Daily children’s book recommendations and events from Anita Silvey.
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics . . .
The new books on their way to becoming classics . . .
And events from the world of children’s books—and the world at large.
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This week we have been celebrating National Library Week. All kinds of libraries—school, public, and academic—participate in this annual event that celebrates the contributions of our nation’s libraries. If you haven’t registered a child for a library card recently, you will be pleasantly surprised about the offerings in children’s rooms of modern public libraries. Videos, audio books, recordings, and computers can be located in both schools and public libraries. Story hours and reading clubs help both parents and children find new books that they will enjoy.
But my book of the day, Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, resurrects the old-fashioned library of the 1950s and 1960s. Here the librarian Miss Merriweather worries about rules being broken. When a lion saunters into the library, she realizes, however, that no rules exist about them. As long as he remains quiet and does not roar, he can listen to story hour with the children. Then he learns to dust the shelf with his tail, lick envelopes, and serves as a footstool for children. All goes well until Miss Merriweather has an accident—and the lion must roar to get help.
This old-fashioned story has been accompanied by acrylic and pencil illustrations of Kevin Hawkes. Hawkes is one of the most versatile illustrators working in children’s books today. He adapts his style for each new book, shaping his art to the demands of the text. The lion he renders is so charming that anyone would want to curl up with this furry friend. The pacing and timing of the pictures are impeccable. Printed on a creamy, off-white paper, the art and text draw readers in, pulling them along with the tension of the story. Since this book appeared in 2006, many families have decided that Library Lion is one of their favorite books, one that they buy and share with their friends—or one that they check out of the library again and again.
So if you go to the library this month you probably won’t find a lion—except sometimes as a statue. But you will find a lot of books like Library Lion that bring you into another world and make you want to stay there for a while. And who knows? I’m headed for the library myself today—maybe, just maybe, that wonderful lion will be there.
Here’s a page from Library Lion:
Other books for this day
Also recommended:
- Goin’ Someplace Special by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Additional Information
A few other events for
- Happy birthday Eleanor Schick (Navajo Wedding Day) and Jacqueline Briggs Martin (Snowflake Bentley).
- On this day in 1802, poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy see a “long belt” of daffodils, which inspires “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.” Read Poetry for Young People: William Wordsworth edited by Dr. Alan Liu, illustrated by James Muir, and Daffodil by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Tomek Bogacki.
- In 1912, 100 years ago, after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic Oceon, the steamship Titanic sinks. Hence, it is Titanic Remembrance Day. Read Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson.