Pamela Martinez

What’s New this week at Smiley? How about the newly-appointed Newbery and Caldecott Medal winners?! I’ll share the winners with you for 2023, and then backtrack a few years just to make sure you’re up to date on all of these fabulous stories.

Congratulations to Newbery medal-winner Amina Luqman-Dawson who wrote Freewater. Get your name on the reserve list quickly, as it is getting checked out quickly! This story takes a look at slavery in the south with 12-year-old Homer, who makes some grown-up decisions that will change his family’s life forever. An adventurous story of survival, friendship, and so much more. You can find this book on the new book shelf.

The Last Cuentista, written by Donna Barba Higuera, won the Newbery Medal last year. This story has science fiction, Mexican heritage, family, and story-telling mixed into an amazing story…no wonder it won the best book for 2022! Check it out today from the fiction section!

The newly-appointed Caldecott Medal winner for 2023 is Hot Dog, written by Doug Salati. A wonderfully illustrated, simple story, you’ll fall in love with this small, adorable, hot, dog! What a treat for us to read this book about the hot days of summer!

“Watercress,” written by Andrea Wang, and illustrated by Jason Chin, won the Caldecott Medal last year. A beautiful autobiographical story of Chinese heritage, a child of immigrants learned about her family history while out on a family drive. Check out this wonderfully illustrated story today and maybe share with your children the story of your family’s journey.

Come by the Young Readers’ Room to check out these award-winners and more! Be sure to ask the Youth Services Crew for recommendations–we’re happy to help!

With the upcoming holiday looming in the background, we have some new non-fiction books in the Young Readers’ Room that you can check out to read when you have some free time! Please peruse the **NEW** non-fiction bookshelf to read each of these titles.

The first book you will enjoy reading is a fun book about gardening, “How to Say Hello to a Worm, a First Guide to Outside,” written by Kari Percival. Geared for readers and listeners, ages 2 and up, this beautifully illustrated book will help youngsters learn how to begin a garden. Taking much care, gentleness, and patience will guide young learners as they prepare for spring! A must-have for our curious, dirt-digging little ones!  You can find this title at call number J635 P412h.

The second suggestion is a Pete the Cat title, “Pete the Cat and the Sprinkle Stealer,” written by Kimberly and James Dean. This title is also a part of the “I Can Read Comics” series, Level 1. Written in graphic novel format, Secret Agent Meow is on the case of the missing ingredients for a baking contest. Will Secret Agent Meow solve the case before the contest is over? Will there be sprinkles in the contest? Please read this new Pete the Cat offering soon! You can find this title at J741.5 D345ps.

Most everyone has heard a Mother Goose tale in their lifetime, but have you read, “The Real Dada Mother Goose, A Treasury of Complete Nonsense,” an anthology put together by Jon Scieszka? This book will make a great family discussion time together as you discuss the absurdity of these rhymes! I’d like to hear about the rhymes you and your family come up with after reading these anagrams, simile excessiveness, Morse codes, and more! Find this title at J398.2 Sci27r.

The last two suggestions are new series additions to our collection from WorldBook: “Facing Life’s Challenges” and “Building Blocks of Computer Science.” Each set comes with eight titles.

“Facing Life’s Challenges” contains “Facing: Bigotry; Bullying; Death; Discrimination; Divorce; Peer Pressure; Serious Illness; and Uncertainty.” Each of these challenging subjects are met with an easy-to-read font and text, photographs, and a “Goal and Tools” section in the back so kids and their families can continue the conversation if needed. Each of these titles is found under their corresponding Dewey Decimal subject call number. Please ask a staff member for assistance if you’d like to read this series.

The “Building Blocks of Computer Science” set consists of: “Algorithms; Coding Languages; Debugging; Hardware; The Internet; Logic in Coding; Order in Coding; and Organizing Data.” Written in graphic novel form, these titles simplify the computer science topic for kids. These books offer a glossary and online links at the back of each title.

We look forward to seeing you browse the shelves and find the perfect book(s) for your youngster, or even yourself!

Fall has arrived! Cooler temperatures and an earlier nightfall equal…extra time to read! Please find all of these new book suggestions on the “NEW BOOK” shelf in the Young Readers’ Room.

