Butler Bookshelf

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This week, we’re taken with the bold colors and charming illustrations in the sweet board book Creature Features by Natasha Durley. Check out the rest of the Butler Bookshelf for some more delightful reads!

All Aboard the Moonlight Train 
Written by Kristyn Crow and illustrated by Annie Won
Published by Doubleday Books for Young Readers
Available now!

I Found A Kitty!
Written and illustrated by Troy Cummings
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Creature Features
Illustrated by Natasha Durley
Published by Big Picture Press
Available now!

What’s That Noise?
Written and illustrated by Naomi Howarth
Published by Candlewick
Available now!

Lost Cities
Written by Giles Laroche
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers
Available now!

¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat
Written by Raúl the Third and colors by Elaine Bay
Published by Versify
Available now!

Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2020—Online Special Edition

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BCBF 2019 Jen entry

Butler Center Curator (that’s me!) at BCBF 2019

Since the decisions were made to first postpone, then cancel, the in-person BCBF event this spring, organizers have been hard at work transitioning all possible events and content to online activities. And from the opening session to awards presentations, digital exhibits to discussion panels they have made quite a pivot in the last few weeks. So if you have always wanted to attend the Fair, but haven’t gotten the opportunity, well here’s your chance to get a taste of Bologna (then head to Italy next year to taste the tortellini and gelato as well!).

 

The Details:

When: May 4-7, 2020

Where: Bologna Children’s Book Fair (this should take you to the English language site, but if not there is an option for English at the top right of the page)

Who: While BCBF is essentially a rights fair, there is a wide variety of content for books lovers of all sorts.

Why: Books—of course!

Get a sneak peek of what to expect on the Live Events preview page.

BCBF Opening Session 2019
DU Students (and Thom!) at BCBF 2019

Some of what I’m most excited about:

OPENING SESSION: NEW NORMAL: HOW CHILDREN’S PUBLISHERS ARE ADAPTING TO A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD—Monday, May 4th at 11 am (*Central European Summer Time or 7 hours ahead of Chicago’s Central Daylight Time)—Focusing on children’s publishing during the worldwide lockdown and the perspectives of the industry in a world redesigned by this global experience.

IBBY VIRTUAL PRESS CONFERENCE 2020—Monday, May 4th at 2:30pm (Central European Summer Time)—Announcements and awards presentations.

BCBF GALLERIES—Artwork and Book Exhibitions 

*Unless you’re a very early riser, you‘ll be checking these out after the fact, like me.

Check out the Digital Kit for hashtags, fun filters, and social channels for finding BCBF events.

After you’ve seen just some of the wonderful fair content and amazing new books, and dreamed about attending, save the date for next year’s fair April 12-15, 2021. And stay tuned for how you might join the Dominican SOIS course next spring!

 

 

How will you celebrate Día?

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Día, or El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), is an annual celebration of children, families, and reading with a focus on the importance of literacy for children of all backgrounds.

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This national day of celebration is a wonderful acknowledgment of the importance of literacy and the role it plays in vibrant, diverse communities. It’s an official chance to use books to honor the cultures, traditions, and languages that surround us. You can learn more about Día (history, resources, activities, promotional tools, etc.) on the ALSC website.

Interested in more tools for celebrating diverse voices in youth literature? Check out the resources available through:

  • We Need Diverse Books
  • Diverse Book Finder
  • And last, but definitely not least, the exceptional digital resources available through local libraries: Hoopla, Libby, book lists, streaming storytimes, and online book clubs.

Since all programming has recently taken a turn for the virtual, have your library’s plans been canceled? Changed? What are you doing to celebrate Día online this year? Please share in the comments!

Happy reading and take care, friends!

 

Butler Bookshelf

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This week on the Butler Bookshelf, we’re fascinated by We Are All His Creatures. Deborah Noyes’ set of interwoven stories is all about the women in P.T. Barnum’s life. We’re excited to read about those in the shadow of this larger-than-life character. For more reads, check out the list below!

