Best Reads of 2012 (6th in a series)

One of my favorite books that I read this year was Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons (Easy) by James Dean and Eric Litwin.  It's a cute picture book which is not only totally groovy, but educational, too!  Super-smooth Pete is being cool and singing about his buttons when one pops off.  Uh-oh!  But Pete just keeps grooving, because four minus one still leaves him with three!  The bright cartoon colors are attractive to children, and the brief text is ideal for Pre-K children learning their numbers.  In the end, even after Pete loses all four buttons, he doesn’t lose his cool because he still has his belly button!  Way too much fun!

Aliens on Vacation (Juvenile) by Clete Barrett Smith is a good, clean, ridiculously silly and fun book for those who like aliens – which I do!

We Can’t All be Rattlesnakes (Juvenile) by Patrick Jennings is the tale of a gopher snake who matures in kindness through her experience in captivity.

In Shakespeare’s Secret (Juvenile) by Elise Broach, twelve year old Hero has moved once again, but this time she is befriended by an elderly neighbor and a popular boy who help her solve the mystery of the Murphy Diamond and uncover interesting secrets about Shakespeare’s possible true identity.

For those who love sports and especially baseball, Heat by Mike Lupica (Teen) is a very exciting story about a twelve year old named Michael, a star baseball player living in the Bronx, who hides a mystery about his family until the absence of his birth certificate threatens his ability to play in the Little League World Series.


Julie Boyd
Youth Services Information Specialist