Tag Archives: Children’s Books

New Children’s Books

“With this fictionalized look at Anning’s childhood, Kulling provides context for readers and offers a fascinating glimpse at how those who came before us have shaped our comprehension of the world.” (School Library Journal)

Mary Anning’s Curiosity by Monica Kulling: jFIC KUL

“It’s the contrast between Curiosity’s cheery determination and the forbidding world it inhabits that gives the book its power.” (Publishers Weekly)

Red Rover: Curiosity on Mars by Richard Ho: TL799.M3 H6 2019

“The inspiring story of Milly Zantow and her groundbreaking work in plastics recycling is well told in this slim volume.” (School Library Journal)

What Milly Did by Elise Moser: TD794.5 .M67 2016

“This is a great storytime read-aloud and a wonderful addition to any library collection. This cheerful story is sure to inspire bouts of laughter from young children.” (School Library Journal)

I Want a Dog by Jon Agee: PIC AGE

“Celebrating both community and individuality, this droll, funny offering will tickle kids and adults alike.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe: PIC FOR

“Dares readers to crank up the volume… may add a few grown-up voices to the younger chorus of giggles. The goose is all that’s serious here.” (Kirkus Reviews)

The Serious Goose by Jimmy Kimmel: PIC KIM

“Book-bait for middle-grade readers that oozes eww appeal.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Gross As a Snot Otter by Jess Keating: QL49 .K3485 2019

Once upon a time, it was a dark and stormy night … perfect for exploring our Children’s Collections

ECED display board

Did you know your library has a large collection of children’s books and storytelling props like puppets & felt boards? Plus, we have step-stools for reaching the top shelves and big bean bag chairs to curl up and read in. Children accompanying their parents to the library are welcome to read our books.

Our children’s collections support Ivy Tech Fort Wayne’s programs in Education. They also grew out of the Family Reading Center in the old library.

In addition to stories, we have children’s books on every topic – including activities in science, math, music, and art. We have books about holidays from many cultural traditions, plus DVDs and music CDs. And we subscribe to the Junior Library Guild which sends us new books each month! You can see a list and follow updates to the collection on our blog using this link.

We also have books for grown-ups about teaching kids and young adults. From the library website, you can access databases of professional literature in education research, and ebooks on education topics.

Our librarian Liz Metz has created research guides to children’s literature, and to education resources. She also made our online catalog of puppets. Liz has a degree in elementary education and is our liaison for the education programs here. You can read more about her background in this profile.

New Children’s Books

“Digitally collaged illustrations, done in a warm color palette, use simplified shapes to playfully symbolize different objects. Close-ups of the starlings’ lustrous, rainbowlike colors highlight Preston-Gannon’s skillful understanding of the way light reveals itself on a dark form.” (Kirkus Reviews)

One Dark Bird by Liz Garton Scanlon: PIC SCA

“Engle’s free verse whirls and twirls, playful and vivacious, while López’s vivid, colorful artwork elevates this story to heavenly heights. Like a concerto for the heart.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreno Played the Piano for President Lincoln by Margarita Engle and Rafael Lopez: ML3930.C2635 E55 2019

“Seventeen different trees are represented by a scattered array of leaves―each carefully labeled―in many gradations of green. The enticing collage art uses negative space to show the veins. The page turn leads to additional glorious art, affirming the text’s use of such words as ’emerald’ and ‘jade.'” (Kirkus Reviews)

Summer Green to Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves’ Hidden Colors by Mia Posada: QK649 .P67 2020

“This comedic horror-lite story about snacks is just delectable, and offers an avenue of connection between the generations.” (School Library Journal)

Snack Attack! by Terry Border: PIC BOR

“Investigating the wordless spreads is both a challenge and a joy. . . . When child and cat finally reunite, the sweet relief feels immediate and intimate . . .” (Kirkus Reviews)

Spot & Dot by Henry Cole: PIC COL

December 2019 CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Fly!

By Mark Teague
Call Number: PIC TEA
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Mama bird wants Baby bird to learn to fly so he can migrate with the rest of the flock, but Baby bird would rather go by hot air balloon or car instead.

Home in the Woods

By Eliza Wheeler
Call Number: PIC WHE
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During the Great Depression six-year-old Marvel, her seven siblings, and their mother find a tar-paper shack in the woods and, over the course of a year, turn it into a home.

16 Words: William Carlos Williams & “The Red Wheelbarrow”

By Lisa Rogers
Call Number: PS3545 .I544 Z876 2019
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This is the story of great American poet William Carlos Williams and how being mindful can result in the creation of a great poem like “The Red Wheelbarrow.”

