Geo Librarian

  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?...

  ALL THE HULK FEELS A Mighty Marvel Comics Picture Book written & illustrated by Dan Santat Abrams Fanfare, 2025 ISBN: 978-1-4197-7613-7 Source: Abrams for review Ages 5-10 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by the publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK In this graphic novel picture book from Marvel and Caldecott Medal–winning author Dan Santat, Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk work together to wrangle their super-sized emotions. Sequential illustration panels combine with traditional picture book elements to create a dazzling new reading experience for budding Marvel fans—and a perfect introduction to comics for the youngest readers. When scientist Bruce Banner starts to feel his emotions getting out of hand, he transforms into his alter ego, the Incredible Hulk! Usually, Hulk is ready to use his anger to smash supervillains, but when everyday moments like pickles on a burger (yuck!) begin triggering Bruce’s transformation...

  A NEWCOMER IN POCKETVILLE Monti and Leo #1 written and illustrated by Sylvie Kantorovitz Walker Books, 2024 ISBN: 978-1-5362-2277-7 Source: purchased Ages 6-9 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK A charming early reader in graphic form draws on the classic theme of friendship to show that being new—or different—doesn’t have to mean being lonely. Pocketville is a small town, set in its ways, and the arrival of a stranger causes a stir. Monti the mole is stunned one morning to find Leo the lizard hogging his special reading rock. When Monti visits the bakery and the library, he learns that the last cinnamon roll has been purchased, and the book he was waiting for has been checked out. What’s a fastidious mole to do? When Monti confronts Leo, the newcomer turns out to be agreeable in the extreme, and friendship is a given. Now to convince the town’s cantankerous baker, Ms. Sheep, to stop turnin...

  CLOUD PUPPY Cloud Puppy #1 written & illustrated by Kelly Leigh Miller Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2024 ISBN: 978-1-6659-5582-9 Source: publisher for review (Thanks!) All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by the publisher through Goodreads.com. Thanks to the publisher for arranging the interview and to Kelly Leigh Miller for answering my questions. ABOUT THE AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR Kelly Leigh Miller is an illustrator and author who loves everything cute and whimsical. She is the author of I Love My Fangs!, I Love My Fur!, I Love My Magic!, and many more books. Visit her online at KellyLeighMiller.com . INTERVIEW with KELLY LEIGH MILLER What is the 'story behind the story'? The idea for Cloud Puppy came from me revisiting my old love of Tamagotchis and Sanrio characters. At the time, I had also been studying Japanese mascots, the ones that are for businesses and cities, for character design inspiration. The character of Cloud Puppy c...

  THE GREAT PUPTECTIVE The Great Puptective #1 written and illustrated by Alina Tysoe Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2024 ISBN: 9781665938242  Source: eARC & ARC from the publisher (THANKS!) Ages 6-9 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover, author art, & summary provided by the publisher. ABOUT THE BOOK A set-in-his-ways housecat has his routine upended by an enthusiastic new puppy with a nose for solving mysteries in this first adorable book in a graphic novel chapter book series perfect for fans of InvestiGators and Narwhal and Jelly. Truffles the cat is the only pet in the house and reigns in peace and quiet, only exerting himself to find the best place to take a nice, long nap—preferably in a spot of warm sunshine. Then Poppy the puppy bursts onto the scene. Poppy is loud, enthusiastic, excitable, and—worst of all—a puptective! She’s got an eye for crime and a nose to solve all mysteries that come her way…even though she’s not compl...

THIS PLANET ROCKS! Rover and Speck #1 by Jonathan Roth with color by Paulina Suarez Kids Can Press, 2022 ISBN: 9781525305665 Source: purchased Ages 6-10 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher from Goodreads.com. REVIEW Rover lands on a rocky planet only to discover that his antenna broke on the descent.  The explorer decides to begin its journey by examining the planet as it was designed to do.  As Rover looks for life, it finds many rocks and minerals. Only when it scans for 'not-life' and 'not-rocks' does it find something different.  The 'not-life' and 'not-rock' turns out to be another rover called Special Planet Explorer Class-K, shortened to SPECK. Speck, unfortunately, doesn't remember anything about its mission and after charging its solar batteries, joins Rover exploring the planet. For a robot, Speck does puppy dog eyes really well. Speck's enthusiasm and Rover's expertise make them a good team, e...

SIR LADYBUG by Corey R. Tabor Balzer + Bray, 2022 ISBN: 978-0-06-306906-0 Source: purchased Ages 6-9 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by goodreads.com & publisher. ABOUT THE BOOK The debut of a clever and humorous young graphic novel series about the adventures of a valiant ladybug and his friends, from Geisel Award–winning author-illustrator Corey R. Tabor. Ladies and gentlebugs, presenting the duke of the dandelion patch, champion of truth and justice, the one, the only—Sir Ladybug! Sir Ladybug never shies away from a quest, even when he’d rather be playing a video game or baking a cake. So when a caterpillar needs rescuing from a “monster” (a hungry chickadee), Sir Ladybug and his trusty friends—his herald, a roly-poly named Pell, and his squire, a snail named Sterling—hatch the perfect (delicious) plan. From Geisel Award–winning author-illustrator Corey R. Tabor, comes a fresh and funny young graphic novel series sure to delight reader...

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 ...