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.

The Creeps, by Chris Schweizer

Carol, Mitchell, Jarvis, and Rosario are not popular. Their investigations into the bizarre happenings of their sleepy town have raised the ire of their classmates, their teachers, and even the police. Throughout Pumpkins County they are known as “The Creeps”. Not to say their title isn’t apt; on any given day the gang could find themselves elbow deep in reanimated frog corpses or fighting a mutant pudding monster (creepy stuff), but the ill-will from the townsfolk is completely unwarranted! How many times have these kids saved the town? Lots, just ask them, they’ll tell you! But nobody seems to care about the monsters that threaten the fine folk of Pumpkins County, and so The Creeps will continue their thankless job.

This title currently consists of three volumes, and each one is amazing. The Creeps is marked as juvenile fiction, but I would strongly recommend it to all graphic novel readers. *This series is marked as “multi-cultural”, meaning that roughly 60% of the characters you see on the page are not white. This helps to make Pumpkins County an amazing display of diversity. The townsfolk come in every color, size, shape, and even social circle that humans can come in. You’ll see farmers, punks, jocks, little old ladies, and environmentalists walking the streets. Almost any reader could pick up this book and see a character that reflects them.

Additionally, Schweizer takes care to depict the townsfolk as people who are worth saving, even though they can be cruel. Even the most rotten school bullies are rendered likable to some degree. The most lovable characters of all, though are the Creeps. Each character has their own unique skills and hobbies that complement the group’s goals, making them the perfect mystery solving team. Possibly the very best part of the book, however, is the relationship the Creeps have with one another. Carol, Mitchell, Jarvis, and Rosario joke and pick on each other good-naturedly, but when the stakes are high, they are there for each other 100%.

Each volume of The Creeps is humorous, harrowing, a little bit touching, and completely charming. The volumes are episodic, and there is no need to read them in a certain order. So pick up a volume of The Creeps today!

Check the PPLC Catalog for The Creeps.

No Pirates Allowed! Said Library Lou, by Rhonda Gowler Greene and Brian Ajhar

What could be better to read aloud than a book about pirates and librarians? The answer is nothing! It’s great for reading aloud, and the various sizes of print make it clear to young pirates whether it’s time to whisper, talk in a normal voice, or shout.

“At Seabreezy Library, things were just right. Book lovers were cozy.” Until Big Pete and his parrot Igor stormed in. Big Pete is convinced there is treasure to be found at the library as his treasure map showed a big red X right where the library stands. After all, X marks the spot right?

Pirate Pete was loud, and worst of all he was SMELLY!!! Library Lou would have none of it and told Big Pete to be quiet. She’d help him find the treasure, but first – he had to go home and take a bath. Big Pete came back the next day and thus began his adventure in the library with Library Lou.

Indeed there is treasure to be found at this library, but is it the treasure that Big Pete is looking for? This book is a librarian’s dream! However, I think kids of all ages would totally get into it, maybe even acting out the book as an activity at home.

Check the PPLC Catalog for No Pirates Allowed! Said Library Lou.

The Wild Robot, by Peter Brown

When Roz the robot is shipwrecked on a tiny island, she has only her basic programming to guide her. Roz is not built for the outdoors, but she is designed to be adaptable, thoughtful, and intelligent, and she soon realizes that her best hope for survival is to learn and gain support from the island’s hostile animal inhabitants. Gaining the animal’s trust takes time and it’s only when she tries to care for an orphaned gosling that the other animals finally decide to help her. The island starts to feel like home to Roz until one day, the robot’s mysterious past comes back to haunt her.

The Wild Robot is author and illustrator Peter Brown’s first novel. Brown, known for his children’s picture books, such as Children Make Terrible Pets, has totally succeeded in producing an utterly charming first novel. Though The Wild Robot starts off slow, once Roz learns the language of the animals, the story flourishes. The animals of the island all have big personalities and Roz begins to form friendships with them, like with Chitchat the squirrel and Loudwing the goose. Roz solicits their help to care for the gosling Brightbill who she becomes a mother to. Roz and Brightbill eventually become invaluable members of the island community. Roz even helps the animals survive through a grueling winter by teaching them to make fire.

This book has been compared to Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain. Readers who enjoy these types of survivalist stories will definitely be drawn into Roz’s tale. It could also be compared to Stuart Little. Both are stories about extraordinary protagonists who don’t quite belong and through adventure and perseverance make a life for themselves. Lovers of these types of stories as well as both robot and animal lovers will find something to delight in here. For adult readers, The Wild Robot makes a great parenting story and the philosophical questions that naturally arise between robot Roz and living animal Brightbill can be in turns both fun and thoughtful. With such a wide appeal, Brown’s book can also be enjoyed together as a read aloud for younger children. No one should miss out on this sparkling book!

Check the PPLC Catalog for The Wild Robot.

No Ordinary Sound, by Denise Lewis Patrick

No Ordinary Sound is the first book about Melody Ellison in the American Girl: Beforever series. Like all American Girl books, Melody’s story tells the history of America through the eyes of the children who lived during those times.

Melody is growing up in Detroit, Michigan. The year is 1963. Her oldest sister is off at college in Birmingham, Alabama, her brother has decided to pursue a singing career with Motown instead of going to college, and Melody and her sister, Lila, are in grade school.

Like her brother, Melody loves to sing. She has just been chosen to sing a solo for Youth Day at her church. She spends the whole summer preparing for her performance, but the rest of the world seems to be changing around her. She sees Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver the first version of his “I Have a Dream” speech at Cobo Arena and shortly afterwards, there is a bombing at a church in Birmingham–the city that her mother grew up in.

Melody, with the help of her family, learns to stand up to the discrimination that comes with the territory of being African American during the Civil Rights Movement. When she sees something happening that is wrong, she quickly speaks up for what is right. She also must learn to find her voice again and overcome the fear that keeps her from singing in the wake of tragedy.

No Ordinary Sound was an excellent read. It is a look at everyday life in a turbulent time period in America’s history. The book is part of the American “Girl” series, but I recommend it to any reader, as it is a great history lesson and a compelling story. I would recommend this for readers aged 8+.

Check the PPLC Catalog No Ordinary Sound.