Just in Case You Want to Fly

By Julie Fogliano
Call Number: PIC FOG
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Just in case you want to fly, here’s some wind, and here’s the sky.

It’s a Round, Round World!

By Ellie Peterson
Call Number: QB286 .P48 2019
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Join intrepid young scientist-adventurer, Joulia Copernicus as she takes readers on a historical journey through time and space.

Bruce’s Big Fun Day

By Ryan T. Higgins
Call Number: PIC HIG
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Nibbs the mouse wants to give Bruce the bear a Big Fun Day, but unfortunately grumpy Bruce does not like fun.

Mr. Scruff

By Simon James
Call Number: PIC JAM
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Poor Mr. Scruff, alone in the rescue shelter, doesn’t belong to anyone. Jim and Mr. Scruff don’t look anything alike, and their names certainly don’t rhyme, but they may end up belonging to each other just the same.

November 2019 Children’s Books

Aalfred and Aalbert

By Morag Hood
Call Number: PIC HOO
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Two aardvarks who lead solitary lives, Aalbert by day and Aalfred by night, sometimes wonder if they would like to be part of a pair.

Once Upon a Goat

By Dan Richards
Call Number: PIC RIC
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When a proper king and queen ask their fairy godmother for a child, they find themselves gifted instead with a baby goat.

I’m Trying to Love Math

By Bethany Barton
Call Number: QA40.5 .B38 2019
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In a book for those who dislike mathematics, an alien explains the many areas in which math is used, including baking, music, navigation, and measurements.

Our Favorite Day

By Joowon Oh
Call Number: PIC OH
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Follow Papa and his granddaughter as they spend another Thursday together.

Parrots Pugs and Pixie Dust: a book about fashion designer Judith Leiber

By Deborah Blumenthal
Call Number: TT505.L46 B59 2019
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Trace the life of fashion designer Judith Leiber, who used inspiration from her life to create extraordinary and fantastical handbags.

Horse and Buggy Paint It Out

By Ethan Long
Call Number: PIC LON
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Horse is all set to paint a mural his way, oblivious to Buggy’s suggestions that a bit of planning might be a good idea. But as the Horse knocks over paint cans and sends brushes flying, he relents and accepts some help from Buggy.

Stone Sat Still

By Brendan Wenzel
Call Number: PIC WEN
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Told in rhyming verse, a stone is considered from a variety of environmental and emotional perspectives, surrounded by grass, dirt, and water, an unchanging certainty in the world.

October 2019 Children’s Books

A Trip to the Top of the Volcano with Mouse

By Frank Viva
Call Number: PIC VIV
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A boy and a mouse trek to the top of a volcano, taking in soaring trees, lunar landscapes and snow capped peaks, then return to the ancient city at the bottom.

Ultrabot’s First Playdate

By Josh Schneider
Call Number: PIC SCH
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When Ultrabot has his first playdate, he is worried and shy but he soon learns that he and Becky have a lot in common.

See Me Play

By Paul Meisel
Call Number: PIC MEI
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In this easy-to-read book, a playful pack of dogs chase a ball that is caught by a bird, a whale, and a lion.

Alfred’s Book of Monsters

By Sam Streed
Call Number: PIC STR
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Alfred loves the monsters in his book, and he does not like teatime with his aunt–until he decides to invite three of his favorite monsters to join him for tea. Description

Field Trip to the Moon

By John Hare
Call Number: PIC HAR
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In this wordless picture book, a girl is accidentally left behind on a class trip to the moon.

So Big!

By Mike Wohnoutka
Call Number: PIC WOH / Fall
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Just when a little bear starts to feel overwhelmed on his first day of school, he meets a new friend, and together they find the courage to overcome their fear.

September 2019 Children’s Nonfiction

Pollen: Darwin’s 130 Year Prediction

By Darcy Pattison
Call Number: Q180.55.D57 P38 2019
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How long does it take for science to find an answer to a problem? On January 25, 1862, naturalist Charles Darwin received a box of orchids. One flower, the Madagascar star orchid, fascinated him. It had an 11.5” nectary, the place where flowers make nectar, the sweet liquid that insects and birds eat. How, he wondered, did insects pollinate the orchid?

The Astronaut who Painted the Moon

By Dean Robbins
Call Number: TL789.85.B36 R63 2019
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As a boy, Alan wanted to fly planes. As a young navy pilot, Alan wished he could paint the view from the cockpit. So he took an art class to learn patterns and forms. But no class could prepare him for the beauty of the lunar surface some 240,000 miles from Earth. In 1969, Alan became the fourth man and first artist on the moon. He took dozens of pictures, but none compared to what he saw through his artistic eyes. When he returned to Earth, he began to paint what he saw. Alan’s paintings allowed humanity to experience what it truly felt like to walk on the moon.

