Welcome to another installment in our series of blog posts featuring children’s books we’re currently loving! “Book Chat with the Youth Services Team” features one book recommendation from each of our Youth Services team members. We cover a variety of books from fiction to non-fiction, picture books to chapter books, graphic novels and more! We hope that this month’s reading recommendations get you excited about some awesome new books we’ve added to our collection as well as some oldies but goodies. Enjoy!
MAEVE RECOMMENDS DINOSAURS TO DRAGONS: THE LORE AND SCIENCE OF MYTHICAL CREATURES BY ELIZABETH SHREEVE (AGES 7 – 9).
Have you ever wondered where the legends of mystical creatures like unicorns and
dragons started? Or have you wondered what it would take for the legends to be real? Then
Dinosaurs to Dragons: The Lore and Science of Mythical Creatures by Elizabeth Shreeve is
the book for you. This book explores mythical creatures from all over the world and gives
insight to how these legends may have started. This book includes many historical and
scientific images that keep the reader engaged.
Some of the lesser-known legends that are included in the book are the Bunyip from
the Ngarrindjeri people of South Australia and the Quetzalcoatl of Mesoamerica. There are
also the more familiar legends such as unicorns, fairies, and dragons. One of my favorite
chapters was the legend of the Phoenix because while we may not have a bird that can be
reborn from the ashes there is a jellyfish that goes through a cycle of rebirth and can live
forever. I would recommend this book to anyone who finds the history of how legends
came to be its own kind of magic
BETH RECOMMENDS THE MYSTERY OF THE LOCKED ROOMS BY LINDSEY CURRIE (AGES 10 – 12).
Do you like Escape Room? Solving Puzzles? Trying to win over 1 million dollars? Of course you do. Lindsay Currie steps out of her usual storylines to make this wonderful mystery books for tweens. Meet Sarah, a 12-year-old enthusiast of puzzles and escape rooms and her friends, West and Hannah. Sarah’s life isn’t very easy with her dad being ill and now a foreclosure sign on the apartment door. Sarah knows she needs to help her family, and then she remembers hearing about The Delta Game. Three identical brothers built a house with the hardest, most amazing escape room ever. Only problem is that it isn’t open to the public- it never opened to the public. One of the brothers died and the other two just never opened it up. Legend has it that there is treasure inside. Of course, some people have been caught trying to break in and the treasure has never been found. Sarah and her friends decide they are going to sneak in and solve it. Maybe finding the treasure will save Sarah’s family. There are many twist and turns inside the house and within their lives. Will they solve this crazy escape room? Will Sarah get the treasure to save her family? And what really happened to the three brothers? Well, you will just need to read and find out. Happy puzzle solving!
LISA RECOMMENDS HURRICANE BY JASON CHIN (AGES 4 – 8).
This non-fiction picture book was released in the spring of 2025 before the hurricane season for the East Coast. It does an excellent job in unraveling what a hurricane is for a young reader and the destruction it can cause. Instead of being a dry science book of facts, Jason Chin has used standout illustrations along with concise, direct dialogue to teach what a hurricane is and the potential impact it poses. The book’s format is the timeline of a hurricane’s life from first being spotted by a space satellite to the aftermath of cleanup. Using Hatteras Island as a setting, Chin shows the progression of the hurricane from day to day. On Monday beachgoers are enjoying the sun while hurricane specialists create forecasts in the storm’s direction. Each day shows the hurricane’s progression and the actions of scientists behind the scenes, the residents, and visitors of Hatteras Island. Pages at the end of the book answer questions on hurricanes and review vocabulary.
MADISON RECOMMENDS QUILL SOUP: A STONE SOUP STORY BY ALAN DURANT (AGES 3 -7).
