Where Is Our Library?

September 1, 2020
The New York Public Library's iconic lions go in search of their vanished Children's Center. Following on Lost in the Library (2018), bibliobeasts Patience and Fortitude, stunned to find the shelves in their beloved children's library on 42nd Street empty, set out on a rhymed, nocturnal hunt that takes them past a number of Manhattan literary landmarks and into several library branches before ending (spoiler alert) at the entrance to the Center's new location across the street. Whether or not the Covid-19 pandemic throws the timing of this blatant bit of marketing for a loop (the opening has already been delayed once), the tour is rich in pleasures for children's-lit fans--not only for its glimpses of library buildings and interiors both historic and up to date (Manhattan ones anyway, with one quick trip to the Bronx...Staten Island, as usual, gets the brushoff), but for the visual references to new and older classics that Lewis packs into many scenes. A formal announcement of the move at the end includes a key to books and branches included in the art. There are no human figures in sight until a final, thinly but diversely populated, daylight view of the old and the newly renovated libraries facing each other on Fifth Avenue. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 75% of actual size.) Part valentine, part press release. (Picture book. 6-8)

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October 1, 2020

PreS-Gr 2-The famed stone lions of New York Public Library (Lost in the Library) are back for a new romp. This time they are searching for the entire Children's Center; it has up and disappeared while they were outside guarding the library, as they do every day. A search through New York City and several of the branches of the New York Public Library system eventually leads them across the street to the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. Of special delight are the covers of children's literature classics that are seen throughout the pages which will have readers exclaiming in recognition. These also work to further the connection between this new title and cherished books of the past. The illustrations are animated, capturing the streets at night featuring the dark shadows and bright lights of the big city. There is one section where the lions are outdoors in lower Manhattan and the background is very bright, which is inconsistent with the pairs' need to find the library before the sun comes up and they must resume their positions. Regardless, children will enjoy the engagingly illustrated lions with their anthropomorphic expressions and will be glad that all works out in the end with a new home for the Children's Center. VERDICT For children who live in or have visited New York City, this is especially appealing. For larger collections and those in the NYC area.-John Scott, Friends School of Baltimore

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