By Gwen Tetrick
Library Media Specialist
Stony Creek Elementary School

Animals capture children's interest more than any other topic. You can't go wrong when you connect an animal with a child. Here are some great new books for your favorite young reader.

Dewey: There's a Cat in the Library! by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter
Three out of ten households own at least one cat. Dewey: There's a Cat in the Library! tells the true story of a young kitten who took up residence in a library.

A ginger kitten was found in the drop box of the public library in Spencer, Iowa, on a freezing Midwestern night in 1988. A dirty and frostbitten mangle of orange fur, he was rescued by the library director. Dewey Readmore Books became the library mascot. He liked investigating open drawers, riding on book carts, and rubber bands. Dewey found a way to bond with patrons and staff. Somehow he always knew who needed him the most.

The picture book version of Dewey's story was written by librarian
Vicki Myron and Bret Witter. Published by Little, Brown and Company in New York in 2009, it sells for $16.99.


Hello Baby! by Mem Fox
Australia's best-known children's author, Mem Fox, has a new book for the youngest readers. Published in 2009 by Simon & Schuster in New York, Hello Baby! is a guessing game involving full-page animal baby faces. A silhouette of the animal shows its full shape. Young ones will enjoy responding to each question with a yes or no or a shake of the head. Beginning readers will finding the rhyming words and may be able to read the book themselves. Hello Baby! sells for $16.99.

Never Smile at a Monkey by Steve Jenkins
Never Smile at a Monkey is a nonfiction picture book for older readers. There are beautiful collages of different dangerous animals on each page. It is one of the scariest books I have ever read. Death, intense pain, and poisoning face you on every page. Even the orange tang fish you see in aquariums can seriously injure you. Older readers will memorize each species, its atrocity against humans, and how long you might live without medical help.

Written by prolific animal author, Steve Jenkins, Never Smile at a Monkey was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2009. The price is $16.00.