Digger Man "My brother is too little, so he doesn't know " confides the narrator of this heavy machinery fantasy, " but soon I'm going to buy a huge digger." In fact, the boy has the whole thing figured outfrom the appropriate outfit ("I'll wear a hard hat and heavy digger-man boots," he says, imagining himself perched in the digger's giant scoop) to making hay while the sun shines ("I will work while my brother sleeps"). Best of all, "I will push mud": he and the digger get down and dirty in a big muddy hole in a scene that allows Zimmerman and Clemesha (coauthors of Trashy Town) to construct a characteristic spread of bold shapes in bright colors, then splendiferously splatter it with chocolate-brown acrylic paint. The book's most distinctive note, however, lies in having the narrator employ his construction dream world as a means of connecting with his sibling, rather than escaping from him. "Maybe I can give my brother a ride on the digger," he thinks, first envisioning the baby on board the digger in a car seat (wearing a hard hat, of course); by book's end, he's planning to usher the younger brother into the digger-man fold. Ages 2-5. Publishers Weekly  

Franklin Says I Love You

Pirates of the Caribbean Series

The mysterious broken-hearted spirit called Davy Jones has a score to settle with Captain Jack Sparrow. Years ago, Jack promised his soul to Davy, and now the sad and angry spirit is going to force Jack to make good on his promise. As if things weren't bad enough, Jack has once again dragged Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann into his mess. Can they possible escape a force as dark and terrible as Davy Jones? Relive the swashbuckling adventure with this photo-packed storybook! the publishers

The Rat and the Tiger

``I'm a rat, just a tiny little rat,'' says the diminutive narrator of this piquant tale about friendship. Towering above him is his best buddy, Tiger, ``a big tough fellow.'' Rat explains that the two ``used to have a little problem.'' Whenever they played cowboys, Rat always had to be the bad guy. And whenever they shared a doughnut, he was left with a small piece while his buddy received the Tiger's share. But one day the big bully goes too far. When he kicks over the elaborate block castle Rat painstakingly built, the latter declares that Tiger is no longer his friend. And the stubborn little fellow makes sure that his companion has truly mended his selfish ways before he declares them pals once again. As in her past books, Kasza ( The Pigs' Picnic ; A Mother for Choco ) here delivers a valuable lesson cunningly and effectively. With their drolly expressive faces, Tiger and Rat pass on the importance of sharing, playing fairly and treating others as you'd like to be treated. As a bonus, Kasza adds a characteristically clever tangle at story's end. Ages 4-8. Publishers Weekly  

Shrinking Sam

The more people ignore young Sam—however benign their intentions—the smaller he gets. And it's not easy being small: from his pint-size viewpoint, a suddenly animated pencil threatens to eat him and his dog's sneeze packs a jet-propelled wallop. Finally, he simply slips down the drain. Luckily, a plucky fellow shrinkee named Izzy finds him ("This happens to me all the time" she informs him) and reverses the shrinking process simply by paying attention to him. Back home, Sam realizes that Izzy is right to take it all in stride; the neglect he experienced was only temporary. In fact, his family's affections soon make him feel "even bigger than before!" Latimer's (illustrator of The Prince's Bedtime ) text often evinces a golly-gosh didacticism ("At dinnertime, the peas on Sam's plate were so big , just one of them filled his whole tummy"), but her vibrant acrylic and collage pictures smooth over the narrative's bumpiness and keep the mood light. Although Sam can't catch a break for most of the book, his incredible shrinking adventure never turns nightmarish: each turn of the page reveals another giddily imagined, sweetly comic peril. Ages 4-8. Publishers Weekly  

A Splendid Friend Indeed

PreS-K-A friendly, talkative goose endears himself to a contemplative polar bear. On each spread, Bear practices a quiet activity, such as reading, writing, and thinking. And each time, Goose interrupts by asking what he is doing and then taking over the activity. When Bear spends his time thinking, Goose declares, "Thinking makes me hungry." He makes a snack and reads a note that he's written to Bear that describes him as "my splendid friend." Bear is touched by the friendship note and responds by giving Goose a big bear hug. The large format makes the book ideal for group sharing and the oversized text is accessible to beginning readers. The cool palette of the pastel illustrations, consisting of shades of blue and white and touches of violet, sets a quiet, friendly tone, and the animals' priceless expressions tell all. The gentle humor will elicit giggles; Goose's silly statements and Bear's patient responses beg to be read aloud. An ideal book for storytimes about friendship and sharing.-Shawn Brommer, School Library Journal  

Blazers Series by Randal C. Hill

Fasten your seatbeltnothing says fast like high-performance vehicles. Built from top-secret designs with cutting-edge materials, these cars turn heads from the assembly line to the highway. Get your reluctant readers to buckle up for a great read!

