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SHARED by: Katherine Grier, Librarian at York Avenue Preschool

York Avenue Preschool will hold its annual Book Fair November 13-15, 2012. The school’s lobby will be transformed into a wonderful children’s bookstore featuring a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction books, as well as sticker and other activity books, and educational gifts and toys. Titles have been hand-selected with the York Avenue Preschool, Early Learning Foundations and  Gymtime community in mind. Parents and children who eagerly await new installments from best-selling authors will be excited to see recently published books chronicling the latest adventures of their favorite characters, including Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie (Listen to My Trumpet and Let’s Go for a Drive), Olivia the Pig (Olivia and the Fairy Princesses by Ian Falconer), Baby Llama (Llama Llama Time to Share by Ann Dewedney),  Ladybug Girl (Ladybug Girl and Bingo by David Soman) and Traction Man  (Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey by Mini Grey).

A diverse selection of other beautifully illustrated and smartly written books from a wide variety of outstanding authors also will be available.  Here is just a small sampling:

What To Do If An Elephant Stands on Your Foot by Michelle Robinson
In this funny and suspenseful story told as a circle of events ala Laura Numeroff’s hugely popular “If You Give A ……..” series, a young explorer on safari receives advice on how to behave (and not to behave!) when encountering a variety of dangerous jungle animals. When the explorer does not follow the advice, a hilarious chain reaction of misadventure occurs. Besides the fact that it is pure fun, I particularly like this book because it is a great read-aloud that allows the audience to participate in the story mentally and physically. Kids can try to predict what happens next and they also can make animal noises, wave their arms, yell for help, or just go bananas with the monkeys.
My Brave Year of Firsts: Tries, Sighs and High Fives by Jamie Lee Curtis
This book celebrates new childhood experiences with wit, charm and marvelously detailed illustrations. Whether she is losing a tooth, jumping from a high place, borrowing a book from the library, trying gourmet foods, spurting milk from her nose after a case of the giggles, or going to work with her father, the heroine faces the “firsts” in her young life with bravado, spunk and determination.   Kids certainly will relate to most of these firsts , while grownups happily can use them as catalysts for sharing memories and stories of their own.

Nightsong by Ari Berk
Fans of Janell Cannon’s Stelluna will love this stunningly illustrated story of a little bat named Chiro embarking on his first independent night flight in search of food. He is excited to be going on this adventure on his own, but also a little reluctant because he is unsure how he will see enough in the dark to find his way home. His mother advises him to use his good sense (“the song you sing out into the world, and the song the world sings back to you”). Following that advice, timidly at first and more boldly as he finds his voice, Chiro goes beyond his familiar surroundings, soaring out past cliffs and over  the ocean until, finally, he’s home again.

Hueys in the New Sweater  by Oliver Jeffers
Oliver Jeffers picture books are often quirky, but the stories and artwork are captivating, and kids generally love his magical sense of humor and style. In this book, Jeffers provides readers with a delightful take on the theme of individuality using “Hueys”—small, simple creatures who are indistinguishable from one another.  When one Huey named Rupert knits himself an orange sweater, the other Hueys are “horrified.” Then another Huey ,named Gillespie decides that being different is “interesting,” and he knits a sweater just like Rupert’s. The next thing you know, all the Hueys decide to be different and start knitting and wearing identical orange sweaters so that what started out as a statement of uniqueness turns into a statement of sameness – until Rupert starts wearing a hat…

Yo!  Yes? by Chris Raschka
Eight years before his book, A Ball for Daisy was awarded the 2012 Caldecott Medal, Chris Raschka had another book rightfully honored by the Caldecott judges. Yo! Yes? is a simple book with a powerful message about friendship where two boys meet, greet and carry on a conversation with each other on opposite sides of the book. Through large, bold and dotted text with exclamation points and question marks, the reader sees that  the boys are different–one more reserved and the other more hip. Yet the power of friendly words bridge these difference and the two characters are shown together as pals on the very last page.