Tag Archives: children’s fiction

Butler Bookshelf

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This week’s Butler Bookshelf will highlight some new children’s fiction in the collection! We receive all kinds of books for kids, from chapter books to novels in verse to graphic novels, like this week’s feature, An Unlikely Pair, the first book in the Molly and the Bear series written and illustrated by Bob and Vicki Scott. When Molly is home alone for the first time, a bear sneaks into her house to eat the cookies her mom left on the table. Soon, Molly discovers that Bear is scared of everything in the woods, so she offers to let him live at her house. Even though it’s tough to keep Bear hidden from her parents, Molly has a summer full of adventures with Bear and her best friend, Harper. When school starts up again at the end of the summer, Molly decides to take Bear to school to be their class pet. How will her classmates, teachers, and parents react to her new friend when she reveals her secret? Bob and Vicki Scott use their extensive backgrounds in comics and animation to bring this story of friendship and overcoming your fears to life in a way that is sure to entertain middle grade readers.

Check out more children’s fiction below!

Basil and Dahlia: A Tragical Tale of Sinister Sweetness
Written by Joy McCullough
Illustrated by Shane Cluskey
Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Carter Avery’s Tricky Fourth-Grade Year
Written by Rob Buyea
Published by Delacorte Press
Available now!

The Fairy Tale Fan Club: Legendary Letters Collected by C.C. Cecily
Written by Richard Ayoade
Illustrated by David Roberts
Published by Walker Books
Available now!

Gracie Under the Waves
Written by Linda Sue Park
Published by Allida
Available now!

An Unlikely Pair (Molly and the Bear #1)
Written and illustrated by Bob Scott and Vicki Scott
Published by Aladdin
Available now!

Wings to Soar
Written by Tina Athaide
Published by Charlesbridge Moves
Available now!

Butler Bookshelf

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In addition to all the holidays being celebrated this month, October marks National Book Month. Whether you’re looking for books for new readers or seasoned bookworms, the Butler Center has lots of new releases to share! For this week’s Butler Bookshelf, we have a list of books, fiction and nonfiction, for readers young and old to enjoy. The Butler Bookshelf feature this week is Dazzling Zelda: The Story of Fashion Designer Zelda Wynn Valdes written and illustrated by Aura Lewis in collaboration with Farai Simoyi. In this nonfiction picture book, Lewis tells the story of the life and accomplishments of Black fashion designer Zelda Wynn Valdes. Zelda loved hearing the sound of her grandmother’s sewing machine when she was growing up. The first time she designed and made a dress on her own, she knew she wanted to be a fashion designer when she grew up! Unfortunately, Zelda faced some obstacles because of her race. At the time, Black women were excluded from designing fashion and were only considered seamstresses. However, Zelda perservered and opened her own boutique in New York City. Her dresses were popular with the women in the city, and soon she was catching the attention of celebrities like Ella Fitzgerald and Marlene Dietrich. Zelda also made costumes for actors and ballet dancers, and she dyed ballerina tights so all the dancers could wear tights that matched their skin tone. Read about Zelda’s inspiring accomplishments and important contributions to the fashion industry in Dazzling Zelda!

Check out more books from the Butler Center’s collection below!

Blackberry Fox
Written by Kathrin Tordasi
Published by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Available now

Dazzling Zelda: The Story of Fashion Designer Zelda Wynn Valdes
Written and illustrated by Aura Lewis in collaboration with Farai Simoyi
Published by Beach Lane Books
Available now

The Dividing Sky
Written by Jill Tew
Published by Joy Revolution
Available now

Maisy’s Rocket
Written and illustrated by Lucy Cousins
Published by Candlewick Press
Available October 29, 2024

Somewhere In Between
Written and illustrated by Laan Cham
Published by Random House Children’s Books
Available now

Winter Teamwork: A Review of In the Winter Woods by Daniela Kulot 

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In the Winter Woods 
Written and illustrated by Daniela Kulot 
Translated by Elisabeth Lauffer 
Charlesbridge 
Ages 3-7 
Available October 15, 2024 

It’s the middle of a cold winter, and Fox, Mouse, and Crow are all hungry, but they can’t find even a morsel to eat. Squirrel is hungry, too, but he has a secret stash of snacks hidden away that he can’t wait to enjoy. When Fox, Mouse, and Crow ask Squirrel to share, he says no. After hours of searching, he realizes that he forgot where his stash was hidden. He asks Fox, Mouse, and Crow for help in exchange for sharing his food. Soon, they find Squirrel’s food and feast together! 