Gold Rush Girl
Written by Avi
Published by Candlewick
Available now!

Emily Windsnap and the Tides of Time
Written by Liz Kessler
Published by Candlewick
Available now!

We Are All His Creatures: Tales of P. T. Barnum, the Greatest Showman
Written by Deborah Noyes
Published by Candlewick
Available now!

Thank You for Coming to My TED Talk: A Teen Guide to Great Public Speaking
Written by Chris Anderson and Lorin Oberweger
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Child of the Universe
Written by Ray Jayawardhana and illustrated by Raul Colón
Published by Make Me A World
Available now!

Elmore and Pinky
Written and illustrated by Holly Hobbie
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Don’t Trust Your Cravings: A Review of When We Vanished

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When We Vanished (Call of the Crow Quartet, Book One)
Written by Alanna Peterson
Published by Rootcity Press
Available June 2, 2020

After Andi Lin’s family record store goes bust, her dad enlists in a clinical trial run by food corporation Nutrexo that promises big bucks. But when Andi cannot get in touch with him, she starts to worry—especially when she learns that Nutrexo’s involved in a harmful research study. Andi’s next-door neighbor Cyrus is also wary of Nutrexo; his mom worked for them years ago, and he knows she’s keeping secrets from her family.

Alanna Peterson writes a complex and compelling mystery that indicts the U.S. food industry. Even the most innocent-seeming things take on a scary new meaning in When We Vanished. Take Blazin Bitz, that delectable chip from Nutrexo: no one can resist them! And soon enough Andi, Cyrus, and Cyrus’ siblings know why when the break into SILO, Nutrexo’s  top-secret research facility. What they discover there is not for the squeamish. These instances of violence, medical experimentation, and animal cruelty—while crucial to the plot—may upset readers. But there is also plenty for readers to enjoy: wonderful recipes and food imagery, teenage crushes, and unyielding family bonds. These enjoyable parts don’t play second fiddle to the action—the relationships and personalities that make up the characters’ world drive this thriller into unexpected places. With so many overlapping plots, even one concerning the main villain’s background, you’d think the reader would lose track. Not so—every single story sucks you in. Good thing When We Vanished is the only the first installment of the Call of the Crow Quartet. There is plenty of material here for a series.

 

The Great Pet Escape: A Review of The Barnabus Project

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The Barnabus Project
By Terry, Eric, and Dan Fan
September 1, 2020
Published by Tundra
Grades K-2

Underneath the Perfect Pet story lies a huge laboratory where people in green rubber suits make the perfect pets. Pets that aren’t perfect, like Barnabus, are known as failed projects. Failed projects are placed in bell jars where they stay until the green rubber suits are ready to recycle them. Worried that being recycled will mean that Barnabus will no longer be himself, he escapes his bell jar and helps the other failed projects escape the lab. Though they may not be perfect, the failed projects have each other, and they learn to be happy with the things that make them unique.

A sci-fi pet adventure that shows that it’s okay to be different. Where similar stories end with characters being accepted by the group that had previously rejected them, The Barnabus Project makes the interesting choice have the characters be accepted. Instead, the book shows that the failed projects never needed to be accepted in the first place. They just needed each other. Gorgeous illustrations help bring the story to life. A touching story about cute and loveable, misfits that reassures readers that no one has to be perfect.

Butler Bookshelf

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Any book about an aspiring trapeze artist has our full attention–that’s why we’re so eager to leap into Harley in the Sky, a new read in teen fiction by Akemi Dawn Bowman. Oh, and did we mention it features a traveling circus named named Maison du Mystère? For more great reads, check out the rest of the Butler Bookshelf for new publications and info on ALA’s National Library Week, which runs from April 19-25!

Harley in the Sky
Written by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Published by Simon Pulse
Available now!

Spindle and Dagger
Written by J. Anderson Coats
Published by Candlewick
Available now!

