Geo Librarian

FARMHOUSE by Sophie Blackall Little, Brown and Company, 2022 ISBN: 978-0-316-52894-8 Source: ARC from publisher/purchased finished copy. Ages 6 and up All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book summary & cover provided by publisher through goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK This glorious new picture book from two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall is as lavish and moving a tribute to a storied, beloved place as Hello Lighthouse. Over a hill, at the end of a road, by a glittering stream that twists and turns stands a farmhouse. Step inside the dollhouse-like interior of Farmhouse and relish in the daily life of the family that lives there, rendered in impeccable, thrilling detail. Based on a real family and an actual farmhouse where Sophie salvaged facts and artifacts for the making of this spectacular work, page after page bursts with luminous detail and joy. Join the award-winning, best-selling Sophie Blackall as she takes readers on an enchanting visit to a farmhouse across t

THIRST by Varsha Bajaj Nancy Paulsen Books, 2022 ISBN: 978-0-593-35439-1 Source: purchased Ages 9-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by the publisher through goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK The riveting story of a heroic girl who fights for her belief that water should be for everyone. Minni lives in the poorest part of Mumbai, where access to water is limited to a few hours a day and the communal taps have long lines. Lately, though, even that access is threatened by severe water shortages and thieves who are stealing this precious commodity—an act that Minni accidentally witnesses one night. Meanwhile, in the high-rise building where she just started to work, she discovers that water streams out of every faucet and there’s even a rooftop swimming pool. What Minni also discovers there is one of the water mafia bosses. Now she must decide whether to expose him and risk her job and maybe her life. How did something as simple as access to water g

THE PRISONER OF SHIVERSTONE by Linette Moore Amulet Books, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-4197-4391-7 Source: purchased Ages 8-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by goodreads.com & the publisher. ABOUT THE BOOK A positively ingenious story about a mysterious island, long-lost secrets, and a young girl’s quest in the world of mad science! In Linette Moore’s debut, middle-grade graphic novel, The Prisoner of Shiverstone, eleven-year-old Helga Sharp is found unconscious in a drifting rowboat near the coast of Utley Island. Utley, as Helga finds out when she awakens in the hospital, is forbidden territory: it’s a prison island to which the Mainland has exiled troublesome mad scientists for generations. Helga is questioned by the island’s guards and though they’re suspicious of her story, they agree to let her stay until they find her family. The truth is, it’s no accident that Helga landed here. She is a keen inventor, but the Mainland is suspicious of all

ROSA'S SONG by Helena Ku Rhee, illustrated by Pascal Campion Random House Studio, 2022 ISBN: 978-0-593-37549-5 Source: Blue Slip Media Ages 4-8 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover, summary, and illustrations provided by Blue Slip Media. ABOUT THE BOOK In this diverse picture book, a young immigrant from South Korea finds community and friendship in an apartment house filled with other newly arrived kids. When Jae looks out the window of his new home, he wishes he could still see his old village, his old house, and his old friends. But his new apartment feels empty and nothing outside is familiar. Jae just arrived from South Korea and doesn't even speak the new language. Yet, making friends is the same wherever you go and he soon meets a girl with a colorful bird perched on her shoulder. Rosa knows just how Jae feels and the two become fast friends. Not only does Rosa show Jae his new neighborhood but she shows him how his imagination can bring back memories of

DONUT The Unicorn Who Wants to Fly Story by Laura Gehl, Art by Andrea Zuill Random House Studio, 2022 ISBN: 978-0-593-37625-6 Source: Blue Slip Media Ages 4-8 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book Cover, summary, and illustrations provided by Blue Slip Media. ABOUT THE BOOK Here's the hilarious story of Donut, a scruffy unicorn who can't fly-- but who keeps on trying! From the author of One Big Pair of Underwear and the illustrator of Sweety. When Donut, a fluffy, scruffy unicorn with a colorful horn spots a bird in the air, she thinks, why can't I be up there, too? And so she jumps! off of a log and and even a trampoline. But thump! she falls down to the ground. After many attempts at flight (including wings fashioned out of sticks), Donut schemes with the other animals in the field, and finally comes up with an ingenious and imaginative solution. Finally, her perseverance pays off-- and Donut flies! With a simple text and expressive art, here is a character-drive

With the arrival of COVID, having some knowledge and understanding of disease, pandemics, and vaccines is very important.  These three books are all thoroughly documented and present information is a solid, understandable way that works well for the intended audience (as well as an older audience, I learned quite a bit).  Each book works particularly well in certain ways.  A Shot in the Arm  is a graphic history of the development of vaccines and why they are necessary and helpful.  The Deadliest Diseases Then and Now  focuses mostly on the plague and a bit on the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, and concludes with a brief chapter on COVID-19. Hopkinson focuses a great deal on how disease spreads and how scientists developed their knowledge that slowly led to the development of vaccines.  Kate Messner's Plagues and Pandemics  looks more broadly at a variety of diseases and the damage that have done and continue to do in some cases and how scientists over time learned from their predec

A PERFECT MISTAKE by Melanie Conklin Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2022 ISBN: 9780316668583 Source: ARC from publisher/purchased finished copy Ages 8-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by goodreads.com & the publisher. ABOUT THE BOOK A moving, voice-driven novel about friendship, responsibility, and fighting against unfair expectations, for fans of Rebecca Stead and Erin Entrada Kelly.   Max wishes he could go back in time to before he was diagnosed with ADHD, before he grew to be the tallest kid in his class, and before he and his best friends went into the woods in the middle of the night. Max doesn’t remember what happened after he left his friends Will and Joey and the older kids who took them there. He’s not sure if he wants to remember. Knowing isn’t going to make Joey talk to him again, or bring Will out of his coma.   When the local authorities run out of leads, Max realizes that without his help, they may never know what

BIG BEAR AND LITTLE FISH by Sandra Nickel, illustrated by Il Sung Na Carolrhoda Books, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-7284- 1717-2 Source: Blue Slip Media/publisher Ages 4-8 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover, summary & illustrations provided by Blue Slip Media. ABOUT THE BOOK At the carnival, Bear wants a teddy bear. And not just any teddy bear―she wants the biggest one of all. But instead she gets a fish. A very small fish. Bear is so very big and Fish is so very small that Bear worries they have nothing in common. Can they possibly be friends? Gentle, accessible prose by Sandra Nickel is paired with richly textured illustrations by Il Sung Na in this sweet story of unexpected friendship. ABOUT THE AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR Sandra Nickel is an award-winning author of picture books. She is honored to be the winner of a Christopher Award, the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Crystal Kite Award, a two-time winner of the Katherine Paterson Prize for pictu

PERFECTLY PEGASUS by Jessie Sima Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-6659-2133-6 Source: publisher for review Ages 4-8 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK A lonely pegasus looks for the perfect friend in this sweet and adorable picture book companion to the bestselling Not Quite Narwhal! Nimbus has always lived among the clouds. She’s a pegasus, after all, and the sky is where she belongs. She is one of a kind. And when she wants a friend, all she has to do is look up—and talk to the stars. Only...they don’t really talk back. The clouds don’t, either. And sometimes, being the only pegasus can be a little...lonely? So she decides to find a fallen star to make a wish on—and wishes for friends who are just like her. Along the way she meets a Unicorn named Kelp, and a host of other creatures...who might just open her eyes to something other than what’s up in the sky.  REVIE