Friday, April 25, 2014

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and pictures by Oliver Jeffers

Debut author Drew Daywalt and New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Oliver Jeffers team up
in this unique picture book.

One day Duncan reaches for his crayons, but finds a stack of letters from them instead. The crayons have quit! Each crayon writes its grievances in a letter in its crayon color. Red Crayon is overworked and tired of working holidays. What with all the hearts on Valentine’s and Santas on Christmas! Beige Crayon is never used unless Duncan is coloring wheat which is essentially never. Gray Crayon is tired, so tired. He needs a break from coloring elephants, rhinos and humpback whales. White Crayon feels neglected, invisible and empty inside, while Blue Crayon is the favorite crayon year in and year out, but oh so short and stubby. Pink Crayon feels discriminated against because Duncan is biased towards using such a “girly” color, and poor Peach Crayon is naked without his wrapping and too embarrassed to leave the box.

The mixed media illustrations are one of the book’s the strongest draws. Each page has a lot to look at. The real world, ie the letters on which the crayons write, are photographs and each page features a crayon accompanied by things that Duncan has colored with it. Both the crayon’s handwritten letters and the drawings “Duncan” makes are appropriately child-like.

The Day the Crayons Quit is an ALA Notable Children’s Book for 2014 and a Goodreads Choice Awards winner for Best Picture Book of 2013. Take a look under PIC/DAY.


Friday, April 18, 2014

Constable and Toop by Gareth P. Jones

They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I have to admit, the cover of Constable and Toop has intrigued me ever since we added it to the collection.  I'm glad I finally decided to give it a read - I LOVED it!!

Part Victorian ghost-story, part mystery, part adventure, Constable and Toop tells the story of London in crisis.  Something is happening to the haunted houses: their ghosts are disappearing!  If it keeps up, soon all the ghosts of England will be gone.

The story is told from many view-points.  Lapsewood is a ghost who works an office job in "The Bureau" (rather hilariously, the ghost-world is run by a huge, bloated bureaucracy).  When he is transferred to another department AND sent to the living world to investigate, he knows he's in over his head.  But when he discovers the truth behind what's plaguing London's ghosts - and the dire consequences implied - he finds help from a young "rogue ghost" with street smarts and a fondness for dogs.

Meanwhile, Sam Toop is the son of an undertaker who has "the Gift:" he is able to talk to ghosts.  Usually, they approach him to help with unfinished business - relaying a final message to a loved one, delivering a last will and testament - but it isn't long before he gets involved in the mystery.

Constable and Toop is at times hilarious, at other times spine-tingling.  The twists and turns - not to mention the dizzying array of ghost characters - will keep you on the edge of your seat.  But be warned: in true Victorian fashion, the author doesn't shy away from the blood and guts and gore.  But if you can handle it, you won't regret unearthing what's plaguing the ghosts of London.

Such a fun read!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great by Bob Shea


Librarian Brooke thinks this book is pretty great.


As the title suggests, Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great is funny and silly. According to Goat, Unicorn is always showing off by making it rain cupcakes and turning anything and everything into gold. Plus he can fly. Oh, and dance-prance.

Dopey Unicorn.

But as it turns out Unicorn thinks Goat is pretty great, too! After all, Goat has cloven hooves so he can stand on mountain tops while Unicorn just has “stupid regular hooves.”


Author and Illustrator Bob Shea covers the jealousy issue in a humorous way and without being preachy. His drawings are childlike and detailed. Even the title page depicts sad colorless Goat laying in the wake of Unicorn’s flowery, candy and rainbow ridden path.


For Shea, no detail is too small. Goat talks in a typewriter font, while Unicorn talks in rainbows. Each letter of Unicorn’s exclamations is a different color and surrounded by sparkles. Which makes sense, because unicorns can only eat glitter and rainbows. How FABULOUS is that?

Check it out under PIC/SHE.  

Friday, April 4, 2014

The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray

There's a book we recently added to the collection that I'm just crazy about.  What's it about?  EVERYTHING.  Really!

The elements are the raw ingredients that everything in the universe is made from.  Theodore Gray decided to start collecting samples of all them a little over 10 years ago.  The result is the stunningly beautiful and fascinating The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Know Atom in the Universe.

Each element is given its own two-page spread and, where possible, a photograph of the element is included.  There are also examples of ways in which each element is utilized (you might not have heard of Bismuth, but what about Pepto Bismol?  Bismuth is one of its key elements!).  Just browsing the photographs makes for fascinating reading.

But the book also contains an in-depth explanation of the Periodic Table.  If you don't know your Noble Gasses from your Ordinary Metals, this book can help you sort them out - it's a great introduction to the fundamentals of chemistry and the wonders of the sub-atomic world.


In short, The Elements is both visually gorgeous and informative.  Whether you read it cover-to-cover, or just browse around, this book's a winner!

 Find it under 546J/GRA.