New Picture Books

9781467734240

One day, the earth turns upside down, and all the baby animals fall into different nests! Very little kids will be amused at the parents' confusion, but too much older and I think they will just wonder why an otter thinks a turtle is its baby. In fact, a couple parts confused me - on the camel/polar bear page, shouldn't it read, "why he had NO hump," rather than "THE hump"? And at the end, if Mom kept the gorilla baby (which is a cute twist), why does she still have her human baby on her lap? Not as good as I would expect from this duo.

9780062087089

I've been looking forward to this junior reader series, because the picture books were so much fun. With a different author and illustrator, I was afraid it would go the route of Pete the Cat. Fortunately, these are pretty good, so far. In this title, our friend Worm gets to take care of the class pet...and loses him. Generic lesson on honesty, some word play that will amuse younger readers, illustrations that could easily pass for Bliss's. We'll be ordering the rest!

9780062294968

I don't normally - okay, ever - review TV tie-ins, but that doesn't stop publishers from sending them to me. Since I don't have cable or Netflix or anything of the sort, I never know enough about the show in question to give an informed review. 

In this case, however, that worked out perfectly. We do Halloween in a big way at our library, and our theme this fall (yes, I know it's only August) will be zombies. I need to make it more kid-friendly for our room, and I was vaguely aware that Plants vs. Zombies is a 'thing', but I needed an idiot's guide of sorts. And here it is! Crazy Dave gives a general run-down of the zombie issue, the different plants you will need to defend your home (and brains), and the possible counterattacks the zombies will use. Kids who are familiar with the program will enjoy the easy read, parents who have avoided watching it will appreciate the primer, and clueless librarians will find enough material to create a display and some possible activities!

Three New Picture Books

978-146-771-1432

 

Stories about pets are usually a sure bet with children, and this is no exception. The little boy telling the story can't understand why his sister loves her guinea pig so much, when there are so many other, much more exciting pets to have! I can't call it a stereotypical conversation, when I see it played out so frequently in my own home. Taylor's illustrations are adorable - I want to reach into the pages and scoop up that adorable little guinea pig, while the dragon, on the other hand, is quite satisfyingly fierce.

 

978-146-771-1418

 

Speaking of adorable...you can't get much cuter than a panda, and here we have two. They live next door to each other, and both would like to be friends, but neither can quite work up the courage to say that first, "Hello!" The rhyme pattern is a bit awkward in places, so I probably wouldn't use this in a story time. I think the gentle encouragement towards making friends will be appreciated, however, by my younger patrons.

 

978-146-771-1555

 

A new Little Princess story! The LP is VERY big at our house, and she had her very own story time here at the library a few months ago. Her other titles all start with "I Want", a fact not unnoticed by commiserating mommies: now, we have the opposite.

 

The Little Princess has a lump in her nose, and while the General offers to get take care of it with his sword, the Doctor (who is always covered in spots), decides the hospital would be a better bet. The Little Princess does not want to go, but is eventually carted off...er...tied to her stroller. She recovers there quite nicely, and has so much fun, she decides her tonsils need to come out as well! It is never quite explained what the lump in her nose is, but I can't help thinking this seems a bit familiar.

 

Thank-you to Andersen Press for the review copies!