Some New Books for September

No More, Por Favor
by Susan Middleton Elya and pictures by David Walker

This picture book has some Spanish words to describe the animals and food, and there is a glossary and pronunciation guide in the front of the book. The story starts with a little monkey who has decided that he is tired of eating bananas. Then there are more and more little animals, such as the parrot, who is tired of papayas, the toucan, who is tired of pomegranate seeds, the iguana, who is tired of mango, and many other little animals who have become tired of eating the same things over and over. What will the little animals’ parents feed them? Will they get to try eating something new?

The Fantastic Adventures of Baron Munchausen: Traditional and Newly Discovered Tales of Karl Friedrich Hieronymous von Munchausen
by Heinz Fanisch with illustrations by Aljosch Blau and translated by Belinda Cooper

The fictional book begins with a little note by Heinz Janisch to say that the Baron Munchhausen was a real person who told stories of his adventures as he traveled around. The book contains several of the stories that were written by Munchausen into a notebook. In one story, the baron arrives in a town that is covered in snow. He ties his horse to a pole that is sticking up out of the snow, and then he goes to sleep in the snow. When he wakes up, though, the snow is gone, and he finds his horse hanging from the top of a church steeple, which was what the pole that was sticking up was. He shoots the leather strap holding the horse up there, and then he and his horse take off out of town. Each page has a story of the baron’s on one side, with a beautifully illustrated picture on the other. In one story, the baron rides on a cannonball, and in another story a lady gives the baron and his companions a bag of sunshine so they can find their way through the forest to a hut. Each story is big and entertaining. What other adventures of the baron’s will you find?

Periwinkle Smith and the Faraway Star
by John & Wendy

Periwinkle Smith really enjoys looking through her little gold telescope at birds, fish, and even enemy pirates, and at night, she uses the telescope to look up at the stars. Then she notices one star that is off on its own and that looks very lonely. She decides to become that star’s friend, so that it will not be lonely. So she writes the star a letter and gives it to a little bird to deliver to the star, but the little bird does not take the letter to the star. Then she paints the star a picture and tries to send it to him with a balloon, but the balloon does not make it to the star, either. Periwinkle then decides to create a rocket that will take her message to the star, but the rocket does not make it off the ground. Periwinkle worries that she will not be able to reach the star, but then she gets an idea after seeing her flashlight. What will Periwinkle do to reach the star? Will the star be happy to have a new friend?

City Dog, Country Frog
by Mo Willems and pictures by John H Muth

In the spring, City Dog decides to run as far and fast as he can, and then he meets Country Frog. He asks what the frog is doing, and the frog says, “Waiting for a friend, but you’ll do.” So City Dog and Country Frog play Country Frog games together of jumping and croaking. Then in the summer, City Dog goes back to find his friend Country Frog, and they play City Dog games of sniffing and fetching together. In the fall, Country Frog is tired, so they play remembering games of the fun they have had together in the spring and summer. When City Dog comes back in the winter, will he find Country Frog? Will he still be able to have a fun trip?

Teddy Bears

One True Bear
by Ted Dewan

One bear named Darcy Brewster is a very brave bear who decides to volunteer to become a boy named Damian’s “One True Bear.” Damian is very hard on his stuffed animals, and no other bear had the stuffing to become Damian’s “One True Bear.” When Damian first sees Darcy, he is a little rough with him, but Darcy tells him that he cannot love and comfort Damian without his arms. In fact, every time Damian tries to be rough with Darcy, Darcy reminds him that he cannot love and keep Damian company if Damian tears him up. The days keep passing where Damian is not rough with Darcy, and Darcy knows that he has succeeded in becoming Damian’s “One True Bear.” Then one day Darcy falls under the bed and Damian forgets that he is there. Will Damian remember his “One True Bear?” Will Darcy have to stay under the bed forever?

Everybody Has a Teddy
by Virginia Kroll and illustrated by Sophie Allsopp

Everyone in a child’s class has a teddy bear except for her. All of them have lots of different kinds of bears. Hunter has a bear with stuffing poking out, Ben has a bear that moves and beats a bongo drum, Katie has a bear that is also a backpack, Josh has a teddy bear that is bigger than he is, and Sethy has a roly-polar bear that was once white. Everywhere he looks, he sees the different kinds of teddy bears that everyone else brought. This child does not have a teddy bear, but what do you think he brought instead?

