Archives for Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. I really enjoy meta-fictional books for younger readers. By this I mean books that are “aware” of their book-ness, or that actively reinforce their book-ness to the reader. For example, characters may interact with the physicality of the book, provide commentary on themselves and their world within the book, or break the fourth wall and address the reader. I’ve
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Like so many folk and fairy tales, such as The Three Little Pigs, there are many versions of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. For a traditional telling, check out this bilingual version on Hoopla by Candice Ransom or this version by James Marshall on Kanopy. However, since this is Peculiar Picks, here are three of my
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. I just love how time travel opens up possibilities for zany storytelling, but also some exploration of deeper ideas, such as cause and effect and the consequences of actions. Oh No! Not Again! (Or How I Built a Time Machine to Save History) (Or at Least My History Grade) by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Dan Santat Library Catalog Sequel
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Today’s two Peculiar Picks have one thing in common – hungry monsters on a rampage. Hangry by Drew Brockington OverDrive / Library Catalog A small, Godzilla-like monster arrives in a big city on a train, food guide in hand, looking for a particular highly-rated hot dog restaurant. Only when he arrives, calamity strikes: the restaurant is closed! He’s not
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Ben Hatke is best known for his excellent graphic novel series, Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl, but he’s done a number of other works that are absolutely worth reading. Two of these are his picture books, Nobody Likes a Goblin and Julia’s House for Lost Creatures, which feature his signature art style and have amusing, heartfelt, stories. My
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Mary Wears What She Wants by Keith Negley Library Catalog My wife and I read a lot of books with positive messages for girls to our daughter – books that show girls and women accomplishing amazing things in every field; emphasizing self-determination; promoting equality (and showing the wrongness of inequality); body/image positivity; being heroes in real-life and fantasy; and
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. To celebrate the announcement of our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program, today’s Peculiar Picks features two titles about characters who absolutely love books. We hope your future Kindergarten students learn to love books just as much as Winston the Wolf and Leo the Knight. Winston the Book Wolf by Marni McGee, illustrated by Ian Beck Library Catalog Book lovers
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Rear End Reads. Tail Tales. Stern Stories. Great Glutes. Rump Recommendations. Peculiar Posterior Picks. In other words: Butt Books. I had so many fun names for today’s Peculiar Picks (including some I couldn’t include in this family friendly column) featuring the (probably) most laugh-inducing part of the body: the hilarious heinie. Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black, illustrated by
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. There are many, many versions of The Three Little Pigs — from traditional retellings, to ones with other animals such as fish and sharks, to ones with other things like trucks or tamales, to, of course, several versions that tell how badly the wolf was maligned in the original tale. This being Peculiar Picks, however, I wanted to pick
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Annually, in order to raise cancer awareness, No-Shave November takes place. “The goal of No-Shave November is to grow awareness by embracing our hair, which many cancer patients lose, and letting it grow wild and free. Donate the money you typically spend on shaving and grooming to educate about cancer prevention, save lives, and aid those fighting the battle.”
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. ‘Tis the season for… spooky reads! Today’s books are not (necessarily) outright scary but provide some suspense-filled fun, and only one of them is specifically a Halloween title. I recommend breaking out your best creepy “horror movie” voice. Need some inspiration for your spooky reading voice? Vincent Price reads Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven Christopher Lee reads Poe’s Tales
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. National Dictionary Day is celebrated on October 16. Today’s two Peculiar Picks celebrate words and vocabulary. I may have mentioned a couple times, here or there, that my daughter has an impressive vocabulary. It may seem like bragging (I’ll be honest, I like to brag about it. Just a little.), but I know exactly why her vocabulary is so
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Mr. Tiffin’s Classroom is a series of picture books written by Margaret McNamara and illustrated by G. Brian Karas. What I love about this series is that they provide educational lessons and also social emotional lessons for children. Each book follows the kids in Mr. Tiffin’s classroom as they take part in classroom learning, such as the math lessons
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Now, I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with the books that came before these two titles, but in both cases my daughter absolutely loved the sequel, and was sort of meh about the first one in comparison. Sometimes, I think it is that perhaps the creators have a better sense of the characters and the best story
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Today’s Peculiar Picks titles are from the Fox & Chick series written and illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier: The Party and Other Stories and The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories. Fox & Chick are kind of like a modern Frog and Toad, with quirky humor and plenty of heart. As a “comic book” styled easy reader, these are great
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, Library News, and Uncategorized.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Behind Closed Doors Today’s Peculiar Picks share a common theme, traveling upwards through a building and discovering who, or what, is behind the doors on each floor.  Both books revel in the mystery of closed doors and the curiosity of all people, not just young people, about the inhabitants of those rooms. The Neighbors by Einat Tsarfati Also available
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Pearl by Molly Idle Click here to borrow Pearl by Molly Idle in eBook on Overdrive. Pearl by Molly Idle is many things. It is emotional and moving. a story of mothers and daughters. a quasi-creation myth. gorgeously illustrated. It is filled with mermaids, and krakens and a lush, fully-realized underwater world. about responsibility and finding one’s place and
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Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. It’s summer. It’s hot. The Sun is shining. But, what IS that big ball of gas and flame that makes the summer hot and bright? Having read both of the following books with my daughter, I can attest that they are hilarious, informative, and will hold both your child’s attention and yours, while you learn all about the Sun.
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks

Peculiar Picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Peculiar Picks are books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick and David Serlin Also available as an eBook on Overdrive. Brian Selznick is very well-known for The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which was a National Book Award Finalist and winner of the 2008 Caldecott Medal. Baby Monkey, Private Eye, however, is both an Amazon and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year,
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Peculiar Picks: Narwhal and Jellyfish Series

Peculiar picks are a selection of odd, funny, interesting, curious, moving, irreverent, and otherwise wonderfully awesome, but perhaps not well known, reads. Picture books for younger readers and their grown-ups, handpicked by the Library's Youth Services Manager, Joshua Carlson. Many of the books in this column are ones that my wife and I have read with our daughter. Our experiences of trying to find books to keep up with her insatiable love of books, while also keeping us interested in reading them, lead to a lot of the choices in this column. The Narwhal and Jellyfish books by Ben Clanton
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.