New Children's Books

Olivia Goes to Venice - Ian Falconer
On a family vacation in Venice, Olivia indulges in gelato, rides in a gondola, and finds the perfect souvenir.

My Mommy Hung the Moon - Jamie Lee Curtis
A hard-working mother's extraordinary accomplishments are listed by her devoted child.

Pinkalicious: Pink Around the Rink - Victoria Kann
Pinkalicious's new ice skates are plain white, so before she takes them out on the ice she decides to color them with her cotton candy pink magic marker.

New Children's Books

Snook Alone - Marilyn Nelson
Through the power of faith, a monk named Abba Jacob and his loyal rat terrier, Snook, are reunited after being separated by a ferocious storm.






 

Art & Max - David Wiesner
Max wants to be an artist like Arthur, but his first attempt at using a paintbrush sends the two friends on a whirlwind trip through various media, with unexpected consequences.






The 3 Little Dassies - Jan Brett
In this adaptation of the traditional folktale, three little dassies (also called rock hyraxes) build their houses in the Namib Desert of Southern Africa, hoping for protection from the eagle that lives atop a nearby mountain.






Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night - Joyce Sidman
A collection of poems that celebrate the wonder, mystery, and danger of the night and describes the many things that hide in the dark.

Little Red Riding Hood - Gennady Spirin
A little girl meets a hungry wolf in the forest while on her way to visit her grandmother. Includes a note about the history of the tale.

Round Trip - Ann Jonas
Black and white illustrations and text record the sights on a day trip to the city and back home again to the country. The trip to the city is read from front to back and the return trip from back to front, upside down.

Birmingham Sunday - Larry Dane Brimner
Learn about the bomb blast that rocked the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church on Sunday morning, September 15, 1963, killing four young girls.

Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty - Linda Glaser
The story of Emma Lazarus, who, despite her life of privilege, became a tireless advocate for the immigrants who arrived in New York City in the 1880s and wrote a famous poem for the Statue of Liberty.

You Are the Best Medicine - Julie Aigner Clark
A mother who has cancer gently informs her child of what the effects will be, and reminds her little one of all the special times they have shared, and will continue to share, even while she undergoes treatment.





Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection
Collects over twenty trickster stories, in graphic novel format, from various Native American traditions, including tales about coyotes, rabbits, ravens, and other crafty creatures and their mischievous activities.

New YA Books

Annexed - Sharon Dogar
What was it like hiding in the Annex with Anne Frank? To be with Anne every day while she wrote so passionately in her diary? To be in a secret world within a world at war ?alive on the inside, everything dying on the outside? Peter Van Pels and his family have lost their country, their home, and their freedom, and now they are fighting desperately to remain alive. Look through Peter's eyes. He has a story to tell, too.

The Crowfield Curse - Pat Walsh
In 1347, when fourteen-year-old orphan William Paynel, an impoverished servant at Crowfield Abbey, goes into the forest to gather wood and finds a magical creature caught in a trap, he discovers he has the ability to see fays and becomes embroiled in a strange mystery involving Old Magic, a bitter feud, and ancient secrets.

The Danger Box - Blue Balliett
In small-town Michigan, twelve-year-old Zoomy and his new friend Lorrol investigate the journal found inside a mysterious box and find family secrets and a more valuable treasure, while a dangerous stranger watches and waits.

The Immortals - Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Nate Quarter, a lowly lamplighter in the phraxmines of the Eastern Woods, must flee for his life when the mine sargeant wants him killed, while elsewhere, a storm unlike any ever seen is building.

The White Horse Trick - Kate Thompson

In the late twenty-first century, dramatic climate change has made life in Ireland almost impossible, and soon Tir na n'Og is faced with a refugee problem, partly because of a warlord who is a member of the Liddy family.

Guardian of the Gate - Michelle Zink
In 1891 London, sixteen-year-old orphan Lia Milthorpe continues her quest to end an ancient prophecy requiring her to search for missing pages and human"keys" and develop her powers for an inevitable final confrontation with her twin sister Alice.





They Called Themselves the K.K.K. - Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Documents the history and origin of the Ku Klux Klan from its beginning in Pulaski, Tennessee, and provides personal accounts, congressional documents, diaries, and more

.

Christopher and Jeanette Canyon Visit the CMC

Children’s book illustrators Christopher and Jeanette Canyon visited the Centennial Library on September 14, 2010.  The husband-and-wife team spoke to an audience of approximately 50 people, including students, faculty, staff, and guests, in the Curriculum Materials Center.  The Canyons spoke about their backgrounds and what led each of them to become children’s book illustrators.  They also discussed their experiences in the book publishing business, including how picture books are created and designed.  Using video and pictures, each demonstrated how their art is created.  Christopher’s publications include a series of four picture books based on John Denver songs, including Grandma’s Feather Bed and Take Me Home, Country Roads, as well as books about the environment.  Jeanette’s publications include counting books that use rhyming meter not only to teach counting, but also to teach about nature (Over in the Ocean in a Coral Reef and Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme), and City Beats: A Hip-Hoppy Pigeon Poem.   During the reception following their presentation, audience members had an opportunity to visit with Canyons and learn more about their experiences.  The Canyons’ visit to Cedarville was made possible by Rebecca Stroble, elementary librarian for the Xenia Community Schools, where they were serving as Xenia’s 2010 visiting authors.

New Children's and YA Books

The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman - Ben H. Winters
Spurred by a special project from her social studies teacher, seventh-grader Bethesda Fielding uncovers the secret identity of her music teacher, which leads to a most unusual concert performance and a tutoring assignment.

Come See the Earth Turn: The Story of Leon Foucault - Lori Mortensen
Explores the life and work of nineteenth-century French physicist Leon Foucault, who invented a pendulum that provided proof that the Earth rotated on its axis.

Interrupting Chicken - David Ezra Stein
Little Red Chicken wants Papa to read her a bedtime story, but interrupts him almost as soon as he begins each tale.

New Children's Books

A Pig Parade Is a Terrible Idea - Michael Ian Black
Explains precisely why, although it may sound like a good idea, gathering hundreds of pigs to march in a parade through one's hometown is inadvisable.

Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum - Meghan McCarthy
Full of fun historical facts, this book is the true story of how bubble gum was invented.


I Know Here - Laurel Croza
A tale about a young girl whose family moves from the forests of northeastern Saskatchewan to a strange new place called 'Toronto'.   Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
 
Pinkalicious: School Rules - Victoria Kann

When Pinkalicious brings her imaginary unicorn, Goldie, to school and teaches him the rules, he helps her and the other students to become better friends.

New YA Books

Heart of a Samurai - Margi Preus
In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions castaways on a remote island, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.

Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood - Jame Richards
Sixteen-year-old Celestia is a wealthy member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, where she meets and falls in love with Peter, a hired hand who lives in the valley below, and by the time of the torrential rains that lead to the disastrous Johnstown flood of 1889, she has been disowned by her family and is staying with him in Johnstown. Includes an author's note and historical timeline.

New YA Books

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. A revolution is unfolding, and it is up to Katniss to accept responsibility for countless lives and to change the course of the future of Panem.

The Eternal Ones - Kirsten Miller
Seventeen-year-old Haven Moore leaves East Tennessee to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, where she meets playboy Iain Morrow, whose fate may be tied to hers through a series of past lives.

Black Hole Sun - David Macinnis Gill
On the planet Mars, sixteen-year-old Durango and his crew of mercenaries are hired by the settlers of a mining community to protect their most valuable resource from a feral band of marauders.

Ninth Ward - Jewell Parker Rhodes
In New Orleans' Ninth Ward, twelve-year-old Lanesha, who can see spirits, and her adopted grandmother have no choice but to stay and weather the storm as Hurricane Katrina bears down upon them.

New Children's Books

The Boss Baby - Marla Frazee
From the moment he arrives, it is obvious that the new baby is boss and he gets whatever he wants, from drinks made-to-order around the clock to his executive gym.

Dave the Potter - Laban Carrick Hill
Chronicles the life of Dave, a nineteenth-century slave who went on to become an influential poet, artist, and potter.
 

A Sick Day for Amos McGee - Philip C. Stead

Amos McGee, a friendly zookeeper, always made time to visit his good friends: the elephant, the tortoise, the penguin, the rhinoceros, and the owl. But one day--'Ah-choo!'--he woke with the sniffles and the sneezes. Though he didn't make it into the zoo that day, he did receive some unexpected guests.

 

Brand-New Baby Blues - Kathi Appelt

The arrival of a new little brother has his big sister singing the blues.

New Social Studies Game

Ticket to Ride
On October 2, 1900, 28 years to the day that London eccentric Phileas Fogg accepted and then won a wager that he could travel "around the world in 80 days", some of his old friends gathered to celebrate Fogg's adventure and plan an adventure of their own - to see who could travel by rail to the most cities in North America in 7 days. Based on that wager, this game is a cross-country train adventure in which players collect and play matching train cards to claim railway routes connecting cities throughout North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who can fulfill their Destination Tickets by connecting two distant cities, and to the player who builds the longest continuous railway. For 2-5 players, ages 8 and up. Average game time 30-60 minutes.

Books by Our Visiting Authors/Illustrators

Please join us on Tuesday, September 14, at 3:00 in the CMC as we welcome Christopher and Jeanette Canyon to campus.  Here's a list of their books that are available in the CMC:

Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef
The coral reef in this book is like a marine nursery, teeming with mamas and babies! In the age-old way of kids and fish, children will count and clap to the rhythm of "Over in the Meadow" while pufferfish "puff", gruntfish "grunt" and seahorses "flutter". The colorful art is fresh and fun-constructed entirely from polymer clay-and invites young fingers to fashion fishy forms.

Grandma's Feather Bed
A picture book adaptation of the song written by Jim Connor, and made popular by John Denver, which celebrates the fun of visiting grandmother's house. Includes facts about Connor and Denver, their grandparents, and their music.

City Beats: A Hip-Hoppy Pigeon Poem
Presents a collection of poems with accompanying illustrations about the sights and sounds of a busy city.

Take Me Home, Country Roads
A picture book adaptation of John Denver's song Take me home, country roads, which celebrates the experience of arriving home to the countryside of West Virginia.



Sunshine on My Shoulders
A picture book adaptation of John Denver's song Sunshine on my shoulders, which celebrates the simple things in life such as sunshine, being in nature, and loving relationships.

Earth & Me, Our Family Tree: Nature's Creatures
Many diverse creatures, including a beetle, a hawk, a whale, a dragonfly, a deer, a penguin, and a boy, converse about their habitats, which are all so different, but together make up the Earth.

Earth & You, A Closer View: Nature's Features
Global awareness is the mark of the millennium. This series of books is an example. A group of Japanese educators, publishers and business people saw the need for children's books to convey the simpatico connection among all life, to help teach the new generation to love, respect and cooperate with the whole community of Earth. They engaged and American children's poet and artist team to carry out this vision. First published in Japanese, these Earth books are intended not only to teach, but to testify to the wonders of a connected world--Earth's features, Earth's creatures, and Earth's past and future.

Earth & Us, Continuous: Nature's Past & Future
Illustrations and simple text teach children about how the Earth is connected to all living plants, animals, and humans.

Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme
Looks at the behaviors of some of the animals of the rainforest while introducing the numbers one to ten.





Stickeen: John Muir and the Brave Little Dog
True story of a brave dog who accompanied John Muir on an exploration of glacial areas in Alaska.

Ancient Rhymes: A Dolphin Lullaby
A picture book adaptation of John Denver's song Ancient rhymes, celebrating the birth of a dolphin.



A Tree in the Ancient Forest
Cumulative verse illustrates the interdependency of the plants and animals that live in the ancient forest, with information on the featured characters, including a 300-year-old Douglas fir tree, Northern spotted owls, and truffles. Also includes a brief discussion of the importance of ancient forests.