Author Archives: Midge Livingston

The Sleepever

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By Michael Regina

When Matthew and his mother and sister return home from a family vacation the find that their nanny has passed away suddenly. Ruby cannot be easily replaced and the entire family grieves. Things seem to be getting back to normal when Miss Swan arrives wanting the job. Still mourning, Matthew’s friends decide they want to come over for a sleepover to cheer him up. Miss Swan allows them to eat anything they want and do pretty much anything but soon, Matt starts to wonder if she is a witch with evil intentions. Will Matt, is sister and his friends survive the night? This is a suspenseful graphic novel that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. This book is recommended for 4 grade to 8th grade.

Busy Betty

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Written by Reese Witherspoon, Illustrated by Xindi Yan

Betty is a whimsical go-getter who is always on the move. When she is getting ready for a playdate she realizes that her dog, Frank, really needs a bath. This is where things go a little crazy. In her attempts to clean Frank, Betty makes things messier than ever. But when her friend, Mae, arrives with even better ideas, success is in the future. This book shows that even the best laid plans can go not as planned but that with resilience and ingenuity, one can be successful.

A Cat About Town

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Written and Illustrated by Lea Decan

This lovely book follows the adventures of a housecat who wanders to different place every day of the week. While there is only one owner for this adventurer, many know the cat well. Every day is a different experience with a different neighbor. This is a great book to introduce days of the week. The art is bold and appealing. All cat lovers would enjoy this book. As it seems oriented to such a young audience, I would recommend it as an extra purchase.

This Book is NOT a Present

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Written by Max Greenfield, Illustrated by Mike Lowery

This big print, humorous book focuses on how kids would not want a book as a gift for any holiday. It caters to the child who is always on the go and not wanting to sit at any time, let alone to read a book. As I read, I kept waiting for the twist at the end saying something to the effect of “huh, I guess I did enjoy reading a book and getting a book as a gift” but alas that never occured. I had mixed feelings about this book being in an elementary library and thus, I searched for other reviews online. There were many 5 star reviews that seemed to be from parents. Theses parents found this book to be hilarious and their children would want them to read it over and over again. After much thought and consideration, I would not recommend this purchase for a school library where funding is limited as it could discourage reading although it seems to be a hit for a bedtime story.

When You Take a Step

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By Bethanie Deeney Murguia

A short and sweet picture book that reflects on moving forward in life. It is a gentle book reflecting on peace and mindfulness as you walk your own path. The mostly black and white images are soft with pink shoes on every page showing how one can be curious, kind and thoughtful with every step on makes. This book would be a great extra purchase for any socio-emotional school curriculum.

I am Superman

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Written by Brad Meltzer, Illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos

Brad Meltzer has added the series “Stories Change the World” to his repertoire after the success of the “Ordinary People Change the World” books. It is about the story of Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El. This book gives the backstory of Superman in a thoughtful way, explaining how what makes makes him an incredible person isn’t what he can do and how strong he is. It’s what is in his kind heart. The illustrations are what you would expect, remarkable! The pictures will attract emerging readers as well as older readers who want to read something quick and fun. I would recommend this fun and thought provoking graphic to all elementary grades. This is one of three books in this new series including Wonder Woman and Batman.

The Fantastic Flying Competition

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by Tjibbe Veldkamp & Sebastiaan Van Doninck

This whimsical picture book introduces young children to many different types of birds (as well as bats) in the race of the ages. Many teams fall to the wayside (the owls get a late start as they have slept in) and one team is cheating! This book has zany illustrations with a lot of color and will be popular with many of your young students. Who will win? You will not find out until you laugh your way through this fun picture book. Recommended for K-3.

Sharing a Smile by Nikki Kramar and pictures by Ashley Evans

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This timely picture books introduces us to Sophie who used to be so comfortable being around her neighbors, playing and helping and smiling with them. Now that they all have masks on things are different and Sophie is worried. What if she can’t tell they are smiling? As she watches she notices that her friend, Jenny from across the street looks very scared to go outside. Sophie and her grandfather make a plan to make not only Sophie comfortable but also her friend Jenny.

