GreenBeanTeenQueen

Add to Goodreads Join in on social media with #perfectlyflawed Visit Cecelia's  website  and follow her on  Twitter  and  Instagram ! About the Book:  Celestine North lives a perfect life. She's a model daughter and sister, she's well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she's dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan.  But then Celestine encounters a situation where she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks a rule. And now faces life-changing repercussions.  She could be imprisoned. She could be branded. She could be found FLAWED. I n her breathtaking young adult debut, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society where obedience is paramount and rebellion is punished. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her-everything. I am so excited to be participating in the blog tour for Flawed, Cecelia Ahern's YA debut. Cecelia is one of my favorite authors, so of course I jumped at the chance to ...

Today I'm over at the ALSC Blog talking about our recent Spring Break program, Library Town. Come join me!

There is nothing worse than coming across a book you are really enjoying only to be pulled out of it because of some outdated and incorrect library reference. I know that authors and illustrators will not always get everything 100% accurate, but I when I read books that show a very dated stereotype, or something that is just so incorrect, I always wonder why. I feel like authors and illustrators should know better! And it's not just older books-it happens in new books too! I recently read A Big Surprise for Little Card by Charise Mericle Harper and illustrated by Anna Raff.  I absolutely loved this book! It's a creative look at libraries through the eyes of a library card. It's perfect for my outreach visits and storytimes about the library and promoting what value there is in a library card. Anna Raff gets major points for illustrating a very cool and hip librarian as well! But the librarian tells card to shush and is a bit annoyed when he shows up. And then l...

Dig In! by Cindy Jenson-Elliott, illustrated by Mary Peterson Release Date: 3/1/2016 Add to Goodreads As a librarian who does toddler storytime, I am always on the lookout for great new toddler books. It feels like I repeat the same books over and over with my little ones. So I get very excited when a book like Dig In! comes across my desk. Dig In! is a child's exploration of playing outside in the dirt. From digging in the dirt to finding worms, snails, rocks and then water to make messy mud, each page takes a new experience or discovery and presents in from a young child's view. The text is simplistic enough that young children can follow along and the overall book is engaging and exciting. It's short enough to be read aloud in toddler storytime even with antsy toddlers. The illustrations, which according to the book were created using linoleum block prints on paper with some digital touch ups, are bright and colorful. They really pop on each page which makes...

It's the end of February which means the end of Yes We Crab! I wanted to read 20 books this month and post once a week. My blogging goal failed, but I did make my reading goal of 20 books-yay! Here's what I finished the month up with:   My Dog's a Chicken by Susan McElroy Montanari, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf When a young girl isn't allowed to get a dog, she decides she'll turn a chicken into a dog. A pretty cute picture book for the K-2 crowd.   A Big Surprise for Little Card by Charise Mericle Harper, illustrated by Anna Raff -My new favorite book to read at Library-themed outreach events and storytimes! This is a unique look at libraries through the eyes of a library card. And it's adorable!   Swap ! by Steve Light -I just love Steve Light's pen and ink illustrations. Did you ever play that game where you started out with something small then had to go all around to try and upgrade and swap your item for something bigger...

Well, we're halfway through the #YesWeCrab reading challenge that several of my friends and I decided to do for February. I'm doing OK-not reading as much as I wanted and not posting what I wanted at all, but that's fine-I can catch up! You can see what Abby the Librarian has been reading as well-she's got a great update! And you can follow the hashtag #yeswecrab on Twitter and see what others are up to! Here's what I've read so far this month:     Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older -I listened to the audio version of this one and it was fantastic! A magical anthropological fantasy-such a great combination and so unique! I loved the characters and it made me think about cultural appropriation in the name of research which was fantastic.    Passenger by Alexandra Bracken -Another audiobook, this time for review for AudioFile. Perfect for time travel fans-I loved the thought and detail put into the time travel elements in this one. Al...

Caldecott is over, family birthdays are over for a few months, and life is starting to get back into a routine that doesn't include piles of picture books every evening. (Well, at least picture books to take notes with-Toddler GreenBean ensures we have piles of picture books to read every night!!) I really want to get back to reading for fun and reading chapter books again, but I feel so overwhelmed and I don't know where to start! Enter my wonderful friends and our February Reading Challenge-Yes We Crab! Five years ago I met these lovely ladies at ALA Midwinter: Angie , Abby , Katie , Kelly  and Drea   I often tell people that our fist meeting was like going to summer camp, meeting your best friend, and then having to go back home. Luckily, we get to see each other at least once and sometimes twice a year at ALA and we keep up with each other via Twitter, Email, Facebook. We are always sharing program ideas, library talk, and what we're reading. So when the ...