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Children's Books

The Thing that ate Kickapoo!

Lock the doors! Close the shutters! Pull down the shades!

Everyone in Kickapoo is spooked by a “Sweet Tooth Thief” who’s on the loose. A train car full of cookies—gone. A pie shop truck—cleaned out. Crum’s Bakery emptied—down to the last crumb. And the celebrated, annual Kickapoo Cake Bake is just a few days away!

Don’t laugh. Your dessert just might desert you too…

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Children's Books Poetry S.T.E.A.M Children's book

Sticks ‘n Stones ‘n Dinosaur Bones

The first book in our Unhinged History series is a ripping yarn. Full of adventure and deceit, it brings to life the best-known spat in all of paleontology: the bitter rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. This frenzy of discovery and one-upmanship—known today as the “Bone Wars”—was a gold rush–like scramble to find the most and “best” dinosaur fossils, and bring glory to their home-base universities. Lively and witty rhymes plus wonderfully demented illustrations reveal how the paleontologists’ feud began, and how—despite their obsession with outdoing one another—Cope and Marsh nevertheless made genuine and lasting contributions to the field.

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Children Mental Health Books Children's Books

MAX’S BOX: Letting Go of Negative Feelings

Max’s parents give him a very special gift; a tiny box that can hold absolutely everything. Max soon learns, however, that feelings can’t be put away as easily as toys. As each negative emotion—anger, embarrassment, sadness, loneliness—gets added to his box, it grows and grows, eventually becoming so large that it keeps him from doing the things he love, like riding his bike and climbing trees. With help from friends and family, Max turns the box into something beautiful and lets it go. A Parents’ Guide explains how well-intentioned adults often encourage children, especially young boys, to ignore and “put away” their feelings instead of learning to fully live with them. Simple, powerful illustrations become more colorful and vibrant as Max moves out from his box’s shadow.

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Children Mental Health Books Children's Books

Unraveling Rose

Rose is a stuffed bunny who loves the little boy she lives with and all the fun they have together. They play in the park, paint pictures, read stories—until she discovers a loose thread dangling from her arm. Rose tries to ignore the little string, but no matter how hard she tries, she can’t stop thinking about it, pulling at it. When her arm unravels and the stuffing falls out, Rose can no longer do the things she loves with her little boy. Can Rose find a way to forget about the little loose thread? The story offers a great opportunity for parents and teachers to talk to children about how compulsive and obsessive thoughts can get in the way of enjoying life, and what to do about it. Therapist recommended.

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Children's Books S.T.E.A.M Children's book

Mr. Owliver’s Magic at the Museum

Mr. Owliver loves being night watchman at the Animaltown Art Museum; he’s an owl and up all night anyway, and proud to protect such beautiful works of art. Alone but never lonely, he has all the subjects in the paintings for company. His favorite? The lovely Ms. Wren in Auguste Wrenoir’s The Loge. Making his rounds on the night of his birthday, Mr. O. discovers that things aren’t quite as they should be, that something very odd is going on in all the galleries. And so begins a happy night full of birthday surprises. This book cleverly introduces children to famous masterpieces and art history, while entertaining parents with painful painterly puns.

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Children's Books Poetry S.T.E.A.M Children's book

Bathysphere Boys

Bathysphere Boys

THE BATHYSPHERE BOYS. The Depth-Defying Diving of Messrs. Beebe and Barton

In the 1930s, scientist and explorer William Beebe, and engineering grad student Otis Baron built the Bathysphere; a hollow steel ball designed for deep-sea exploration. After several false starts and near-calamities, this miss-matched team—in their bare-bones spherical vehicle; equipped with bad lighting, stale air, and tiny portholes—made a series of record-setting dives and became international celebrities. Beebe and Baron were able to see, for the first time, unimagined wonders of the deep, and in 1934, they set the world record for the deepest ever dive—3,028 feet! The second book in our Unhinged History series.

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Children's Books S.T.E.A.M Children's book

Mütter Museum: A Junior Guide’s Tour of America’s Coolest Medical Museum

Mutter Museum Junior Guide Book

Join A.J., the Mütter Museum’s junior-est guide, on a tour of the world’s best-known medical museum. A.J. will take you on a fun and wildly educational journey through the Mütter’s amazing collection of medical specimens and objects. Accompanied by playful illustrations, this look at medical mysteries-and-marvels will enthrall and inform science lovers of all ages. A.J. covers all of your questions; from the height of the museum’s skeleton Giant, to the length of the one-of-a-kind Megacolon. Learn all about how the human body works (or doesn’t!), and keep your eyes peeled for some of the museum’s most famous, high-spirited residents!

Reviews...

Gr 3–8—A junior guide named A.J. and his ghostly companions take readers on a museum tour that is not for the faint of heart. The Mütter Museum, part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, has been a repository for medical oddities, specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment since it was founded by Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter in 1863. After A.J. explains how to pronounce the umlauted in the doctor’s last name, Mütter is the first ghost to appear on the pages of this whimsically illustrated tour. Dhody, the museum’s curator, shares exhibits that will appeal to readers who have an interest in the human body, and the stomach for gross details. There is the adipocere (corpse wax) that is the substance of the “Soap Lady,” the horn made out of the skin that grew from a Frenchwoman’s head in the 1800s, a megacolon that once contained “40 pounds of poo,” and more. As each specimen is introduced, its ghost climbs out of the display to join the tour group. One of the ghosts uses the megacolon as a balloon. The playful drawings lighten the tone and add to the appeal. Back matter includes further reading and photographs from the museum collection. Older readers could be motivated to learn more about the museum and its history. VERDICT Just what the doctor ordered. This engaging picture book is an obvious choice for a book talk.—Kathleen Isaacs, Children’s Lit. Specialist, Pasadena, MD 

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL 07-01-2020