Princess Books

Two important stickers from the "Books We Love" Valentine's heart were not included in yesterday's list. Both stickers said that the readers' favorite books were about princesses, but there are so many different kinds of princess books! The "Books We Love" list wouldn't have done the genre any justice.

Today's post is devoted to all things Princess: from animal stories to fairy tales to more realistic books, the following list will introduce all kinds of princesses in all kinds of worlds. Just like yesterday, click the "Read more" link to see the whole list.

Readers' Report: Valentine's Edition!

Here's a great big "Thank you!" to everyone who helped with the special Valentine's display.  We had a lot of people come into the children's room to write down the title of their favorite book or series of books--so many people, in fact, that we filled a great big paper heart above the book display!

Getting a picture of the whole heart was easy to do, but it's even more important to share this list of favorite books.  The list is pretty long, so click on the "Read more" link to see all of the titles, grouped by reading level.

Samantha Hansen: Rock Star!

Nancy Viau (2008). Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head (Gr. 3-6)

Ten-year-old Samantha Hansen is crazy about science.  She loves learning about caves, clouds, the weather, and especially rocks.  She also likes to make lists: a talent she got from her dad, who died a long time ago.  When her mom announces a family vacation to the Grand Canyon, Samantha's wildest dreams come true: she'll get to see the biggest, oldest, most colorful rocks she's ever heard of.   The vacation almost falls through, however, because Samantha has trouble controlling her temper.  It's not easy to be calm with a pesky older sister and classmates who like to tease!

There's a lot to like about Samantha Hansen.  She asks honest questions and makes honest mistakes.  She's a good friend and a (mostly) good sister.  She's also a little awkward, and sometimes you want to jump into the story and stop her from whatever she's about to do.  On the whole, Samantha Hansen makes this a very good book that skips along quickly in her quest to know as much as possible about her family, herself, and (of course) rocks.

Waiting for Mama

Lee Tae-Jun, illustrated by Kim Dong-Seong (2007).  Waiting for Mama (Gr. K-2).

(Bilingual: English and Korean) 
On a wintry, cold afternoon a small boy waits patiently at a streetcar station for his mama to come home.  Other passengers come and go, but there's no sign of the boy's mother.  As each streetcar arrives, the little boy asks the driver if his mama is there.  The little boy sits quietly despite his cold, red nose, and he continues to wait as snow begins to fall and the day gets darker. 

Although this story was originally written for a Korean newspaper in 1938, Kim Dong-Seong's new illustrations bring the Korean people, landscape, and culture to life.  Pay close attention to the pictures--the final drawing has two very important people in it.