Geo Librarian

  A SURPRISE FOR WILLOW Fairies Welcome #1 written & illustrated by Bea Jackson Simon Spotlight, 2026 ISBN: 978-1-6659-4109-9 Source: publisher for review (Thanks!) Ages 6-9 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK Lily, the fairy, tries to help her human friend, Willow, overcome her stage fright in this first chapter book in the Fairies Welcome series from New York Times bestselling illustrator Bea Jackson. Even though Lily is a fairy and Willow is a little human girl, they’ve become the closest of pals, singing sweet songs, counting twinkly stars, and enjoying yummy snacks. When Willow tells Lily she’s super nervous about performing in a big school celebration, Lily isn’t sure how to help her. Then, with fairies Sky and Jasmine by her side, Lily comes up with a they’ll surprise Willow at school! But will their secret plan be too dangerous, especially for teeny tiny fairies? REVIEW In this cu...

  A WAFFLE LOT OF LOVE written & illustrated by Ben Clanton Tundra Books, 2025 ISBN: 978-1-77488-453-9 Source: purchased Ages 4-8 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by the publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK In this hilarious 10th book, Narwhal's PALentine's Day celebrations for Jelly go a little overboard! Includes bonus fun facts! Dive into three new stories with best buds Narwhal and Jelly! It's PALentine's Day and Jelly gives Narwhal a whaley nice card — but now Narwhal has no idea what to give him! One card isn't nearly enough, and soon Narwhal is flooding Jelly with gifts galore: waffles, a book about Jelly, more waffles, a song about Jelly . . . MORE waffles! Jelly is grateful, but would prefer the present of Narwhal's presence more than all of Narwhal's over-the-top displays of friendship. Can Narwhal realize what true friendship means before they go off the deep end trying to please their pal?...

FOREVER FRIENDS Drag and Rex #1 written by Susan Lubner, illustrated by Blythe Russo Pixel & Ink, 2023 ISBN: 978-1-64595-115-5 Source: purchased Ages 6-10 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by the publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Drag (a dragon) and Rex (a T-rex) are roommates and best friends. As in many such early reader series, the book consists of three stories about the two friends and their adventures. Each story is divided into three short chapters. The two friends are, as one would expect, quite different but those differences make the stories feel fresh and the relationship more realistic. The delightful illustrations highlight the characters and the action and break up the text nicely. The first story follows Rex's efforts to make breakfast followed by making a cake for his friend Lilly Pop. Drag attempts to help but causes problems when he can't resist his appetite. The second story finds Drag and Rex playing in the snow. But mis...

THE PRINCESS IN BLACK AND THE KITTY CATASTROPHE written by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham Candlewick Press, 2024 ISBN: 978-1-5362-3409-1 Source: publisher for review (Thanks!) Ages 6-10 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by the publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK The Princess in Black may know how to handle all kinds of monsters, but a kitten set on destruction? Me-OW! Duchess Wigtower had heard that pets are fun, but all her kitten has gotten her is nine lives' worth of problems. Eeeeek! It’s time for someone else to deal with this catastrophe. Princess Magnolia is thrilled when a kitten lands on her doorstep, but just as she’s about to play with Plumpkins (or should it be Hugmaster Floof?) the monster alarm goes off. When Princess Magnolia returns to her castle, her furry companion has carved up the wallpaper! In fact, each time Princess Magnolia leaves to help the Goat Avenger fight a very grouchy mon...

  THE PRINCESS IN BLACK AND THE PRINCE IN PINK The Princess in Black #10 by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham Candlewick Press, 2023 ISBN: 978-1-5362-0978-5 Source: purchased Ages 7-10 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW The Princess in Black teams up with a new friend when she runs into a problem that her superhero self can't solve. Princess Magnolia arrives at the Flower Festival ready to set up for the upcoming ball.  But a visit from an angry emu leaves her decorations in tatters.  A knight forces the emu out but the damage has been done. Luckily, the Prince in Pink shows up to help Princess Magnolia get ready for the ball in time.  And all the royals come together with their various alter egos to face the emu and her ostrich cohorts when they show up at the ball. When a series gets to the tenth book it can be difficult to find new and fresh stories to tell, but the Hales ...

