Booklist Online: More than 130,000 book reviews for librarians, book groups, and book lovers - from the trusted experts at the American Library Association

Cindy: Paper or plastic? We are all familiar with that question, but I wasn’t familiar with the female inventor who gave us the machine to make a paper grocery bag. In The Bag! Margaret Knight Wraps It Up (Tundra 2011) is a delightful picture book biography of a little known inspiring woman. The book opens [...]

Cindy: Do you mind if I gush? I’ve fallen in love with the Wren family. I don’t get to read as many children’s books as I do middle school and teen books so I missed What Happened on Fox Street, the prequel to Mo Wren, Lost and Found (Harper/Balzer & Bray 2011). Readers can easily [...]

Cindy: Lynn found this gem of a series, and I am so glad. Good storytelling in early chapter stories is always a treat and Anna Hibiscus (Kane Miller 2010) one sings on many levels. Most stories for this age level are set in the United States so to have an African setting is awesome, especially since the [...]

Lynn: Talk about an early holiday gift!  One of my favorite literary characters, Bartimaeus, is back!  Bartimaeus –   snarky, egotistical, irreverent, utterly disrespectful of authority and just as utterly unable to control his smart mouth, king of the footnotes, djinn of the Fourth level – is back.  Hurray!  In The Ring of Solomon (Hyperion [...]

Lynn: I am writing about the two new entries in Houghton’s Scientists in the Field series today.  Seriously people – just put this series on standing order and be done with it!  Each book is a treat and you don’t want to risk missing one.  I’m an unabashed fan of the series.  The books focus [...]

Lynn: As our focus group started to read independently, I girded my mental loins for the arrival of beginning readers. What our school calls “Baggy Books” started coming home in their backpacks to be read every night. It’s a great concept and I have faithfully supported its practice but the books did nothing to change [...]

Lynn: This beguiling book is set in the same world and with some of the same characters as one of my favorite series that began with Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot (Houghton 2003). Written by Stevermer with Patricia Wrede the books are set in an alternate regency England where magic works. Think [...]

Cindy: The BP oil spill is sure to be incorporated into many curricular lessons this school year with its wide-spread environmental and economic impact. Libraries would be wise to be prepared with books to support the lessons to be learned. One of the many tough things to watch has been the growing impact on the [...]

Cindy: War makes monsters of men (and women) and war is upon the citizens of New Prenticetown in Monsters of Men (Candlewick, 2010), the conclusion to the stunning Chaos Walking Trilogy. If you’re not familiar with the trilogy, then what are you doing reading this post? Get thee to a library or bookstore and get [...]

Lynn: Hayes, winner of the 2010 Geisel award for Benny and Penny in the Big No-No, brings Benny and Penny back for their third adventure in Benny and Penny in the Toy Breaker (Raw Jr. 2010). As the enticing cover proclaims their cousin Bo, the dreaded toy breaker, is also back. The furry siblings hide [...]