This is a great story about friendship and supporting each other during times of change. It is a gentle reminder to us, as adults, about how young children can feel with so many plain, sterile masked people in the world. I would highly recommend this book for the fall. A great read-a-loud for students returning to school.

Pascual and the Kitchen Angels

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Written and Illustrated by Tomie dePaola

Pascual was touched by God at a very young age. Initially, he was a shepherd but as a young adult he felt the desire to feed the poor and thus he decided to become a friar. He traveled to a Franciscan monastery where the friars asked him to become their cook. Not knowing anything about a kitchen, he prayed to God and angels came to the kitchen where they made incredible meals. Pascual never did learn to cook but by the gift of God he provided food to the friars as well as the poor. An author’s note at the end of the book explains that Pascual is the patron saint of cooks and the kitchen. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is light. I would recommend this book as an extra purchase for an elementary library.

Rover and Speck: This Planet Rocks!

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By Jonathan Roth

This fun graphic novel is an adventure that delves into the science of terrestrial planets. Rover lands on a planet and is ready to search for information only to find Speck who had landed before and was unable to power up it’s solar panels. Once Speck is charged up, they travel in search of life forms. They discover a type of “rock creature” and find that they are friendly when they hear music. While the story is not realistic, there are many facts about planets that are interspersed throughout the book. The back pages show images of the Mars and the Rover that was sent to it. Students will enjoy this book and learn along the way – Highly Recommended!

Rick: the Rock of Room 214

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Written by Julie Falatko, Illustrated by Ruth Chan

Rick is a rock who lives on a shelf with other items found outdoors by students that learn in room 214. Rick finds that the students seem to have many adventures and he wants them too. He wants to be the rock that does more that sit. He wants to have adventures like going through a volcano, falling off cliffs and posing on a majestic mountain. One day, he falls into a backpack and goes outside looking for new things to do. What he finds are many rocks who are quiet, and no longer want adventures in their lives. Will Rick find what he wants or will he end up being a quiet rock sitting in a field? This is a very cute book that wonderfully explains how one can find adventure and enjoy life wherever one is, even if it is just sitting on a shelf in a classroom. I would highly recommend this one!

Tim Possible & the Time-Traveling T. Rex

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Written by Axel Maisy

The main character, Tim Possible, is an adventurous boy who worries a lot. He and his best friend, Tito, run into a time traveling T-Rex whose time machine has turned evil. This humorous and adventuresome book will be a great addition to a library that may see a need for more books along the vein of “Captain Underpants”, “DogMan” or “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”.

Noodle and the No Bones Day

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Written by Jonathan Graziano, Illustrated by Dan Tavis

What a wonderfully adorable book about a pug and his person. This tale emphasizes that it is okay to have an “off day” every once in a while. Noodle and his person, Jonathan – the author, have busy and adventuresome days every day but when Noodle is feeling under the weather, Jonathan becomes concerned. Soon he realizes that there are days where one must just take the time to relax and be content to just be. A highly recommended tale for elementary students that really explains that it’s okay to have a “no bones” day.

The Moon from Dehradun: a Story of Partition

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Written by Shirin Shamsi Illustrated by Tarun Lak

This is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book about the partition of India in 1947. It follows a family that suddenly has to leave their home and move to what is now Pakistan where they find an empty house and move in (presumably because that family had to move to what is now India). While recommended for ages 4-8, this book would be a more relevant purchase for intermediate grades. The story will be relatable to individuals who have an understanding of refugees and individuals that flee from their homelands due to fear. This book also contains maps, a glossary as well as the author’s family experiences in the back that would better explain the story to more advanced intermediate readers.

