Libraries in Books: Oh My Gods!

 I love the way libraries are shown in Oh My Gods! by by Stephanie Cooke and Insha Fitzpatrick, illustrated by Juliana Moon. I love the color tones and the way the characters make awesome use of the library to research!

Similar Books: Bark Park

 When I first became a librarian, I was helping our supervisor with a story time and I loved watching her. She was amazing. I couldn't have learned how to have a story time from a better children's librarian. I would always make note of the books she chose for story time and would love to sometimes use the same ones as I started to do story times more often. One of the books she loved to use was Bark Park by Karen Gray Ruelle. Fast forward to today and it is hard for me to believe I've been a librarian for more than ten years. I'm so grateful for the librarians that have helped me learn everything I carry with me up to today. I recently came across this 2018 title, Bark Park by Trudy Krisher, and it reminded me of my first years as a librarian. Both books are so much fun and would be wonderful to share in a dog-themed story time together. 

A Bowl of Warm Soup

 Sometimes there's nothing like a bowl of warm soup to make you feel good. These picture books are excellent for sharing with young readers in a Soup themed story time, and will have you heading to the cupboard to see if you have ingredients to make these delicious soups.

  

Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley

Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert

Soup Day by Melissa Iwai

Niño Wrestles the World

Niño Wrestles the World
Yuyi Morales
2013

What can I say about this book that has not already been beautifully said? Niño, a little boy with a big imagination, dons the mask of a luchador and battles figures from Mexican folklore. Absolutely beautiful! It is incredibly difficult to find books for children on luchadores, La Llorona, El Chamuco, and the other figures in the book. Most of the books you find that cover these topics are folklore collections for older readers. This book introduces beliefs from the Mexican culture in a way children can enjoy. I love the ending where the little sisters prove to be much more of a challenge than any of the folkloric figures. The illustrations and the presentation (“Señoras y Señores,… now accepting ALL COMERS…,” etc) go perfectly together. I love everything about this book, including the luchador profiles at the beginning and end, and note at the back of the book that explains the history of Mexican luchadores. It was my belief that El Santo did make his identity known during his lifetime, although I may be wrong about that. An absolutely amazing book, a recommended purchase, and one that will have a place on my personal library shelf.

Similar (and Beautiful) Covers

Who doesn't notice a beautiful book cover? I've collected a few here that remind me of one another and that I also love. I hope to one day have a cover like this for one of my own books.

Shadowcaster - Cinda Williams Chima

Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas

The Outcast - Taran Matharu

If You Like...Egyptian Myths

Who doesn't love Egyptian mythology? I love The Kane Chronicles series by Rick Riordan. I listened to them on audio book, and they are by far one of my favorite audio book series. Katherine Kellgren does the voice of Sadie, and she was already my favorite audio book narrator, and in this audio book she does an amazing job. I am so glad that I was able to enjoy these books with Katherine as narrator. 

I have also read the Percy Jackson series (click here if you're looking for similar books on Greek myths), but I feel that I love the Kane Chronicles even more than Percy Jackson. The books have it all: lightning fast action, humor, life lessons, interesting characters, family, history, and even grilled cheese sandwiches. Check out these titles if you're looking for similar reads. 

Underworlds by Tony Abbott

Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life by P.J. Hoover

Tombquest by Michael Northrop

Pyramid Hunters by Peter Vegas

Great Writing Prompts

A couple of great writing prompts for NaNoWriMo:

The second one reminds me of the Halloween episode of Bob's Burgers: