Children’s
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Picture Book Picks: Friendship, Love & Kindness
Picture books about friendship, love and kindness are, I think, always welcome! We get a lot of questions at our library regarding the aforementioned themes, and I’ve slowly been cultivating my list of favourites over the a number of years. Here, in no particular order, are my favourite picture books about love and friendship. (…This Read more
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Encore! Picture Book Picks: Storytime Favourites
A read aloud can make or break the success of a storytime. I’ve had those storytimes where, just a few lines into a picture book I can tell it’s going to be a clunker with the kids. The sweating begins, the voice becomes uncertain and it…doesn’t…go….well…and you’re dying a slow death on stage. But when Read more
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Best of 2014, Part 4: Picture Books
This collage of covers includes my picks for top picture book titles I read in 2014. Please note that some titles may have been published in previous years, but they were all new to me this year! In no particular order, here are my favourites: Read more
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Best of 2014, Part 2: Children’s Fiction and Young Adult
My picks for top 5 children’s and top 5 YA fiction I read this year: Murder Most Unladylike (Wells and Wong #1) by Robin Stevens The Return of Zita the Spacegirl (Zita the Spacegirl #3) by Ben Hatke Now Look What You’ve Done (Timmy Failure #2) by Stephen Read more
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Picture Book Picks: Wintry Reads
There’s just something so welcoming about winter-themed picture books! Stories about polar bears, penguins and other winter creatures; stories about the changes of the season; stories about playing in the snow, going sledding, snuggling up by a roaring fire… Here, in no particular order, are some of my favourite wintry reads: Singing Away the Dark Read more
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Spotlight: The Timmy Failure series by Stephan Pastis
As a big fan of Stephan Pastis’ acerbic yet contemplative Pearls Before Swine comic strip, I couldn’t wait to read Pastis’ middle-grade Timmy Failure series. I was in for a treat. Our protagonist, Timmy Failure, comes from a long line of Fayleures (his ancestors changed the spelling of their name). He lives with his mother Read more
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Spotlight: Molly Idle’s ‘Flora’ Picture Books
Last year I read Molly Idle’s wordless picture book Flora and the Flamingo and it instantly became a favourite of mine. When I found out that another Flora book was planned, I was ecstatic…but wondered if a follow-up could be as magical, as lyrical, as the first. Well, I can tell you that Flora and Read more
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Picture Book Picks: Halloween Ready Reads
It’s coming up on Halloween, so what better time to spotlight spooky, pumpkin-y, monster-y picture books? Here are some of my favourites- mostly comical and sweet, with a few shadowy and (only slightly!) scary: Bedtime for Monsters by Ed Vere Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds, illus. Peter Brown The Boy Who Read more
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Review: The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter
Review: The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter Source: Paperback, Published December 20th 2011 by Square Fish Verdict: Very Good Book Description: Life in a small town can be pretty boring when everyone avoids you like the plague. But after their father unwittingly sends them to stay with an aunt who’s away on holiday, the Hardscrabble Read more
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