[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Imprint in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Lenora is stuck. Her parents are off traveling the world, and she is left behind with a nanny. A horrible nanny, too, who is working her own angles and agendas while dragging Lenora along. But when the nanny has to head to the library, Lenora sees her chance to escape.
Ditching the nanny by dodging through the stacks, Lenora opens a gateway to an unusual library thanks to an act of protective kindness. And this new library offers exactly what Lenora wants – a chance to both learn things and make a difference to others.
While Lenora is learning what it means to be the “Fourth Assistant Apprentice Librarian,” dark forces are gathering. They know knowledge is dangerous, and they are determined to destroy it.
Review
This is a fun fantasy story on the young side of middle grade. I loved Lenora! She is bright and resourceful. She keeps a notebook to record what she learns and her questions – I love that! And I learned some cool things right along with her. She has an earnest desire to learn. And she works to overcome the fear and angst that would naturally arise in such an unusual setting with few if any instructions for how to proceed.
I was frustrated by the villains when they appeared in the story. I felt like the villains, and their cause, lived on a different level in the storytelling than the fantasy worlds Lenora visited. It was like her travels and tasks were painted in rich, vibrant colors, and I was immersed right along with her. But the direct confrontations with the villains to me felt like black and white interactions in comparison. They pulled me out of the delightful fantasy.
This could be a function of (a) being an adult reader of a book for kids, and (b) reading a lot of adult and young adult fantasy where things are far more drawn out and motives are more often teased rather than stated plainly. So, I wanted this to be longer, with more drawn out trials for Lenora on each task. With a longer story, the villains could have been developed more slowly, too. And their motives would have felt less obvious.
But as I considered it, I don’t think that is the goal of this book. There are books for that – for the longer trials and nuanced villains – Percy Jackson and the like. This feels like more of an introduction to fantasy for maybe a slightly younger audience. A good introduction for readers who aren’t yet ready for those longer books just yet (The first Percy Jackson book is twice as long as this one.). For those almost-ready readers, this will be great! I feel like Lenora and the library will give a taste of the magic and mythology and world building of fantasy, but in a politely-sized format with a relatively quick return on the reading investment – action, results, resolution, and hints at a future adventure.
I think this would make for a great family or classroom read aloud. The quickly resolved adventures (1 – 2 chapters) work for classroom or bedtime reading. And depending on the age and insight of the readers, discussions about the villains and their goals could be very interesting, too.
I think readers will love Lenora, so be sure to watch for her future adventures! The library in this book is a delightful place to spend some time.
eally, Really, Really Big Dinosaur – This is a fantastic story of a small dinosaur getting pushed around by a larger dinosaur for a jar of jelly beans. The small dinosaur isn’t too worried about the bully because he has a “friend” who is much bigger than the bully. The best part of the story is set up in the illustrations. It’s fun to see which students catch on from the pictures alone. Then others will go back later and see what they missed. Such a fun story!
Read to Tiger – While the boy is trying to read his book, Tiger does all sorts of things that disturb him – chomping gum, pretending to be a bear, playing with a loud train set, etc. Every time the boy gets upset, the Tiger apologizes. The kids got to the point where they would try to match my “Tiger voice” and do the lines with me. I discovered this book at the school when I took the library job. There are actually two books about this Tiger, but this is my favorite.
Arnie the Doughnut – This is probably one of the silliest books I read to my students consistently. It’s long for a read aloud, but good for many laughs, as Laurie Keller’s books often are. In the story, a donut is surprised to find out that the man who bought him plans to EAT him! Arnie does not want to be eaten, but the man paid for him, fair and square. Can they figure out a way for both of them to win? Keller’s books are even better for lap reading than read-alouds because of the side conversations characters have in the illustrations.
