Picture Book Wednesday: The Yellow Bus

A yellow bus winds it's way through town carrying important cargo. The cargo makes the bus happy. But things change and times moves on and the bus changes along with the times.

This is not a school story - but a fascinating history of one yellow bus and what makes her happy. This book is beautifully illustrated - I love the bright colors against the black and white illustrations. There's an author's note at the end of the book that explains the inspiration behind the story. 

Take a look at the making of this book:

* This book was sent for review

Top Ten Tuesday: Flower Covers

 This week's topic is all about May Flowers - this after the rain post in April (April showers bring May flowers). Here are some books with flowers that I'm excited to read. 

Just a few flowers here on the curtain:

Middle Grade Review: Heroes

Frank and Stanley are best friends, growing up on Pearl Harbor. They love superheroes and work together to create comic books. Frank writes the stories and Stanley draws them. They were meeting with a family friend on the USS Utah for a tour. 

The tour has barely started when Japanese planes flew overhead dropping bombs. From that moment on, Frank and Stanley's lives were in danger. They fight to make their way back home. 

Frank is white and Stanley is Japanese American. While the boys get back home, Stanley's mother recognizes that things have changed. She's burying their Japanese ancestry items.  People start looking at them differently afterwards. 

Even when they get home, the boys are not safe. 

My Thoughts: The story takes place in three parts: Before, During, and After. I loved the different parts and the fact that the book took place mostly in one day. There's lot of action and danger that kept me turning the pages quickly. I felt terrible for both the boys for all the horrors they witnessed. However, I felt worse for Stanley has he dealt with racism from people who had known his family.  While this book doesn't go much beyond the day of the attack, it does talk about the horrific history of the Japanese internment camps. I really enjoyed the question that this book sets out to answer: What makes a hero? I love how it worked as a topic for the main characters but also for the country. The point that we joined the war after an attack and not before raises some questions.  This is a great book for an introduction to Pearl Habor and the reasons America joined to war. 

Cover Thoughts: Great

Source: Checked out from the library

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your school and public library's collection.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

 

If you're a taco person (and really who isn't?), this is the book for you!

This book shares the history of tacos and how it's changed over the years. The big boom in tacos came after WWII and the start (maybe stolen start?) of the Taco Bell empire. There are so many variations on tacos - what's your favorite?

There's a recipe in the back of the book.

There's more taco facts and a timeline of the history of tacos.

It's fun to think about the history of the food. This book is part of a series.

There's one on pizza and mac and cheese that I'm excited to read. 

BookTok: Just Like Mille

 

@yabooknerdlibrarian I love Lauren Castillo’s new picture book - perfect for anyone who needs helping coming out of their shell like I did and perfect for dog lovers! #booktok #kidlit #picturebooks #dogs #introvert @Candlewick Press ♬ original sound - Jennifer @YA Book Nerd 📚📚📚

CLA: 2024

 Earlier this week, the annual Connecticut Librarian Conference took place. 

The keynote was none other than Librarian Superstar Mychal.

He is amazing. 

The first question he answered was: What’s your library story?

He also spoke about the seeing the whole community come together, how everyone needs the library, and that the library is the place where everyone belongs. 

He spoke about Library Joy and it got me thinking about my own stories. 

I'll start sharing them next week. 

It was nice to see so many familiar faces and getting to chat with other librarians. I don't get an opportunity to see friends that often. 

I spoke twice and both times with other librarians. 

First for a program at the library I work at: 

Second on a panel with two other Young Adult Librarian about book-talking and reader's advisory.

The sign outside the room

We created some book suggestions. You can see them here. 

Picture Book Wednesday: Five Stories

Five Stories is about one building and the families who lived there over the decades. They might not know it, but they are connected. 

I loved reading how the connections and pouring over the illustrations. This is a great book for older picture book readers. There's so much to talk about with this book, making it a great one to share. A wonderful slice to of history of New York City. 

* Book sent for review

Top Ten Tuesdays: 5 Star Reads

 This week's topic is one I'm changing up. I don't like sharing negative things about books, so I'm talking about my latest five-star reads. I haven't talked about picture books and board books in a while, so here are some recently read favorites. 

What was your last 5 star read? 

Middle Grade Monday: Mystery of the Locked Rooms

Sarah and her two best friends love escape rooms. When Sarah spots a foreclosure notice on her front door, she knows everything will change. Her father has a chronic health condition and her mother's working as much as she can, but it's not enough.

West, Hannah, and Sarah remember hearing about a treasure in an old, abandoned funhouse. They decide to risk the danger and see if the treasure is real. It could be the answer to Sarah's problems. She really doesn't want to have to move and lose her friends.

Together, they find the hidden passageway inside. The first room leads them to another room in such a way that there's no way backwards. They can only move forwards. Their phones don't work and the rooms don't have much light. Can the three friends who love escape room find their way through the funhouse?  

My Thoughts: This was a super run read: lots of puzzles to figure out. I've never been to an escape room, although I've helped build a couple for my library. Reading about these rooms was really neat. I'm impressed with how Sarah, West, and Hannah did. I loved how they worked together to solve the puzzles. I love how they used their strengths and how they dealt with their weaknesses. I liked the story of the triplets and how they came together to create the funhouse. The book takes place mostly in one day. I loved all the action and the danger from the funhouse rooms. 

And even better, there's a sequel! I can't wait to see what happens next. 

Cover Thoughts: Perfect

 Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: A must have middle grade book for your school and public library collection

Romance Review: Practice Makes Perfect

* Book 2 in the Rome series *

Annie's the sweet sister - the good girl. And she's tired of that identity. She's tired of hiding her true feelings from her siblings. She has a gaping hole in her heart and she has decided to find a husband to fill that hole.

But the date she goes on is a disaster of epic proportions. The one saving grace is a friend who happens to be there. Will is Amelia's bodyguard, but he's also kind. Plus, he's been on so many dates. He reluctantly agrees to coach Annie in dating. 

But the whole town thinks that Will and Annie are dating. Annie starts to fall for Will. How can she escape this relationship without getting her heart broken?

My Thoughts: I really loved this book. I loved Annie - how she had layers and secrets she didn't share with her siblings. I loved her secret love of romance novels. I loved watching her become more confident and come into her own. Of course, the moments with the siblings and Amelia are always fun. I loved that baseball date. Lots of humor here, but don't let that fool you, there's plenty of feelings here to work through. I can't wait to see which sibling is up next, I have a feeling....

Cover Thoughts: Cute

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your romance collection!

BookTok: You are a Unicorn

 

This new board book came into the library:

@yabooknerdlibrarian You are a Unicorn! Such a sweet board book with gorgeous illustrations! Be sure to read this one! #boardbook #booktok #unicorns #kidlit @Random House Children’s Books ♬ original sound - Jennifer @YA Book Nerd 📚📚📚

Picture Book Wednesday: Bunny Should Be Sleeping

Bunny should be sleeping but he's waiting for his father to check on him.  When his father doesn't come, bunny gathers up all the tools and goes to check on his father himself. His father is sleeping. Bunny goes through their bedtime rituals alone - until the final one where he needs his father's help.

A cute bedtime story about a bunny and his father and bedtime rituals. They need each other! The calm illustrations are soothing. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books up next

 This week's topic is the books up next in my TBR.

Here they are:

Have you read any of these? Which one should I read next?