Noko, the porcupine, arrives in a village after a long journey, where the animals are obviously well-fed but stingy, leaving Noko hungry. Usings his wit, Noko convinces the villagers into contributing bits of food to his famous “Quill Soup,” resulting in a delicious, shared feast–and a place to sleep for Noko. Quill Soup: A Stone Soup Story is perfect picture book for introducing children ages 3-7 to basic community values like sharing and hospitality. Blankenaar’a artwork fills the book with vibrant hues of blue, yellow, red, grey, white, black, and green. The richly detailed, two-dimensional illustrations are saturated with detail and compliment the story’s themes bringing Noko’s journey to life. This hoopla eBook offers a fresh retelling of the classical Stone Soup story from a South African perspective.
RACHEL RECOMMENDS THE SECOND LIFE OF SNAP BY ERIN ENTRADA KELLY (AGES 8 – 12).
On the first day of summer, 12-year-old Zuzu Santos’s father is let go from his job as a security guard for Lockwood Corporation. Instead of a severance package, Lockwood sent him home with an out-of-date robot and a charger that doesn’t work. That’s fine by Zuzu. Robots are snitches, and she can’t hang out with her friends in the salvage yard with a robot breathing down her neck (well, not breathing, but…). After one of Zuzu’s friends uses his impressive hacking and engineering skills to tap into the robot’s circuitry, the robot changes. His name is Snap, his favorite color is purple, and he can lie. He’s not so bad, actually. But if he runs out of power, he’ll reset to factory setting and everything that makes him Snap will die.
The Second Life of Snap is a near-future sci-fi story about class injustice, moral ambiguity, and what it means to be a person. Fans of the Wild Robot books and the movie The Iron Giant won’t want to miss this one!
MIRISSA RECOMMENDS TODAY IS THE DAY BY CHELSEA LIN WALLACE (AGES 3 – 5)
As someone who has a lot of trouble slowing down and enjoying the now, this book was a healthy dose of perspective. Each day starts out much the same, but it also brims with potential. For some, it might be the worst day; for others, it might be the best. For many, it will be just another of the 27,000 days that make up the average human lifespan. What I liked most about this book is that, through statistics like the number of airplanes that take off or the number or birthdays celebrated each day, it shows that we have so much in common with our fellow humans. At the same time, the way we experience each day is unique to us. How will you spend Today?
GENEVIEVRE RECOMMENDS VALENTINA SALAZAR IS NOT A MONSTER HUNTER BY ZORAIDA CÓRDOVA (AGES 8 – 12).
Valentina is the youngest sibling in a family facing its greatest tragedy: the loss of their dad on a monster rescue mission gone very wrong. In the “before times,” Valentina and her Ecuadorian American family were monster protectors, who chased down clues to mythical beasts trapped in the real world and helped transport them back to their own monster dimension. Now that their dad is gone and her oldest sibling has left home to join up with monster hunters as an act of revenge, Valentina’s mom and her remaining two older siblings are doing their best to live normal (monster free) lives. But Valentina can’t move on as easily as her family, and she can’t turn her back on monsters in need. When a boy begins live streaming a monster, Valentina knows that it’s up to her to save monsterkind. Will she have to leave her family behind to do the right thing? And if her siblings were given the choice to tag along on a last epic journey as monster protectors, would they make the choice to help monsters or hurt them? Although the book does cover the aftermath of grief from losing a parent, it also tackles topics like protection versus destruction and holding onto empathy even for something as potentially misunderstood as a monster.
RICHARD RECOMMENDS THE BOOK OF THREE (THE CHRONICLES OF PRYDAIN BOOK 1) BY LLYOD ALEXANDER (AGES 8 – 12).
This was a fun read and will be popular with our young fantasy readers who might want to read the rest of the series after finishing the first book. To summarize: Taran wanted to be a hero, and looking after a pig wasn’t exactly heroic, even though Hen Wen was an oracular pig. But the day that Hen Wen vanished, Taran was led into an enchanting and perilous world. With his band of followers, he confronted the Horned King and his terrible Cauldron-Born. These were the forces of evil, and only Hen Wen knew the secret of keeping the kingdom of Prydain safe from them. Would Taran find her in time to save the kingdom? Read and find out! This book won the Newberry award, and also was the basis for Disney’s “The Black Cauldron” movie. Happy reading everyone!
