Looking For Red Books

I did a bad thing this morning. I got hung up in the Children's Library while I was looking for red books...well, red-cover books. This being the month for Valentine's Day and Library Lovers' Month, we have a lot of red out and about. So, I went looking for red books in the Children's Library. And I want to tell you what I found.
The first book I picked up was Dear Willie Rudd, (comma needed) by Libba Moore Gray with wonderful pictures by Peter M. Fiore. It is about a woman who remembers her childhood relationship with a Black woman and wishes she could thank her and apologize for any wrongs committed due to race. The pictures are beautiful, but the story is more so.
Then I found John Grogran's book Bad Dog, Marley! The book is by the same author who wrote Marley & Me. Of course, Marley is a rambunctious puppy and he makes himself at home while causing lots of trouble. But then he proves in a very dramatic way that he is a valuable member of the household. And the pictures by Richard Cowdrey are just fantastic of a big drooling puppy!
Next, the name of this book caught my eye, as well as the great watercolor pictures. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge is about a small boy who tries to discover the meaning of "memory" so he can restore that of an elderly friend. He lives next door to an old people's home, and his favorite person is Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper because she has four names just as he does. With a basketful of small gifts he's found, he helps her regain her memory. The story of friendship is written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Julie Vivas.
The Look Book by Tana Hoban is just that...a look book. The full-color nature photographs are first viewed through a cut-out hole and then in their entirety. This is one well-worn book in our library. The pictures of flowers, vegetables, birds, animals, and fish give you a stunning book of imaginative photography without words.
The last book I picked up is Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed and it brought to mind what our library staff is doing. We've been recording random acts of kindness that we do throughout the month and posting them on our break-room door. It'll be fun to see our list grow throughout the year. The story of Ordinary Mary is about a young girl's good deed that is multiplied as it is passed on by those who have been touched by the kindness of others. It was fun to see how Mary's deed of giving a big brown bowl of blueberries came full circle, and on its way changed the lives of every person living. The book is written by Emily Pearson and illustrations are by Fumi Kosaka.
If you get a chance, stop by the library and pick up an armful of red books from the Children's Library. There are amazing stories being told....