Category Archives: Recommendation

Wildseed Witch, by Marti Dumas

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Set in New Orleans, Wildseed Witch is a charming story about Hasani’s journey to a magical charm school, her goals of becoming a well-known and popular YouTuber, and her quest to find herself and fix her family. A little bit of Harry Potter-esque magic set in the deep South, the story blooms with a riot of floral characters all trying to grow up with charm and controlled magic. Hasani learns she needs to find balance and lean on her friends – old and new – as she struggles to fix her parents’ broken marriage. I enjoyed the realistic aspects of the story about friendships and family challenges with the touches of magic woven through the story. While this book says it’s the first in a new series, the ending felt complete. Future books may follow Hasani as she grows older, but this book’s plot felt done. No huge hanging cliffhangers to frustrate a reader wanting completion on the final page. I also liked the bits of unvarnished history of sugar cane plantations that seep into the story as well. Overall, a nice diverse addition to an often white fantasy section of the library.

Disasters by the Numbers: a book of infographics, by Steve Jenkins

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Earthquakes, tornados, pandemics, and more are highlighted and explained in this bold, colorful book. Using infographics to share facts about each type of disaster, a reader will find many questions explained by easy to understand illustrations, charts and graphs. The book includes a glossary of terms and a bibliography to back up facts shared. I liked that the infographics help make concrete the often-abstract numbers and ideas. For example, we often hear about the Richter Scale when earthquakes are discussed. The clear images and explanations for each number on the scale is the first time I think I’ve ever had a clear understanding of how those numbers relate to damage seen on news footage. An easy book to browse & flip through or to dig in and read every page, this will be a popular non-fiction read, I’m sure.

Animals that Might Exist by Professor O’Logist, by Stéphane Nicolet and Jean-Baptiste Drouot

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An absurd collection of animal drawings that have only been seen by the now-missing Professor O’Logist. A tongue-in-cheek book of drawings and scientific descriptions of the craziest collections of animals you’ve never seen, but that doesn’t mean they might NOT exist! Professor O’Logist even created his own classification system for organizing the animals, including the soft animals, the disgusting animals, and the not-useful animals, to name a few. Many of the animals remind me of creatures you might encounter in a Roald Dahl book, the drawings are charming and the writing is both serious and silly. This is a book I think students will have fun giggling over as they flip through the bizarre taxonomy and then find inspiration to discover rare animals themselves. For a middle school library, I imagine this probably more of a display book, rather than one that gets checked out much unless it’s by budding artists.

Star Child: A biographical constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler, by Ibi Zoboi

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One of the most unique and beautiful biographies I’ve ever read. Ibi Zoboi tells the story of science fiction author Octavia E. Butler’s life in quotes, poems, short blurbs, photographs, her own writing, and drawings. I particularly like the poems that frame each short section of prose and add depth to the account of her life. The mix of writing styles adds to the retelling, giving the reader a mix of Octavia’s own words with those speculative ones of the author as she imagines what Octavia might have been thinking through some of her early experiences. The book tells the life of Octavia Butler from a childhood facing the Great Depression, World War II, the space race, the red scare, and the Civil Rights movement. Through all of it, Octavia loved reading and writing stories, especially science fiction though she rarely saw characters that looked like her in the pages. She set out to get paid to write the fantastical worlds she saw in her head, collecting many rejections along the way before she eventually became an award-winning and respected author.  I really enjoyed this artistic take on a woman who was such a pioneer in the field of science fiction writing.

The Strangest Thing in the Sea (and Other Curious Creatures of the Deep)

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The illustrations in this book are enchanting. Each set of 4 pages describes a different denizen of the deep, with an overlay page that imagines the creature as something out of a fairy tale. When you lift the flap, you see what the creature actually looks like. 

The author provides some fun facts about each sea creature, as well as the basics (size, prey, habitat, and the sea depth at which they live). 

The suspense builds: each creature in turn says, “… But I’m not the strangest thing in the sea!” 