With these woodland creatures, Kulot tells a story of friendship and community, showing the importance of working together and sharing with others. Although the message has been repeated before, Kulot brings charm to the basic “sharing is caring” theme with her woodland creatures and winter landscape. The illustrations are done in digital media, and the animals have a cute, slightly cartoonish look with beautiful backdrops of winter in the countryside. Kulot uses muted blues, browns, oranges, and greens to create the cold, barren atmosphere. These delightful illustrations complement the text, where Kulot uses devices like alliteration and rhyming to add a sing-song-like quality, bringing levity to what could otherwise be a dire situation. With its beautiful art and thoughtful message, In the Winter Woods would be a great addition to libraries and classrooms looking to do a program or lesson on winter or social-emotional learning.  

Butler Bookshelf

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Halloween is just around the corner, and here at the Butler Center, we’ve been getting ready to celebrate with lots of fun, Halloween-themed books! We have lots of new books about Halloween and other spooky stories to share, including Five Little Ghosts, written by Lily Murray and illustrated by holly Surplice. In this story, five little ghosts go out one day and wander off. As they journey, readers can lift flaps in the pages to find little ghostlings in pumpkin patches, playgrounds, and the forest. As the ghostlings leave one by one, Mama Ghost becomes sad. She searches far and wide for her ghostlings and out they jump from a pile of leaves, ready to surprise Mama Ghost with a spooky tea party! Murray’s rhymes draw the reader in for a fun counting game, and Surplice’s illustrations add charm and whimsy to the ghostlings’ adventures. The interactive elements of the books creates an engaging and delightful storytime experience!

Check out more spooky books below!

A Bite Above the Rest
Written by Christine Virnig
Published by Aladdin
Available now

Five Little Ghosts
Written by Lily Murray
Illustrated by Holly Surplice
Published by Candlewick Press
Available now

Hungry Bones
Written by Louise Hung
Published by Scholastic Press
Available now

It’s Not Easy Being a Ghost
Written by Marilyn Sadler
Illustrated by Steph Laberis
Published by Random House Children’s Books
Available now

Spooky Little Halloween: A Finger Wiggle Book
Written by Sally Symes
Illustrated by Nick Sharratt
Published by Candlewick Press
Available now

Butler Bookshelf

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Diverse stories are an important part of literature for all ages, especially for kids. October is Global Diversity Month, so this week’s Butler Bookshelf highlights some fiction and nonfiction books from authors around the world. One of these books is Look! Look! written by Uma Krishnaswami and illustrated by Uma Krishnaswamy. Krishnaswami tells the story of a young Indian girl discovers a slab of stone in the weeds, and she calls her friends to come and take a look. They work together to clean the weeds, garbage, and other stones up. Soon, more and more people from their village and other villages nearby help them uncover an old step well. Once the well is cleaned up, rain fills the well, and the previously dry and dusty land comes back to life as plants begin growing again and the animals return. Accompanied by colorful, geometric illustrations done in acrylic, poster color, and water color by Uma Krishnaswamy, Look! Look! is a delightlful story that educates readers on ancient Indian step wells and shows how they can potentially be a solution for handling floods and providing water in India.

Check out more books from diverse authors below!

Hooray for She, He, Ze and They!: What Are Your Pronouns Today?
Written by Lindz Amer
Illustrated by Kip Alizadeh
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Available now

Look! Look!
Written by Uma Krishnaswami
Illustrated by Uma Krishnaswamy
Published by House of Anansi Press
Available now

My Olive Tree
Written and illustrated by Hazar Elbayya
Published by Anne Schwartz Books
Available now

Old Wounds
Written by Logan-Ashley Kisner
Published by Delacorte Press
Available now

Tala Learns to Siva
Written by Kealani Netane
Illustrated by Dung Ho
Published by Orchard Books
Available now

The Strength in Being Seen: A Review of Deer Run Home by Ann Clare LeZotte 

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Deer Run Home 
Written by Ann Clare LeZotte 
Scholastic Inc/Scholastic Press 
Ages 10-14 
Available October 1, 2024  

Effie Pappas is Deaf and linguistically isolated from her family, who don’t speak American Sign Language. Effie and her sister, Deja, are sent to live with their father at the end of the summer. When school starts, Effie’s ASL interpreter, Miss Kathy, begins to suspect that something is wrong with Effie’s home life. After Miss Kathy visits Effie’s home and sees the neglect, she is awarded temporary custody of Effie. Now that she finally has a safe home and a budding friendship with a new girl at school named Cait, Effie starts to open up about her experiences with her family. Miss Kathy eventually petitions for and wins permanent custody of Effie, giving her the security and family she never had. 

