The Baby-Sitters Club #1 – Kristy’s Great Idea by Raina Telgemeier

The Baby-Sitters Club #1 – Kristy’s Great Idea by Raina Telgemeier (Based on the novel by Ann M. Martin)

The Baby-Sitters Club has been revamped! The classic series has been re-imagined by Raina Telgemeier for a new audience. Kristy’s Great Idea takes the same story from the original Baby-Sitters Club book that many parents will remember and retells it as a graphic novel, or a very long comic book.

The story is about a group of girls who make spare money babysitting neighborhood kids and, in some cases, their own siblings. Kristy, the eventual leader of the club, has the idea to work with her friends so that parents can call one phone number to schedule babysitting and not have to call each of them to see who may be available. The book also introduces the girls’ family situations; Kristy is growing up with her mom and brothers after her parents’ divorce, Mary Anne’s mom died when she was a baby, and Claudia’s creativity goes against everything her parents want for her in life.

I read the original Baby-Sitters Club Books growing up and recommend these for upper elementary and middle school aged readers.

Check the PPLC catalog for The Baby-Sitters Club. 

Princess Super Kitty, by Antoinette Portis

“Maggie likes being a kitty. But sometimes that’s not enough. Sometimes a girl has to be SUPER.” This description from the book flap perfectly captures the imaginative and fun tone of this story. Armed with a creative mind and a dress up box, there are no limits to young Maggie’s play. In the span of a few pages she’s a kitty who meows and eats under the table, a Super Kitty who opens jars for everybody, a Princess Super Kitty with lots of jewels, and a Water Lily Hula Porpoise Princess Super Kitty ready for bath time. This little girl really can do anything!

I would recommend Princess Super Kitty, by Antoinette Portis, to children ages 2-5. The vocabulary is simple, yet engaging, and a fun way to get inspired to play make believe!

Check the PPLC Catalog for Princess Super Kitty.

Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color, by Julia Denos

Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color, by Julia Denos

Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color, by Julia Denos, is a beautifully illustrated picture book with a story of wildness turned to kindness. Swatch loves colors and colors love Swatch. The colors even listen to her and come when she calls them. Swatch is wild and loves to tame the colors.
Moving on from just taming them, Swatch decides to collect the colors in jars. She likes to find rare colors, shades of colors that you might only see in one place in the world. In Between Gray, for example, is found only on her kitten’s leg. Swatch scoops them up in the jars, pokes holes in the lid, and then keeps them in her room. There is one color that has eluded her, though – Yellowest Yellow. When Swatch finally finds Yellowest Yellow, she finds that not all colors want to be tamed.

The art in Swatch is whimsical and bright. The characters, mischievous. It feels like a colorful take on Where the Wild Things Are. I would recommend Swatch to all young artists in preschool through elementary and their parents.

Ada Twist, Scientist, by Andrea Beatty

Ada Twist, Scientist, by Andrea Beaty

There’s no denying that we need more S.T.E.M. books geared towards children. Andrea Beaty is working towards that goal with her hit picture books about Iggy Peck, Architect, Rosie Revere, Engineer, and now Ada Twist, Scientist. Ada Twist, Scientist is the latest of these books and was chosen as one of the Sunshine State Young Readers Award Jr. books for the 2017-2018 school year.

Beaty has once again paired with David Roberts as the illustrator and the book is adorable! The book, as with the first two, is written in rhyme which makes it really fun to read out loud with younger readers.

Ada is an intriguing character, as it is explained that she is mostly silent until the age of three, at which time she starts asking “why?” Not satisfied with “I don’t know,” young Ada turns to the scientific method to help learn about all of the world’s wondrous (and not sometimes stinky) things. The book follows Ada as she develops her scientific and sometimes troublesome nature. Ada’s family loves to help with her experiments, but sometimes they become troublesome around the house!

I have read this book to my 3 and 6 year old daughters countless times and recommend it to many of our younger readers at the library. It is recommended for grades K-2, but will be fun even for older children. Young scientists will love this book and their parents will surely love the ideas that start popping into their heads when they too discover that they don’t have to just ask “why” and can discover the world of science for themselves.

Check the PPLC catalog for Ada Twist, Scientist.

This Day in June, by Gayle E. Pitman

This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman

This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book with a simple rhyming pattern throughout the book. With these short, sweet, simple rhymes, Pitman conveys the feelings of the Pride Parades that are held annually in June to celebrate the LGBT community.

As you pick up and open This Day in June, the first thing that catches your eye are the gorgeous illustrations by Kristyna Litten. The style is very charming and expresses joy, love, and pride throughout the book. Each page shifts in hue, reflecting the colors of the rainbow. 

In addition to the story, the book includes a note to parents and caregivers. It gives suggestions for talking to children in different age groups (3-5, 6-12, and 13-18) about sexual orientation and gender identity in age-appropriate ways. It also includes a reading guide that explains the historical events and figures mentioned throughout the book.

With Pride fast approaching pick up a copy of This Day in June to get the party started early!

 

The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo, by Drew Weing

Charles could not be more appalled by his situation. His family has moved him from their sleepy suburban home to the expansive, and statistically unsafe, Echo City. The city is dirty, his new bedroom is too small, and the Asian market on the corner doesn’t sell his brand of chicken nuggets! To make matters worse, Echo City appears to be infested with ghosts, trolls, and an endless variety of monsters, all of which would not be opposed to taking a bite out of Charles.

Enter Margo Maloo: Monster Mediator. Her job is to resolve conflicts between children and monsters, and Charles is about to find out that she does not always rule in the child’s favor.

One reason I love this graphic novel is that Charles is learning and changing during the story. Charles starts out as a spoiled, self-centered, and small minded brat. When he asks for Margo’s help, she has some bad news; the monsters causing his problems were there before he was, and he needs to respect that. He can’t just barge into a place and bulldoze the existing tenants, because she won’t let him. After some tough-love lessons from Margo, Charles learns how to respect others and live in a diverse world.

This book features some impressively subtle metaphors. While not directly teaching lessons, The Creepy Case Files will expose readers to the dynamics behind heavy topics such as imperialism, manifest destiny, and modern gentrification. Hopefully, stories like these will give kids the groundwork to fully grasp these topics when they are older.

Check the Pinellas Public Library Catalog for this item.

Beauty and the Beast, by Ursula Jones and Sarah Gibb

If you’re looking for a “tale as old as time,” you’ve come to the right library. In Ursula Jones’s retelling of Beauty and the Beast, we are immersed in a fairy tale passed down from the 18th century by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, which is about true love being anomalous to what we often see in its place, and that no amount of wealth or good looks can take the place of devotion, time, and sacrifice.

The story of selfless Beauty, her merchant father, and egomaniacal sisters will have you laughing and crying from start to finish. If you’re looking forward to seeing Lumière and Cogsworth—DON’T. They’re… not home right now. In this retelling, Beauty’s sisters’ narcissistic behavior will provide all of the laughter needed to go along with the suspense of someone having to die at the hands—erm, claws—of the Beast for the unforgivable penalty of plucking a rose from his collection.

Now in terms of the illustrations, the rich, black shading compliments the bright and strikingly delicate colors with every turn of the page. You won’t feel let down by the magic brilliantly captured by award-winning author Ursula Jones and masterful illustrator Sarah Gibb.

Check the PPLC Catalog for Beauty and the Beast.