New Picture Books

Tom the Tamer - Tjibbe Veldkamp
Tom's father is afraid of animals. Butterflies, snails, squirrels--they alarm him so much, he won't even come out of the house. Tom decides to take drastic measures and heads to the pet shop. First he trains a polar bear and sneaks it into the house. Then he smuggles in a tiger, a squid, a tortoise, a snake, two peacocks, three hippos and a small flock of flamingos. His father doesn't seem to notice at first but learns that his son's creativity and courage can help him conquer his fears.

Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the True Story of an American Feud - Suzanne Tripp Jurmain
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson put aside their differences in the name of friendship.

The Really Awful Musicians - John Manders
In a faraway kingdom where music has been banned, an ever-increasing group of musicians flees certain death, but when their terrible playing becomes too much for their horse, he teaches them to play together by using musical notation.

How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum - Jessie Hartland
Dinosaurs roamed the earth for millions and millions of years. Museum visitors are awed by the massive skeletons/fossils/creatures on display. But how did the fossils of a colossal diplodocus make the 145-million-year journey from the prehistoric plains of Utah to the Smithsonian Museum of today? Acclaimed author and illustrator, Jessie Hartland (How the Sphinx Got to the Museum), beautifully presents this informative and fascinating history of the diplodocus: from its discovery in 1923 in Utah to its arrival in the hallowed halls of this world-famous museum. Essential reading for junior paleontologists.

Billions of Years, Amazing Changes: The Story of Evolution - Laurence Pringle
Traces the history of man's discoveries about evolution, covering both the mechanisms of evolution and examples of natural selection.