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Written by Mary Elise Monsell & Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

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Honestly, it took quite a few pages for me to get interested in this story as it followed a zebra and an orangutang showing off their love of underwear at an underwear festival. The illustrations were simple, and the story seemed shallow. It quickly switched into it including a grumpy buffalo and his egret pal who ate the bugs off of him. The buffalo was so grumpy that his egret friend left him because he was too grumpy to attract bugs. Then all the animals joined together to get the buffalo to laugh by saying “underwear” ten times, and it did make him laugh and find joy. After additional reads, I was able to more clearly identify the theme of the animals attempting to help their buffalo friend find joy in life. At first, they judged and dismissed the grumpy buffalo, but then they came to realize that he just didn’t have anything that made him happy like underwear made the zebra and orangutang happy and bugs made the egret happy. I would read this book to younger children because they would definitely find the language and discussion of underwear hilarious, and I must admit it is fun to read out loud. I could use this in discussions over what brings us joy and how can we help others find what makes them happy. It can also be a great tool for teaching empathy.

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Written by Mary Labatt & Illustrated by Marisol Sarrazin

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I immediately had a 90s kid flashback with the illustration style of this book, and it did not disappoint. The story follows a puppy named Sam who wants to be a part of a parade with the jugglers, dog-trainer, singers, and dancers, but everyone tells Sam that puppies do not belong in the parade. Sam is discouraged, but they keep trying to be a part of the parade. Eventually, the leader of the parade carrying the baton asks Sam to help lead the parade, and Sam’s dedication pays off. The book is filled with onomatopoeias and repetition of sight words, which would be beneficial with younger readers but not necessarily for older readers. I could easily use this book as an interactive “what do you think will happen next” book and incorporate the concept that dedication and determination will always help you achieve your goals despite naysayers. I would enjoy accompanying this book with a lesson where the kids use teamwork and creativity to create their own parade. STEM activities could be included as well as MakerSpaces for the kids to create props for a real-life parade around the library.

“Ok, that was the cutest thing ever!” – Grayson Kennedy (5-year-old book critic)

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Written by Candace Fleming & Illustrated by Eric Rohmann

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Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera

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Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera

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This non-fiction story follows the lifecycle of Apis the honeybee. Apis dreams of flying, but she must first complete jobs within the hive like taking care of the nursery, tending to the queen, collecting nectar from the honeybees who collected it from flowers, turning the nectar into honey, and guarding the hive. Finally, Apis gets to leave the hive and collect nectar, but this means that her life is coming close to an end. The book ends with Apis dying and another honeybee emerging from their comb – I cried. I should mention that I was with a group of Kindergarteners when this book was read, and I sobbed (but it is good for children to see adults have real emotions!). The artwork is beautifully detailed with up-close illustrations of Apis, other honeybees including the queen, and the hive itself. The pictures of the bees make them look gentle, which makes it easy to discuss that bees are not out to hurt us but rather sting when they feel threatened. I actually got to see an elementary school librarian use this book during an observation, and I plan to use her idea in my own library one day. She is planting different gardens for each grade level based on the state EOG standards for plants, and one of them is about plant parts. This book helps with learning about plant parts as well as how important honeybees are for the environment. I would also enjoy bringing in a beekeeper with a hive for the students to “bee” (pun intended) able to have a visual experience that correlates to the book. I will just need to remember to have tissues nearby when I read the book!

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Written by Laurie Ann Thompson & Sean Qualls

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Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah

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Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah

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By the end of this non-fiction picture book I was crying because of the hope and courage that is portrayed by a young boy named Emmanuel. He was born with only his right leg working, and he was deemed “a curse” to the point that his father left and never returned. His mother, Comfort, taught him how to take care of himself, be brave, have self-confidence, and that love conquers all. Emmanuel spent years away from his family to earn money to take care of his sick mother and siblings, and on his own he learned that he was capable in a world that deemed him incapable. His mother’s dying wish was for him to show the world how amazing he was, so he bicycled 400 miles in ten days around his country - Ghana. This book is an excellent resource for a non-fiction picture book about how we all are different, but we are all capable of greatness. It is also relevant that Emmanual is a hero as a young, disabled BIPOC boy. There are a lot of different children who are in the BIPOC or disabled communities who are not accurately represented in children’s literature often, and this book allows for a wonderful opportunity for kids to see themselves in a shining light. I would incorporate this story for all grade levels and do a lesson regarding how our differences are also our strengths. We could also study Emmanuel’s home of Ghana, West Africa.

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Written by Jess Keating & Illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miquéns

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Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist

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Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist

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This is an incredible non-fiction picture book about shark conversation, women’s’ equality, following your dreams, and determination.The illustrations are vibrant and the color palette is ocean-based which adds to the experience of witnessing Eugenie’s adventures from childhood to adulthood while she learns about sharks. Keating has Eugenie voice her questions about what it would be like to swim with the sharks, and the writing includes language often associated with the ocean. The layout of the text on the pages coincides with the actions taking place such as “down… down…. down…” being layered to show the word moving down the page. The book includes word play between pages like when Eugenie is “diving” in the ocean and then you turn the page and she “dives” into books. Illustrations are included to accompany the sea creatures discussed to help the reader visualize what Eugenie is studying. In her adult life, similarities in societal judgements whether about human or sharks are drawn when Eugenie is told that she cannot study sharks because she is a woman and that sharks are monsters. Both are proven to be incorrect and demeaning views. The end of the book includes information about sharks and a timeline of Eugenie’s life. This book would be an excellent choice to include in environmental and ecology conservation studies at any grade level. Eugenie’s curiosity and determination as a small child can inspire children to follow their dreams and ask questions when others necessarily do not. Becoming a leader in the field of ocean research can also show children that they can achieve their goals even when people are discouraging and may not believe in them.

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I absolutely loved this book from the beginning. It had me laughing the whole way through. Each page includes simple sayings that adults “never do x, y, and z,” which are all common lessons that adults are constantly trying to teach children. A few examples are that adults “never” yell, adults are “never” speak with their mouths full, and adults are “never” messy. The illustrations are beautifully colored and silly to accompany simple, short sentences. A fun part is that on each page you can spot a child “spying” on adults to catch them in the act of doing what they are always telling children not to do. It is a humbling book to read and remember that even as we teach children that we as adults still are not perfect and make the same mistakes as kids. I could use this book at any class level. I would want to specifically use this book to teach self-compassion and understanding that we aren’t all perfect. There could also be a STEM project incorporated for students to build a mini-version mechanism that would help hide them from eyesight from adults as they played detectives like the children in the book to catch the adults acting like kids.

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Written by Andrew Larson and Mike Lowery

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I loved this book as it followed a young boy who didn’t know how to write words yet, but he wanted to tell stories. His older sister helped him along the story writing process with how there is a beginning, middle, and end, and that as the author he always got to pick what happened next in his story. The illustrations were done simply but effectively, and they illustrated the words of the story as well. It made me feel like a little kid learning to read because the words were “squiggled,” and it made the story that much more inspiring. This book would be wonderful for young students still learning to spell to show them that not all stories need words. It would also be great for older students to show how they can guide those younger than themselves while also teaching the different components of storytelling.

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Written by Audrey Penn & Illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson

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I was in a place of awe while reading this book because of its creative plot. It follows a raccoon cub named Chester who is trying to go to sleep, but he is afraid of the sun rays bouncing around inside his tree. His imagination runs wild with visions of hungry bears, crocodiles, and jumping spiders as the light changes with the movement of the clouds. Chester’s mom reassures him that there is nothing to fear in the daylight, and he finally goes to sleep. It is a wonderful twist imagining how a nocturnal animal may fear the sunlight just as human children may fear the dark. Chester’s fears seem silly and impractical when thinking of daylight because humans are used to the daylight, but to Chester our human fears of nighttime and the shadows would seem silly and impractical. I would love to use this book with younger grades to discuss nocturnal animals while also incorporating empathy lessons for respecting Chester’s fears and how we overcome our own fears. A fun STEM project to incorporate would be building a raccoon’s nest like Chester’s home and using flashlights and “clouds” of some form to make the sunlight dance around the nest like in the book.

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I became enamored with Dr. Clark's work because I also love sharks, and I wanted to include a video of her speaking. You can hear her passion encompassed by her humble beginnings and her true love for the research that she conducts. This would be an invaluable video to allow the students to put a real-life face to Eugenie's illustration.

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Kids MakerSpace Spy Kit for Grown-Ups Never Do That

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Kids MakerSpace Spy Kit for Grown-Ups Never Do That

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This video shows creative ways that kids used MakerSpace items to create a spy kit, which could be done in the library for the Grown-Ups Never Do That lesson.

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Make a Spy Kit | KIDS CRAFTS | Universal Kids

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I wrote my own squiggly story starting with a single letter just like in the book A Squiggly Story, which is what I would do with my class. My story reads:

Elle (represented by the letter "L") was scared and crying (represented by the crying, frowny face) because it was nighttime and there was a thunderstorm outside with lightning (represented by the lightning bolt) that lit up her room. The shadows danced around the room, but Elle knew just what to do when she was scared. Elle had a bright, cozy purple blanket (represented by the purple squiggly drawn rectangle) that her parents kept folded on the end of her bed that was her "safety blanket." Whenever Elle was scared, all she had to do was grab her special purple blanket and wrap herself up tight in it (represented by the pink swirls). In no time, Elle was no longer afraid of the thunderstorm and lightning. She drifted off to sleep wrapped up warm in her purple blanket, and as she dreamed the thunderstorm moved away to clear the night sky for the stars above (represented by the stars) to shine bright through the night.