Three green-spotted and green-eared white dogs investigate a yard one dark summer night. When they return to their space ship in a hurry, one is left behind. Stephen, a white boy with brown hair invites the "guest" in and the two begin to negotiate their new relationship. Stephen expects certain things of his dog-shaped visitor, but his new friend is very firm in standing his ground, especially when it comes to doing his "business" out in the park! When the guest's friends return to pick him up, he goes with them, but then realizes he misses his new home and his new friend and returns ..read more

 I read the first title, about a rehabilitated hawk who raises chickens, some years ago and felt rather meh about it. However, I reread it when I read the new sequel and I enjoyed the second story more. In the first book, Hawk Mother, the author tells the story of Sunshine, a red-tailed hawk who was permanently injured when she was shot. Unable to be returned to the wild, she became Hagedorn's charge and the two bonded somewhat, although Hagedorn made an effort to allow Sunshine to be as wild as possible. For seven years, Sunshine builds a nest and lays eggs, but they never hatch since t ..read more

Genre: Horse fiction Protagonists: Female, White Reading Level: O; 400 Series: Two titles Originally reviewed in 2016 Review: There are school visit books and there are Barbie books. School visit books are titles I buy, recommend personally, and basically consider worthy of taking on school visits. They're not necessarily all award-winning literature - I like to recommend fun chapter books, cute and gross nonfiction, and all the wide variety of books that makes a library welcoming to all readers. Then there are Barbie books. I buy a lot of them. They circulate like crazy. They ar ..read more

Programs Paws to Read Family Storytime 5K outreach storytimes Teens Make It We Explore Nature Lakeland Field Trip Project Explore Family Storytime Sewing Workshop Meetings, Outreach, etc. Connecting Wisconsin Libraries meeting Staff Development Day Notes We closed on Friday for our staff development. We have an all-staff meeting, review summer reading and new policies and procedures, and have lunch together. This year our training was active shooter training from the local police department and then in the afternoon we toured city facilities ..read more

Bobert Bougainvillea is invisible. He lives in the country of Nefaria and no matter how he tries to make friends at school, in between dodging the evil schemes that proliferate in his country, everyone seems to forget about him instantly and ignore him constantly. So when he meets two kids planning to try out the supposedly cursed gumball machine in the town square, two kids who, even though they think he's a new kid are willing to include him, he happily goes along with them. And is promptly cursed - and this time he's not just invisible, he's been completely forgotten by everyone, including ..read more

Genre: Fantasy Protagonists: Female, white Reading Level: 560 Series: Two titles Originally reviewed in 2016 Review: This new Branches series shows that even something that looks "fluffy" can be both fun and well-written. Stella is a little worried about getting new glasses - especially when her mom says she has to get a haircut too! Will anyone recognize her if she looks so different? When she stops to help a sweet but strange lady, something happens to her glasses and she starts seeing....odd things. Fairies! Soon Stella discovers where those knots in her hair are coming from and that he ..read more

Programs Paws to Read Family Storytime (sub) Music to my ears (4K annual celebration) OPtions field trip Family storytime (sub) Library on the Go outreach (1st grade, 3 classes) Volunteer Fun Meetings, Outreach, Etc. YS Social 4-H (hosting) City Council meeting Girl Scouts (hosting) Managers' meeting Notes My school colleague, the Parent Connections Outreach Coordinator, who also does our family storytimes and some other programming, runs a big library-wide party for 4K students and their families the third Wednesday in April. This is her second time running it and she does a great ..read more

 This poignant and chilling story expands the trope of "kid turned ghost" into an adventure in friendship and fear. The story opens with the original events of 1982, when a girl named Abigail flees from her bullies to the Bellwoods and never returns. Present-day, it's tradition for 6th graders to go into the Bellwoods and "play the game." If they ring the bell on the far side of the woods, they save the town for another year from the ghost of Abigail Snooks. Bailee is eager to play - she's been ostracized by her friend Fen, who blames her for tattling to the principal about a risky plan ..read more

 This is a board book, scaled down version of Scales' What a shell can tell from 2022. Simple text, giving basic information about shells, fills the board pages and a myriad of flaps can be pulled down to view shells and their interiors. Readers will see a beach scene, with shells beneath rocks, garden scene where they can find hiding snails, and a fun variety of shells and the creatures who live in them. The penultimate page gives an option to open "glass drawers" and describe the different shells pictured both on and under the flap. The final page shows a beach scene with shells t ..read more

Genre: Animal stories Protagonists: Animals, male Reading level: 500s Series: Probably complete with 7 titles Originally reviewed in 2016 Review: This is part of the rather odd trend of cutting chapter books down to beginning chapters. I find this pointless since, if they're trying to attract a previous fan base, those kids are unlikely to be familiar with the characters and if they're trying to build a new fan base the books are really quite close together in reading level and by the time the kids move on to the older chapter series they're likely to have lost interest. However, they are u ..read more