Books for children - June 24

BOOKS TO BORROW

"One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference" by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Kids Can Press, 32 pages

Read aloud: age 6 to 9.

Read yourself: age 8 and 9.

In Kojo's poor village in Ghana, Africa, money and food are scarce. When Kojo is given a small loan, he has an idea. Kojo buys one brown hen so his family will have more to eat. Kojo saves a few of the precious eggs and sells them, repays his loan, and soon sells enough eggs to buy another hen. Eventually Kojo's one small loan changes the lives of his family, his community, his town and his country.

LIBRARIAN'S CHOICE

Library Director: Joanne Westkamper

Choices this week: "Strega Nona" by Tomie dePaola; "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak; "The Tale of Despereaux" by Kate DiCamillo

AT THE BOOKSTORE

"The Art of Miss Chew" written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco, Putnam, 2012, 42 pages, $17.99 hardcover

Read aloud: age 5 and older.

Read yourself: age 8 and older.

Trisha knows she wants to be an artist. She loves art and is a good artist, but her school doesn't offer any art classes. Trisha's wonderful teacher, Mr. Donovan, believes in Trisha and shows some of her work to the head of the high school art department, Miss Chew. Suddenly young Trisha is enrolled in Miss Chew's special art program on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Miss Chew immediately sees that Trisha has talent, and Trisha thrives under Miss Chew's direction. But when a substitute teacher threatens to remove Trisha from the art program to better focus on her studies, Miss Chew won't hear of it. Miss Chew takes on the substitute teacher and others to prove Trisha's case, and the result is wonderful.

"Mrs. Harkness and the Panda" by Alicia Potter, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, Knopf, 2012, 36 pages, $16.99 hardcover

Read aloud: age 4 and older.

Read yourself: age 8 and older.

It's 1934, and Mrs. Harkness suddenly loses her husband who dies in China. He was an explorer and had gone to China to try to find a live panda bear and bring it back to the United States. Mrs. Harkness feels it is her duty to complete her late husband's expedition. Most say the very idea of the expedition is crazy - especially because she is a woman. But Mrs. Harkness is determined to see her mission through, and after exhaustive travel into the wilderness of China, she does just that, much to the amazement of the entire world.

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