SUMMER RECOMMENDS THIS VERY TREE BY SEAN RUBIN (AGES 4 – 8).
This month marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11. As someone who was only 7 at the time, I think a lot about the shared societal memories of the event, and how we teach future generations about such a difficult subject. With this picture book, Sean Rubin has done well managing the balancing act of telling children the truth while doing so in an age-appropriate manner. The story is told from the perspective of the Survivor Tree, which was in the plaza of the World Trade Center on 9/11. Against all odds, the survivor tree lived through the devastation and was relocated to a park in the Bronx to regain its strength. Nearly 10 years later, the Survivor Tree was replanted in its original home in lower Manhattan, where it sits adjacent to the two reflecting pools which honor the nearly 3,000 victims of that day’s attacks. 9/11 changed our world in the blink of an eye, and we now have an entire generation born after that day. I firmly believe young folks deserve to learn the history that shaped the world they now live in, and 9/11 is no exception. If a young person asks you questions about 9/11, this volume could be a great way to start the discussion, especially since it focuses on healing, hope, and resilience.
ADRIANE RECOMMENDS QUESO, JUST IN TIME BY ERNESTO CISNEROS (AGES 8 – 12).
If you could transport back in time to meet your parent when they were your age, what would you say to them? What would 12 year old you say to 12 year old them?
Queso misses his father more than anything. One night in his backyard he makes a wish in the moonlight. The next morning, he wakes up in the same backyard, but it is 1985, and his father is twelve! Queso gets to spend the next few weeks with his dad and grandparents, but will it change the future? This book was an honest look at grief, missing loved ones, showing that healing takes time. It was also a fun look at how you would have hung out with your parents if you had been kids at the same time. My favorite part was how the author wove Mexican American culture and folklore into the story along with elements of magical realism.
JOAN RECOMMENDS DO YOU KNOW THE DARK? EXPLORING THE UNSEEN, UNKNOWN, AND UNUSUAL BY ROZ MACLEAN (AGES 4 – 8).
Do you know the dark? At first glance, I expected this to be an informational picture book about nocturnal animals, but it is actually an exploration of “the dark” in all its forms. With just a few lines of text per page and beautiful illustrations, it invites us to explore how we think and feel about the dark in many forms. In addition to seeing nocturnal animals scurry about after dark, we see the dark of the ocean, the dark of a cave, and the dark underground activities in our soil. We see stargazing, fireworks displays, the Northern Lights, campfire nights, and even the dark created by our own hands when we cover our eyes to begin a game of hide and seek. I like the way the book gently acknowledges the sense of the unknown or uncertainty that we might have in the dark. “In the light, you can be so sure,” but the dark is “not so obvious.” Later, “It’s harder to tell where you end and everything else begins in the dark.” Overall, the lyrical text and beautiful illustrations work to create a sense of calm wonder, making this a great book to read at bedtime.
LAUREN RECOMMENDS HARRIET HOUND BY KATE FOSTER (AGES 6 – 9).
Harriet is an 8-year-old girl who lives in Australia on a dog rescue farm; she’s also autistic, which is one of her superpowers. Her other superpower was given to her on her eighth birthday. Her grandmother gifted her with a magical power to use whenever something doesn’t go quite right. She can use her magic to summon the dogs at the rescue center and communicate with them to help solve whatever situation has occurred. This book consists of three small chapter stories that are perfect for a second- or third grader who has leveled up to chapter books but prefers shorter stories. The illustrations are darling and full of interesting and useful animal facts.
September Book Chat with Youth Services Team – 2025
September Book Chat with the Youth Services Team – 2024
