\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
In Anna McQuinn\u2019s Lola at the Library<\/em> (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2006), Lola \u2013 who sports adorable pigtails \u2013 loves Tuesdays, when she and her mother visit the library. The book follows Lola through the day, ending with new library books and a story at bedtime. For ages 2-5.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/beatrice-doesnt-want-to-246x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Laura Numeroff\u2019s Beatrice Doesn\u2019t Want To<\/em> (Candlewick, 2008), Beatrice\u2019s big brother Henry has to write a school report on dinosaurs – but he also has to babysit for Beatrice. He ends up taking Beatrice with him to the library, with Beatrice protesting (\u201cI don\u2019t want to!\u201d) every step of the way. Finally, in spite of herself, Beatrice becomes entranced by a library story time and Henry, when he comes to retrieve her, finds her happily curled up in a chair, lost in a book. For ages 3-6.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/curious-george-300x293.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Margret and H.A. Rey\u2019s Curious George Visits the Library<\/em> (Houghton Mifflin, 2003), the Man in the Yellow Hat takes George to story hour \u2013 where the disaster-prone little monkey gets twitchy (he wants to read a dinosaur book) and chaos ensues. All ends happily, however, with new books and George\u2019s own library card. For ages 3-7.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/DW-library-card-270x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Marc Brown\u2019s D.W.\u2019s Library Card<\/em> (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2003), Arthur\u2019s little sister struggles to learn to write her full name so that she can get a library card in order to check out the book she\u2019s been craving, Hop-a-Long Frog<\/em>. A nicely done story (who doesn\u2019t love Arthur and D.W.?) but I kept thinking \u201cWhy all this name-writing stuff? Just give the kid a library card!\u201d For ages 3-7.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/when-library-lights-go-out-237x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n There\u2019s an endless appeal to stories about what goes on after dark in the department store, toy store, dollhouse \u2013 and library. In Megan MacDonald\u2019s When the Library Lights Go Out<\/em> (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2009), the library puppets, Lion, Rabbit, and Hermit Crab, have a wonderful and imaginative moonlight adventure that ends with a picnic under the stars. A fun pick for library pajama parties. For ages 3-7.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/the-library-by-Stewart-215x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n Sarah Stewart\u2019s rhyming picture book The Library<\/em> (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1995) is the story of young Elizabeth Brown, bookworm, who didn\u2019t like to play with dolls and didn\u2019t like to skate \u2013 all she liked to do was read. Finally she accumulates so many books that there\u2019s simply no more room: \u201cVolumes climbed the parlor walls\/And blocked the big front door\/She had to face the awful fact\/She could not have one more.\u201d It\u2019s a problem with which many of us can sympathize. Elizabeth\u2019s solution is perfect: she donates her books to the town and turns her house into a library. For ages 4-8.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/beverly-billingsly-300x283.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Alexander Stadler\u2019s Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book<\/em> (Sandpiper, 2006), Beverly, a panic-stricken small bear, has so adored her chosen library book (Dinosaurs of the Cretaceous Period<\/em>) that she\u2019s kept it too long and the book is now overdue. Friends have told her that she owes a thousand dollars in library fines and that she might end up in jail. Beverly is too upset to eat; she even has a nightmare in which the book\u2019s due date \u2013 APRIL 7 \u2013 appears printed in red all over her pajamas. Finally she breaks down and confides in her mother; the book is safely returned; and the kindly librarian puts Beverly\u2019s fears to rest. For ages 4-8.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/stellas-runaway-bk-300x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Lisa Campbell Ernst\u2019s Stella Louella\u2019s Runaway Book<\/em> (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2001), Stella\u2019s library book (\u201cdue today by five o\u2019clock\u201d) is missing and Stella is in a tizzy. There follows a frantic cumulative search, beginning with her brother Sam, who left it on the porch by the mailbox, and variously pulling in the mailman, a neighbor, a policeman, the owner of the town diner, an entire scout troop, and more, until finally the book turns up \u2013 safely back in the hands of Mrs. Graham, the librarian. For ages 4-8.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/but-excuse-me-Charlie-and-Lola-270x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Lauren Child\u2019s But Excuse Me That is My Book<\/em> (Dial, 2006), the irrepressible Lola is convinced that Beetles, Bugs, and Butterflies<\/em> is the best book in the world. In fact, it\u2019s the only book that she will check out of the library. When the beloved book is not on the shelves \u2013 and Lola sees another little girl walking out with it \u2013 big brother Charlie has to explain how libraries work: the books are there to be borrowed and shared. Eventually he even manages to convince Lola to try a new book \u2013 Cheetahs and Chimpanzees<\/em>. For ages 4-7.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/miss-brooks-loves-bks-233x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Barbara Bottner\u2019s Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I Don\u2019t)<\/em> (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2010), Missy \u2013 a ragamuffin first-grader with an evil glare, in overalls and a woolly hat \u2013 can\u2019t abide librarian Miss Brooks, who dresses up like book characters and does her best to find every child a perfect book.\u00a0 Missy rejects them all: fairies are too flowery, dogs too furry, trains too clickety. (\u201cYou\u2019re as stubborn as a wart,\u201d Missy\u2019s frustrated mother says.) But finally the imaginative Miss Brooks does find Missy\u2019s perfect book: William Steig\u2019s Shrek<\/em>, the story of a stubborn, smelly, snorty, green ogre, with warts. A hoot for ages 4-8.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/librarian-from-the-black-lagoon-300x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Mike Thaler\u2019s The Librarian from the Black Lagoon<\/em> (Cartwheel Books, 2008), Hubie\u2019s class is off to visit the library \u2013 rumored to be a dreadful place, presided over by the fearsome librarian Mrs. Beamster. There\u2019s said to be a Gum Detector at the door; kids are glued to the chairs to keep them from wiggling; all the books are bolted to the shelves, and anybody who whispers gets laminated. Luckily this isn\u2019t the case. For ages 4-8.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/The-Lonely-Book-125bcef-252x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n Kate Bertheimer\u2019s The Lonely Book<\/em> (Schwartz & Wade, 2012) is essentially The Velveteen Rabbit<\/em> for books. When the book first arrives at the library, brand new, it is loved by all \u2013 but over time it grows worn and tattered; its last page is missing; and no one checks it out anymore. Relegated to the basement, the book languishes \u2013 until finally a little girl discovers it and is enchanted. For ages 4-8.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/library-pages-236x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n Carlene Morton\u2019s The Library Pages<\/em> (Upstart Books, 2010) is every librarian\u2019s nightmare. Mrs. Heath, the school librarian, is out on maternity leave, but helpful kids send updates about how they\u2019re keeping the library running smoothly: shelving the books by color, mending them with duct tape, and cutting up the encyclopedias for collages. Before Mrs. Heath totally melts down, it turns out to be an April Fool\u2019s joke. For ages 4-9.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/library-lil-241x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n Suzanne Williams\u2019s Library Lil<\/em> (Puffin, 2001) \u2013 zanily illustrated by Steven Kellogg \u2013 is a library-style anti-TV tall tale starring Lil, Chesterfield\u2019s stupendously strong and wholly unconventional librarian. When a storm blows down the Chesterfield television lines, Lil singlehandedly pushes the bookmobile from house to house, converting an entire town of TV-watching couch potatoes into voracious bookworms. Even a book-hating motorcycle gang is no match for Lil; by the end of the story, the leader of the gang, hooked on books, has become Lil\u2019s library assistant. For ages 4-9.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/aunt-chip-232x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Patricia Polacco\u2019s Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair<\/em> (Philomel Books, 1996), the people of Triple Creek erected an enormous television tower fifty years ago, and have since become so addicted to television that they have forgotten how to read. Books, now useless, are used to patch roofs, fill potholes, and mend walls. Then feisty Aunt Chip, once the town librarian, teaches her nephew Eli how to read \u2013 and soon all the kids in town are reading everything they can lay their hands on. Finally Eli and friends yank a copy of Moby Dick out of a hole in the town dam, which unleashes a flood, topples the TV tower, and brings the adults to their senses. By the end of the book, Aunt Chip has her old job back and reading reigns supreme. For ages 4-9.