Staff Picks for Children

Emphasizing the human connection, this beautifully illustrated picture book takes readers through a counting journey to meet some of the world’s most amazing primates. With minimal text and almost exclusively white backgrounds, each animal is shown from the shoulders up as if posing for a portrait.  

From happy to sad and mischievous to dignified, each animal’s expression reveals a little bit of its personality.  A final page shows the diversity of the human family, and the observant reader will soon be flipping back and forth through the pages trying to match the humans’ expressions with those of the primates’.

The boldness of the illustrations and the simplicity of the text make this suitable for anyone learning to count, while the science connection and the detail of each portrait make this a book older readers will also enjoy. 

The cover to Mousterpiece announces that this is "a mouse-sized guide to modern art".  The book stars Janson, a mouse who lives in a museum and loved to explore.  When she finds the wing of Modern Art, she begins to practice drawing self-portraits in the styles of the artists she sees on the walls.  Rousseau, Picasso, Seurat, even Jackson Pollack and Andy Warhol inspire Janson to paint more.  When the Modern wing closes for renovation, Janson begins to leave her work behind for others to find, and it turns into an exhibition for her work.  At the end, Janson discovers her own style, "unlike anyone else's", with a beautiful mousterpiece at the end.  Notes at the end of the book introduce the artists that Janson has referenced.

This book received starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist, and is highly recommended for children in preschool through 3rd grade. 

Little White Duck: a Childhood in China is a superb memoir of the 1970s youth of Na Liu as she grew up in China, and is illustrated by Liu’s husband, Andres Vera Martinez.  An example of the great stories told in the book is the first chapter, where Da Qin (Liu’s nickname as a child) is four years old and learns that the grandfather she hardly knows has passed away.  This grandfather was Chairman Mao, and Da Qin doesn’t understand why she is upset, but cries uncontrollably anyway.  The illustrations are simply exquisite and capture the emotions of the stories well.  This book received multiple starred reviews, and was one of School Library Journal's best books of 2012.  Highly recommended for students in grades 4 and up, as well as for teens and adults. 

This superb factual tale of John Price is fascinating.  John Price escaped from slavery in January 1856.  After crossing the frozen Ohio River, he was in Ohio, was slavery was not allowed.  He wasn't completely safe though, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 allowed slave owners to capture their runaway slaves anywhere in the United States, even in states where slavery was against the law, like Ohio.  Canada was Price's destination; slavery was completely outlawed there.  Price stopped for the winter in Oberlin, Ohio.

According to the book, "Oberlin College professors and the town's ministers claimed there was a 'higher law' than the Fugitive Slave Act.  This was the law of right and wrong, by which everyone deserved to be free."  John Price decided to settle in Oberlin.

When slave hunter Anderson Jennings, who had been hired to find Price, located him in Oberlin, Jennings forced Price to go with him.  A man walking by heard Price shout out, and ran to get help from the people of Oberlin, who came out en masse to save John Price from Jennings.  A group of men who would come to be known as "the Rescuers" took Price back and hid him until he vanished.  Thirty seven of the Rescuers were charged with defying the Fugitive Slave Law, were found guilty, and stayed in jail for three months.  After the Civil War was fought between 1861 and 1865, slavery was ended in the United States. 

The illustrations do a wonderful job of describing the text through art.  A photograph of the Rescuers is found at the back of the book.

Recommended for students in 3rd through 6th grade.

In a letter to her English teacher Lizzy Mortimer tells her story about how she discovered that she was a Death Catcher, formally known as “The Hands of Fate”, like her grandmother.  She has this gift to see the future death of people that are close to her.  She finds out that she is related to Morgan le Faye and the sisters of Avalon.  She uncovers the Arthurian origins of her destiny and is charged with saving the last descendant of King Arthur from an untimely death that would endanger the world.  This last descendant of King Arthur is her secret crush, Drake Westfall, a student at her school and a very close neighbor.

There are many funny situations involving Bizzy, her grandmother and some narrow escapes by Lizzy and her friends, especially Jodi and Drake.  The story has a creative mix of Arthurian legend, romance, and fantasy.  The plots include a planned robbery, a vision of Jodi dying and Lizzy’s attempts to save Drake.  The characters are likeable and realistic, particularly Lizzy and her grandmother.

This first book in a series should appeal to a wide range of fantasy lovers.  The book is geared towards students in  grades 5 – 8.