Mermaid Moon
Written by Susann Cokal
Published by Candlewick
Available now!

Houndsley and Catina at the Library
Written by James Howe and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
Published by Candlewick
Available now!

The Degenerates
Written by J. Albert Mann
Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Available now!

A Wish in the Dark
Written by Christina Soontornvat
Published by Candlewick
Available now!

For more on ALA’s National Library Week:

ALA National Library Week

The theme for National Library Week, “Find your place at the library,” was chosen months ago before the emergence of a global pandemic forced most libraries to temporarily close their buildings.

While most libraries have closed their buildings to the public in the interest of community health and safety, they are open for business online, providing the virtual services and digital content their communities need now more than ever. Many libraries have expanded their access to digital content and found innovative ways to continue their programming virtually.

To highlight these efforts, we decided to build on the original National Library Week theme by flipping the text to “Find the library at your place.” For more tools for librarians, please check out the site.

Pure Imagination: A Review of Window

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Written and illustrated by Marion Arbona
Published by Kids Can Press
Ages 4-8
Available March 3, 2020

Walking home from school, a young girl looks up at the windows as she makes her way through the city. Each window is shaped differently, and each window holds a different adventure: creatures playing games, a jungle, and even a whale in a bathtub. It is not until the last window, when the girl is back inside her bedroom, that the reader sees familiar faces.

Marion Arbona’s wordless picture book is a treasure. With drawings reminiscent of Edward Gorey’s surrealist style, these black and white images provoke questions and curiosity. The fine detail work within each drawing is puzzle-like: young readers may want to explore and make up their own plot within each window-scheme. Images, like the story’s imagined jungle, have layers of visual information within them; readers can return to them again and again, looking for previously missed pieces and plucking out smaller narratives within the book’s larger plot. Window contains multitudes.

Teddy-pocalypse: A Review of Spark and the League of Ursus

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Spark and the League of Ursus
By Robert Repino
March 24, 2020
Published by Quirk Books
Grades 5-7

The code of the League of Ursus states, “Bears serve. Bear watch. Bears protect. Always and forever” (Repino, 35). After the beast Jakmal enter Loretta’s room and tries to kidnap her, it is up to her teddy-bear Spark and the other members of the League of Ursus to uphold the code and stop this beast from stealing their owners. Loretta’s older brother Matthew and their friend Sofia have already been kidnapped by Jakmal; can Spark save the kids and Loretta before it’s too late? Teaming up with Matthew’s teddy-bear Sir Reginald, Loretta’s sock-monkey Zed, and neighborhood toys Ozzie, Lulu, and Rana, Amazon Princes ™, Spark prepares for the most important battle of her life. Though they may look cute, these teddy-bears can be deadly when trying to protect the ones they love.

Repino masterfully blends whimsy and horror in this thrilling middle grade novel. There are some particularly gruesome battle scenes that describe the mutilation of some of the teddy-bears. Of course, being teddy-bears, they can patch themselves up with relative ease helping to alleviate some of the horror being described. Intense from the start, this book poignantly deals with issues of growing up, loss, and finding one’s purpose. A perfect novel for those who wished that Toy Story was more action packed.

Butler Bookshelf

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What do you get when you cross Mean Girls and the supernatural? You get Mintie Das’ debut novel, Brown Girl Ghosted. It’s a high school thriller about cheerleaders, race, and the #metoo movement – all set in a small Illinois town. Check out more great reads below, in the latest Butler Bookshelf!

Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor
Written by Ally Carter
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Brown Girl Ghosted
Written by Mintie Das
Published by Versify
Available now!

Prairie Lotus
Written by Linda Sue Park
Published by Clarion Books
Available now!

Jasmine Green Rescues: A Duckling Called Button
Written by Helen Peters and illustrated by Ellie Snowdon
Published by Walker Books
Available now!

You Call This Democracy?: How to Fix Our Government and Deliver Power to the People
Written by Elizabeth Rusch
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers
Available now!