Books for children - April 22

Children are curious about practically everything. When a child asks “Why?” it isn’t to annoy you (although sometimes the repetitiveness of that question can grate on the nerves). The simple truth is that children want to know and understand their world, and it’s our job to answer their questions.

The more children know, the better equipped they will be to understand the world around them, make informed, good choices and continue to ask “Why?” throughout their lives.

Books can be an awesome tool to help kids learn and grow, and today’s reviewed books provide just that.

BOOKS TO BORROW

"Bodies From the Ash: Life and Death in Ancient Pompeii" by James M. Deem, photographs by various photographers and sources, Houghton Mifflin, 49 pages

Read aloud: age 7, 8 and older.

Read yourself: age 8, 9 and older.

When Vesuvius erupted on August 24, AD 79, the entire city of Pompeii and many of her citizens were buried alive under the volcanic ash, pumice, and large rock fragments. Wiped off the map, it wasn't until hundreds of years later that Pompeii was unearthed by archaeological excavations, and what they found shocked archaeologists and the world.

This book is loaded with photographs and up-to-date information, making it outstanding in every way.

LIBRARIAN'S CHOICE

Library: Bill Memorial Library, 240 Monument St., Groton

Library Director: Hali Keeler

Children's Services: Mary-Jane Carle

Choices this week: "I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean" by Kevin Sherry; "The Great Fire" by Jim Murphy; "The McElderry Book of Greek Myths" by Eric Kimmel

AT THE BOOKSTORE

"Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard" by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, illustrated by Priscilla Lamont, Alfred A. Knopf, 2012, 38 pages, $16.99 hardcover

Read aloud: age 4 and older.

Read yourself: age 7 and 8.

Alice and her family plant a garden every year, and Alice thinks of their garden as her summer home. The family plants delicious vegetables, then patiently tend to their garden as it grows. But this year Alice notices that there are other visitors to their garden that also love the delicious vegetables - caterpillars, grasshoppers, spiders, potato beetles, rabbits and many other creatures.

"Secrets of the Garden" will fascinate and educate children about what plants need to grow and how all living creatures are connected and depend on plants for life.

"Mouse's First Spring" by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Buket Erdogan, Little Simon, 2012, 32 pages, $7.99 board book

Read aloud: birth to age 2.

Read yourself: age 7.

Mouse and Momma are out for a walk on a windy spring day. Suddenly Mouse sees something glittery and flittery and wonders what it could be.

Momma says, "Look! A butterfly!" Then the wind blows and the butterfly flies away. On and on the scenario continues with Mouse seeing something new and Momma identifying what Mouse is seeing. Mouse. Brimming with opportunities for little ones to learn, "Mouse's First Spring" is pure delight.

www.greatestbooksforkids.com