Dear Dumb Diary by Jim Benton

"Told in knee-slapping diary entries. . . Jim Benton delivers a wonderfully silly series that combines his knack for knowing what kids love to read with fun illustrations. Young audiences will eat up Jamie's diary descriptions. . . while parents are sure to see their kids beg for more Dumb Diary books. " -- The Barnes & Noble Review

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Kinney's popular Web comic, which began in 2004, makes its way to print as a laugh-out-loud "novel in cartoons," adapted from the series. Middle school student Greg Heffley takes readers through an academic year's worth of drama. Greg's mother forces him to keep a diary ("I know what it says on the cover, but when Mom went out to buy this thing I specifically told her to get one that didn't say 'diary' on it"), and in it he loosely recounts each day's events, interspersed with his comic illustrations. Kinney has a gift for believable preteen dialogue and narration (e.g., "Don't expect me to be all 'Dear Diary' this and 'Dear Diary' that"), and the illustrations serve as a hilarious counterpoint to Greg's often deadpan voice. The hero's utter obliviousness to his friends and family becomes a running joke. For instance, on Halloween, Greg and his best friend, Rowley, take refuge from some high school boys at Greg's grandmother's house; they taunt the bullies, who then T.P. her house. Greg's journal entry reads, "I do feel a little bad, because it looked like it was gonna take a long time to clean up. But on the bright side, Gramma is retired, so she probably didn't have anything planned for today anyway." Kinney ably skewers familiar aspects of junior high life, from dealing with the mysteries of what makes someone popular to the trauma of a "wrestling unit" in gym class. His print debut should keep readers in stitches, eagerly anticipating Greg's further adventures. Ages 8-13. Publishers Weekly

Hannah Montana Series

The Hannah Montana book series is a series based on the Disney Channel Original Series Hannah Montana . Currently there are thirteen books in the series.

High School Musical Series by N.B. Grace

Until Troy met Gabriella, his big dream was to win the basketball championship. But ever since they sang karaoke together on New Years Eve, Troy cant get his mind off trying out for the lead role in the school musicalwith Gabriella as his partner! Gabriella is struggling too. The Scholastic Decathlon team could really use her help, but it would be fun to sing with Troy again. All their friends say its a bad idea and that Troy and Gabriella should stick to the status quo. In their hearts, Troy and Gabriella know theyve got the talent to play the lead roles in the musical, so why is everyone standing in their way? Will Troy and Gabriella follow their dreams of being on the stage? Or will they have to give it all up so that they can lead their teams to victory?

True Tales of Survival Series

Part of the fast-paced “True Tales of Survival” series, this book tells about surfboarder Bethany Hamilton's encounter with a tiger shark in Hawaii . The series is part of Capstone's “Edge Books,” and it does keep one on the edge, although this one less than others in the series. Hamilton was 13 at the time of the attack and a nationally competitive surfboarder. Her sudden meeting with the shark does not have the nail-biting tension. She was attacked and treated quickly. There was no drawn-out danger. She, however, is a protagonist that will appeal to many young athletes. Her work after the attack, of getting herself back to normal, and living as a celebrity, is also interesting. Bethany wrote a book, and received a Teen Choice Award for her courage. She also returned to surfing. The writing is clear and simple. The tension is all in the plot, not in the noun-verb arrangement, and the photos of the setting help provide a sense of place. While not a long book (32 pages), Shark Attack will grab reluctant readers. Backmatter includes glossary, read more, Internet sites (via Capstone's Fact Hound system of vetting the sites), and an index.
Children's Literature Comprehensive Database