Library Lion – This book is so outstanding, it will captivate a room of kindergarteners even though there isn’t a lot of “action” in the story. In it, a lion comes to the library for story time. The head librarian says he can stay as long has he follows the rules like staying quiet in the library. One of the other librarians is certain that there is no place for a lion in the library. One day, the lion breaks the rules for a good reason, but he knows he will have to leave anyway. But no one is happy when the library lion is gone. This is delightful. If you haven’t read this one, check it out!
Duck and Goose – A young duck and goose find an “egg” and squabble over the proper way to care for the egg and the occupant inside. We read this book to our son when he was little – along with the sequel, 
The Totally Secret Secret – Ballet Cat doesn’t want to do anything her friend Sparkles wants to do. She only wants to do Ballet! What happens when she discovers that Sparkles… doesn’t like ballet?! I can’t get enough of this book. Even though I have no picture book readers in my house, and I am not teaching, I still bought myself a copy of this book! It cracks me up every single time I read it! To me, this is an example of the perfect kids book because it entertains on a kid level and on an adult level for the person reading the book (over and over). I think the third book in the series, 
Silly Doggy! – A girl finds a “silly doggy” in her back yard. The doggy doesn’t want to do any of the doggy things the girl thinks he should, perhaps because it is a bear. No one in the story seems to recognize Doggy for what he really is until the zoo comes to collect him at the end. My students always found it hilarious that this girl thought this huge bear was a dog. This is a sweet and silly story. The very funny ending was later turned into a new picture book – 
The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, The Wolf and Grandma – I asked my family for this Little Red Riding Hood-ish book for Christmas this year because I adored it when I was reading it to students. It is sarcastic and funny and points out some of the inconsistencies in fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood. I am a huge fan of any sort of “fractured fair tale” and this one of my all time favorites!
This Orq. (He Cave Boy.) – I saw this book on display at a conference and I kept walking past the booth over and over and over again because I was completely captivated by the illustration on the cover. At the end of the conference, I stood in line for over 30 minutes to be sure I could take this book home to my students! The book is told in choppy “cave man” talk which is fun to read. At its core this is a pet story, well told with very few words and a lot of heart.
Mustache Baby Meets His Match – Sequel to the awesome 
The Three Ninja Pigs – My favorite part of the school year when I was teaching (after Book Fair) was the end of the year when I would do a fractured fairy tale unit with my students. The stories are great fun, and we could practice our comparing and contrasting skills when we looked at the original and our fractured versions together. One of the highlights for the age group that did The Three Pigs was when we would read this book. The language is precise and perfect. And when one pig promises the wolf, “I’ll kick your big butt,” my students would roar with laughter! This is outstanding!
I Will Surprise My Friend! – When I introduced my kindergarten students to Piggie and Gerald, I couldn’t keep the books on the shelves for the rest of the year. I often had spare copies tucked in the library office so I could replace the library copy when it finally crumbled from extreme use. If I could only pick one Elephant and Piggie book to read, this would be the one. Piggie and Gerald decide to scare/surprise each other by the big rock. But it doesn’t go as planned and the results are hilarious! In my opinion, this is the best of the best.
This Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown – I’m not sure my students loved this one as much as I did, but I adore this book. Emily Brown is a bright, creative and imaginative girl who plays all sorts of cool things with her bunny, Stanley. A princess sees Stanley and decides she wants him! She sends all of her servants to convince Emily to give him to her, but Emily kindly but firmly says no each time. Until the Princess steals Stanley. It’s fun to read with different voices for the servants and a long-suffering voice for Emily Brown.
It’s the Bear! – There are three Bear books by Jez Alborough. In the first, 
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs – Another favorite from my fairy tale unit is this twisted tale by Mo Willems (author of the Piggie and Gerald books as well as the Pigeon and Knuffle Bunny books)! In this version, Goldilocks stumbles into a house of dinosaurs instead of bears. And those dinosaurs seem to be up to some mischief! My students loved slowly looking at every picture for hints of what the dinosaurs were up to. My older students picked up more of the subtle humor and sarcasm of this story than the younger ones did.