Ann Clare LeZotte’s Deer Run Home is a touching story that exposes the reality that d/Deaf children can experience growing up in hearing families without ASL. LeZotte draws on the real-life court case this novel is inspired by to thoughtfully depict the neglect that Effie experiences because her family won’t learn her language, as well as the difficulty Effie has with speaking up about the sexual abuse she endures at the hands of her stepfather. The sexual abuse happens before the novel begins and is thoughtfully described only once, but it serves as one of the obstacles Effie is able to overcome when she finds kindness and support from Miss Kathy and other adults at school. LeZotte takes advantage of the verse format to mirror ASL grammar and storytelling styles at some points. The verse is poignant and moving, and every word is intentional. Readers are drawn to Effie’s character, feeling every bit of her joy, sadness, fear, and loneliness. LeZotte also ties in a plotline of habitat loss for the local deer population, drawing parallels between the displaced deer and Effie’s feelings of loneliness and being lost. At once heartbreaking and empowering, Deer Run Home shows the healing and growth that comes with discovering your voice. 

Forgive Me?: A Review of The Dubious Pranks of Shaindy Goodman

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The Dubious Pranks of Shaindy Goodman
By Mari Lowe
Levine Querdio
Published November 7, 2023
Age 10-14

Awkward and excluded, 12-year-old Shaindy Goodman just wants to fit in with the girls at Bais Yaakov Middle School. When she’s invited by Gayil, the queen bee next door, to help with a series of pranks, she shrugs off her misgivings in favor of acceptance. Helping out with some harmless jokes, even if it means breaking into school, may be her chance to find friendship. Shaindy quickly realizes the pranks are more mean-spirited than high-spirited, and that only certain classmates are being targeted. Naïve to Gayil’s manipulation, she feels guilty but hopes for the best until the mischief and hard feelings are all pinned on her. As she finally understands Gayil’s acts of revenge for an unintended slight, she lets go of her own anger for lessons of penance, forgiveness, and taking responsibility for her actions.

Lowe uses the period of the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as well as their lessons, as a frame for this middle grade drama of judgement and atonement. She crafts a well-rounded and sympathetic character in Shaindy, expressing a universal need for friendship and belonging, and the way tweens and teens often make poor decisions in search of them. The plot and pace of the title move quickly through the season, mirroring the way bad choices can often lead to snowballing consequences. Moments of lightness, Shaindy’s struggle with roller blades, and final closeness with her sister help temper more serious content and lead to a satisfying conclusion. In the penultimate scene, a classroom of girls offers each other silent acknowledgment of wrongs and forgiveness for them. The wise words of a teacher, “The hardest thing many of you will do in your lives… is admit you were wrong,” (p 155) is a life lesson for those of all ages and religious backgrounds.

Little Seeds Saving the Planet: A Book Review of Big Tree

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Big Tree
Brian Selznick
Scholastic Press
Ages 7 and up
April 4, 2023

Louise and Merwin, two Sycamore seeds, have always assumed they would live with their Mama for a long time before setting down their roots. However, when the mysterious voice of the Old One whispers of impending danger to Louise, and strange incidents start happening in the forest, Louise and Merwin are thrust into an unknown world away from their Mama. Forced to explore the changing and dangerous world around them, the siblings face dinosaurs, meteors, and volcanoes to find a safe place to grow. When the voice of the Old One becomes louder to Louise, she realizes that they may have a higher purpose—to save the world.

Pros and illustrations make this a non-traditional children’s fiction book as it uses both as an integral part of the story; with pages switching from pros, illustrations, and to a combination of both. The black and white charcoal illustrations bring another layer to the story while giving a changing perspective shift from microscopic to galactic view of the world and its creatures. The illustrations are ordered to show the motion of objects, animals, and plants giving life to the story, especially when whole pages portray the walk of a dinosaur past the forest (Pgs. 70-81). Through great changes, Merwin and Louise must change their perspective to adapt to the world around them. Merwin becomes pragmatic and protective of Louise, who is being guided to safety by the Old One, and mostly leads them astray of the Old One’s plan. Louise basks in the new sensations of the world and delves more into trusting and listening to the world around them. Eventually, learning to trust in one another, they both listen to the Old One and prepare for the chance to save the world. In this adventure, Selznick gives a voice to the world by using the Old One as a wise and protective being that wishes to help all its children, while also teaching them that death is just one part of the Cycle of Life. Selznick includes backmatter on the original idea of this book, the science behind key characters, and an acknowledgment of all the scientists and specialists that have helped him research in preparation for this book. As Louise guides Merwin, Big Tree will guide readers to listen to the sound of the world and care for our fragile planet before it’s too late.