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/miss-smith-and-haunted-library-300x279.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n When Michael Garland\u2019s red-headed teacher Miss Smith reads from her Incredible Storybook<\/em>, the book characters come alive. In Miss Smith and the Haunted Library<\/em> (Puffin, 2012), the class visits the library, presided over by purple-haired librarian Virginia Creeper, who uses the Storybook<\/em> to conjure up such spooky characters as Frankenstein, Dracula, Captain Hook, the Hound of the Baskervilles, and the Headless Horseman. For ages 5-8.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/library-dragon-230x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Carmen Agra Deedy\u2019s The Library Dragon<\/em> (Peachtree Publishers, 2012), the librarian, Miss Lotty Scales, is an actual fire-breathing dragon \u2013 and a nasty one at that; she can\u2019t stand the thought of children pawing at the books with their sticky little fingers, and so refuses to let anyone take a book from the shelves. Finally, nearsighted little Molly Brickmeyer \u2013 who has lost her glasses \u2013 wanders into the library, bumps into a shelf, and catches the book that falls into her hands. As she begins to read aloud, children eagerly gather round, and Miss Lotty has a change of heart. For ages 6-10.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nAlso see the sequel, Return of the Library Dragon<\/em> (Peachtree Publishers, 2012), in which Miss Lotty\u2019s dragonish nature re-surfaces when the library\u2019s books are replaced with computers and e-readers.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nFrom the ALA’s Association for Library Service to Children, Fun activities @ your library<\/a> has library-based games and scavenger hunts,\u00a0and Reader’s Theater versions of The Library Card<\/em>, The Chicken and the Librarian<\/em>, and The Library Dragon<\/em>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/problem-with-pulcifer-241x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Florence Parry Heide\u2019s The Problem with Pulcifer<\/em>\u00a0 (Mulberry Books, 1992), Pulcifer is an avid reader in a society dedicated to watching TV, and Pulcifer\u2019s parents are concerned. (\u201cIt isn\u2019t because we haven\u2019t set a good example,\u201d said Pulcifer\u2019s mother. \u201cWe\u2019re always watching television. And we\u2019ve always had the nicest television sets. We\u2019ve tried to make it easy for him. Color, remote, even TV dinners.\u201d) At school, Pulcifer is put in a remedial class for non-television-watchers; eventually his parents even send him to a psychiatrist. Pulcifer, however, holds his own, and finally his parents learn that they love him even though he is different. At the end, Pulcifer happily settles down with a stack of new library books. For ages 7-11.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/when-i-went-to-the-library-195x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n When I Went to the Library<\/em> (Groundwood Books, 2002), edited by Debora Pearson, is a wonderful collection of short stories by nine noted writers about the ability of libraries to create adventures, liberate the imagination, solve problems, and change lives. In Ken Roberts\u2019s \u201cDear Mr. Winston,\u201d for example \u2013 which reads like something by Dorothy Parker \u2013 Cara struggles to apologize for letting a snake loose in the library. In Marc Talbert\u2019s \u201cBooks Don\u2019t Cry,\u201d Tad uses the library to help come to terms with the impending death of his grandmother; and in Paul Yee\u2019s \u201cFly Away,\u201d a young Chinese girl, Mei-ping, finds that the library helps her cope with the loneliness of living in an isolated town in Canada. For ages 8-12.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/library-card-Spinelli-206x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n Jerry Spinelli\u2019s The Library Card<\/em> (Scholastic, 1998) is a tribute to the library\u2019s power to help, heal, and change. The book tells the stories of four troubled kids and four library cards. Twelve-year-old Mongoose seems headed for a life of crime until he finds a library card in a stolen bag of candy and discovers a world of reading. Brenda is addicted to television until \u2013 bored to tears during her school\u2019s Great TV Turn-Off week \u2013 she visits the library and discovers a mysterious and compelling biography of herself. Sonseray, an anti-social 13-year-old, finds comforting memories of his dead mother at the library that lead him to change his ways; and April, miserable about her family\u2019s move to a mushroom farm in Pennsylvania, ends up on a high-jacked bookmobile, driven by the even unhappier runaway Nanette, with whom she forms a bond. For ages 9-13.