The Library Book

PreS-Gr 2--This picture book uses the lyrics of "The Library Song" as text, then adds digital and pencil illustrations to share a young African American girl's extraordinary visit to her neighborhood public library. The pictures have a nostalgic feel, with the girl in a dress and large round glasses, the white female librarian wearing heels, skirt, jacket, and ribbon-tied blouse, and the library itself full of tall dark wooden shelves. With the card catalogue, date-due stamps, and absence of computers, the setting feels old-fashioned. The point of the song and the story is to introduce a string of beloved book characters, such as Winnie-the-Pooh, Curious George, Madeline, the Cat in the Hat, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and others. Adults will appreciate the mention of authors such as Roald Dahl and Philip Pullman, referenced on book spines. As the girl happily reads away the rainy morning, more and more characters sing and dance around the library, inviting all the library patrons to join in. The "shushing librarian" stereotype humorously is turned around when the girl asks the librarian to stop singing so that the girl can read in peace. VERDICT Although librarians will want to offer other resources in addition to the ones mentioned, this title is a fun read-aloud that will familiarize young children with the library.--Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA

Singer-songwriter Chapin follows The Backwards Birthday Party, also illustrated by Groenink, with a second picture book adapted from his extensive catalog: in this case, "Library Song" (written with Mark) from his album Moonboat. "I'm going down to the library,/ picking out a book, check it in, check it out./ Gonna say hi to the dictionary,/ picking out a book, check it in, check it out," sings a brown-skinned girl with round yellow eyeglasses as she runs through the rain. Beyond the rows and rows of waiting books, several classic children's book figures soon appear on the scene, including Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Babar, the Cat in the Hat, and Mother Goose. Even the serious librarian gets caught up in the increasingly rowdy fun, earning her a "shhh!" from the girl, who is ready to start reading. It's a book that could easily be used in elementary school classrooms before visits to the library, and readers will enjoy spotting recognizable characters in Groenink's cozy illustrations. This celebration of reading and libraries is sure to charm those who love both. Ages 4-8. Illustrator's agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Oct.)