July 2019 Children’s Books

Non-Fiction

Seeds Move

By Robin Page
Call Number: QK929 .P34 2019
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Every seed, big or small, needs sunlight, water, and an uncrowded place to put down roots. But how do seeds get to the perfect place to grow? This exploration of seed dispersal covers a wide range of seeds and the creatures that help them move, from a coconut seed floating on waves to an African grass seed rolled by a dung beetle, to a milkweed seed floating on the wind.

Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge

By Rachel Dougherty
Call Number: TG25 .N53 D68 2019
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On a warm spring day in 1883, a woman rode across the Brooklyn Bridge with a rooster on her lap. It was the first trip across an engineering marvel that had taken nearly fourteen years to construct. The woman’s husband was the chief engineer, and he knew all about the dangerous new technique involved. The woman insisted she learn as well.

When he fell ill mid-construction, her knowledge came in handy. She supervised every aspect of the project while he was bedridden, and she continued to learn about things only men were supposed to know: math, science, engineering.

Women weren’t supposed to be engineers. But this woman insisted she could do it all, and her hard work helped to create one of the most iconic landmarks in the world.

Fiction

A Piglet Named Mercy

By Kate DiCamillo
Call Number: PIC DIC
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Mr. Watson and Mrs. Watson live ordinary lives. Sometimes their lives feel a bit too ordinary. Sometimes they wish something different would happen. And one day it does, when someone unpredictable finds her way to their front door. In a delightful origin story for the star of the Mercy Watson series, a tiny piglet brings love (and chaos) to Deckawoo Drive — and the Watsons’ lives will never be the same.

Sadie and the Silver Shoes

By Jane Godwin
Call Number: PIC GOD
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With three older brothers to pass along hand-me-downs, Sadie doesn’t have much say in choosing her clothes. Her outfits always look interesting, though (even if some kids at school might not think so). But Sadie is allowed to pick her shoes, so one day she buys the most beautiful shoes ever — shoes that sparkle in the sun, shoes she wears everywhere. That is, until Sadie and her brothers hop down a creek on an adventure, and one shoe falls off and is swept away. Whatever will Sadie do with one silver shoe? From a winning picture-book team comes a story of creativity, resilience, and like-minded souls that is sure to appeal to independent thinkers everywhere.

The Happiest Tree: A Story of Growing Up

By Hyeon-Ju Lee
Call Number: PIC LEE
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Over the years, the gingko tree that resides outside an apartment building has seen many things. When it was ten, sounds of the Rose piano class filled the ground floor and whistled through its young branches. At fourteen, a growth spurt year, it met Mr. Artist on the second floor whose muse was the tree itself. As the years continue on, the tree encounters many people in the apartment building making memories. Some are happy, some are sad―they’re all part of growing up. All part of who we will be in the future.

Bear Needs Help

By Sarah S. Brannen
Call Number PIC BRA
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A lumbering little polar bear has one shoe untied, and he needs some help! Sadly for him, though, the other animals are all too scared of him: the lemmings, rabbits, and seals all run away as he approaches them for assistance. What’s Bear going to do? Luckily, two plucky birds are more than happy to help out and offer advice — though probably not quite in the way that readers anticipate.

The Cook and the King

By Julia Donaldson
Call Number: PIC DON
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A hungry but finicky king wants Wobbly Bob as his new cook, but must pitch in to do everything the cook is afraid to do, from fishing to frying.