This book published by Free Spirit in 2012, but new to the Appleton Public Library, introduces Zach, a young boy who finds himself angry with his younger brother, and pushing him down.  His mother gently encourages Zach to apologize, and teaches him a four-square tool to help him figure out what to say.  In the first square, Zach thinks about what he did that hurt his brother.  Second, he thinks about how his brother thought.   Third, he thought about what he could do in the future, and fourth, he decided how he could make it up to his brother.  A note to parents at the end gives tips on how to model apologies, and guide children through their own apologies.

A second book, Zach Gets Frustrated, was published simultaneously, and teaches the frustration triangle method for helping children cope. 

These books are for parents and caregivers to share with children who are struggling with their emotions, and are recommended for Kindergarten and older.

  “Line up every kind of plant and animal on Earth…and one of every four will be a beetle.”  So begins the Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins, a treasure trove of fascinating facts about beetles the world over, including information about body structure, life cycles, communication, defenses, and other beetle behaviors. Most interesting are the adaptations of particular beetles, such as the forest fire beetle, whose heat-sensing spots on its body can detect a fire from more than 20 miles away, and the leaf beetle, which produces a sticky substance that will glue shut the jaws of any ant who attempts to eat it.  Author/artist Jenkins uses great analogies to help readers understand the breadth and variety of the beetle world.  In describing the Australian tiger beetle, the fastest runner in the insect world, Jenkins states, “If a human could run as fast-for her size—as a tiger beetle, she’d be moving as fast as a jet airplane.”  While there’s no glossary alphabetical index, there is a list of all the beetles featured in the book, each with its scientific name and the place in the world where it can be found.

  In this book, as in his many others, Jenkins uses his artistry and masterful use of cut and torn textured paper to enhance the natural beauty of the creatures; his meticulous, colorful, beautiful collage illustrations, on plain white background for excellent contrast, are wonderful examples of art in science and science in art.  Although Jenkins stays true to the colors of the different species of beetles represented, observant readers and viewers will notice the rich patterns and details of the paper used in the artist’s creations. The illustrations are accompanied by captions in a casual handwritten-style font that lends a scrapbook-like quality to the book.  A few or many factual tidbits can be enjoyed at each sitting, inviting re-readings, as well as closer studies of the accompanying artwork.  The striking cover features two halves of a larger-than-life rose chafer beetle specimen, its legs forming a frame for the title and author text.  While many of the illustrations are larger than the actual beetles, for easy study, Jenkins provides silhouettes throughout the book that show the actual size of the beetles featured on the two-page spreads.  Other illustrations show certain beetles at actual size, whether small as a dot, or larger than a human hand.

   And speaking of actual size, another great Steve Jenkins book is Actual Size.  Published in 2004, it features different animals, or parts of them, shown in their true size, illustrated with Jenkins’ signature cut and torn paper collage.  Note: although Actual Size is available in E-book format through Wisconsin’s Digital Library, the print format is best for the actual “actual size” experience.  This is another great example of the many books authored and/or illustrated by Steve Jenkins, who uses his incredible talents to help others explore the wonders of natural science.  The author/artist's birthday is March 31st; celebrate by checking out his work!

 You can catch a glimpse of Steve Jenkins’ creative process in “Meet-the-Author” movies and slideshows from Teaching books.net, a resource database available through the APL website, and Infosoup online catalog.

The Beetle Book is recommended for ages 4 and up.

As the Crow Flies, invites children into the fascinating and little known world of a remarkably intelligent bird. While not particularly popular, crows have shown an incredible ability to adapt and survive in even the most urban environments.  Whether “finag[ling] a big piece of the pigeons’ bagel,” playing with the “garbage that you leave behind” or disappearing into the blackness of night, Keenan and Duggan reveal crows to be both observant and creative.

This is an excellent story for encouraging children to notice and learn about the world around them. It provides just enough information to spark the imagination and stir up questions. After reading it, I was inspired to do a little crow research myself and was quite surprised by what I found. I hope that you are too.

This bilingual poem by the late author of the famous Brown Bear, Brown Bear series, Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson tells some of the very descriptive reasons our Earth is so beautiful.  Dan Lipow's photographs are lush and bright with color.  The children featured in the pictures are from multiple cultures, although the photos do not identify them.  This book was recently successfully shared in a Spanish/English bilingual storytime.  For all ages.