Great Reads on the Harrington Library Bookshelves: New and True

Batter up! Who was the last player to hit .400? What shortstop began each season with a backflip? Which pitcher has won the most Cy Young Awards? Find out the answers to those questions and many more in Big Book of Who: Baseball, a collection of the 101 baseball stars every fan needs to know, past and present. All the diamond greats are included, from Babe Ruth to Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays to Joe DiMaggio, and Derek Jeter to Mike Trout. Featuring exciting MLB photography and the most current information about baseball's best players, this Sports Illustrated Kids reference book for young sports fans is written in a fun and easy-to-navigate question and answer format. Player profiles, facts, and stats are organized into five comprehensive categories: Champions, Super Sluggers, Prime Pitchers, Cool Characters, and Record Breakers.

Follow one day in the real lives of seven kids from around the world--Italy, Japan, Iran, India, Peru, Uganda, and Russia! In Japan, Kei plays Freeze Tag, while in Uganda, Daphine likes to jump rope. While the way they play may differ, the shared rhythm of their days--and this one world we all share--unites them. This genuine exchange provides awindow into traditions that may be different from our own as well asmirrors reflecting our common experiences. Inspired by his own travels, Matt Lamonthe transports readers across the globe and back with this luminous and thoughtful picture book.

The instant New York Times bestseller featured on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon! B. J. Novak (bestselling author of The Book With No Pictures) described this groundbreaking poetry collection as "Smart and sweet, wild and wicked, brilliantly funny--it's everything a book for kids should be." Meet Chris Harris, the 21st-century Shel Silverstein! Already lauded by critics as a worthy heir to such greats as Silverstein, Seuss, Nash and Lear, Harris's hilarious debut molds wit and wordplay, nonsense and oxymoron, and visual and verbal sleight-of-hand in masterful ways that make you look at the world in a whole new wonderfully upside-down way. With enthusiastic endorsements from bestselling luminaries such as Lemony Snicket, Judith Viorst, Andrea Beaty, and many others, this entirely unique collection offers a surprise around every corner: from the ongoing rivalry between the author and illustrator, to the mysteriously misnumbered pages that can only be deciphered by a certain code-cracking poem, to the rhyming fact-checker in the footnotes who points out when "poetic license" gets out of hand. Adding to the fun: Lane Smith, bestselling creator of beloved hits like It's a Book and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, has spectacularly illustrated this extraordinary collection with nearly one hundred pieces of appropriately absurd art. It's a mischievous match made in heaven! "Ridiculous, nonsensical, peculiar, outrageous, possibly deranged--and utterly, totally, absolutely delicious. Read it! Immediately!" --Judith Viorst, bestselling author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Trickiest! introduces readers to some of the slyest animals on the planet, and the award-winning author and illustrator Steve Jenkins is here to show you what earned them their reputation.  Steve's Extreme Animals reader series explores nature's truly superlative animals with the help of illustrations, infographics, facts, and figures while detailing the astounding abilities of critters as small as a frog or as big as a whale. Each installment focuses on truly amazing and unusual animals, making these nonfiction readers accessible, informative, and fascinating.

"Every household has an abundance of junk mail. What if you could turn it into something beautiful? With this book, readers can do just that by following the simple instructions to turn colorful junk mail into jewelry. Packed with many other recycled paper crafts, this volume encourages readers to reconsider what's garbage and what can become something more with a little paint, glue, or glitter. Each craft engages readers with art and creatively highlights how it's possible to reduce and reuse waste every day."

From award-winning author Elissa Brent Weissman comes a collection of quirky, smart, and vulnerable childhood works by some of today's foremost children's authors and illustrators--revealing young talent, the storytellers they would one day become, and the creativity they inspire today. Everyone's story begins somewhere... For Linda Sue Park, it was a trip to the ocean, a brand-new typewriter, and a little creative license. For Jarrett J. Krosoczka, it was a third grade writing assignment that ignited a creative fire in a kid who liked to draw. For Kwame Alexander, it was a loving poem composed for Mother's Day--and perfected through draft after discarded draft. For others, it was a teacher, a parent, a beloved book, a word of encouragement. It was trying, and failing, and trying again. It was a love of words, and pictures, and stories. Your story is beginning, too. Where will it go?