TOO SMALL TOLA AND THE THREE FINE GIRLS by Atinute, illustrated by Onyinye Iwo Candlewick Press, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-5362-2517-4 Source: publisher for review Ages 6-9 Realistic fiction (global fiction) All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Too Small Tola lives with her Grandmommy, her sister, Moji, and her brother, Dapo, in a rundown apartment in Lagos, Nigeria. She loves to go to school and has an affinity for math. The book is divided into three chapters.  In each chapter, Tola deals with a different challenge.  In Tola Saves the Day , Grandmommy's precious earrings get lost when Moji and Dapo mess around instead of helping Tola clean the rice. Tola's small size proves to be a boon when one of the earrings proves to be especially illusive. In the second story, Tola Takes Control , Grandmommy gets malaria and Tola and Dapo must sell ground nuts in her place, but Dapo isn't much help as he prefers to hang out w...

CRIMSON TWILL, WITCH IN THE CITY by Kallie George, illustrated by Birgitta Sif Candlewick Press, 2022 ISBN: 9781536214635 Source: ARC from publisher for review Ages 7-9 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Crimson Twill's unusual preferences help her stand out in the witch world.  She loves polka dots, she giggles rather than cackling, and skips rather than slinking, and dreams sweet dreams rather than nightmares.  A visit to Broomingdale's, a mall in the city, highlights her differences as she looks for a way to spend her gold coins. Her efforts lead her to visit several different floors where she looks at pets, brooms, and hats.  She picks up a lost puppy on the pet floor and spends the rest of her time looking for its owner.  She meets another young witch with colorful tastes while looking at hats before ending up at the fashion show where she finds the owner of the puppy.  She doesn't find s...

  FRANK AND THE BAD SURPRISE by Martha Brockenbrough, illustrated by Jon Lau Levine Querido, 2022 ISBN: 9781646140886 Source: publisher for review for CYBILS Ages 6-9 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Frank, the cat likes his life just the way it is, thank you very much. He has "a nice house, lots of toys, all the Whiskies he could eat, and a window that looked out at the world". So Frank's not happy when his humans (same-gender couple) bring home a puppy.  In fact, he's downright outraged, especially when the puppy interrupts his nap and he swats her and gets in trouble.  After typing a couple of letters to his humans in protest, Frank sets out to find a new home. But things don't go quite according to plan.  After several misadventures Frank realizes that maybe home can still be home even with a puppy for a companion. While the story isn't new, the author and illustrator make it feel fres...

AVEN GREEN MUSIC MACHINE by Dusti Bowling, illustrated by Gina Perry Union Square Kids, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-4549-4222-1 Source: purchased Ages 6-10 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Aven Green decides to enter the school talent show.  She wants to play an instrument and expects to be an expert quite quickly.  When the reality of learning to play a keyboard turns out to be quite different, Aven's confidence starts to drop.  Things get even worse after a friend hurts her feelings by calling her music "bad noise".  After trying a number of other instruments, Aven throws in the towel and quits. In an effort to encourage her not to give up, her parents take her on a road trip to see a musician perform on a guitar.  The musician, like her, has no arms.  Thanks to a talk with the musician and a gift from her grandmother, Aven finds the courage to perform at the talent show after all....

LEAVE IT TO PLUM! by Matt Phelan Greenwillow Books, 2022 ISBN:     978-0-06-307916-8 Source: purchased Ages 6-10 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK When a small mammal with an oversized ego tries to take over the zoo, just leave it to the big-hearted peacock Plum to save the day! From award-winning author Matt Phelan, the creator of Knights vs. Dinosaurs and its two sequels, Leave It to Plum! is a highly illustrated young middle grade novel perfect for reluctant readers and animal lovers everywhere. Young Plum is one of the peacock ambassadors for the Athensville Zoo. Every day the peacocks are allowed to wander freely among the zoo's visitors, delighting and guiding kids and grown-ups alike. The peacocks are very proud of their responsibility; none so much as kind, curious Plum. But Itch the ningbing--a type of very small marsupial--doesn't understand why those birdbrains should get so...

