Miss Kathleen

April is National Poetry Month!  Celebrate it, the Fox Cities Book Festival, nature, too, with a sweet and simple poem by versatile author Marion Dane Bauer.  Its lines provide the text for this beautiful picture book, with intimate portraits of various wild baby animals and animal families by renowned nature photographer Stan Tekiela (one of the featured authors at this year’s Fox Cities Book Festival).  Tekiela captures on camera many young critters, from slow turtle hatchlings to a frisky cougar kitten; from a soft rabbit kit to prickly porcupettes; from little possums hit

Meet Wendell, Wilmer, Willy Woody and Walter—5 bird-like juggler brothers who perform together in a hilarious stage show, while demonstrating basic math concepts such as counting, addition, subtraction and comparison.  The reader audience will learn as they laugh at the Wing Wing Brothers’ antics and comic appearance.  Parents and teachers will appreciate that the book meets the Common Core Standards for kindergarten mathematics; kids will appreciate the goofiness and fun.

Recommended for kids ages 3-7.

On August 28, 1963, almost 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his powerful and iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.  The “Dream” portion of the stirring speech provides the narrative for this picture book, illustrated with inspired and inspiring paintings by Caldecott Honor Award-winning artist Kadir Nelson.  Nelson includes portraits of Dr.

The state legislature has declared 12/12/12 “Aaron Rodgers Day” in Wisconsin, in honor of the Green Bay Packers star quarterback with the uniform number 12.  Young readers can celebrate the success of this remarkable athlete with two books added to the library’s collections this past year.

While not a ghost or Halloween story, Ballywhinney Girl is nevertheless haunting.  Maeve, a fair-haired Irish girl living in Ballywhinney Ireland, is in a bog with her grandfather as he cuts turf.

This is a goofy book, a fast and fun read for young graphic novel fans.  Ace and Bub are beaver brothers, who enjoy life on Beaver Island.  While Ace prepares for the Beaver Island Surfboard Competition, his board is suddenly stolen by strange penguins, who escape to the deep waters offshore.  In hot pursuit, Ace gets only a glimpse of their underwater hideout, but he knows that the penguins are up to something, and it doesn’t look good.   Without his surfboard, he can’t hope to beat the island’s brawny hot shot, Bruce.  So Ace and Bub decide to do some deep-se

Cupcake’s life is full: he runs a bakery, plays drums in a band, and enjoys city living with his best friend, Eggplant.  Even so, Cupcake is in a bit of a creative slump, and he longs for—well, something more.  Meanwhile, Eggplant is invited to visit Aunt Aubergine in Turkey, who happens to work with baking celebrity Turkish Delight.  Eggplant wants Cupcake to come along.

Author/artist Loren Long’s sweet and spunky little tractor, Otis, is back for another adventure—and what an adventure it is!   Otis spends many a summer day playing “Follow the Leader” with all the farm animals—all, that is, but the big, ornery bull that snorts and charges at anyone who comes near.  One day, the sky suddenly turns stormy, dark, and green, and the farm-folk scramble for shelter, with no time to tend to the animals.  The reason: a tornado is coming!  Otis springs into action with a clever idea

Tommy is not one of the cool kids in his school, but of all of his classmates, the weirdest has to be Dwight. When Dwight comes to school with a folded paper finger puppet resembling Yoda from “Star Wars,” it’s strange enough; but when he starts giving his classmates advice, tidbits of insight and wisdom--or correctly predicts happenings like pop quizzes--in screechy Yoda-speak, while holding the origami puppet, Tommy takes notice. Does Origami Yoda have mystical powers, or is he just a “paper wad” as his friend Harvey says? Is Dwight not as dorky as he appears to be?

This picture book surely lives up to its name. Not only is its story about a square, it is square! The book's shape is just one of many creative details that make this book so delightful. And it is just about perfect, too, with a clever but simple story, a good message, and colorful, playful, beautiful illustrations by artist and author Michael Hall. A perfect square is happy being just that, square and perfect.

Young Liz is excited to be on her first hunting adventure with her dad who has just returned home from war; but she is also uneasy: her father has been gone so long that he and she are practically strangers. There are other things to get used to also: her new, too-large plaid flannel shirt from the dry goods store, the unfamiliarity of the breakfast fare on the menu at the diner, and the chilling changes that November brings to the woods Liz walks with her father, who, with gun in hand, is intent on killing the crows who have been eating the farm crops.

The middle child between two sets of twins, Miri feels overlooked and out of place even in her own family. Not only that, but, unlike most of her friends, she still likes to play pretend games and still wants to believe that magic is real even though nothing magical has ever happened to her. Miri and family have just moved into an old house, and her small bedroom, with its worn and ugly wallpaper, seems strange to her. Sent to her bedroom after hitting her brother, Miri discovers a glasses lens taped to one of the walls.

A story told from the animal's point of view, a female gopher snake is captured by a "filthy, fleshy human child" named Gunnar. The boy calls the snake "Crusher," and puts his new "pet" in a terrarium in his bedroom, next to cages occupied by wild animals that Gunnar has captured but since lost interest in. While looking for her chance to escape, Crusher observes Gunnar and his habits, his family, friends, and his love of video games.