Library Books about Library Books!

It's no surprise we love our library so with National Library Week I had to share some great books that are about libraries, and library books.

As avid readers and parents of young children who we want to raise to be well read, we know how important our libraries are.  They offer us a wealth of knowledge, resources, and tons of books!  Even if the library you go do doesn't have the book you want chances are the librarian there can get the book to you by seeing if they can borrow the book you want from another library!

My library is one of my favorite places to go.  The people who work there have become my friends, they are friendly and extremely helpful.  There are always all sorts of programs going on, from story times, to book clubs, and art classes and various groups meeting.  I could go on for the whole post talking about all the things the library offers and all the ways the library rocks, but the biggest thing is how much money it saves me.  Let's face it, it would cost a fortune to buy every book that my children and I have read!  Without the library our literacy would be much lower.  We on average check out between 10-20 children's books per week and about 2 books for myself each month. I love to own books, I will buy favorite books on Amazon, I love to hit the book store, and I devour book sales I bring home more books to keep than I should, but in my defense, I will read them ALL one day!  If I do some math tho and say we read 50 children's books each month and figure the cost of each is between $5-$15 typically (for easy math I'm going to say $10 each book) That's $500 just on the cost of books I read to the kids.  No family can afford that.  Library cards are FREE! And you can take home $100 worth of books each week, read them, and return them, get and get new ones to enjoy.

I am going to share with you only some of the books that share the reasons we love libraries and talk about books in libraries, there are many more books that I could list for you.


1. Library Lilyby Gillian Shields
                    Illustrated by Francesca Chessa
                     copyright 2011

This little girl and her best friend are two kids after my own heart!  Lily at first is only interested in books, and reads all the time.  A fellow bookworm! Her mother forces her to put down her book and play at the park where she meets another girl who doesn't like to read *gasp!* Soon the two girls make friends, Lily shares her love of reading and her new friend shares her love of actually doing things.

My kids and I could relate to the two friends so well.  I am always reading, I have a book with me wherever I go.  While reading about adventures is a wonderful way to experience things and places you might never actually do, as people we need to interact with other people and go on our own adventures.  We try to find books ourselves that relate to things that we want to do or are going to do, then after reading about it we go out and do it.  It's a great way to get kids interested in reading and relate it to their own world.  Example: We want to have a garden, we will be getting books about gardening and reading and learning about how to garden, then put what we learn to work.

How does this book support the library?  Aside from the title of course.  Lily spends much of her time at the library.  The first page of the book tells about the library, and why Lily loves going there.  A child who loves to read as much as Lily needs that library card so they can read all the books.  Then when her new friend is finally interested in books they get her a library card as well.

The book was fun and fast paced.

Francesca Chessa filled the book with cute colorful illustrations that keeps the attention of children.

2. The Library by Sarah Stewart
              Illustrated by David Small
               copyright 1995


How could I not share a cute story that is the dream of most bibliophiles? I know I dream of having my own huge library in my house, in my mind it has always looked like the one from Beauty and the Beast, I have had to come to reality and lower my standards some, but this book The Library has given me a new idea!

Sarah Stewart has written a wonderfully cute story about a little girl who is the definition of bibliophile although she doesn't use that term.  Like Lily above, Elizabeth Brown has no other interest it seems other than reading.  This is the only down side of the book is that it doesn't make for a well rounded person whereas Lily does go out and do things.  Elizabeth doesn't play, or date, and even shopping trips and household chores are done haphazardly!  I made the comment to my daughter, audiobooks would have been a huge help to Elizabeth Brown!

The story is told in rhyme, and is easy, fun, and funny to read.  David Small did a great job bringing the comic side to the story with his colorful illustrations and cute doodles next to the text.  The wonderful art will keep the child's attention and adds a great depth to the story.  The book is one that any child will enjoy from older toddlers and up.

Sarah Stewart dedicated to the memory of the real Mary Elizabeth Brown who was a librarian.  I did a couple searches trying to find more info on her.  This book is a work of fiction, but I was hoping to find that it was based on a true story.  I did not find that anything to confirm this which made me a little sad.  It would have been nice to have planed a road trip to the house of someone who did give their house and book collection to the town.  The good news here is that there are other books that are based on true stories about libraries. Which brings me to my next book....

3. Dewey: There's a Cat in the Library! by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter
                                             Illustrated by: Steve James
                                                   copyright: 2009

This is a non fiction book, that is written like fiction.  It's based on the adult non fiction book Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by the same authors.  Dewey is on my to be read list! Since I have not read the adult book and can't tell you how that is, let me tell you about this adorable children's book.

