New in the Library! October 2026

Did we ever add a lot of books to the library this month! Most are picture books, because they are easy to vet; the middle grade, young adult, and adult books take a lot more time, so they are waiting patiently on an overflowing shelf, or on stacks. Speaking of vetting books, I was struck again this month with how important that is. Among others I picked up were a picture book of an Australian ballad, and another one that is on many lists. In the ballad, the main character commits suicide. The other had witches on two pages. Those books are leaving the house again as fast as they came in. There were a few others that didn’t make the cut this month, as well. One showed blatant rebellion/disobedience of a couple of children, and they got away with it; another seemed to be normalizing divorce/remarriage, blending families, and custody battles. No thanks! So, here are the ones that we liked this month. I brought home a banana box full of books from a bookstore that was closing and would be destroying books, and we also went to the local Bookarama two days. On top of that, the local library gave me a lot of easy readers they received as samples but decided not to keep.

First up: A few beautiful photo books featuring New Zealand. Snow Storm is about a blizzard that struck Canterbury in 2007, and how people coped. Wairarapa features pictures and description of that region of the North Island. Jack & Charlie is all about two boys who live in Ross, about an hour and a half drive from us, and their adventurous life in the bush.

I found several classics. I have discovered that the Companion Library books are very good editions of classic children’s books; some are the best translations I have found. The Bible Companion Book 10, of course, is one I received for a review; Honey for a Child’s Heart is a good book list and encouragement to read together.

One of my little girls picked up the Breakfast cookbook. She hasn’t used it yet, but the children have fixed soft-boiled eggs for themselves several times after one of them was inspired by the cover picture. The Family Cow was on our shelf when I was young. Mom asked me if I wanted to try fixing it, which wasn’t hard at all, and now it’s on our shelf, ready for when we have questions about cow care. Evolution the Fossils Say NO! was also on our shelf when I was young. I found this copy at the Bookarama. Obviously, the staff there hadn’t noticed that it was falling apart, so I rescued it, rebound it, and now it will go a long time.

I was thrilled to find a bulk lot of books by Ronald Syme a couple of months ago; he was an excellent author of history books for children. We have been studying explorers, so I read Hudson of the Bay. It was very interesting! Susan is a heart-wrenching story about a young Chippewa girl trying to navigate living in a city away from the reservation she had always known. I enjoyed learning what life was like for Lady Jane Grey; she became a real person to me. Bambi was another read-aloud. It is a fairly realistic depiction of life for a deer, but could be a problem for children who become very emotionally attached to animals. Under the Blood-Red Sun is a perspective of Pearl Harbor like I’ve never come across before. It is told from the point of view of a Japanese-American boy who lived beside the Navy base. As far as The Black Stallion’s Courage, I won’t have all the Black Stallion books on our shelf, but this one was quite good. Helen Keller from the In Their Own Words series was very easy to read, interesting, and told me a lot more about her adult life than I had read anywhere else. Inventors Behind the Inventor is a fascinating look at the development of a lot of our modern technology–written in 1947! It shows how no invention is truly developed by only one person, but rather each inventor builds on others’ work. I debated for awhile about keeping Dead Dan’s Dee. It deals with a hard topic, as Dee copes with losing her father many years ago, and now her mother is very sick–and then she starts getting inklings that her father wasn’t the hero she always thought he was. I won’t give spoilers, but the ending was hard enough that I decided this book won’t go with the New Zealand Children’s fiction books on our shelf, but with the Young Adult books.

Among our read-alouds recently were a few that have been on the shelf for a long time. Three Young Pilgrims has always been a favorite; in fact, I had to recover this one because it was getting pretty tattered. Miracles on Maple Hill is a very special one about a family who moved to a farm and how the father recovered from his war experiences as he lived in the peace of Maple Hill. The Finest Hours kept our attention riveted; it is the story of a terrible storm in 1952 and how the Coast Guard worked to rescue men from two oil tankers that split in half.

I received Off the Rails for review. It’s a very exciting survival story, written for 8-10-year-old boys. The King’s Shadow is historical fiction about the Norman Conquest. I really enjoyed it. These others are some that one of my sons picked up at the Bookarama, and I previewed them for him. Tiggy is a delightful story about a cat and her kittens. The Dingle Ridge Fox is a collection of stories about several different animals. I haven’t read Outcast of Redwall, but he got it to add to his collection of those books. He likes Bear Grylls, so picked up these DVDs.

Now for the picture books! Some fit nicely into the History and Science area. Actually, I take that back. Inside the Hindenburg doesn’t fit nicely anywhere. It’s huge! My family enjoyed reading it, though.

The Story of Silk is very interesting. It is written/illustrated by a photographer who traveled through Southeast Asia, and became interested in the silk industry in Thailand. The photography is beautiful!

I used to have a copy of this version of Johnny Appleseed, but decided I like another we have better. When I saw this one at the Bookarama, though, I picked it up. Mr. Archimedes’ Bath is a fun investigation of Archimedes’ discovery of mass and volume. It includes a kangaroo and wombat! Suleiman the Elephant is a beautiful account of a trip across Europe with an elephant during the Middle Ages–a true story. The Sorely Trying Day is pure fun to read together; it had a lot of people in this family laughing out loud. One Green Apple and First Light are beautiful hardcover picture books about relationships–between cultures, and between father and son. Grandfather’s Journey explores the emotions produced by immigrating from one’s home country to another. The Richard Scarry books came home because my littlest daughter loved them.

One of my grown sons likes Dr. Seuss, so I collected several of his books that my son didn’t have yet and gave them to him for his birthday. I got Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? to join Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, which has long been a favorite.

Notice the collection of Jungle Doctor picture fables? I was delighted to find this at the bookstore. We had three of the books individually, but I’m thrilled to have them all together. These are such good stories!

We added a few more books to the Art shelf.

A lot of books got added to the New Zealand Picture Books and Nature shelves. The one I was most excited about is The First Kiwi Christmas, about the first missionaries to bring news of Jesus to these islands.

We have always loved Arch Books, so were happy to find a few that we didn’t have.

Finally, the new easy readers. They are color-coded to make it easy for young children to find the ones they are able to read. Yellow labels, here, are the simplest.

Next is orange, which are a little more complex.

Red is next. Let’s Get Turtles reminded me of why I really like older books. This isn’t a how-to guide to getting a turtle as a pet–but it contains all the information that would be in such a guide, in the form of a story, along with scientific investigations.

Green are the most advanced books on our Easy Reader shelf. Children who can read these are ready to move on to our Independent Readers shelves. Adventure in Jersey is my favorite of these books. It happens on the Island of Jersey, and involves a cow!