Borrow books and buy books for a rounded selection
Your local library is a treasure house filled with more books than one person can possibly read. So, too, is your favorite bookstore where, again, the offerings for purchase are more than anyone can possibly get through in a lifetime.
The beautiful thing about your library and favorite bookstore is that what is available in one is often available in the other. Borrowing books from your library is the most economical avenue for endless reading options for you and your children.
However, having a personal home library is well worth the price so that children can return to those books time and again, and those are the books that children will treasure long into adulthood.
Borrow books and buy books to help children experience the widest variety literature has to offer. Children are counting on us.
Books to borrow
The following book is available at many public libraries.
"Jim at the Corner" by Eleanor Farjen, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone, The New York Review of Books Children's Collection, 96 pages
Read aloud: age 8 – 12.
Read yourself: age 8 and older.
For the entire eight years of Derry's life, old Jim has sat on an orange box at the corner of the street where Derry lives. It doesn't matter the season or weather; Derry knows Jim will always be in his spot. Jim is friendly to everyone, and everybody likes him, especially the children, because Jim has the most marvelous way of telling exciting stories of his life as a sailor on his ship Rocking-horse.
Derry loves to hear Jim's tales of his life, and Jim shares several stories with Derry, from the green cat that lives under the sea who actually belongs to the Queen of the Catfish, to encountering such heavy fog he couldn't even see his own ship but when the fog lifts, he finds a beautiful, surrealistic island that harbors an unpleasant secret.
Then there is Jim's tale of the ship being saved from giant waves by Codfish, the lonely Sea-Serpent who yearns to be loved, befriending a penguin when Rocking-horse is stuck fast in ice for three months, and other delightful tales.
A story of friendship that is completely enticing, magical, adventurous and often funny, this choice of ten connected stories is pure delight. Perfectly complemented by whimsical illustrations, "Jim at the Corner" is a treasure.
Librarian's choice
Library: Reading Public Library, Northeast Branch, 1348 N. 11th St., Reading
Executive library director: Melissa Adams
Branch supervisor: Emily Wolfe
Choices this week: "The Lion & The Mouse" by Jerry Pinkney; "Rattletrap Car" by Phyllis Root; "No More Dead Dogs" by Gordon Korman
Books to buy
The following books are available at favorite bookstores.
"The Swallow Who Stayed" written and illustrated by Philip Giordano, Greystone Kids, 2024, 44 pages, $18.95 hardcover
Read aloud: age 3 – 7.
Read yourself: age 6 – 7.
Every spring, the swallow, Iris, was always the first to return to the forest where she was born. During the summer months Iris and the other swallows liked chasing the insects and enjoying the warm weather. When winter was approaching and it was time to fly south again, Iris questioned the other birds about what happened to the forest when they left. No one knew because no swallow had ever stayed to experience the cold season. Ever curious, Iris decided she would stay and find out for herself.
When the other birds left, Iris enjoyed seeing the leaves change colors. When the snow began to fall, Iris thought it was beautiful. But soon, Iris was cold and exhausted, and she went to sleep on the snow next to a big tree. Maybe staying to see winter had been a mistake.
Fortunately, a squirrel named Sam noticed Iris and brought her back to his cozy den. With Sam's help, Iris thrived to see the spring finally arrive and a genuine friendship blossomed.
Eye-catching artwork provides the perfect backdrop for this lovely story of curiosity, daring to follow one's own path and ultimately friendship.
"Amazing Grapes," written and illustrated by Jules Feiffer, Michael di Capua Books/Harper Collins, 2024, 296 pages, $21.99 paperback
Read aloud: age 8 – 12.
Read yourself: age 8 – 12.
A two-headed swan has appeared out of nowhere, beckoning young siblings Curly and Pearlie to climb aboard to go to the Lost Dimension. En route, they pass through other dimensions, some not very friendly, others dangerous and all quite bizarre. Apparently Curly and Pearlie are supposed to accomplish a mission, but they have no idea what that is.
Their special Mommy knows the two are in peril, and sends her oldest daughter, Shirley, to the Lost Dimension to save them, armed with a strange, magical song about grapes, and Mommy soon follows.
A graphic novel that is thoroughly fantastical, hilarious, outlandish and boasting an array of wild characters, "Amazing Grapes" is off-the-wall pure fun in both words and illustrations.
Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan writes and lectures on children's literature. She can be reached at
