Books for children - Feb. 12

AT THE LIBRARY

"Stone Girl, Bone Girl - The Story of Mary Anning" by Laurence Anholt, illustrated by Sheila Moxley, Orchard, 28 pages

Read aloud: age 6 and older.

Read yourself: age 8 and older.

Born in England in 1799, Mary Anning was a bright and curious girl. One of her greatest interests was digging for strange stone shapes she found in the clay cliffs near her home. Mary called her findings "curiosities" and sold them to tourists. But it wasn't long before her neighbors, the Philpot sisters, realized that Mary's discoveries were far more important than simple stones. The Philpot sisters were scientists, and quickly took Mary under their wing to teach her about her discoveries.

LIBRARIAN'S CHOICE

Library: East Lyme Public Library, 39 Society Rd., Niantic

Library Director: William Deakyne

Children's Librarian: Randall F. Haines

Choices this week: "Mosque" by David Macaulay; "Condoleeza Rice: Being the Best" by Mary Dodson Rice; "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy

AT THE BOOKSTORE

"The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon, Dial, 2012, 32 pages, $16.99 hardcover

Read aloud: age 7 and older.

Read yourself: age 8, 9 and older.

As a young boy in Malawi, Africa, William Kamkwamba was very interested in how mechanical things worked. Like most people in his small village, his family farmed the land for a living. When a severe drought choked the life out of the land and crops, the people of Malawi began to starve.

Reduced to one meal a day and forced to drop out of school, William was intent on continuing his studies. To do so, he visited the library, taught himself English, and was determined to learn from those books how to build a windmill to bring electricity and eventually water to his poor village.

"Gorilla" written and photographed by Suzi Esterhas, Francis Lincoln, 2012, 28 pages, $15.99

Read aloud: age 2, 3 and older.

Read yourself: age 7, 8 and older.

Outstanding photographs combine with this story that chronicles the life of a baby gorilla in the mountains of Africa. From birth to age 6, readers learn how the baby gorilla is cared for by her mother and learns about life in the jungle. But growing up isn't all serious business - there's ample time to play with other young gorillas.

www.greatestbooksforkids.com