Woo hoo! New books for April!

The April children's/YA orders have been sent! Woo hoo! Here's a peek at some that have really caught my eye. I haven't seen them yet, and I want to include as many as possible, so I won't go into depth for each title:



4-H Guide to Raising Chickens

Books on animal care are consistently requested by our local children. Dog care, cat care, horse care....we've got that covered. However, child-friendly information on raising chickens is scarce, and I usually have to direct families to our adult nonfiction section. I won't have to do that anymore once we get this title in! School Library Journal gave it an excellent review and said that every library serving a rural population should own it. Cha-ching! The fact that it's a 4-H publication just adds to the appeal. This is a new series; titles on rabbit care, dog training, and vegetable gardening are forthcoming.



13 Treasures

Publishers Weekly recommends this for Spiderwick fans.



As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth

Now, this sounds really cool: Ry takes a train trip to his summer camp, only to find out that the session has been cancelled. He's stranded in the wilderness; what can he do?



The Birthday Ball

Kirkus Reviews says that this is "[g]uaranteed to generate giggles and guffaws." Kirkus Reviews can be pretty grumpy when it comes to children's books, so this is high praise, indeed! Lois Lowry is one of my favorites, so I'm super excited about this book.



Chalk

Oooh, a wordless book. Those can be tricky to promote to parents; most prefer something that they can read. However, kids love them, and they are great for pre-readers, because they can look at the pictures and talk about what is going on. Three children draw with chalk on a rainy day. The pictures come to life, and it looks like a dinosaur is involved.



Crunch

Having reviewed Lesley Connor's Waiting for Normal for School Library Journal, I was so happy when I heard that she had a spring release. THEN, I read the plot of the story, and MAN! This sounds awesome! Dewey's family owns a bicycle repair shop, and he's agreed to run the store while his parents are away. Everything goes crazy when the gas pumps dry out. People rush to buy bikes and to get their bikes fixed, so you can imagine that the shop is absolutely swamped! And Dewey's parents are stuck without a way to get home! Things get desperate when Dewey finds bicycle parts missing from the shop. This is, on one hand, obviously a story about energy dependence, but with Connor's skillful writing, it's destined to be much more than just that.



Disney in Shadow

Arrgh! I still haven't gotten around to reading the first book in the Kingdom Keepers series, which is set in Disney World. This is the third in the series.



The Dreamer (some places are listing this as Neruda: The Novel)

I love Esperanza Rising and Becoming Naomi Leon, so the fact that Ryan has a new book makes me very happy. I don't know anything about Pablo Neruda, so this will be a special treat.



Foiled

A graphic novel by Jane Yolen? Sign me up! Really curious about this one.



Mockingbird

This was receiving 2011 Newbery buzz around the time the 2010 Newbery was announced. Which, frankly, is a bit too early for me, and I love reading Newbery buzz and predictions. Early Newbery buzz means that the backlash will start that much sooner. It sounds like a great story, but stay tuned. Stories about Aspergers and autism spectrum disorders are not that new, but the characters have been male (which reflects the population of autism spectrum disorders). Having a story from a girl's perspective is unique.



Pigs to the Rescue

Every time I want to use the Warrenton copy of Chickens to the Rescue for story time, I'm denied! It's always checked out, and no wonder, because it's such a delightfully funny story. Pigs to the Rescue sounds just as fun and funny.



Polly's Pink Pajamas

Parents of pink-obsessed girls, take notice!



The Popularity Papers

"This one's for the Wimpy Girls," says Publishers Weekly.



The Red Pyramid

Hey, gang! Rick Riordan's got a new series, and this one's on Egyptian mythology. If you want it, you should put a hold on it, as Beyonce would say.

Say Hello!



"A little girl greets people in her neighborhood in many different languages." Oh, yay, cute. Rachel Isadora's books work well as read alouds, so I'm hoping to use this in a story time. We sing a bilingual song ("Good Morning to You/Buenos Dias a Ti") as part of our opening, so this would work well.



Shark Vs. Train

A shark and a train compete in a variety of contests. Really cool concept, and sounds hilarious.



The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

OK, I'm really at a loss to describe the book, seeing as I haven't read it, but I first heard about it in a School Library Journal webcast and thought it sounded so unique. The reviews have been excellent. I can't wait to make an origami Yoda with our anime club this summer.



The Summer Before

I was a huge Babysitters Club fan back in the day; I kept up with the books for two years, I think, then moved on. Scholastic is reissuing the series with new covers and with some minor updated details to make the series current. I think that this reintroduction will win over new fans. Not only that, Martin has written a prequel to the series. I'm looking forward to rediscovering the series.



The Ugly Duckling

I love Hans Christian Andersen's tales, but they're usually too long for read alouds. School Library Journal singled this out as being an appealing read aloud. Apparently, this is the first in a series of "simplified fairy tales." We'll see how this goes!



We the Children

The king of school stories has created a new mystery series. SOLD!



What If?

I like this author very much, and this looks like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" type book for younger children (but I think you can only choose the ending). Cool. I'm seeing more of these books, all of a sudden. Just like 3-D is back, all of a sudden (you can watch the Masters tournament in 3-D? Does the golf ball go flying toward you? Are the 3-D TVs going to be that popular?). Everything old is new again.