Barbara Bottner

OMG I want my own copy of this. A little girl is grosseed out by her librarian's enthusiasm for books, until she finds a gross book (Shrek) that sparks her own enthusiasm. My favorite part was when the girl asks her mom if they can move away and the mom says that won't work because there's a book-crazed librarian in every town. Awesome.

An extremely grouchy first-grader, with no interest in reading or books, Missy tolerates (just barely) her librarian's colorful reading circle, but resists any effort to convince her of the charms of story, and of the written word. "I want you to get as excited about books as I am," says Miss Brooks at one point, dressed up as the caterpillar from Eric Carle's classic picture-book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. "I think Miss Brooks gets a little too excited,' is Missy's silent response. But show more when the dreaded Book Week, in which each student must choose a book and act it out for the other children, draws near, Missy finds herself, despite her expressed reluctance, sent home with plenty of books. Will any of them succeed in cracking her shell, or will she go on being a bibliophobe?

I enjoyed this tale of an extremely enthusiastic and committed librarian, and the young patron who poses such a challenge to her. I liked the message, delivered with no didactic display, that different stories appeal to different readers, and thought that Michael Emberley's cartoonish illustrations really captured the humor and fun of the story. Miss Brooks' costumes were all quite amusing, although the aforementioned caterpillar was probably my favorite! I also really appreciated the brief scenes involving Missy's artist mother, whose succinct responses to her daughters complaints and requests - "I've already been in the first grade," she says, when requested to do the assignment for Missy - had me chuckling.

All in all, Miss Brooks Loves Books! (And I Don't) is a most engaging book, full of humor and fun, and with a very satisfactory ending that is robbed of none of its appeal by being not entirely unexpected. show less

Priscilla, an enthusiastic, biracial girl, is crazy about gorillas. She eats, sleeps, and dreams gorillas. She even wears her gorilla suit to school! After all, gorillas can do whatever they want - or can they?

As chaos erupts in Priscilla's class, her long-suffering teacher tries various methods to deal with Priscilla and her classmates and Priscilla's parents even make a few mild suggestions. Finally however, it's Priscilla herself who comes to realize she needs to adapt her behavior a show more little bit.

The illustrations are cute and fun, but what I most enjoyed was her teacher, Mr. Todd's reactions. He tries to get Priscilla to stop disrupting the class but doesn't discourage her enthusiasm and love of gorillas. He's got plenty on his plate with a full class of exuberant, quirky kids anyways. The additional humor of Priscilla's parents apparently having installed monkey bars and climbing rings in their house for her tickled my funny bone as well.

Verdict: There are plenty of books about kids misbehaving in school, but this has a light touch and a lesson that comes from the kids themselves, not from an adult perspective, that I think will resonate with listeners.

ISBN: 9781481458979; Published 2017 by Simon and Schuster; Borrowed from another library in my consortium show less

Today's book came into my life by chance. For those of you who aren't aware, I recently started a new job as a Children's Librarian (hence why there are a TON of picture books about to be reviewed in the coming weeks). Well, we have a listserv where we communicate about programming, crafts, and books that may or may not be circulating in our branches. That is how I came to find Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don't) written by Barbara Bottner and illustrated by Michael Emberley. From the show more title and cover alone, I knew this was going to be a winner. When it came to me it was a bit the worse for wear (there was some minor surgery needed) but after I read it through I knew this would be the perfect readaloud book. AND I WAS RIGHT. The story revolves around a little girl who is the antithesis of Miss Brooks who is a very enthusiastic Children's Librarian. This little girl has absolutely no interest in reading or in participating in any of the activities (costuming, poetry, etc.) that Miss Brooks organizes for the other children. As the reader follows along, we continue to see Miss Brooks trying everything in her power to make this little reluctant reader a lover of literature. The illustrations are an absolutely perfect addition as they are humorous, colorful, and accompany the text brilliantly. (Kids find lots to point out and discuss as you're reading.) If you have any reluctant readers in your life this might be just the book to show them that there is a book for everyone. I am so excited that this came into my life when it did and that I can not only share it with the kids but also with all of you. XD 10/10 show less