In the dark, Kristofer Helgen and a group of scientists peered up into the treetops of the Ecuadorian cloud forest. Staring back at them was a furry, four-legged creature. Could it be the mysterious, wild olinguito? Helgen had been studying the olingo, a relative of raccoons, for years. As he examined their pelts and skulls in museums, he noticed differences in a few. Through scientific investigating, he realized the different examples weren't olingos at all--he had discovered a completely new species. Next, he just had to find it--if it still existed. Follow Helgen's real-life science adventure through museums, laboratories, and the cloud forest as he makes an exciting modern discovery.

With stunning artwork and compelling scientific explanation, Bang and Chisholm have brought forth a masterpiece that is critically relevant in this environmentally tumultuous time. How does the sun keep ocean currents moving and lift fresh water from the seas? What can we do to conserve one of our planet's most precious resources? In this newest book in the award-winning Sunlight Series, readers learn about the constant movement of water as it flows around the Earth. As the water changes between liquid, vapor, and ice, Sunlight powers all living things, ensuring that life can exist on Earth. Perfect for any reader--young or old!--this is an invaluable addition to all classrooms, libraries, and at-home collections.

Readers will learn about how and why tornadoes form and important safety measures to take when a tornado happens. This title is informative yet simple. Big text and simple sentences combined with vibrant photographs will entertain readers, teach them scientific facts, and strengthen their reading skills. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Abdo Kids is a division of ABDO.

The world can be a pretty wacky place! Kids will have a blast exploring just HOW wacky in the latest book in the wildly popular Weird But True series, full of 300 all-new surprising and amazing facts. Topics include science, space, weather, geography, food, pop culture, and just about everything else under the sun, presented with fascinating photos and illustrations. This quirky little reference is so much fun, kids forget they're learning.

During World War I, British and American ships were painted with bold colors and crazy patterns from bow to stern. Why would anyone put such eye-catching designs on ships? Desperate to protect ships from German torpedo attacks, British lieutenant-commander Norman Wilkinson proposed what became known as dazzle. These stunning patterns and colors were meant to confuse the enemy about a ship's speed and direction. By the end of the war, more than four thousand ships had been painted with these mesmerizing designs. Author Chris Barton and illustrator Victo Ngai vividly bring to life this little-known story of how the unlikely and the improbable became just plain dazzling.

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book Charlotte Zolotow Award Highly Commended Title NCTE Notable Poetry Book Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature (CSMCL) Best Book of the Year Booklist Editors' Choice Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book EUREKA! Nonfiction Honor Award NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Literary Work-Children A lush and lyrical biography of Harriet Tubman, written in verse and illustrated by an award-winning artist. We know her today as Harriet Tubman, but in her lifetime she was called by many names. As General Tubman she was a Union spy. As Moses she led hundreds to freedom on the Underground Railroad. As Minty she was a slave whose spirit could not be broken. An evocative poem and opulent watercolors come together to honor a woman of humble origins whose courage and compassion make her larger than life.

Every volume of Science Comics offers a complete introduction to a particular topic--dinosaurs, coral reefs, the solar system, volcanoes, bats, flying machines, and more. These gorgeously illustrated graphic novels offer wildly entertaining views of their subjects. Whether you're a fourth grader doing a natural science unit at school or a thirty-year-old with a secret passion for airplanes, these books are for you! This volume: InBats, we follow a little brown bat whose wing is injured by humans on a nature hike. He is taken to a bat rehabilitation center where he meets many different species of bats. They teach him how they fly, what they eat, and where they like to live.

Audrey Vernick and Steven Salerno have again collaborated to bring us a captivating picture book about a compelling but little-known piece of baseball history. Beginning in 1922, when Edith Houghton was only ten years old, she tried out for a women's professional baseball team, the Philadelphia Bobbies. Though she was the smallest on the field, soon reporters were talking about "The Kid" and her incredible skill, and crowds were packing the stands to see her play. Her story reminds us that baseball has never been about just men and boys. Baseball is also about talented girls willing to work hard to play any way they can.