You might be surprised when you find out what “the strangest thing in the sea” really is! 

Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning Changed the Science of Prehistoric Life by Cheryl Blackford

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This fascinating account of Mary Anning’s life will have a lot of appeal to both dinosaur lovers and students looking for a biography of a woman in a role that is typically filled by a male. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll catalog it in the 560’s under dinosaurs and fossils, or in the biography section.

Young Mary was only thirteen when she uncovered the first complete skeleton of a prehistoric creature later named the Ichthyosaur. Mary came by her fascination with fossils naturally, working alongside her father in the cliffs near Lyme Regis in England. Conditions were perfect for unearthing fossils as the wet weather loosened the soil on the cliffs, sending muddy avalanches sliding to the beach below. However, this was very dangerous work. Mary’s own father died on site of a rockfall resulting from an avalanche.

Following her father’s death, the family was thrown into poverty, so Mary helped in the one way she know how to make money — she sold fossils to tourists. In these days (the early 1800’s), it became quite fashionable for wealthy families to buy “curiosity cabinets” to display collections of interesting objects. Soon, Mary was selling her fossils for much more money. By the age of 29, Mary had already made four momentous fossil finds: (1) the world’s most complete ichthyosaurs, (2) the world’s first complete plesiosaur, (3) the first pterodactyl found in Britain, and (4) the world’s first squaloraja.

Self-educated in the field of paleontology and geology, Mary contributed to these fields through her tireless discoveries and research in libraries. But it was always a male that received the credit for her scientific contributions. Born in 1799, females were not allowed to go to college or join the British Society for the Advancement of Science. Without her due credit, Mary struggles financially for much of her life.

This book is beautifully illustrated, provides drawings and log entries by Mary Anning, is contains quotes by famous scientists who knew her, a Timeline, and a Glossary.

Hooves or Hands by Rosie Haine

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Would you rather be a horse or a human? An imaginative look at comparing horses and humans and what it might be like to be a horse told through rhythmic text. The color choices in the illustrations reflect the use of imagination as the horses are pink on some pages. The color palette is also limited to primarily pinks, oranges, and blues.

I imagine children would laugh about the line “Stop wherever you are and have a poo…” and the illustrations that show dots for nipples on the half humans, half horses, but I think I would pass on this book.

Sylvie by Jean Reidy

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Sylvie the spider loves the people in her building and one day she notices that something seems wrong. Worried that not everyone appreciates a spider that calls attention to herself, she finds the courage to unite the people in the building. Finally she feels the appreciation and friendship that she has been longing for.

The author also wrote the book, Truman, and Truman the tortoise makes an appearance in this book as well. It was fun to see that tie in. The illustrations in the book are colorful and help tell the story, but the storyline is difficult to follow and requires inferencing.

I am I. M. Pei by Brad Meltzer

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I am I. M. Pei is a part of the Ordinary People Change the World Series by Brad Meltzer. It begins with I. M. Pei’s childhood and is told in the first person. The book is written in a conversational tone and the illustrator, Christopher Eliopoulos includes comic inserts on various pages. There is a lot of text on the pages, but it is broken up with illustrations. As a child, I. M. Pei is drawn as a miniature adult and in the pages where he is an adult, he is much shorter and more childlike than the other adults in the illustrations. This book is only a brief look at his life. The themes of persistence and grit come across throughout the biography. When talking about the renovation of the Louvre, there is a page with a pop-up Louvre. A timeline of his life and pictures of I. M. Pei are included at the end of the book.

Simon at the Art Museum, by Christina Soontornvat

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A young child visits his first art museum with his parents. The things that intrigue Simon aren’t necessarily the art. He notices the the marble floors perfect for sock skating, the pigeons, and the cheesecake. The whole day seems both boring and a bit overwhelming through the eyes of a young child. The illustrations portray a variety of art types and a diverse museum visitors. Simon finally finds a piece of art that speaks to him – a painting of a young red-haired boy chasing pigeons.

Recommended as a field trip teaser or a sweet family day adventure.