August is back to school month for kids everywhere. It also happens to be the month of National Book Lovers Day (on August 9th), which I think is a perfect coincidence. When I ask kids what they like best about school, a lot of them tell me reading or going to the library. Get a jumpstart to encouraging a love for reading this school year with these books about reading and the library.
In a Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, Miss Merriweather runs a tight ship in the library and is very strict about rules. Luckily, there aren’t any rules for lions in the library so one day when a friendly lion arrives and really wants to come to story-time he is able to stay, as long as he abides by the rules and keeps quiet.
Wild About Books by Judy Siera features a librarian who one day accidentally ends up at the zoo with her bookmobile. She ends up finding a perfect book for every animal. Told in fun rhyming text and with lots and lots of illustrations of animals, kids will love it.
A Library Book for Bear by Bonny Becker features one of my favorite animal duos: Bear and Mouse. Mouse is relentlessly cheery and Bear is always grumpy but in the end Mouse’s cheeriness wins over his friend. In this book, Bear doesn’t want to go to the library but Mouse takes him anyway. Kids will giggle as Mouse tries to find the right book for Bear and Bear comes up with sillier and sillier argument against them even as he’s convinced reading might be a good thing.
Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk also features a mouse. This mouse, Sam, lives in the library but has always wanted to write. He decides to write and illustrate his own stories and leave them on the shelves of the library. The kids come are enchanted by the tiny books and curious to find the mystery behind who the author is.
Reeve Lindbergh’s Homer the Library Cat lives in a very quiet house with a very quiet lady. One day, when he is home alone he is scared by a loud noise and runs away. He looks for quiet spot but everywhere is too noisy until he ends up in the library. The twist at the end is that his quiet lady is the librarian and Homer ends up finding a new favorite quiet spot.
Clarisse in No Cats in the Library by Lauren Emmons is another cat who finds her way to the library. At first the librarians try and make her leave as cats aren’t allowed in the library but then she notices that a little girl is willing to practice reading if she is reading to Clarisse and the cat ends up finding a new job and home.
A Library by Nikki Giovanni uses simple text and vivid illustrations to invoke the feeling of wonder that kids get when reading new books.