Pig Makes Art

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Written by Laura Gehl Illustrated by Fred Blunt

This book is an “emerging reader” book about a pig who creates art but leaves out the cat from the picture. The cat gets bored and takes a nap so the pig makes art on the cat while it’s sleeping. This makes the cat angry. In the end, pig and cat both make art together as friends. This book contains a list of word families, sight words and bonus words. It also has questions about the book on the last page.

Astrid the Astronaut: The Astronomically Grand Plan

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Astrid, a lover of all things outer space, is excited to start the new year with a new after school club at school, The Shooting Stars. Being in the group is step one to her goal of becoming the first astronaut that uses hearing aids. She is a determined young lady with a great deal of grit although because of her focus on becoming an astronaut she ignores her best friends desire to be an artist assuming she wants to go to space camp as well. This short book is a wonderful starter into reading chapter books. It not only discusses goal setting, working as a team and being kind, but also being a good listener and friend. I would recommend this book for emerging readers.

Chickadee: Criminal Mastermind

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Written by Monica Silvie Illustrated by Elina Ellis

What a fun book about a bird who feels he is a rebel compared to the rest of his nest mates. His mom and dad teach all of them to never leave the forest and don’t go near the houses. All summer and fall our little “rapscallion” is staying safe in the forest but when winter comes along he is cold and heads to the houses to become the “thief” that he is. This is a humorous book that discusses how we can help birds that do not migrate in the winter by leaving food out for them in our yards and neighborhoods. There is a three pager at the end of the book discussing facts about the Black-Capped Chickadee. There are also online resources and book recommendations.

Out of a Jar

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by Deborah Marcero

Shows a bunny sitting on a jar in a forest.

This picture book discusses feelings and when Llewellyn the bunny experiences tough feelings he puts them aside in a jar and locks them away. This works well for him for a while until suddenly, he isn’t feeling much of anything at all. One day, the jars all break. See what happens to Llewellyn when his feelings all get loose. This book is a good addition to your S.E.L. library. Younger students will enjoy and understand what happens when one does not express their feelings and keep them inside. I would recommend this book for elementary school (k-3).

Sunny Makes a Splash by Jennifer and Matthew Holm

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In book four of the Sunny graphic novel series, our main character anticipates a boring, unexciting summer after finding out her friends are going to be out of town but things change after she gets a job at the Golf and Swim Club snack stand. She makes friends that are older than her and sees others start relationships. This book is a light, fun graphic novel about friendship and being a tween. I would recommend it especially if you already have the first 3 books of the series.

Listen by Gabi Snyder, Stephanie Graegin – Illustrator

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This picture book discusses how even in a loud and overwhelming world if you take a moment to stop and listen you can hear the individual things around you. This book would be a great reminder to students to close their eyes and use their ears to move past the full force of one large cacophony of noise and give your full attention to something. This book has some very nice reference notes about listen.

Fuzzy, Inside and Out: A Story About Small Acts of Kindness and BIG HAIR by Zachariah Ohora

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Fuzzy Haskins is a kind soul who is super fuzzy. He smiled at everyone he passed on the street. He helped others when he saw a need. But when the rain and humidity came smiles around him turned into frowns. He became too fuzzy! This is a lovely book about being kind to others. This is a great book that talks about the positive feelings one can have when they share and are kind to others.

Ground Zero by Alan Gratz

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Set in the past and the present, this realistic/historical fiction book is based on the events surrounding the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.  Brandon is a young man who has gotten into trouble at school and thus, is visiting his father who works at the World Trade Center. When the attack occurs, Brandon is put into an obvious life or death situation. In an alternate storyline, Reshmina has grown up in war torn Afghanistan all of her life. She is a dreamer of peace but knows the reality that young men have when they must make the decision to be with the Taliban or not. These two storylines intertwine into a wonderful book where the present and history intersect. Readers will read not only the terrifying events as they occurred in New York on September 11, 2001 but also the effects of the United States being at war in Afghanistan to the normal everyday individual living through it.It is remarkable how Alan Gratz writes thought provoking literature for youth that will open the eyes of many. I highly recommend this book.