Some Fairies Wear Hearing Aids

Some Fairies Wear Hearing Aids by Penny Gill

A magical story for children with hearing aids or cochlear implants, their friends, classmates, and families. Piper and Paige are best friends - you might even say they are two peas in a pod! These clever girls are both deaf, use listening technology, and are always ready for adventure. When they decide to build a fairy house, they are in for a big surprise!

This charming yet simple story explores friendships between people with hearing loss, the journey from birth to listening through sensory devices, and the fun of creative play in nature. There is even an adorable hearing dog!

Some Fairies Wear Hearing Aids is a delightful story that provides "mirrors and windows" for children with hearing loss and their typically hearing friends, classmates, and families. The book includes "participation pages" at the end, with suggested activities.

The Buddy Bench

 

The Buddy Bench

The Buddy Bench by Patty Brozo

A group of empathetic students recognizes that the playground sometimes feels lonely. Their solution? A ‘Buddy Bench' to ensure everyone has a friend.

The Buddy Bench inspires discussions on kindness, building relationships and social skills, empathy, coping with loneliness, and easing into the new school year.

The Best Bed for Me

The Best Bed for Me

by Gaia Cornwall

"Bedtime delays abound in this book centering a young animal lover. While a child envisions snoozing as different creatures do, a parent patiently attempts to wind things down as another adult tends to an infant. “Maybe I could sleep upside down like... a bat! They hold on with their feet and hang down from branches,” says the brown-skinned, rosy-cheeked child, portrayed in red footie pj’s among a colony of bats. “My little bat, it’s time to calm our bodies down,” replies tan-skinned, short-haired Mama. Cycling through koalas, sea otters, piglets, puffins, whales, and emperor penguins, the story integrates notable facts about the featured critters’ nocturnal habits, while pencil and watercolor illustrations finished digitally show the child cozying up with friendly wildlife pals who seem similarly disinclined to settle. After a smooth segue by Mama that emphasizes a loving parent-child relationship, the book reaches a snuggly conclusion that sets the stage for sweet animal dreams.

Ivy Lost and Found

 

Ivy Lost and Found

by Cynthia Lord

Ivy was Anne the librarian's doll when she was a young girl. But now she has moved to Anne's library to be its newest Book Buddy--a toy that can be checked out just like a book. Ivy isn't sure she wants to be borrowed, though. She'd rather go back to just being Anne's favorite toy. Fern, a child who visits the library with her stepfamily, also wishes things could go back to the way they were, when Fern had her dad all to herself. When Fern takes Ivy home, an unexpected outdoor adventure helps both of them find confidence and belonging in their changing worlds. This heartwarming story by Cynthia Lord, with a classic feel and gentle illustrations by Stephanie Graegin, is the first in a chapter-book series that pairs friendly toys with child characters who need them.

When You Can Swim

 

When You Can Swim

by Jack Wong

A celebration of learning to swim among a diverse cast of children and families who each experience the mysterious joys of water in nature. In this exploration of what it truly means to swim, sandpipers, tannin-soaked lakes, and the feeling of a small waterfall on sun-soaked shoulders are all introduced. But what about those who are afraid of the water’s mysterious ways and resist learning to swim? Painting a compelling picture of the many joys and surprises that the water holds, artist and author Jack Wong has delivered an empowering, poetic journey that invites children to discover their confidence within to receive the warmth and wonder of the natural world.

Just in time for summer.

I Was Born a Baby

I Was Born a Baby

by Meg Fleming

This adorable read-aloud story introduces baby animals who share what they are called and what they grow up into, and shows ow some baby animals share their names with several other species.

In a Jar, Out of a Jar

In a Jar

Out of a Jar

While in Marcero’s In a Jar, little bunnies Llewellyn and Evelyn collected things they loved. When moving homes separates them, they remain connected through teir collections. In Out of a Jar, Llewellyn is trying to contain his huge emotions. When he is extremely frightened, exuberantly excited, or steaming mad, he shoves all his color-coded emotions into jars and locks them in a closet. Yet, it isn’t long before he discovers the dangers of his methods.

Again, Essie?

Again, Essie?

by Jenny Lacika

Rafael tries to save his toys from his baby sister, Essie, by building a wall from shoeboxes, toilet paper rolls, and other household objects in this playful exploration of spatial sense and geometry.

Visit the Brighouse branch for our new STEAM picturebook area, where you will find Again, Essie? and lots more! 

Kumo the bashful cloud

Kumo the basful cloud

by Kyo Maclear

When Kumo sees some unfamiliar clouds, she worries they won’t want her around, but she takes a breath and nervously floats over to them. They happily embrace her, and soon other clouds join in their glee, “until there are clouds and clouds everywhere, joining together, becoming the whole sky.” 
Kumo’s duties end for the day with her wafting into a well-deserved “delicate, dreamy sleep,” having learned that both being seen and being unseen can be good. Sprinkled with Japanese vocabulary, Kumo will impart a new appreciation for clouds and show readers how it can sometimes be frightening to step into the world, then reassuring them that others are willing to help when we overcome our bashfulness.

Kumo (which means “cloud” in Japanese) is a touching fable. Kumo wants nothing more than to float in the corners of the sky unnoticed. She prefers to “remain soft and invisible,” but when Kumo is called upon to do her cloud duty, she must face her fear of not being enough and grow confident in all she offers.

At first, Kumo tries to move forward by closing her eyes, but she gets stuck. She has to “pull her fluff together” and carry out her duty with her eyes open to explore the rich landscape of cities, mountains, gardens, and fields.

 

Reviewer: Fiona Raye Clarke

Publisher: Tundra Books

DETAILS

Price: $24.99

Page Count: 64 pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 978-0-73526-728-2

Released: September

Issue Date: October 2022

Categories: Kids’ Books, Picture Books

Age Range: 4–8

 

My Night in the Planetarium: A true story about a child, a play, and the art of resistance

 

by Innosanto Nagara

There aren’t a lot of picture books that portray what it’s like for a child to live under dictatorship. Innosanto Nagara, the Indonesian-born graphic artist and acclaimed author/illustrator of A Is for Activist and Counting on Community, tells his own story of facing dictatorship and oppression in My Night in the Planetarium. At the age of seven, he watched his father, a playwright, put on plays that indirectly lampooned the corrupt and violent rulers of his country in the 1970s and 1980s. Sometimes the youngster acted in the plays. Ultimately, this love gives both parents and children the strength they need to survive and thrive in the most difficult of circumstances.