Children's Illustrated 4/19/2010

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales byJohn Scieszka and Lane Smith

Forget the fairy tales that you know and love! The Stinky Cheese Man takes fairy tale favorites and retells them in a fairly stupid way. Scieska and Smith tell the story of the ugly duckling who really was just really ugly, Little Red Riding Shorts, and many more!

If your child has a great sense of humor, this Caldecott Honor book will definitely be laugh out loud funny for them. With the narrator Jack constantly butting in and hilarious illustrations, this book really is great fun.

Christie's Pick 4/14/2010

Of Mice and Men

By John Steinbeck

"Everybody wants a little bit of land, not much. Jus' somethin' that was his. Somethin' he could live on and there couldn't nobody throw him off"

George and Lennie are unlikely friends. Lennie is a huge man with brute strength but a low IQ. George is small and the one that forms all of their plans. They go from town to town, looking for work, hoping that one day they would be able to save up money to own a farm of their own.

While Of Mice and Men is a short book, it is not lacking depth. Steinbeck gives the reader an interesting look into the "American Dream," and how it existed in the first half of the twentieth century. Every single scene of the book is an important set-up for his powerful conclusion. Of Mice and Men is a great introduction to the genius of John Steinbeck.

Young Adult Fiction 4/12/2010

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

A warning: this book is not for the faint of heart. In this Newberry award-winning book, Neil Gaiman tells the story of Bod, short for Nobody, who grows up in a graveyard, raised by ghosts. When Bod crawls out of his crib as a baby, his family is murdered by a strange man named "Jack." The ghosts of Bod's family beg the inhabitants of the graveyard to care for him, and so Bod grows up away from normal humans.

While a bit spooky, The Graveyard Book is definitely an interesting read. It comes with beautiful, sort of graphic novelesque illustrations by Dave McKean. This is a great book for young adults who are interested in something a bit different than the norm, and are not afraid of ghosts.

Early Reader 4/12/2010

Cam Jansen: The Chocolate Fudge Mystery

by David A. Adler

Cam Jansen has a special talent. She is able to look at an object, close her eyes, say "click," and store a mental photograph of what she just saw. This talent helps her remember things quite well, but also helps her solve mysteries

In The Chocolate Fudge Mystery, Cam and her friend Eric are going door to door to sell fudge and rice cakes to support Ride and Read, a program that helps provide rides for elderly people to go to the library. As Cam and Eric collect money for the program, they come across a house that should be empty that seems to have someone inside. Who could it be?

Children's Illustrated 4/12/2010

Madeleine by Ludwig Bemelmans

When the new stock of illustrated books came in, I have to admit I was like a kid in a candy story. I grabbed Madeleine and sat on the floor right away and read it. It's been years since I last read it, and I was most definitely not disappointed. Madeleine is an adorable tale with fantastic illustrations.

Madeleine is the tale of a house in which twelve little girls live. The youngest one, Madeleine, seems to be afraid of nothing. That is, until one night, when Miss Clavel wakes up to hear Madeleine crying. Madeleine needs to get her appendix removed and is rushed to the hospital.

Young Adult Fiction 4/5/2010

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

If you were browsing the children's room while I was working, I would have probably told you that Stargirl is one of my favorite books and that I think every girl (no matter how old she is) needs to read it at some point. As wonderful as Stargirl is, Spinelli's sequel, Love, Stargirl does not disappoint.

Love, Stargirl takes place a few months after when Stargirl ends. Stargirl has moved to a new town and is getting over the loss of Leo (sorry for the spoiler if you still haven't read Stargirl). What is so fantastic about this book is that, unlike Stargirl, it is told from Stargirl's perspective. The character that one grows to love in the first book becomes more human. She cries and she has bad days, but, despite this, Stargirl is still a great role model for girls of any age.

Early Readers 4/5/2010

Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant

Henry is lonely. He has no brothers and sisters, no children live on his street, and he has no pets. Because Henry was so lonely, his parents let him get a pet dog to keep him company. Thus begins the friendship with Henry and Mudge, the 180 pound, 3 foot tall, drooling dog.

Henry and Mudge is a cute story about the love between a boy and his dog. They are best friends and constantly make each other happy. It is a great story for children who are just learning to read