My first suggestion for your fall reading pleasure is “Maddie and Mabel,” written by Kari Allen and illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss. A new series for beginning readers, this is a cute, sister sibling story written in an easy format. A typical big sister/little sister duo, Maddie and Mabel do so many activities together, including adventures and even getting into a disagreement…will they make up in time to continue their fun together, before bedtime? Check out this book quickly to find out the answer!

Who is a fan of “The Dragon Masters” series? Let me rephrase that, who hasn’t read “The Dragon Masters” series yet? The newest release, volume 22, is ready for your reading pleasure! “Guarding the Invisible Dragons” written by Tracey West is on the shelf, awaiting its first check-out! Can Drake and the crew of Dragon Masters locate the parents of a newly discovered nest filled with invisible dragons — before they lose their invisible powers? With a new non-binary character introduced to the team, The Dragon Masters continue to work together to accomplish their quest.

“Last Gate of the Emperor – The Royal Trials,” volume 2, is ready for you to check out! If you’ve read the first in the series: “Last Gate of the Emperor,” written by Kwame Mbalia, you’ll be running to the New Book shelf for this next installment! What more could you want in a book series besides Old Earth, pirates, adventure, and intergalactic travel? You’ll find all of these subjects and more in this series. Follow the main character, Yared, as he travels through time and space to accomplish his mission.

Bruce Hale has released another winning title: “Super Troop.” An outdoor adventure filled with rule breaking, or is it the rules breaking you?! Remember back to summer camp and the friend who you enjoyed hanging out with? In this story Cooper and his best friend, Nacho, 6th grade graduates, are looking forward to spending the summer at the best summer camp ever, until they break the rules at an amusement park…uh oh! Now their comic book summer camp plans have changed and they must attend a Boy Ranger camp. Not thrilled at this turn of events, the boys still manage to squeeze in a good time! This book, filled with blended families, middle grades, and boys and girls, will have you laughing at all of the antics these kids manage to get into!

Charlie Thorne is back for a third adventure written by Stuart Gibbs: “Charlie Thorne and the Curse of Cleopatra.” In the first two books of the series, Charlie dealt with Einstein and Darwin discoveries; this time around, Cleopatra is the focus. Will Charlie’s skills with history, math, and timeless adventure be enough to solve this new mystery? Check out this title today to find out!

The Youth Services Crew would be thrilled if you would stop by and let us know which of these titles you enjoyed the most! Let us know…we love a good mystery too!

Picture books, with their incredible illustrations, drawings, or computerized renditions, come together with the words on the page to create a work of art. Please check out these books from our “New Books” section of the Young Readers’ Room: 

“WHEN I WAKE UP,” written by Seth Fishman and illustrated by Jessixa Bagley, will have your imagination running wild as you read the text and take in the illustrations. Muted and subdued colors fill each page with the softness of nature, human faces, and the wonderment of childhood. A book filled with ideas of what the narrator might do once they wake up…what will you do after you wake up tomorrow?! 

The next book’s author will be familiar name to many in the children’s literature field, Leo Lionni. A newly re-published book, “Mouse Seasons,” will take the reader through each of our four seasons through the eyes of a mouse family by asking a question on each page. The answers to the questions are located on the following pages! Simplistic artwork decorate each page with distinctive color and life-like drawings. I hope this book, first published in 1967, will bring you joy as it did for me! 

My next suggestion for your checkout pleasure is written by world-renowned author Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by our next Family Day guest, Rafael Lopez, “The Year We Learned to Fly.” Siblings take their grandmother’s advice one stormy, spring day. She suggested they embrace the day, even though the weather was not agreeable for outside play. Boredom will take a backseat for youngsters after reading this book! Ideas of creative thinking will take precedence as their imagination begins to develop fun with good dreams to come! 

“Close Your Eyes,” written by Robyn Wilson-Owen, is a precious bedtime story for all to enjoy. Five toddlers fill each two-page spread with their cuteness in hiding under the covers, exploring the outdoors, or finally falling asleep! This adventure story will tuck in your little ones and (hopefully!) help them to sleep! Large drawings and extra large text make this a perfect and quick bedtime story! 

To finish up my book suggestions, I’d like you to check out “Dad Bakes” by Katie Yamasaki. This is a story of a dad who is also a baker. This book shows the relationship with dad at the bakery and later, with his daughter and how they work and play together. At the end of the book, the author shares insight into rehabilitation programs for incarcerated parents, and how the time away affects the children involved. This book is a warm story of affection, love and family, and the joy we can bring to each other.