Houston Family Book List -- June 2012

HCPL's Book Bites [2] column appears monthly in Houston Family Magazine [3]. Each column features suggested books for toddlers through teens. Get the new list every month in the magazine, available at all of our branches. Previous columns [4].

Toddlers (Ages 1-3)
	Baby Says Moo! [5]by JoAnn Early Macken Ask Baby what people say, what dogs say, what horses say, or what birds say, and Baby has only one answer: “Moo!” Ride along with Baby and family from the busy, dizzy city to the quiet countryside. Filled with sweet rhymes and adorable art, Baby Says “Moo!” is sure to delight every baby.
	Peepsqueak [6]by Leslie Ann Clark A baby chick named Peepsqueak does not listen to the advice of Big Brown Cow, Big Sheep, Yellow Duck, and Baby Bunny, and tries again and again unsuccessfully to fly, until Old Gray Goose gets involved.
	I See Summer [7]by Charles Ghigna Illustrations and easy-to-read, rhyming text show what makes summer special, from sunshine and sailboats to ice cream and picnics. From lemonade in the shade to picnics in the park, summer is all around us!
Picture Books (Pre K-K)
	One Cool Friend [8] [9]by Toni Buzzeo On a momentous visit to the aquarium, Elliot discovers his dream pet: a penguin. When he asks his father if he may have one (please and thank you), his father says yes. Elliot should have realized that Dad probably thought he meant a stuffed penguin and not a real one. Clever illustrations and a wild surprise ending make this sly, silly tale of friendship and wish fulfillment a kid-pleaser from start to finish.
	Chopsticks [10]by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Meet Chopsticks! They've been best friends forever. But one day, this inseparable pair comes to a fork in the road. And for the very first time, they have to figure out how to function apart. This witty and inventive tale celebrates both independence and the unbreakable bonds of friendship.
	C [11]rafty Chloe [12] [13]by Kelly DiPucchio Fancy Nancy meets Martha Stewart in Crafty Chloe, the adorable DIY star of a new picture book series. When another girl has already purchased the most perfect birthday gift for Chloe's friend Emma, Chloe decides she'll make a present--something you can't buy in a store. But crafting isn't easy, and it's beginning to look like she won't have a great idea in time. This inventive and irresistible picture book will have young readers itching to reach for the googly eyes.
Early Readers (Grades 1-3)
	K [14]atie Woo, Where are You? [15] [16]by Fran Manushkin Katie and her parents are off to the mall for a day of shopping. While her mom looks for a new dress, her dad is checking out the lawn mowers and televisions. And Katie is nowhere to be found. Does Katie even know that she's lost?
	Listen to My Trumpet! [17] [18]by Mo Willems Gerald is careful. Piggie is not. Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can. Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to. Gerald and Piggie are best friends. In Listen to My Trumpet! Piggie can't wait to play her new instrument for Gerald! But is she ready to listen to his reaction?
	Katy Duck Makes a Friend [19]by Alyssa Satin Capucilli When Katy Duck and her family get new neighbors, Katy can hardly wait to show off her dance moves. She is ready to curtsy, twirl and leap! But when Katy's new neighbor turns out to be a rough-and-tumble boy named Ralph, this dancing duck diva starts to wonder if she and Ralph will ever be able to have fun TOGETHER when their interests are so far apart.
Children's Fiction (Grades 4-6)
	King of the Mound [20] [21]by Wes Tooke Nick was going to be a star baseball player, no doubt about it. People for miles around talked about the twelve-year-old boy with the golden arm. And then Nick is diagnosed with polio--a life-threatening disease in the 1930s -- and his baseball dreams seem over until he meets Satchel Paige, arguably the best player in baseball. Satchel faces obstacles of his own--his skin color prevents him from joining the major leagues--and he encourages Nick to overcome the odds and step out of the dugout.
	Welcome to Silver Street Farm [22] [23]by Nicola Davies Even though Meera, Gemma, and Karl live in the city, they've always wanted a farm of their own. And it looks as though their dream may happen sooner than they imagined when Meera discovers an abandoned railway station with grounds for grazing. Next, some eggs they thought were foul hatch into ducklings, and a couple of "poodles" bought off the Internet turn out to be lambs. The first in a series of fun-filled stories about Silver Street Farm, here is a tale with natural appeal for kids who love animals, aim to be green, and enjoy a do-it-yourself spirit of adventure.
	Time Snatchers [24] [25]by Richard Ungar Caleb's blinders are off. The small group of orphans who were also "adopted" by Uncle used to feel like family, but the competition to be the top time snatcher and the punishment for failure has gotten fierce. Time traveling to steal valuable objects can be a thrill, but with bully Frank trying to steal his snatches, his partner Abbie falling for Frank's slimy charms, and Uncle's plans to kidnap innocent kids to grow his business, Caleb starts thinking about getting out. Caleb can steal just about anything from the past, but can he steal a family for the future?
Teen Fiction (Ages 12 & Up)
	Incarnate [26]by Jodi Meadows For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why. Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame? Weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.
	BZRK [27] [28]by Michael Grant Charles and Benjamin Armstrong, conjoined twins and owners of the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation, have a goal: to turn the world into their vision of utopia. No wars, no conflict, no hunger. And no free will. Opposing them is a guerrilla group of teens, code name BZRK, who are fighting to protect the right to be messed up, to be human. This is no ordinary war, though. Weapons are deployed on the nano-level. The battleground is the human brain. BZRK unfolds with hurricane force around core themes of conspiracy and mystery, insanity and changing realities, engagement and empowerment, and the larger impact of personal choice.
[29]	The List [30]by Siobhan Vivian An intense look at the rules of high school attraction -- and the price that's paid for them. It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn't matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up. This is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, "pretty" and "ugly." And it's also the story of how we see ourselves, and how other people see us, and the tangled connection of the two.