Double Author Spotlight: Eric Carle and Lois Ehlert

This past week the children's book world took a couple of major hits. Both Eric Carle and Lois Ehlert passed away. Whether you grew up having their books read to you or you've read them to your own family or kids you've worked with, chances are you've encountered some of their books and fully understand the magic inside. These two author/illustrators made a huge impact with their writing and artwork. Here's to hoping their legacy lives on to spark a love of books and art in children for many years to come. Below, you will find some favorites by each author. You can click on the links and place a hold on the titles in your SHARE account or stop into the library to pick a copy up. 

Written and Illustrated By Eric Carle:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Grouchy Ladybug

The Very Quiet Cricket

The Very Lonely Firefly

Mister Seahorse

Little Cloud

Have You Seen My Cat?

10 Little Rubber Ducks

Illustrated By Eric Carle:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

Written and Illustrated By Lois Ehlert:

Leaf Man

Growing Vegetable Soup

Nuts to You!

Eating the Alphabet

Snowballs

Planting a Rainbow

Waiting for Wings

Lots of Spots

Illustrated By Lois Ehlert:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Chicka Chicka 1-2-3

Disney Villains

Okay, who else is wickedly excited for Disney's new live action Cruella movie?! If you've missed all the hype, take a peek at the trailer below. The movie will be released this Friday May 28th in theaters and on Disney+. The Juvenile and Young Adult books below all feature those infamous Disney Villains that you just love to hate. They are also all part of a series, so there are even more villianous adventures for you to discover!

Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson

Teens battle villains to keep them from taking over the Disney Parks, the Disney empire and the world.

Dark Passage by Ridley Pearson

Teens battle villains to keep them from taking over the Disney Parks, the Disney empire and the world. 

The Isle of the Lost by Melissa De La Cruz

A Disney Villains Descendants novel

Return to the Isle of the Lost Melissa De La Crus

A Disney Villains Descendants novel

 

City of Villains by Estelle Laure

A mash-up of various Disney Villains and Gotham City

Go the Distance by Jen Calonita

The villain: Hades from Hercules

Part of Your World by Liz Braswell

The villain: Ursula from The Little Mermaid 

As Old as Time by Liz Braswell

The villain: The Beast from Beauty and the Beast

Mother Knows Best by Serena Valentino

The villain: Mother Gothel from Tangled/Rapunzel

Evil Thing by Serena Valentino

The villain: Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians 

Library Shorts

Have you checked out the Library Shorts videos put out by the Arrowhead Library System? Each video features a librarian from an Arrowhead library, like our very own Miss Alison. The videos are 5-10 minutes long and touch base on music, science, wellness, math, writing, and art. You can browse the entire collection of Library Shorts from October 2020 to this month by visiting the Library Shorts Blog. 

Here are a few of May's featured videos, which are all about flowers!

Math: Flower Petal Counting

(Eager Free Public Library)

Art: Flowers in a Vase

(Orfordville Public Library)

Science: Dandelion Botany & Dandelion Muffins

(Edgerton Public Library)

Mothers & Daughters

Yesterday was Mother's Day! Whether you have kids or grandkids of your own, are a cat mom or dog mom, or a motherly figure to anyone in your life, we hope you had the chance to celebrate. The books below feature all kinds of mother daughter relationships - traditional, nontraditional, complicated, funny, etc. They do all have one thing in common though and that is of course love between a mother and daughter. You can place a hold on any of these be calling the library at 608-882-2260 or by logging into your SHARE account.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Where We Belong by Emily Giffin

The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine

Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

The Accidental Mother Rowan Coleman

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

The Island by Elin Hilderbrand

May the Fourth Be With You

In honor of Star Wars Day, which is May 4th, one of our adult displays upstairs at the library is promoting Star Wars books and movies. In addition to these materials geared towards teens and adults, there are some pretty stellar books for children featuring all of your favorite Star Wars characters. From board books to picture books to easy readers, you should have no problem geeking out with your little jedis!

Board Books:

Star Wars Spaceships

Star Wars ABC 

Star Wars Colors

Star Wars Block

Star Wars Heroes

Star Wars Villains

Star Wars Sound Storybook Treasury by Brian Houlihan

Picture Books:

Are You Scared, Darth Vader? by Adam Rex

Star Wars: Look & Find by Erin Rose Wage

Rey and Pals by Jeffrey Brown

Darth Vader and Friends by Jeffrey Brown

A Jedi You Will Be by Preeti Chhibber

Where's the Wookiee? by Katrina Pallant

The Galaxy Needs You by Caitlin Kennedy

Obi - 1 2 3 by Calliope Glass

Easy Readers:

This is Luke by Nate Millici

Lego Star Wars: The Last Jedi by Beth Davies

The Mandalorian: Allies & Enemies by Brooke Vitale

Lego Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker by Ruth Amos

The Last Jedi: Heroes of the Galaxy by Ruth Amos

Lightsaber Battles by Lauren Nesworthy

Star Wars Rebels: Rebel Power by Lauren Nesworthy

The Legendary Yoda by Catherine Saunders

FANTASY SERIES FOR KIDS & TEENS

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that is often inspired by myths and folklore.  Oftentimes, fantasy is grouped together with science fiction and horror.  However, it is distinguished from them as it typically leaves out scientific and/or scary themes.  The majority of fantasy novels use magic or other supernatural elements in their plots and settings.  Fantasy is often written in a series format.  This means, that if you like the first book, you can read more!  Below are a few fantasy series for children and young adults. The link will take you to our catalog page for the first book in the series.  Check one out today! 

Children's Series

The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale

Rainbow Magic: The Rainbow Fairies by Daisy Meadows

Zoey & Sassafras by Asia Citro

Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski

Unicorn Rescue Society by Adam Gidwitz

Pandava by Roshani Chokshi

Murry Family Time Quintet by Madeline L'Engle

Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Young Adult Series

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan

Redwall by Brian Jacques

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhods

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Gold Seer by Rae Carson

Pictures from https://ent.sharelibraries.info/client/en_US/evansint/?dt=list

NEA BIG READ: THE LATEHOMECOMER

Join us on Zoom on Tuesday, April 20 at 10:30 AM to discuss this year's NEA Big Read selection.  This year's selection is The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang.  Yang is a Hmong-American author, and this memoir tells the story of her family's journey from Laos to a refugee camp in Thailand and of their immigration to the United States.  Yang's book teaches the reader about the Hmong culture while also showing the reader what prisoner and refugee camps are like.  She also shows how the immigration process works.  

Want to read more by Kao Kalia Yang?  Below you will find a list of her other works along with a brief description of each.

The Song Poet - This is Yang's memoir of her father.  Bee Yang lost his father when he was very young.  He grew up in a war-torn Laos where he met Kao's mother.  This is a story of love for a father, a people, and all that has been lost along the way.

A Map Into the World - In this picture book, the reader meets a young Hmong-American girl.  You will watch her spend time with her family in their new home while also searching for a way to share the beauty of the world around her with her neighbor.

What God is Honored Here? - This is a compilation of writings on miscarriage and infant loss by and for native women and women of color.  The majority of the essays are non-fiction with a couple of fiction pieces as well.

The Shared Room - In this picture book, the reader watches a family move forward after the loss of a child.

The Most Beautiful Thing - Drawing from her life experiences, this picture book of Yan's follows a young girl growing up in a family filled with love but lacking money.  

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

Book cover from https://ent.sharelibraries.info/client/en_US/evans/search/results?qu=The+Latehomecomer&te=