 

 

Black History Empowerment Through Children’s Literature 

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Get ready for a celebration of black culture and an understanding of black history through the eyes of children with these new titles that can be enjoyed all year round.

Love Is Loud: How Diane Nash Led the Civil Rights Movement
Simon & Schuster (Paula Wiseman Books)
January 10, 2023
4 – 8 years

Love Is Loud is a nonfiction children’s book that is based on the true story of Diane Nash and how she became a civil rights movement leader at such an early age. The striking illustrations demonstrate her journey with bright colors and heartwarming imagery. Diane’s story is a reminder to be strong, determined and brave in the face of adversity.  

Lovely Day, based on the lyrics by Bill Withers, Illustrated by Olivia Duchess 
Scholastic  
January 10, 2023
4 – 8 years

Lovely Day is a visual guide through the famous lyrics of the song by Bill Withers. The lyrics on their own are positive, uplifting and reassuring. The whimsical illustrations highlight the bond of a black family and their beautiful neighborhood; this story inspires happiness to the beat of an iconic song.  

Sugar Pie Lullaby
Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Sawyer Cloud 
Sourcebooks Explore
February 7, 2023
4 – 8 years

Sugar Pie Lullaby is a children’s fiction book about family, togetherness and the unity. The music of Motown pumping through the veins of this story makes this a soulful read. The simple prose amplifies the love of family and the joy of music with references to songs like “Don’t You worry ‘Bout A Thing” by Stevie Wonder, “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” by Brenda Holloway and “You’re All I Need to Get By” by Nickolas Ashford.  

We Are Here  
Tami Charles, Illustrated by Bryan Collier
Scholastic (Orchard Books)
January 3, 2023
4 – 8 years

We Are Here is a children’s fiction book that celebrates impact, legacy, and heritage. The book follows a young black girl and those around her through a discovery of black culture and empowerment. The author penned this story as a tribute to their deceased child, making sure that their memory lives on by sharing the appreciation of blackness and black culture. “We Are Here” is a proclamation that explains why it is important for others to learn about black history throughout the generations.  

You So Black
Theresa Tha S.O.N.G.B.I.R.D., Illustrated by London Ladd 
Simon & Schuster (Denene Millner Books)
January 10, 2023
4 – 8 years

You So Black is a popular poem that has now transformed into this inspiring children’s book. The emotionally fulfilling poem in this story, paired with the intricately beautiful artwork of the illustrations, is striking and captivating. “You so black,” was once an insult to black people, but this author reclaims the phrase and turns it into empowerment for black culture.  

 

All in a Days Work: A Review of Stillwater and Koo Save the World

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Stillwater and Koo Save the World (A Stillwater and Friends Book)
Jon J. Muth
Scholastic Press
Ages 4 to 8
February 7, 2023

Koo, a young giant panda, wakes up inspired to change the world and enlists his thoughtful Uncle Stillwater to help fix it all—today. As they go about their day, Koo proceeds to have giant expectations of what he would like to do, but Stillwater teaches him that making small changes in the environment, and helping the community, can be their own meaningful way to change the world.

Told using a variety of animals, humans, and anthropomorphic pandas, the diverse characters reflect the diversity of the world and all the characters that might need kindness. Pandas as symbols of peace and friendship in Asian countries, are the main character in this story as they try to bring small improvements to the world around them. The pace of the story changes from rapid excitement as Koo suddenly wakes up one day and instantly ropes his uncle into the expectations of wanting to save the whole world, then slows only when Stillwater speaks to Koo about making small differences in the world around him. As the pace changes, the tone of the story changes to one of acceptance and encouragement of his personal efforts Encouraged by his uncle, Koo begins to bring joy to those around him through small but meaningful actions, such as cleaning his room and making a cake for the neighbors. These realistic everyday chores and acts of thoughtfulness offer young readers clear examples of how their actions impact the world around them. Drawn with pencil and granulated watercolors, the airy but vivid illustrations exemplify the beauty in the world around Stillwater and Koo and why they want to help save it. Stillwater and Koo Save the World is an uplifting story about wanting to make giant differences in the world by doing something small, inspiring readers to make meaningful changes in the world regardless of age.