Title: Chicka chicka boom boom
Author: Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
ISBN: 978-1416990918
Age range: 3-5 years
From Publishers Weekly:
In this bright and lively rhyme, the letters of the alphabet race each other to the top of the coconut tree.
When X, Y and Z finally scramble up the trunk, however, the weight is too much, and down they all tumble in a colorful chaotic heap: "Chicka Chicka . . . BOOM! BOOM!" All the family members race to help, as one by one the letters recover in amusingly battered fashion. Poor stubbed toe E has a swollen appendage, while F sports a jaunty Band-Aid and P is indeed black-eyed. As the tropic sun goes down and a radiant full moon appears, indomitable A leaps out of bed, double-daring his colleagues to another treetop race. This nonsense verse delights with its deceptively simple narrative and with the repetition of such catchy phrases as "skit skat skoodle doot." Ehlert's bold color scheme, complete with hot pink and orange borders, matches the crazy mood perfectly. Children will revel in seeing the familiar alphabet transported into this madcap adventure. Ages 2-6.
Title: Billy and the big new school
Author: Catherine Anholt
ISBN: 978-1408302125
Age range: 5-6 years
From School Library Journal:
Nervous about starting school, Billy spends time talking to the birds that gather around the feeder in his yard. There he finds the "smallest, grubbiest, weediest, most dusty" sparrow and nurses it back to health. Before going to school, he releases it, saying, "You have to learn to take care of yourself-just like me." That day he makes a friend, tells his classmates about the bird, and ends up with the biggest smile around. The story finishes on an optimistic note for both the boy and the bird. The artwork is done in
Catherine Anholt's familiar style-watercolor-and-ink cartoons featuring full, rounded, mostly smiling faces. The illustrations show Billy's drawings, school supplies, classroom surroundings, and finally, the boy's friends. This is a good book to dissipate children's fears about starting school and to show that the classroom can be just as enjoyable as home. Shelley Woods, Boston Public Library, MA

Title: Move over, Rover
Author: Karen Beaumont
ISBN: 978-0152019792
Age range: 3-7 years
From School Library Journal:
Reminiscent of Mirra Ginsburg’s Mushroom in the Rain (S & S, 1987) and Audrey Woods The Napping
House (Harcourt, 1984), this is the cumulative story of many animals all attempting to shelter from the rain in a doghouse. Children will love the hilarious ending when all of the inhabitants hastily vacate after an odiferous intruder tries to squeeze in, too. The marvelously textured watercolor-and-acrylic illustrations convey the feeling of a driving rain, the fur and feathers of the various creatures, and the joy of Rover when his house is once again his sole domain. The repetition of key phrases, the rhythmic text, and the cumulative structure of the narrative make this book an ideal read-aloud. The pictures and text evoke the cozy, warm feeling of curling up for a nap on a rainy day and the unbridled thrill of leaping out into the sun.–Tamara E. Richman, Somerset County Library System, Bridgewater, NJ
Title: Twinkle toes
Author: DonnaScott-Nusrala
ISBN: 9781935268574
Age range: 4 and up
Overview from Barnes & Noble:
Twinkle Toes was inspired by a family tradition of nearly fifty years. As the years passed, I realized I needed to share this story with others. I invite you to slip into your coziest pajamas, and join Sarah and
Adam as Grandma tells a story... If you follow the sweet smell of peppermint to the Land of Dreams, you may stumbleupson a tiny farmhouse where smoke billows into the sky. With her pocket sized calico, a fairy farmer plants fluffy fibers. Then, with help of her Dream Weaver, a roaring blizzard and the twinkle in her toes, she grows crystal stalks in the snow, but you won’t find corn in the Land of Dreams! Read how
Twinkle Toes puts kids to sleep so they can make their dreams grow on Christmas Eve.

