The Library Book

July 1, 2017
Chapin and Mark's "Library Song" is reinvigorated into an inviting picture book.It's Saturday morning, the rain is pouring, Dad is snoring, and what's a kid to do? Go to the library, of course. The narrator, a black child in a dress and green rain boots, roams the stacks for a book. "Now I like books and they like me, / so when I go to the library, / I sit down in my favorite chair / and check to see who's there." One after another, book characters offer to go home with her: Winnie-the-Pooh, Sleeping Beauty, Madeline, the Cat in the Hat, Pinocchio, the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Babar, Curious George, even Mother Goose. The child checks out a stack of books, leaves the library with a veritable swarm of characters, and goes home to read. The digital-and-pencil illustrations are quite appealing, especially the cover illustration that depicts the child, who sports an Afro, bright, yellow frame glasses, and perky nose, holding the titular book. The only blip is the librarian, a white woman who borders on a shushing stereotype, dressed in a two-piece suit with a white blouse and sporting a blonde bob. Kids may not mind however, as the singsong-y text and the action will carry the entertaining story. A playful tribute to libraries. (Picture book. 4-8)

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August 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 2-This picture book uses the lyrics of "The Library Song" as text, then adds digital and pencil illustrations to share a young African American girl's extraordinary visit to her neighborhood public library. The pictures have a nostalgic feel, with the girl in a dress and large round glasses, the white female librarian wearing heels, skirt, jacket, and ribbon-tied blouse, and the library itself full of tall dark wooden shelves. With the card catalogue, date-due stamps, and absence of computers, the setting feels old-fashioned. The point of the song and the story is to introduce a string of beloved book characters, such as Winnie-the-Pooh, Curious George, Madeline, the Cat in the Hat, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and others. Adults will appreciate the mention of authors such as Roald Dahl and Philip Pullman, referenced on book spines. As the girl happily reads away the rainy morning, more and more characters sing and dance around the library, inviting all the library patrons to join in. The "shushing librarian" stereotype humorously is turned around when the girl asks the librarian to stop singing so that the girl can read in peace. VERDICT Although librarians will want to offer other resources in addition to the ones mentioned, this title is a fun read-aloud that will familiarize young children with the library.-Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 18, 2017
Singer-songwriter Chapin follows The Backwards Birthday Party, also illustrated by Groenink, with a second picture book adapted from his extensive catalog: in this case, “Library Song” (written with Mark) from his album Moonboat. “I’m going down to the library,/ picking out a book, check it in, check it out./ Gonna say hi to the dictionary,/ picking out a book, check it in, check it out,” sings a brown-skinned girl with round yellow eyeglasses as she runs through the rain. Beyond the rows and rows of waiting books, several classic children’s book figures soon appear on the scene, including Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Babar, the Cat in the Hat, and Mother Goose. Even the serious librarian gets caught up in the increasingly rowdy fun, earning her a “shhh!” from the girl, who is ready to start reading. It’s a book that could easily be used in elementary school classrooms before visits to the library, and readers will enjoy spotting recognizable characters in Groenink’s cozy illustrations. This celebration of reading and libraries is sure to charm those who love both. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House.

Starred review from July 1, 2017
Preschool-G *Starred Review* This cheerful picture book opens on a rainy Saturday morning. While her dad's snoring and her brother's watching TV, an African American girl walks down to the library. Looking around, she spies old friends (Winnie the Pooh, Sleeping Beauty, Madeline, the Cat in the Hat, etc.), who all want to go home with her. Soon a happy crowd of fictional characters is parading down the street. On the wordless last page, the girl's on her bed, reading contently beside Winnie the Pooh. Written in 1989, with upbeat lyrics, natural-sounding rhymes, and a catchy tune, the song The Library Song creates a surprisingly good text for a picture book. The words can be read aloud easily, as the cadence is evident when the words are spoken, but the effect is more magical when the words are sung (the tune is readily available online). Groenink, the illustrator of Evan Kuhlman's Hank's Big Day (2016), brings the song to life on the page through his pleasing pencil-and-digital artwork. From the rainy-village street scene to the library interiors to the child's cozy bedroom, the pictures are well structured and full of intriguing details for children to find and enjoy. Fun for story hours and satisfying for reading one-on-one.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)