What is it with cats and books?  In the illustrations from The Library, along with many other books along the same lines there are cats.  It seems that there is an uncanny link between books and cats.  Maybe it's that cats love to curl up with us and are content to be lazy and let us read with their company.

Dewey is was left in the book drop of the library in Spencer, Iowa.  The librarian cleans him up and he is named Dewey Readmore Books and he is given a new home at the library.  The children find him and enjoy his company, along with other patrons.  The story is told about his journey around the library and how he learns how he can make a difference there.

Vicki Myron and Bret Witter have done a great job making this an easy to read, cute story for children.  Steve James I believe used watercolors to do the illustrations because it has a dreamy feel to the images.  I love the colors and how they capture a child's attention.  Dewey is an adorable cat and you just melt into his adorable kitten face and laugh at his playful antics that are illustrated.

The first time I read it I felt let down by the ending.  There's this little girl that Dewey tries to cheer up and his usual antics don't work and then finally he makes her laugh and she gives him a big hug and he say "This is it...I'm a REAL library cat"  I wanted more at the end.  Like many good stories you're never ready to come to the end.  I was expecting the ending to be more along the line of him being a reading support animal that she is struggling to read and then reads to him and becomes more confident.  After I let this go and read the story again I realized that Dewey was there to make the patrons happy, and that's just what he did.

If you have a reluctant reader, or a child who is struggling I highly recommend looking into reading support animals like Tail Waggin' Tutors

4. But Excuse Me That is My Book (Charlie and Lola) by Lauren Child
                                               copyright: 2006

Most children can relate to having a favorite book.  As a parent you own this beloved book and have read it over and over and over, to the point that you don't even need to have the book with you and you can recite it word for word.  I feel you!  This beloved book does change as children grow, for us it's an every couple month thing.  If this is your child you they will relate to But Excuse Me That is My Book! 

This little girl, Lola, has her favorite book, it's the book she check out from the library all the time.  But one day she goes to the library and someone else is checking out her book!  Oh no!  As the story goes on Lola's sister tries to show her other books at the library and she does end up finding another book that she loves.

This is what libraries and librarians are for.  If you have a favorite book, they will help you find other similar books, either by the same author or on the same topic.  Our children's librarians are amazing!  They are always willing to share the knowledge they have.  For example if you like But Excuse Me That is My Book you should check out A Library Book for Bear by Bonny Becker because Bear has the same problem as Lola, he has a favorite book, and a favorite subject, so why should he go to the library, and then he finds the perfect new book!

Both of these books are fun to read and have such different but similar charters that have great read aloud personalities.
Lola "I want that book now, now , NOW!"
Bear, "A trip to the library is completely unnecessary, I have all the books I need."



5. Curious George Visits the Library by Margret Rey
                                             Illustrated by: Martha Weston
                                                 copyright: 2003

I've told you before how I love books that are also children's TV shows.  Curious George is one of the TV shows that I still at the age of 30 get caught up in.  The little monkey is super cute and his curious adventures are always entertaining.  It comes as no surprise then that we have read our way through the Curious George books that the library has and Curious George Visits the Library is my favorite out of all of them!

Curious George is so relatable to children, what child during story time has found it hard to wait for a certain book to be read?  Or gotten stir crazy sitting still?  Story times and special programs are always enjoyable at the library, and they do keep kids attention span in mind with songs and activities between books, yet still some little ones might find their attention drawn elsewhere.

The part where George starts pulling book after book off the shelves reminds me of most trips we take to our own library "Oh look there's a book about a horse! and one about the beach! Oh and of course we need a Piggie and Elephant book!"  We often leave with our bag filled.


The illustrations are classic.  Even being published in the 2000's Martha Weston has stayed true to what we expect to see in all Curious George books.  Colorful, fun, attention grabbing drawings that help tell the story and add laughter in George's antics.

The books have been around for more than 75 years!  That is a very long life span of a single character.  It's an impressive legacy to have for anyone.  Want to know more about the history of Curious George? Check out Curious about George it's a surprising and insightful article about Han Augusto (H.A.) Rey and his wife Margret, and how they created this monkey that is still capturing the hearts of children today.


These books I've shared with you are only a starting point.  There are over 100 children's books listed on Goodreads for Picture Books About the Library.  Also you might like to check out these other blogs for more:
11 Memorable Children's books about Libraries and Librarians
Favorite Stories about Libraries and Librarians
Don't worry adults there are plenty of books that are for us as well!  Check out these links:
Book Riot's 100 must read books about libraries and bookstores
BookBub's 11 Books that will make you Love the library even more

If you are someone who likes to keep track of what you're reading or make a to-be-read list check out some of these awesome book journals for adults:

Be sure to visit your library during National Library Week, and let the people working there know how much it means to have such a valuable resource in your community and how great they are doing!