Michael Mark

Bored one rainy day, the little girl in this picture-book romp heads to the library, exploring many of the classic children's books to be found therein. Eventually, after browsing through what's available, and interacting with the librarian, the girl heads home with her favorite selection: Winnie the Pooh...

Pairing the children's song by Tom Chapin and Michael Mark with artwork by illustrator Chuck Groenink, The Library Book offers a celebration of one of my absolute favorite places in the show more world: the library. I have many fond memories of spending my Saturday mornings at this most wonderful of community institutions as a child, so you would think that I would love this picture-book tribute. Unfortunately, although I liked the idea of the book, and appreciated the depiction of an African-American girl as the protagonist, the text itself simply didn't work that well for me. Perhaps if I were familiar with the song beforehand, and had a tune in mind as I read, the whole thing would have held more appeal for me? Difficult to say...

It's interesting to note that a great deal of the criticism I have seen directed at the book online has centered around the girl's choice of reading - too classic, apparently, and too white - or the actions of the librarian, in shushing the heroine. For my part, I mourn the loss of the library as a quiet place, something all too rare in our increasingly busy and crowded world, so the latter didn't bother me at all. If these reviewers are to be believed, librarians no longer insist on quiet, which, if true, is to be lamented. As for the issue of reading selection, although I can't agree that a child must select a book that reflects their immediate circumstances and identity - yes, it's perfectly OK for an African-American child to love Winnie the Pooh! - I did note the lack of diversity in the books mentioned. If illustrator Chuck Groenink wanted to go for the classics, he might have included such titles as The Snowy Day, or Corduroy, both of which feature a young black child. Of course, Groenink is from the Netherlands, so perhaps he didn't grow up familiar with those titles. Leaving that issue aside, I did enjoy the illustrations here, a little bit more than the text, as it happens.

I'm not sure I'd strongly recommend this one. There are better library-centric picture-books out there, ones with a stronger story-line, and ones featuring little black girls. The British Lola at the Library and its sequels spring to mind... show less

The book "The Library book" talks about a little girl that goes to the library on a rainy day, because she is unable to play outside. But the journey starts when she finds amazing books with classic characters like, Winnie the Pooh, Madeline and Cat in the Hat. This book is not heavy in text, but it does have rhymes which children love!

One of my favorite things of the book is the touch on diversity making a black girl as the main character, and the classic feel in the illustrations. It also show more simulates the journey that children may experience by reading books. show less

This is a great book to introduce how the library works for young children. I loved that they had Easter eggs of popular children's books.

A very fun and enthusiastic book about the love of reading. I especially like how the library patron collects all the characters of the books she is carrying and they follow her out of the library.