Growing a Reader: Kids' Books, Tips and More

We all look for read-alikes. Whether you are looking for that next great mystery or your middle grader just has to have something fantastical to read after they’ve finished the Harry Potter series. Sometimes your little ones absolutely love that one picture book and want to read it over and over again. These three picture books that are new to the library this month are great read-alikes to a few well-loved favourites.

If You Liked: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

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You'll Love: The White Book by Silvia Borando, Elisabetta Pica, Lorenzo Clerici

Many of us will remember Crockett Johnson’s Harold fondly. With a purple crayon and an active imagination he draws himself into many adventures from meeting a frightening dragon to a delicious feast of pies!

Borando et al., brings us a new little guy in The White Book facing a plain white wall and armed with a paint roller. This wordless picture book shows how a little imagination can bring a lot of fun and colour to a white wall. With each roll of paint a different friend (or foe!) graces the wall and comes to life.

If You Liked: Caramba by Marie-Louise Gay

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You'll Love: Bike On, Bear! written by Cynthea Liu, illustrated by Kristyna Litten

Caramba is a cat who wants nothing more than to be able to fly just like all the other cats. He feels isolated and alone and practices and practices to no success. When a couple of his cat friends carry him through the air he falls into the lake and realizes that he is special and unique because he is the only cat who can swim!

Similarly Bear has a problem. He cannot ride a bike. Everyone around him seems to be riding their bikes and even though he is special in many other ways he just cannot do it. It is only when Bear is faced with an emergency that he doesn’t even think about his lack of biking skills and hops on his bicycle to save the day!

If You Liked: Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

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You'll Love: The Stone Lion by Margaret Wild and Ritva Voutila

Library Lion tells the story of a lion who has found love and warmth inside the local library. He helps out the librarian in any way he can and his favourite time of day is the daily story hour. He knows the rules and that includes NO ROARING ALLOWED! When disaster strikes he needs to get the attention of cranky Mr. McBee and so he roars as loud as he can, leaving the library dejectedly afterwards because he knows he broke the rules. When Mr. McBee finally finds the lion he agrees that sometimes the rules need to be broken if there is a very good reason.

The Stone Lion is a statue that sits atop the steps of the library and is not alive, however he desperately wants to be. Every day he is visited by a young girl and her baby brother who have no home. The wise old gargoyle at the top of the building tells the lion that sometimes stone animals are granted life for a short time but ONLY if they desire it greatly and have a generous heart. When the young siblings face crisis the lion is granted this chance to save them by getting help inside the library.