It's Just Like Christmas!!!

After a couple months of no new books, seeing the (not-so-thrilled) UPS man enter the library with 15 boxes from Baker & Taylor a few days ago was like Christmas. Seriously. It's one of the perks of the job to get to order a couple thousand dollars in books every month... none of which you have to pay for, but all of which you get to see before anyone else! But that means my to-read list has once again grown in size! Even worse, I already have a couple I'm in the middle of (the Newbery winner, The Graveyard Book, is doing nothing for me a third of the way in)... but I want to take more home. I have to be good and not hoard the books though. Having also just sent an order into Amazon for the Erin Free Library, I thought I'd share some authors/illustrators/titles that I'm loving in this gluttony of new books.

Anything illustrated by David Catrow! (Particularly if written by Karen Beaumont.) We just got Doggone Dogs in, but I Ain't Gonna Paint No More is one of the biggest crowd-pleasers during storytime. The Silly Dilly songs books (by Alan Katz), I Like Myself and Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon are also great!

New series of picture books by Polly Dunbar called Tilly and Friends, featuring Tilly, who lives in a yellow house with her best friends. The first book is Hello Tilly, and Happy Hector and Pretty Pru are the next. Sounds. Words. Simple but beautiful illustrations that both kids and grownups will like. They'll probably appeal most to girls, but with the strong imagery with simple words, I'm planning on using them during storytimes. The best word to describe Tilly and Friends... whimsical.

I'm also loving a series of picture books by Jan Thomas about some animal friends. The Doghouse, What Will the Fat Cat Sit On, and A Birthday for Cow all made my non-children book loving coworkers laugh! Bright bold illustrations and humor preschoolers and grownups alike will appreciate. Definitely using for storytime!

Finally, a young adult book. Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George. For Shannon Hale fans (who, me?) this might be for you. I'll have to post a review when I've actually read it. But I've liked George's other books and she writes the same teen take-offs of fairy tales that Shannon Hale does so well. This one is based on the Twelve Dancing Princesses.

And finally finally... a shot in the dark. A first time author. One I hadn't even had on my radar until I saw it and decided to buy it right away (which I normally don't do.) One I hope to be surprised by... One I ordered for myself. Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God, by Francis Chan. I'd seen two friends mention him and say he "kicked their butt" (a compliment) and this came up in a "you might also like" and it just seems... my heart and what God's trying to teach me, so I'm hoping to be pleasantly suprised.

So I don't know if you're looking for anything in any of these categories, but I'm excited... new books!!! New ideas, new stories, new stretching... it makes me happy!