As a reader of children's literature, I like to pay attention to current trends.  Not only does it help me know what's popular, but it helps me select books for my school library.  One trend I've noticed recently is the growing number of books that have characters that are food.  It's not an entirely new trend, since titles like Arnie the Doughnut by Laurie Keller and Peanut Butter and Cupcake by Terry Border and Josh Funk's Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast have been around for awhile.  But I've noticed that such characters have become quite plentiful with new series such as Pizza and Taco by Stephan Shaskan and Jarrett Lerner's The Hunger Heros .  The books I'm highlighting today fall into this burgeoning category.  In fact, both books have hot dogs as main characters.  But these books, while similar in subject matter, are quite different in tone and style. FRANK AND BEAN: FOOD TRUCK FIASCO Frank and Bean #2 by Jamie Michalak, illustrated by Bob ...

GERALDINE PU AND HER CAT HAT, TOO! written and illustrated by Maggie P. Chang Ready to Read Graphics Level 3 Simon Spotlight, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-5344-8471-9 Source: publisher for review (Thanks!) Ages 6-8 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by Goodreads.com & publisher. ABOUT THE BOOK Spunky, funny, and friendly Geraldine Pu gets ready for picture day in this second book in this Level 3 Ready-to-Read Graphics series! Geraldine Pu loves her cat hat, Mao Maotz. If only she felt the same way about her own hair! Then she finds out that picture day is happening at school, and there’s a strict no hats rule. Will Geraldine learn to love her hair and her unique style? Ready-to-Read Graphics books give readers the perfect introduction to the graphic novel format with easy-to-follow panels, speech bubbles with accessible vocabulary, and sequential storytelling that is spot-on for beginning readers. There’s even a how-to guide for reading graphic novels a...

I WANT MY MUMMY! Ms. Frogbottom's Field Trips #1 by Nancy Krulik, illustrated by Harry Briggs Aladdin, 2021 ISBN: 978-1-5344-5397-5 Source: Publisher for review Ages 6-9 Elementary Speculative Fiction All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Learning is an adventure in Ms. Frogbottom’s class, because she’s got a magic map—one that takes her students all over the world to battle with mythical monsters no one believes are real. All Ms. Frogbottom has to do is take out the map, tap a country, and— SHAZAAM!—off they go to a place somewhere far, far away. When Ms. Frogbottom whisks the class away to Egypt, they not only come face to face with a mummy, but have to solve the riddle of his ancient curse! Bestselling and beloved author Nancy Krulik ingeniously approaches geography in a new way, as the kids learn about the places they visit while fighting, fleeing, or in some cases rescuing monsters. REVIEW Poor Tony, the narrator of I Want My Mummy!  isn't thrilled when ...

  FRANKLIN ENDICOTT AND THE THIRD KEY by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen Candlewick Press, 2021 ISBN: 978-1-5362-0181-9 Source: publisher for review Ages 6-9 All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Frank Endicott is a worrier. He worries about lions, submarines, black holes, leprosy, and armadillos. He lists his worries alphabetically in a notebook and suffers vivid nightmares that even a certain neighborhood pig can't dispatch. When he accompanies Eugenia Lincoln on an errand to duplicate a key at her favorite dark and dusty thrift shop, Frank earns fresh cause for alarm. Odd Buddy Lamp, the shop's proprietor, has sent them home with the original key and its copy. Can Frank come to terms with the mystery without buckling under his mounting dread? REVIEW Like so many people today, Franklin is a worrier.  In fact, he has so many worries that he keeps track of them in a notebook with all the appropriate details.  But after stashing the notebo...

  DEAR BEAST by Dori Hillestad Butler, illustrated by Kevan Atteberry Holiday House, 2020 ISBN: 978--8234-4843-2 Source: purchased Ages 6-9 All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK A jealous cat really, really , REALLY wants to drive away his young owner's new dog in this playful illustrated chapter book from a two-time Geisel Honor winner. Simon has taken care of his owner, Andy, for many years. He's a good cat. Clean, responsible, and loyal. What more could a boy want? Even when Andy's dad moves out, Simon is certain that Andy doesn't need another pet. So why would Andy's dad adopt a DOG?! To make matters worse, the animal is a rude, rowdy troublemaker. Simon's job is clear: the beast has got to go. He decides to write him a letter. Strongly worded, of course. But when the dog's response sets off an unexpected correspondence, Simon realizes the beast may be here to stay. Can he make room for another ...