BOOKS TO BORROW

"Do Like a Duck Does!" by Judy Hindley, illustrated in color by Ivan Bates, Candlewick, 36 pages

Read aloud: age 3 and older

Read yourself: age 7 and older

"Five little ducklings, following their mother; whatever any duck does, so does the other." But wait! Who is this creature following close behind, pretending to be a duck? He certainly has a foxy looking nose and a wicked foxy smile.

Mama Duck challenges the odd critter to prove he is a duck by doing just as she and her ducklings do. And, although the stealthy imposter keeps up with the ducks on most accounts, he is out-foxed on his last test and scurries off, leaving the ducks safe and sound.

LIBRARIAN'S CHOICE

Library: Public Library of New London, 63 Huntington St., New London

Executive Director: Suzanne Maryeski

Children's Room Supervisor: Julie Holzworth

Choices this week: "Dragon Stew" by Tom McGowen; "Ocean World" by Peter Sis; "Slop: A Welsh Folktale" retold by Margaret Read MacDonald

AT THE BOOKSTORE

"The Forbidden Library" by Django Wexler, Kathy Dawson Books/Penguin, 2014, 373 pages

Read aloud: age 10 and older

Read yourself: age 11 and older

Alice had spent her entire life of 12 years in New York City. When he father disappears, she is sent to live near Pittsburgh with an "uncle," Geryon, she didn't even know she had. Geryon lives in an enormous manor with a massive library that Alice is told never to enter alone. But when a clever, conniving cat speaks to Alice and shows her how to get into the library unaccompanied, Alice takes the bait. There, she encounters the odd, arrogant boy Isacc who challenges her to open one of the books. Alice can't resist, and when she looks at the first page, unintelligible words rearrange themselves into English and next moment Alice is inside of the book where she must confront and defeat a dangerous villain.

"Magic Tree House #51: High Time for Heroes" by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Sal Murdocca, Random House, 2014, 122 pages, $12.99 hardcover

Read aloud: age 6 and older

Read yourself: age 7, 8 and older

Merlin the magician has summoned the brother-sister duo Jack and Annie on another mission. Their two previous missions involved discovering two of the three secrets of greatness, both of which they were able to uncover: Humility, Hard Work. Merlin's present mission is to send Jack and Annie to the Nile River in Egypt in the mid-1800s to find the famous and beloved nurse Florence Nightingale, while simultaneously finding the third and final secret of greatness.

kendal@sunlink.net