Bedtime without Arthur
by Jessica Meserve

Bella’s bear is named Arthur, and Arthur protects her at night from anything that is hiding in the dark. One day when Bella went to give Arthur a slice of pizza, she cannot find him. She looks everywhere, but she cannot find him. Her parents tell her that they will look for Arthur in the morning, but Bella is very scared without Arthur there to protect her while she is sleeping. She also has bad dreams without him there. The next day, she still cannot find Arthur, and she has to go to bed without him again. That night, Bella sees something outside her window, so she runs into her little brother’s room. She finds something there that really surprises her. What did Bella find in her little brother’s room? Will she ever be able to find Arthur and get a good night’s sleep again?

The Perfect Bear
by Gillian Shields and illustrated by Gary Blythe

One day a girl gets a little white bear that plays music when you turn a little key. The bear was very proud of the way that he looked. The bear thought his name was “Do not touch,” and he did not like it when the little girl tried to play with him. Every time that she plays with him, he loses his hat, gets sand in his fur, and gets his fur dirty and this make the bear very angry. One day, the little girl gives him a bath, and his fur is not white or soft anymore. The bath also breaks his music box, and the girl takes it out for him. The bear is sad that he is now a plain, old bear, but the little girl starts taking him to bed with her at night because he is much cuddlier. The bear is very sad, but the old pink rabbit tells him that it is better to be loved that to be beautiful. Then one night, the girl tells the bear that she loves him, and this causes him to think. The next day, the little girl loses her bear in the department store. Will she be able to find him? Will the bear ever think that it is better to be loved than beautiful?

Honey

Honey…Honey…Lion!: A Story from Africa
by Jan Brett

The honeyguide and the honey badger work as partners to find and eat honey. The honeyguide shows the honey badger where the honey is, and the honey badger breaks the honeycomb open with its claws. Then the two animals share the honey. One day, the honey badger decides not to share any of the honey with the honeyguide. Honeyguide scolds Badger all the way back to his burrow, but he ignores the honeyguide and goes to sleep. The next morning Honeyguide decides to teach Badger a lesson. Honeyguide leads Badger over the roots of the baobab, across the water hole, over the termite mound, through the papyrus, and further and further on. The Badger wonders how far he will have to go, but he tells himself that he cannot wait to the get to the honey, so he keeps on following Honeyguide. Does the Honeyguide lead Badger to honey? Will Badger learn his lesson and never refuse to share the honey again?

The Best Beekeeper of Lalibela: A Tale from Africa
by Cristina Kessler and illustrated by Leonard Jenkins

Almaz likes to taste the honey from the different sellers at the open-air market. She decides that one day her honey will be the best at the market. One day, Almaz goes to visit the men who keep the bees, and she tells them that she also wants to make honey. The men all laugh at her and tell her that beekeeping is only for men. This makes Almaz so upset that runs into a priest. He asks her what is wrong, and after she tells him, he says that she can keep bees if she wants to. One of the men tells Almaz to climb the tree to bring a hive down, but she cannot make it up the tree. The men laugh at her as she leaves, and they think that she has given up on beekeeping. Then three months later, Almaz starts selling honey at the market, and every one decides to buy her beautiful honey. Then one Saturday, Almaz is not at the market. Then she misses two more. When the priest goes to check on her, he finds that the bee hive she made in a little mud cone on the ground has been invaded by ants. Will Almaz be able to figure out a way to keep the ants out of her hive? Will she be able to sell honey at the open-air market again? Will she ever achieve her goal of being the best beekeeper of Lalibela?

Honey in a Hive
by Anne Rockwell and illustrated by S.D. Schindler

This nonfiction book is all about bees and the way that they make honey. The book talks about the different kinds of bees and what their jobs are within the hive, how bees are able to find the nectar and pollen they need to feed the other bees and make honey, how one bee is able to tell the other bees where a field of flowers are, how the nectar becomes honey, and how the queen leaves to create other hives of bees. The book also tells you how you can tell what kind of flowers the bees gather the nectar from, and at the very end of the book are some more facts about bees and honey.

