​Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit.  

Author and illustrator David Wiesner is known for his richly detailed and beautifully illustrated picture books for kids that tell a complex story – all with little or no words.  His books are truly a feast for the eyes, and often require more than one reading.

His latest, Mr. Wuffles!, is no exception. The titular character, Mr. Wuffles, is a black and white tuxedo cat. Despite every expensive toy his owners buy him, Mr. Wuffles is disinterested. That is, until something in his pile of discarded toys begins to move!  The viewer can see from inside the toy an alien race of green ant-looking creatures in robes is actually piloting what looks to be a tea diffuser ball, in search of adventure in alien landscapes.  The crew is ready to disembark and begin their mission, when a pair of giant cat eyes appears in their only window. Soon the crew inside the space ship is batted about as Mr. Wuffles finally finds something interesting to play with. The small space aliens to speak in speech bubbles in the pictures, but their language appears as a simple geometric form of hieroglyphics. When Mr. Wuffles loses interest and turns over for a catnap, the crew decides to escape to underneath a nearby radiator to salvage what is left of their mission.  There they find help from the primitive ant tribe and a lone ladybug who bravely distracts Mr. Wuffles more than once while the aliens complete their mission with the help of the ants, replacing damaged instruments with local materials. 

If you find yourself in need of more wordless picture books for your young readers, a class assignment, or even for reading yourself the library has three other books by David Wiesner that fit the bill: Flotsam, Tuesday, and Sector 7. Each book is unique but all are illustrated in the same style.

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit.

​Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit.  

Lego bricks have certainly come a long way from their introduction as children’s toys in the early 1950s in Denmark to the franchise it is today in toys, video games, movies, and art.  This week’s Port Pick focuses on Lego more as an art form in Brick History: Amazing historical scenes to build from Lego by Warren Elsmore.

Starting with dinosaurs and ending with historic events as recent as the royal wedding of Princess Kate and Prince William, brick history can be viewed as simply a visual Lego journey through the major points in human history. However, this author has included sample models to build throughout the book, starting with a model lifeboat from the Titanic scene later in the book. Although Legos are traditionally seen as a kid’s toy this book is clearly aimed at the adult builder who may have an extensive collection of bricks to choose from. Fold out posters at the front and back of the book also provide a more detailed look at a scene from the Boston Tea Party and the Moon Landing, both in brick style. An introduction covers how the author chose each historic scene, how to best photograph your own Lego scenes, model building “cheats” to get your scenes to look correct, and even a page on techniques for cleaning older bricks for reuse today.

This will be shelved in the adult’s non-fiction section where you can also find Brick Wonders and Brick Vehicles by the same author. Brick Wonders covers architectural and natural wonders from around the world recreated in Lego, while Brick Vehicles covers models of all modes of transport whether on land, in the air, or in the water. The only book in this series not currently at the Port Library is Brick City, which can be requested through interlibrary loan if you find yourself a fan of your world rendered in Lego.

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit.

​Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit.

One of the first steps to learning how to read is following a story line through pictures.  Soon enough a young kid will want to know what all those funny black marks are doing on their pictures and follow along as a parent, grandparent, sibling, or teacher reads those words out loud. Two new board books at the Port Library will help with that first step of creating interest in a story through pictures.

I’m Sunny! and its companion I’m Grumpy! by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm each tell simple stories.  In I’m Sunny! a bright yellow sun with a smile finds a red balloon floating up near him.  With a swoop and a whoosh he grabs the string of the balloon and gives the reader a big bright smile.  Meanwhile Tizzy Tornado enters the landscape and sees the Sun has a great balloon.  Tizzy asks politely to hold the balloon but the Sun says no!  Tizzy whirls away angrily, but the Sun can see him crying off over the next hill.  This makes the Sun rethink what he’s done and a quick compromise has both feeling sunny again.  In I’m Grumpy! Grumpy Cloud is asked why he’s so down.  The reader can see through a series of pictures what a difficult time Grumpy Cloud has recently had, ending with a spilled ice cream cone.  When the cheerful Sun comes into the picture and tries to cheer Grumpy Cloud up, the cloud just gets grumpier until kaboom! – lightning strikes! The sun skitters away and Grumpy cloud feels even worse until he spies the perfect way to cheer both of them up.

These board books have clear, bright comic illustrations and are sturdy enough for the youngest reader to grasp and flip the pages.

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit. 

Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit. Our summer library programs start next Tuesday and although the official registration has ended, if you have time in July we have a few spots open.  Call the library for more details.

If you read romance novels and want a younger take on the classic story line, or if you are a reader of young adult fiction and are tired of the vampire, fantasy quest, or post-apocalyptic adventure books out there, this book may be for you.  Romancing the Nerd by Leah Rae Miller tells the story of two high school students, told in alternating chapters from both perspectives.

Until recently, Dan Garret was a typical nerd: lover of comic books and video games. While he has friends there’s no girlfriend in the picture. Cue a massive growth spurt and the sudden ability to sink three-pointers in basketball and Dan skyrockets overnight from nerd-dom to the most popular jock in the school.  Meanwhile, tuba playing Zelda Potts with her video game name and eclectic fashion sense loses a friend and secret crush to a completely different social circle at school.  When Dan inadvertently humiliates Zelda, she hatches a secret plan to exact revenge, but nerd style. The trouble is, her plan may just backfire. Or perhaps Zelda doesn’t have all the story of why and how Dan could turn his back on all his nerdy friends to hang out with the popular basketball crowd. Dan is missing is former life and wonders why Zelda has been so distant lately. 

Leah Rae Miller is a new author to the shelves of the Port Library.  She has one other book published that will be available later this summer at the library, and it is a continuation of the same characters.  In The Summer I Became a Nerd the story follows Dan’s best friend Logan and his own nerdy romance with Maddie.

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit.