Library Haul: New Picture Books and Middle Grade Adventures

This weekend, we made our regular visit to the library we use the most, and as usual, I came home with more books than I planned.

• Tell Me About Your Day Today by Mem Fox, illustrated by Lauren Stringer
• Bear's Day Out by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Adrian Reynolds 

I had several books on hold, most of which were titles I selected with an upcoming story time in mind. (They each have the word "day" in the title. I was going for a theme.)  These two books would be good for Miss Muffet even if they don't make it into the story time repertoire, so I went ahead and checked them out. I especially like the concept of the Fox title - a child saying goodnight to each of his stuffed animals and discussing the events of the day with them. 

• Chu's Day by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Adam Rex
• A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Phillip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead
• Crazy Hair Day by Barney Saltzberg
• The Day is Waiting by Don Freeman, with words by Linda Zuckerman

These four are books I have read before. The first three have been used in story times, and the last one, though not as impressive as I had hoped, will also work well for my specific story time audience. (It's a collection of random Freeman illustrations which an author tried to use to tell a story.) I definitely won't need all of these, but it's hard for me to plan without options, so I made sure I had a few. Miss Muffet already asked to hear Chu's Day, so clearly, they will be used either way.

• Construction by Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock
• What do Wheels Do All Day? by April James Prince, illustrated by Giles Laroche
• Farmer John's Tractor by Sally Sutton, illustrated by Robyn Belton

These three books all jumped out at me from the transportation section of the picture books. (I absolutely hate that some of the picture books are separated out by subject. I can never remember which subjects are separate, and I always know the author I want, so I wind up having to search multiple sections for the same author.) Construction was checked out when we visited our other library last week, so I got that for Miss Muffet, to go along with Demolition and Roadwork, which she has been loving. The other two titles caught my eye as potential story time books for a transportation theme, which is what I think I'm doing on November 30th.

• The Adventurers by Rachel Elliot, illustrated by Valeria Docampo
• Pug Meets Pig by Sue Lowell Gallion, illustrated by Joyce Wan
• Amazing Autumn by Jennifer Marino Walters, illustrated by John Nez
• Winter, Winter, Cold and Snow by Sharon Gibson Palermo, illustrated by Christina Song

These were random grabs from the new book shelf. I knew of Pig and Pug from reading about it on other blogs, but the other three are completely new to me. The Adventurers is not a book I would typically choose, but something about it made me curious, and the others will hopefully help Miss Muffet better understand the transition from Fall to Winter, which she has been asking about a lot. 

• A Poem for Peter by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by David Fancher and Steve Johnson

I am a big fan of Ezra Jack Keats, so I placed this book on hold to find out how it is. I am skeptical because it's a picture book biography in verse, and those don't tend to be the most accessible books, but I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

• A Fire Station Field Trip by Isabel Martin
• Turning Apples into Applesauce by Wendy A. Reynolds
• Turning Trees into Paper by Dawn James 
• Turning Sand into Glass by Amy Hayes 
• Turning Wool into Sweaters by Amy Hayes 

I always borrow a few nonfiction titles for Miss Muffet. These were all from the new shelf. We are missing a trip to the fire station without our moms group this week because of my story time obligation, so I thought this book would be a nice alternative. The others are all related to her interest in how things are made.

• Mystery on the Docks by Thacher Hurd
• Cranberry Halloween by Wende and Harry Devlin

I put Cranberry Halloween on hold before our last visit, but it didn't come in time for Halloween. The hold was supposed to expire the day before we went to the library this time, but apparently some nice librarian noticed my other holds and kept it for me an extra day. I was going to just let it expire, but since I wanted it for nostalgic reasons, not holiday reasons, it worked out fine. Mystery on the Docks was on the shelf, and I decided to read it, since The Pea Patch Jig by Thacher Hurd is a family favorite. I read it to Miss Muffet when we got home, at her request, and it went over her head, but I kind of enjoyed it. It was different anyway.

• Lions Roar by Rebecca Glaser
• Giraffes Stretch by Rebecca Glaser
• Elephants Spray by Rebecca Glaser

I always try to borrow at least one book for Bo Peep even though she has a ton of board books at home. These caught my eye because they have real photos of animals, and they have a lot of great onomatopoeia in them. I read Elephants Spray  to Bo Peep in the library, and when she actually listened to the entire thing, I decided we'd take home all three to enjoy.

• Every Hidden Thing by Kenneth Oppel
• The Left-Handed Fate by Kate Milford
• The Wolf Keepers by Elise Broach

Finally, these are the books I chose for myself. Every Hidden Thing came from the YA section, and the other two were on the new shelf in the children's area. None of these is my usual fare, but I have been feeling pretty blah about middle grade recently, so it seemed like it was time for a change. The Left-Handed Fate seems to be a companion to Greenglass House, which I liked, and The Wolf Keepers is by Elise Broach, whose work has been hit or miss for me. This is kind of my last try with her writing; if I don't enjoy this book, I'll probably not read any of her future titles.

The Library Haul link-up is hosted by Sweeping Up Joy.