Children's Staff Picks 12/2025

When loud-voiced Penelope becomes student-librarian, she is determined to prove she is perfect for the job while staying true to herself.

Page-turning WW2 hidden history masterfully told by award winner Daniel Nayeri 1941. The German armies are storming across Europe. Iran is a neutral country occupied by British forces on one side, Soviet forces on another. Soldiers fill the teahouses of Isfahan. Nazi spies roam the alleyways. Babak and his little sister have just lost their father. Now orphans, fearing they will be separated, the two devise a plan. Babak will take up his father's...

"The true story of Inky the octopus, who slipped out of his tank at the National Aquarium in New Zealand and into the world's imagination"-- Provided by publisher.

Unlike her talented siblings, Billy Jean has no musical beat, but she improves her basketball game by finding rhythm in her feet.

Twelve-year-old's Oscar and Natasha assist an ex-mobster retiree bust out of his retirement community in exchange for money to help Oscar and his grandfather to stay in their home. "Oscar Aberdeen is a bit of an oddball. He's a twelve-year-old who is an ace at playing bridge, loves Frank Sinatra, and attends a whole lot of funerals. He's also the youngest resident of Sunny Days Retirement Community by more than half a century -- and he wouldn't have...

"Es bueno tener un oso, pero la protagonista de esta historia tiene dos: el grande posee la fuerza de un gigante, el pequeño es suave como el algodón. Acompaña a nuestra protagonista en su divertido día de la mano de sus dos osos."--Casadellibro.com.

A young Tlingit girl comforts her cousin, who is afraid of the dark, by singing a song of moonlight and the ocean.

"A touching story of the friendship between a young boy and his elderly neighbor, and how that boy helps jog the man's disappearing memory. Caius spends summer mornings on his neighbor's porch, and although Mr. Johnson doesn't remember things as well as he used to, he can always sing the beginning of his favorite song, "Further Along." Caius understands how nourishing music can be, and so he decides to find the rest of Mr. Johnson's song. At the library...

"Most people, kids included, have very specific associations with "witch" - perhaps a scheming, warted, and/or green-faced woman in a pointy hat and heels, brewing a potion with gruesome ingredients intended for harm or dark magic. And though witches are real, none of that is actually true! Over many centuries, knowledgeable, powerful, and healing women have been demonized by men who fear a loss of power or pride. And through those same centuries,...