Imagine a world without books. Paul Czajak invites youngsters to visit the fantastical world of Arlo, a boy who loves to read. One day, while nested in the branches of a tree with his book, misfortune strikes. The volume slips from his hands and lands upon the head of the mayor. Furious, the mayor immediately calls for the destruction of all books, as he deems them dangerous.

Arlo is bereft  when all books are torn apart and the pages float away. He is not the only one missing books. There are no more stories for children at nap time. Meals become dull, as there are no cookbooks to consult. The theater ceases to perform as there are no scripts to enact. Arlo determines that perhaps he can create stories of his own. His writing germinates a torn book page, buried deep within the earth. A book tree begins to grow, nourished by the stories Arlo writes and shares. Eventually the book tree is filled with books and the town springs back to life.

He is the author the Monster and Me series.  Monster Needs Your Vote might be an appropriate selection to read during this national election cycle.
​Paul has created coloring pages, which may be downloaded from his website.

Iranian-American artist ​Rashin Kheiriyeh brings her distinctive style to fine art as well as children's book illustration. She is the recipient of numerous international awards including 2017 Sandak Fellow Award, six-time winner at the Bologna Book Fair, and Golden Apple Award at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB), Slovakia. 

Yes. There will probably be a wait.
Yes. I am a librarian and always try to be prepared for such contingencies. ​

I stepped into the hair salon for my regularly scheduled trim, sporting an ARC of this fantastic new book from Tracey Baptiste: Rise of the Jumbies.  A lovely young lady who introduced herself as Delia informed me that she was ready to shampoo my hair. But then she noticed my book and proceeded to ask me about Baptiste's middle grade novel. The cover is that eye-arresting. Take a look for yourself. We chatted for a few minutes, forgetting all about the scheduled shampoo. Seriously, why worry about your hair when there are jumbies to discuss?

Eventually we made our way back to the shampoo area and as the warm water streamed over the back of my head, Delia's slender fingers began to massage my tresses. Okay, they are rapidly thinning, but still for the sake of the story let’s imagine a flowing head of hair. Delia began to tell me her story. She was not a reader. Never enjoyed books. Then one day she saw a movie: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. She fell in love with Harry and his fantastic adventures. She sought out the movie sequels and viewed each film several times over. She couldn't get enough of the story so decided to try actually reading the books from which the movies were based. She was totally captivated by the stories and proceeded to read the entire series. Something clicked for her. She began to ask friends if there might be other books similar to Harry Potter that she might enjoy. Her friends were happy to offer her reading suggestions. Today she reads some literature for children and teens, however now she primarily  reads books written for adults. Delia discovered that she is drawn to books with a heavy philosophical bent. I thought about the original Rowling title Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and wondered to myself if perhaps there were a connection.

But this was only the beginning. Delia noticed that her eleven-year-old brother did not enjoy reading. She wondered if perhaps Harry Potter might cast its magical spell over him in a way similar to her own experience. Unfortunately this presented a bit of dilemma. Delia lives in South Texas and her younger brother lives in Chicago. The resourceful siblings found a solution. Each Sunday they would read together via Facetime.