrots? Maybe...if Rabbit is willing to be brave. 

Thoughts: Such a simple story but with such depth even adults can learn something from Beyond the Burrow. The illustrations are soft colored and detailed. I especially like all the signs in and around the burrow. Rabbit's character is so well developed with a myriad of expressions. Pair with A Little Bit Brave by Nicole Kinnear. 

Themes: Rabbits, Bravery

(US Version: Peachtree Publishing Company, 2022.)

Ocean Poetry for Summer Events

If your library uses the Collaborative Summer Library Program's theme and slogan, no doubt you're embroiled in all things oceanic at the moment. Poetry for children is one of my favorite genres to read and I love incorporating poetry into my storytimes and other events. Without further ado, here's a list of poetry books you might find useful for your summer events. Links are to my reviews. 

A First Book of the Sea by Nicola Davies

Sea Star Wishes by Eric Ode

A Spectacular Selection of Sea Critters by Betsy Franco

In the Sea by David Elliott

Slickety Quick: Poems about Sharks by Skila Brown

Water Sings Blue by Kate Coombs 

In the Swim by Douglas Florian 

You will also likely find ocean poems in the following collections although they aren't specifically about the ocean. 

The Beauty of the Beast selected by Jack Prelutsky 

If Not for the Cat by Jack Prelutsky (jellyfish, otter)

National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry edited by J. Patrick Lewis 

National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry edited by J. Patrick Lewis

Hello! Have You Missed Me?

Hi! Sorry for the radio silence for the past few weeks. Work has been busy and so when my scheduled posts ran out, I couldn't seem to find the time to get anymore scheduled. 

In person indoor storytime started back at all my libraries in April. I ran a seven week session from the first week of April until the week before Memorial Day. This was the first time I'd done that long a stretch of storytime since last summer. It was the first time storytime had been indoor since March 2020. If you're interested, my spring themes were frogs, eggs, things that go, poetry (spring), ice cream, gardens, and ninjas. 

I've been hard at work planning my summer events. My state is a member of the Collaborative Summer Library Program and 2022's theme is oceanography and the slogan is "Oceans of Possibilities." Reminds me a little of the 2010 theme ("Make a Splash; Read!" and "Make Waves at Your Library") which was coincidentally my first summer reading program. 

I'll be running a six week session (3 weeks in June and 3 weeks in July) of storytime for ages 0-6 followed by events for ages 7-12. There will be monthly contests and scavenger hunts in June, July, and August as well as bimonthly teen events during those months. I'll also be running mini weekly scavenger hunts during my six week session. 

My themes for storytime and the older events are beach, mermaids, fish (with an emphasis on sharks), boats, pirates, and ocean animals. I'm working on narrowing down my books as you can see from the above photo, creating take home activity packets for each group and selecting a game of craft for the older events. My monthly scavenger hunt themes are mermaids and friends, sharks, and narwhals. The monthly contests are an ocean Lego contest, an ocean animal photo contest (á la a stuffed animal sleepover photo), and an ocean themed coloring contest. The contests are for all ages including adults. The teen events are animated ocean movie night, Japanese culture night (a reboot of an event I hosted in 2011 for the "One World, Many Stories" and "You Are Here" slogans), shark week party, ocean paint and craft night, ocean team trivia night, and live action ocean movie night.

Look for posts next week about ocean poetry to use for summer events and flannel board activities for various ocean themes.