A Taste of Honey
by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

One day Lily opens the honey jar, looks and sniffs, and touches the honey, and then she asks her Poppy some questions. She asks, “Where does honey come from?” Her poppy tells her it came from the jar, but she asks him “But before that?” Lily’s Poppy tells her that it came from the store, from a truck, from a honey farm, from a honey harvest, from a hive, and from a honeycomb. Lily then asks him “before that?,” but he does not have an answer. Will Lily find out where honey comes from? The different pages also have a lot of information about the different steps in the honey making process. There are illustrations and explanations of each step of the process. At the end of the book is a honey game that can be played using the book and some honey facts.

September is National Chicken Month

September is National Chicken Month!

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
by John Agee, Tedd Arnold, Jerry Pinkney, David Shannon, Mo Willems, and many others

We all know the age old question, “Why did the chicken cross the road?,” and many of us know that it was “To get to the other side.” However, there are many illustrators that have a different opinion of why the chicken crossed the road. Tedd Arnold believes that the chicken crossed the road to show an opossum that it could be done. David Shannon believes it was because the traffic light turned red, and the chicken could race away in his convertible. Jerry Pinkney believes that it was to get to a picnic with all of her friends. Harry Bliss believes it was to get away from the mutated zombie chickens from Mars. Each illustrator has a different theory that they have illustrated on each page, and some are really funny. How many other reasons can they come up with?



















The Chicken Dance
by Jacques Couvillon

Don never really gets much attention from anyone, not even his parents. His mother is always talking about his older sister Dawn who died when he was just a baby, and he feels that he can never live up to this sister that he never met. He lives on Horse Island where people raise a lot of chickens, and people know a lot about the chickens that they raise. His family also raises chickens, because they have to have at least twenty-five chickens to keep the house that Don’s father’s uncle left him. His mother understands very little about chickens, and she hates taking care of the chickens and living on Horse Island. Don knows both of his parents are unhappy, but there is very little that can be done about it. He also knows that they are keeping something from him, but he can never figure out what it is. Don really likes the chickens and wants to take care of them, but his mother does not want him to go anywhere near the chickens. After his parents forget his eleventh birthday, his mother decides to let him take care of the chickens. Don learns everything he can about chickens, so that he can take good care of them. Then he decides to take part in the chicken-judging contest at the Dairy Festival. Don knows so much about chickens that he wins the contest. Then he gets lots of attention from the people in town and the kids at school. Leon Leonard, the popular kid who likes to make fun of him, even decides to be friends with him. Then one day he finds his birth certificate and discovers that his real name is Stanley, and he really knows that his parents are hiding something from him. What is the big secret that he is missing? Will he stay popular with his new friends and all of the people in town?




















Chicks & Chickens
by Gail Gibbons

This nonfiction book is full of all kinds of facts about chickens. The book talks about the different ways chickens sing, what the differences are between chicks, hens, and roosters, some common breeds of chickens, how chickens lay eggs, how chicks grow in their eggs, and what the different names of the stages of a chicken are. At the end of the book are some more interesting facts about chickens, such as they can live to be about twelve years old, the egg can support up to nine pounds before it breaks, the most eggs laid by a chicken in one year is 371, and that each year in the United States, the chickens lay about 80 billion eggs.

Cock-a-doodle-hooooooo!

by Mick Manning and illustrated by Brita Granstrom

An owl is stuck in a storm one night and he looks for a place to get away from the storm, and at a farmyard, he found some place cozy and warm, where he fell fast asleep. The next morning, the hens were very surprised to see him in their henhouse. They decided to see if he would make a good rooster for them, because they needed a rooster around. Unfortunately, the owl is not good a pecking, scratching, and especially not cock-a-doodling. The speckled hen decides to teach the owl to be a good rooster. Owl learned how to act like a rooster, but as much as he tried, he could not cock-a-doodle. He gets mad when the hens start making fun of him and tells them that he is an owl and what owls do. Will the owl be able to prove himself to the chickens so that he can stay in the warm, cozy henhouse? Will he be able to do something that shows them an owl can be just as useful as a rooster?