When Sue Found Sue

By Toni Buzzeo
Call Number: QE707.H46 B89 2019
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From a very young age, Sue Hendrickson was meant to find things: lost coins, perfume bottles, even hidden treasure. Her endless curiosity eventually led to her career in diving and paleontology, where she would continue to find things big and small. In 1990, at a dig in South Dakota, Sue made her biggest discovery to date: Sue the T. rex, the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton ever unearthed. Named in Sue’s honor, Sue the T. rex would be placed on permanent exhibition at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. 

September 2019 Children’s Fiction

Fiction

Flubby will Not Play with That

By J.E. Morris
Call Number: PIC MOR
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When Kami brings home a bag full of toys for Flubby, the uninterested cat isn’t enthusiastic about the choices. A wind-up mouse? No thanks. A fish hanging from a stick? Yawn. But after Flubby rejects each offering, one unexpected option may be the best fit for Flubby after all.

The Pigeon HAS to go to School

By Mo Willems
Call Number: PIC WIL
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Why does the Pigeon have to go to school? He already knows everything! And what if he doesn’t like it? What if the teacher doesn’t like him? What if he learns TOO MUCH!?!

Harold & Hog Pretend for Real!

By [Mo Willems and] Dan Santat
Call Number: PIC SAN
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Harold and Hog are best friends. But can Harold and Hog’s friendship survive a game of pretending to be Elephant & Piggie?

Vroom!

By Barbara McClintock
Call Number: PIC MCC
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Join a little girl as she zooms― past fields and forests, up mountains, over rivers, through deserts, home again, and into bed in this playful picture book about the power of imagination

Goldilocks for Dinner: A Funny Book about Manners

By Susan McElroy Montanari
Call Number: PIC MON
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Troll and Goblin set out to find the rudest child and have him or her for dinner.

Paper Mice

By Megan Wagner Lloyd
Call Number: PIC LLO
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One night, two newly-made paper mice separately explore a dark house, finding each other along the way and discovering a shared love of adventure.

Puppy Truck

By Brian Pinkney
Call Number: PIC PIN
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Carter gets a truck instead of a much wanted puppy, but he soon discovers his new toy is just as fun and rascally as a pet.

Hide and Seek

By Katie May Green
Call Number: PIC GRE
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Right at the top of Shiverhawk Hall live children in pictures on the wall. When the moon rises in the night sky, the DeVillechild twins are missing from their frames. The rest of the Shiverhawk children set out across the gardens and into the woods searching for the girls, beginning a game of hide and seek! Will the children be able to find the twins and return home to their paintings before the sun comes up?

Truman

By Jean Reidy
Call Number: PIC REI
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He may be slow but Truman the turtle is determined to find his girl Sarah, who has boarded a city bus on her way to preschool.

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.

June 2019 Children’s Books

Nonfiction

Crayon Man

By Natascha Biebow
Call Number: NC870 .B54 2019
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Celebrating the inventor of the Crayola crayon! This gloriously illustrated picture book biography tells the inspiring story of Edwin Binney, the inventor of one of the world’s most beloved toys.

Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins

By Michelle Meadows
Call Number: GV1785 .C634 M43 2019
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Janet Collins wanted to be a ballerina in the 1930s and 40s, a time when racial segregation was widespread in the United States. From her early childhood lessons to the height of her success as the first African-American prima ballerina in the Metropolitan Opera, this is the story of a remarkable pioneer.

Fiction

Not Your Nest!

By Gideon Sterer
Call Number: PIC STE
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Bird builds the perfect nest, the only problem is everyone else wants to sleep in it!

The Unbudgeable Curmudgeon

By Matthew Burgess
Call Number: PIC BUR
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Have you ever seen a curmudgeon that looks like your brother, but is in such a bad mood you hardly recognize him? You can try all the peanut butter sandwiches and brownies you have, but he is not moving. Nothing works, especially nudging, and he just makes you so grumpy that eventually you have no choice but to fight back–and then… Have you ever become a curmudgeon that just won’t budge?

Nobody Hugs a Cactus

By Carter Goodrich
Call Number: PIC GOO
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Hank, a cactus who is as prickly on the inside as he is on the outside, decides he wants a hug.

There are No Bears in this Bakery

By Julia Sarcone-Roach
Call Number: PIC SAR
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When Muffin, a cat, hears a suspicious noise at the Little Bear Bakery, his investigation reveals a hungry bear cub.