We Are Growing!

Posted on: January 12, 2017 at 9:15 pm, in

We Are Growing!By Laurie Keller One of the new Elephant & Piggie Like Reading books, We Are Growing by Laurie Keller entices emerging readers to keep practicing their skills once they’ve finished all the books in their beloved Mo Willems series. With high-impact, brightly coloured and cartoonish illustrations, simple text and larger than life sounds […]

Book Scavenger

Posted on: December 22, 2016 at 6:37 pm, in

Book ScavengerBy Jennifer Chambliss Bertman Imagine a scavenger hunt that involves deciphering secret codes and following clues that could take you all over the city – any city.  Now imagine that the prizes you are seeking are all books.  You can even hide your own books and leave clues for other players.  This is the […]

Any Questions?

Posted on: December 4, 2016 at 3:17 pm, in

Any Questions? By Marie-Louise Gay A thought-provoking release from Marie-Louise Gay, this picturebook aims to not only answer questions but more importantly, encourage children to keep asking questions. Often children will express an interest in where stories come from and how a book is made, and Gay inspires children to capture their imaginations on paper. Through a creative […]

Spirit Bear

Posted on: November 25, 2016 at 12:22 pm, in

Spirit BearBy Jennifer Harrington, illustrated by Michael Arnott Annuk is a baby bear, born to a black bear mother.  Deep in the Great Bear Rainforest, Annuk discovers that he is special; unlike his siblings, Annuk is a white “Spirit Bear”.  His mother tells him that one day, he will “catch more salmon than any bear […]

Serafina and the Black Cloak

Posted on: November 17, 2016 at 8:38 pm, in

Serafina and the Black CloakBy Robert Beatty Serafina is a 12-year-old girl who lives in the grand Biltmore Estate in 1899.  Owned by the famous Vanderbilt family, the house itself is beautiful and vast, almost a castle.  The grounds are lovely, manicured, and surrounded by forest.  But Serafina is not a rich girl or even […]

The Swallow: A Ghost Story

Posted on: November 4, 2016 at 3:18 pm, in

The Swallow By Charis Cotter Polly is an awkward and lonely girl with a big family – too big in her estimation.  There are so many kids that her parents barely notice Polly.  Even her own bedroom, which has always been her sanctuary, has now been invaded by baby Sarah, with whom Polly must share […]

Where Are You Going Baby Lincoln?

Posted on: October 20, 2016 at 9:10 pm, in

Where Are You Going Baby Lincoln?By Kate DiCamillo In the third installment in the Tales from Deckawoo Drive series, Baby Lincoln is feeling stifled by her older sister Eugenia.  Having been bossed around by the rule-bound Eugenia all her life, Baby Lincoln decides she must go on a “necessary journey”, although she does not know […]

The Blackthorn Key

Posted on: October 5, 2016 at 10:07 am, in

by Kevin SandsIt’s 1665 in London, England. Christopher Rowe is an apothecary’s apprentice. His master, Benedict Blackthorn – a well-respected, if slightly absentminded, apothecary, is teaching Christopher all about combining ingredients to create powerful medicines, as well as codes and puzzles that help to keep recipes for said medicines a secret.  Suddenly apothecaries all over […]

What the Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy

Posted on: September 20, 2016 at 2:52 pm, in

What the DickensBy Gregory Maguire On a dark and stormy night, after the power has gone out and the food is almost gone, the Ormsby children are tired and frightened.  Their parents have left them in the care of Gage, an older cousin, and the rest of their neighbourhood has been evacuated.  Determined to be […]

Wolf Hollow

Posted on: August 29, 2016 at 5:27 pm, in

by Lauren Wolk   Annabelle lives a steady life with her parents, grandparents, two younger brothers plus aunt in a small Pennsylvania farming town. The arrival of the new girl Betty shakes things up and not in a good way. Annabelle quickly learns the new girl is a relentless bully who threatens not only Annabelle […]