Children's Literature Blogs @ NYPL

Lexy longs to perform in dances, but stage fright nixes that dream. Instead, she decides to become a dance teacher so that she can dance and avoid the stage. After all, dance teachers do not have to perform. Unfortunately, recruiting students seems impossible, even for free dance lessons. Frustrated, she quits being a dance teacher, but, unbeknownst to her, the next day a bunch of furry blue friendly giants show up at her doorstep, looking for a free dance class.

Ever wonder what you could do to help the environment? This book provides a plethora of suggestions. Following are just a few of the ideas you can read about in this work.

Horse reproduction! I never thought that I would learn so much about this subject by reading a book about wild horse scientists, but I guess that it makes sense. After all, managing the numbers of wild horses on islands, especially publicly protected land in which predators are few and far between, is a challenge.

Where in the world are you reading about? Fiction finds its settings in all corners of the world (and some places only imagined in our minds) but there's something special about fiction set in a familiar city or neighborhood. Let's take a trip out of Manhattan for now, and into the lively borough of Brooklyn! This is one of the most storied areas that make up New York City.

When the librarian told the kids that the library was slated to close because it was in a state of disrepair, the kids brainstormed about how to help the library. In fact, at each step of the way, not surprisingly, they read books to educate themselves about the logistics of their ideas and to flesh them out.

One day, librarian Molly decided to drive her mobile library van into the zoo, and all of the animals were flummoxed! She read from Dr. Seuss and the zoo animals were drawn toward her. They were fascinated by reading, and went wild over the many different kinds of books that the library van displayed. The animals read together or alone or while eating lunch, and some, unfortunately, had overdue books.

One of the most common questions we get from our young readers is "Where are your scary books?" Unfortunately, books for children and teens that will keep readers on the edge of their seats are usually mixed in with the rest of the fiction section, so they can be a little tricky to find… until now.

Some animals in the world are treated badly, and vegans do not want to be a part of that. They do not use animals for food, clothing or fun. This is good for the animals, our health, and the environment.

People may not be aware of how much they eat, wear, buy and throw out in their lifetimes. This book brings in the numbers.

In your lifetime, you will drive 627,000 miles in a car, eat enough bread to equal your body weight every three years, take 28,433 showers, and eat 12,888 oranges. You will spend $52,972 on clothes, and you will likely own 12 cars.

Dolores came from a privileged family, and she grew up to be a teacher. Cesar's family were migrant laborers and they worked under harsh conditions. One day, the two met, and they agreed to work together for better living and working conditions for farm employees. They organized the workers and urged them to fight for justice.

Jeff Stone is one busy guy. A Detroit native, he is an avid mountain biker and martial artist in addition to being an author of several children's books. I read his latest book last year, the first in a new series, and throughly enjoyed it. I had a few questions for Mr. Stone about most recent work, his diverse cast of characters, and what's next for him. I thought it was only fair to share his amazing responses with all of you. 

Shel Silverstein's poems are humorous; no one can deny this.

In "How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes," kids learn how to avoid this onerous chore. Silverstein's advice? Drop one onto the floor. The illustration includes a huge dish that is covering a girl's entire body.

I love the cat breed illustrations on the inside of the front and back covers of this book. All of the cats look so happy! The book is full of poems that indicate the nature of cats, and anyone who has experience with cats or who has lived with cats knows exactly what Crawley is talking about in these cat poems.

Where in the world are you reading about? Fiction finds its settings in all corners of the world (and some places only imagined in our minds) but there's something special about fiction set in a familiar city or neighborhood. This week I thought I'd tackle another famous neighborhood of Manhattan, but now we're traveling uptown to Harlem.

This is a story about bats taking over the library at night when it is closed: "Bat night at the library." What could be better? It is a bat holiday that bats wait for all year, like Christmas.

A shopping trip with mama and baby. But Llama Llama is disappointed because he wants to play. Countless other types of animals also shop at the Shop-O-Rama. Llama Llama does not like shopping for clothes... or food.

Ever wanted a yellow cow? How about a green salamander? Or a turquoise frog? You will not find any salamanders or frogs in this book. And if you did, they would not be green or blue. However, the yellow cow is a winner in this tale.

Simon loved peanut butter and only three other foods. Like many kids, it was hard for him to break his eating routine. Luckily for him, peanut butter was plentiful at Nutley School. The principal was named Mrs. Filbert (a type of nut), and the school had teachers called Mrs. Hazel and Mr. Almond. Havoc almost erupted when new student Grant arrived. Grant was on a peanut-free diet. Eating even a single peanut could make him very sick, so it was extremely important for him to avoid any contact with peanuts.