Title: Wemberly worried
Author: Kevin Henkes
ISBN: 9780061857768
Age range: 4 and up
Publishers Weekly:
Henkes (Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse) introduces another wonderfully appealing child-mouse with a stubborn habit: worrying. Wemberly, a shy white mouse with gray spots, always feels nervous whether at home or away. "At the playground, Wemberly worried about/ the chains on the swings,/ and the bolts on the slide,/ and the bars on the jungle gym." She tells her father, "Too rusty. Too loose. Too high," while sitting on a park bench watching the other mice play. Her security blanket, a rabbit doll named Petal (whose spot over the left eye matches her own), rarely leaves her grip. Henkes adroitly juggles the main narrative, hand-lettered asides and watercolor-and-ink imagery of the young pessimist and her supportive parents; each element contributes a different strength. For instance, as he lists
Wemberly's worries, "Big things" heads the list, paired with a vignette of the heroine checking on her parents in the middle of the night with a flashlight, "I wanted to make sure you were still here." He later shows how Wemberly's anxieties peak at the start of nursery school with huge text that dwarfs tiny illustrations. At this overwhelming moment, Wemberly meets another girl mouse, Jewel, who turns out to be a kindred spirit (she even carries her own worn doll). Henkes offers no pat solutions, handling the material with uncanny empathy and gentleness; while playing with Jewel, "Wemberly worried. But no more than usual. And sometimes even less." This winning heroine speaks to the worrywart in everyone.
(Aug.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Title: A turkey for Thanksgiving
Author: Eve Bunting
ISBN: 9780395742129
Age range: 5 and up
School Library Journal:
Mr. and Mrs. Moose invite their animal friends for Thanksgiving dinner, and the only one missing is
Turkey. When they set out to find him, Turkey is quaking with fear because he doesn't realize that his hosts want him at their table, not on it.
Title: Alone in his teacher ’s house (Marvin Redpost Series #4)
Author: Louis Sachar
ISBN-13: 9780679819493
Age range: Ages 6 and up
Children's Literature:
Marvin Redpost's third-grade teacher is leaving town for a week and she asks him to care for her beloved dog Waldo. Marvin's friends are a little jealous and want to sneak into the teacher's house, but
Marvin takes his responsibility seriously. Then his troubles begin - the substitute keeps picking on him and Waldo becomes ill. Will his teacher be angry when she returns? Elementary school children will identify with Marvin and his dilemma.

Title: Fourth grade rats
Author: Jerry Spinelli
ISBN: 9780545464789
Age range: 7 and up
School Library Journal:
The book's title comes from a playground rhyme, ``Third grade angels!/Fourth grade . . . RRRRRATS!''
Joey Peterson, the best friend of Suds (the story's narrator), takes the rhyme a bit too seriously and instructs Suds, Svengali-like, in the ways of rebellion and macho bravado. Complicating things is the long-standing crush Suds has on Judy, a girl more interested in seeing bugs crawl all over him than in having him open doors for her. The short-lived rebellion is finally squelched by Joey's mother, and Suds is relieved to return to his old habits. This is a fast-paced story about kids growing up too quickly. Some of the characters are exaggerated but believable, and the scenes in which Joey tries to toughen up Suds are especially funny. This should prove a popular addition to most collections. --Todd Morning,
Schaumburg Township Pub . Lib . , IL
Title: The eleventh plague
Author: Jeff Hirsch
ISBN: 9780545290159
Age range: 12 and up
VOYA:
This debut novel is an excellent addition to the growing body of dystopian novels for teens. The setting is the United States; the time is twenty years after the war with China that decimated the population via a deadly influenza, the plague of the title. The narrator, fifteen-year-old Stephen, and his father are among the small number of survivors. As scavengers, they travel the desolate land, subsisting on whatever they can find that is marketable. An encounter with slavers leaves his father mortally injured and Stephen is forced to accept help from strangers, who take them to their small hidden community.
There, for the first time, Stephen encounters school, baseball, and rebellious, daredevil Jenny, who is
Chinese, which makes her one of the enemy, or is she? There is the requisite bully but also teens who offer him friendship, and a teacher who shows him that there is more to life than the constant struggle to survive. After one too many fights with the bully, Stephen and Jenny decide to leave, but a final, senseless act of teen rebellion against the bully's father brings their town to the point of war with a neighboring community. Stephen and Jenny get involved when they discover that someone in their community has hired slavers, endangering their friends and neighbors as a result. This riveting novel, with its strong characters and fast-paced narrative, depicts a post apocalyptic future that is all too plausibly real, and the final battle will have teen readers on the edge of their seats as it races toward a satisfying conclusion. Reviewer: Bonnie Kunzel