CAPSULE COMMENTS

February 15, 2007

New Children's Books

The following new books can be found in the Children’s Department at Rodman Public Library's main building:

The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, by Betty G. Birney

Eben McAllister is eleven during the summer of 1923 and doesn’t find much excitement on the family farm. While reading a book about the Seven Wonders of the World, he is challenged by his father to find seven wonders in seven days in their small rural community of Sassafras Springs, Missouri. The offer of a train ticket to visit his cousins in Colorado and to see the mountains is all the encouragement Eben needs. Each day his search produces its own wonder: the story his Sunday School teacher tells him about her applehead doll which saved her life when she was a sick child; the musical saw that deters a cloud of crop-eating locusts; neighbor Violet’s floating table. As Eben discovers, there are wonders, large and small, all around us. A great read-aloud for ages 9-13.

Firegirl, by Tony Abbott

Life changes for Tom and his seventh grade classmates when their teacher, Mrs. Tracey quietly says, "There is something you need to know about Jessica," the new student. Disfigured by burns, she starts attending his Catholic school while receiving treatment at the local hospital. Despite her shocking appearance and the fear she evokes in him and his classmates, Tom slowly develops a tentative friendship with Jessica that changes his life. For ages 11-14.

The Tortoise and the Hare Race Again, by Dan Bernstein

Ever since the lazy hare lost The Great Race, he has had trouble getting any kind of respect. He is taunted by Pete R. Rabbit and mocked by Hare E. Plodder, the slowest rabbit around. Meanwhile, the champion tortoise is sorry he ever beat the hare. He can’t stand all the attention, and wants to go back to his quiet life at the shell station. It seems that a second race would benefit both parties. But can a hare as lazy as this one resist napping through a rematch? This hilarious send-up of Aesop’s fable is filled with high jinks and pun fun. For ages 4-8.

It’s Snowing! It’s Snowing!: Winter Poems, by Jack Prelutsky

It's winter! The trees are bare, the days are short, and the first sparkling snowflakes are falling from the sky. Master of rhyme, Jack Prelutsky, creates a flurry of winter verse, just right for ushering in the season of ice and snow. Lively, warmth-filled illustrations by Yossi Abolafia enhance these sixteen delightful poems.