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/here-lies-the-librarian-194x300.jpg\") \n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Richard Peck’s Here Lies the Librarian<\/em> (Puffin, 2007), set in rural Indiana in 1914, 14-year-old Peewee (Eleanor) McGrath is being raised by her older brother Jake; the two of them run a struggling small-town garage. Then the feisty Irene Ridpath arrives, fresh out of library school, along with her three sorority sisters, preparing to take over the defunct town library. For ages 10-14.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n ANIMALS AT THE LIBRARY<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wild-about-bks-226x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n Judy Sierra\u2019s rhyming picture book Wild About Books<\/em> (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2004) features librarian Molly McGrew who mistakenly drives the bookmobile into the zoo and soon has all the animals hooked on reading and writing. The book is a riot of clever word play, and there are a lot of charming little touches \u2013 the crocodiles end up reading Peter Pan<\/em>; the giraffes prefer tall books about skyscrapers and redwood trees. The conclusion: there\u2019s something for everybody at the library – and you can even write your own books too. For ages 3-7.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/no-T-rex-in-library-239x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Toni Buzzeo\u2019s No T. Rex in the Library<\/em> (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2010), Tess \u2013 who wears great striped stockings \u2013 is out of control. \u201cTIME OUT!\u201d her mother shouts. Then Tess, sent to sit next to a library cart, tips over a stack of books, from one of which leaps a rampaging T. rex<\/em>. A lesson in how not to behave in the library for ages 3-5.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/can-I-bring-Woolly-232x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n Lois Grambling\u2019s Can I Bring Woolly to the Library, Ms. Reeder?<\/em> (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2012) is an object lesson in library etiquette and procedure as a little boy attempts to bring his woolly mammoth to the library. (No thumping or bellowing.) For ages 4-8.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/winston-book-wolf-274x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n Marni McGee\u2019s Winston the Book Wolf<\/em> (Walker Children\u2019s Books, 2006) is a literary take on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Winston the Wolf likes nothing better than to eat books \u2013 to the point where he\u2019s been banned from the local library for his destructive chewing. Luckily he meets a little girl named Rosie (wearing a red hoodie and carrying a basket) who shows him that it\u2019s better to read books than to eat them. Soon Winston is an avid reader \u2013 and Rosie even comes up with a scheme for smuggling him back into the library, disguised in her Grandma\u2019s clothes. Soon the reformed Book Wolf is reading to groups of kids at storytime. For ages 3-7.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/incredible-book-eating-boy-236x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n If Winston catches your fancy, also check out Oliver Jeffers\u2019s The Incredible Book Eating Boy<\/em> (Philomel, 2007) in which Henry devours books \u2013 that is, he chews them up and eats them, and the more he eats, the smarter he gets. Eventually, however, Henry\u2019s habit brings on a massive case of physical and mental indigestion \u2013 and he has to find a better way to interact with books. Wonderful cartoon-style illustrations enhance the story. For ages 4-8.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/library-mouse-227x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Daniel Kirk\u2019s The Library Mouse<\/em> (Harry N. Abrams, 2007), Sam \u2013 a mouse \u2013 lives in a hole in the library behind the children\u2019s reference book section. Every night, after the library is closed, he reads to his heart\u2019s content \u2013 and soon he decides to start writing as well. He tucks his first work \u2013 Squeak! A Mouse\u2019s Life<\/em> \u2013 into the library\u2019s biography section; then follows up with The Lonely Cheese<\/em> and The Mystery of Mouse Mansion<\/em>. The curious librarian invites Sam to a \u201cMeet the Author Day,\u201d which Sam turns into a writing workshop, with participating kids producing their own books. Several sequels. For ages 4-8.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |