Get ready to curl up with a blanket and a good book. The Palisades Branch Library has lots of new books this December for children and young adults.

The following list features the new books available at the library this winter. The information below was composed by the staff at the Palisades Branch Library. 

New Children's Picture Books

Paul Bunyan vs. Hals Halson

 Teresa Bateman

Hals Halson, who is nearly as tall as the legendary Paul Bunyan, strides into a logging camp determined to prove himself the greatest lumberjack in North America, despite Paul's attempts at friendship.

 

My Dog Jack is Fat

 Eve Bunting

Carson does his best to help his dog, Jack, lose weight, with unexpected results.

 

Tadpole Rex

 Kurt Cyrus

A tiny primordial tadpole grows into a frog and feels just as strong and powerful as the huge tyrannosaurus rex that stomps through the mud.

 

Llama Llama Home With Mama

Anna Dewdney

Llama Llama's mother takes good care of him when he has to stay home from school because he is sick. When Mama Llama begins to feel sick, too, Llama Llama knows how to take care of her.

 

The Lion and the Mice

Rebecca Emberley

A proud lion learns that little mice can be his friends.

Blue Chicken

Deborah Freedman

An enterprising chicken attempts to help an artist paint the barnyard and accidentally turns the whole picture blue.

 

That Pup!

Lindsay Barrett George

After having fun digging up acorns, a little dog decides to bury them all again.

 

The Woods

Paul Hoppe

When a boy can't find his favorite stuffed bunny, he heads into the woods to find it.

 

Daddy Adventure Day

Dave Keane

Daddy Adventure Days are always special, and this one, featuring a boy's first visit to a baseball stadium, is no exception.

 

The Secret Box

Barbara Lehman

A wordless picture book in which several children discover a box hidden by a boy many years before, and they follow the directions on a map they find in the box all the way to Seahorse Pier.

 

Clementine

Sebastian Loth

Clementine the snail, who loves everything round, tries to fly to the moon.

 

The Little Bitty Bakery

Leslie Muir

A weary pastry chef, having worked through her birthday without a stop, leaves cheesecake for the mice before heading up to bed, and drifts off to sleep while her little friends whip up a birthday surprise.

 

Hogg, Hogg, & Hog

Margie Palatini

Three pigs achieve success in the big city by making oinking the ultimate in fashion, but their fresh, new idea captures the attention of some friends from back on the farm.

 

The Bear Who Shared

Catherine Rayner

Norris the bear has been waiting patiently for the last ripe fruit to fall from the tree, and when it does he decides to share it with his two new friends.

 

Rah, Rah, Radishes! A Vegetable Chant

April Sayre

Rhyming text and colorful illustrations describe the tastes, scents, and appearance of different vegetables.

 

Splish, Splash, Splat!

Rob Scotton

Splat does not want to have a playdate with Spike or learn how to swim, but when all of their classmates rush to the pool, Splat and Spike learn that they have something in common.

 

Earth to Clunk

Pam Smallcomb

For a school assignment, a boy reluctantly writes a letter to Clunk of the planet Quazar, sending his older sister with it. As more letters and packages are exchanged, he realizes that having an alien pen pal can be fun.

 

Press Here

Hervé Tullet

Instructs the reader on how to interact with the illustrations to manipulate yellow, blue, and red dots.

 

Caterpillar Dreams

Jeanne Willis

Two caterpillars dream about all the things they will do when they have butterfly wings, but when they wake in their new forms the friends are surprised by the result.

Children's Fiction

Sylvia & Aki

Winifred Conkling

At the start of World War II, Japanese-American third-grader Aki and her family are sent to an internment camp in Poston, Arizona. Mexican-American third-grader Sylvia's family leases their Orange County, California, farm and begins a fight to stop school segregation.

 

The Flight of Dragons

Vivian French

On Gracie Gillypot's birthday, greedy, chocolate-hungry twins awaken the banished Old Malignant One, and unless Gracie can find a powerful, long-forgotten dragon's egg, the Five Kingdoms may succumb to evil magic and Total Oblivion. This is book #4 in Tales of the Five Kingdoms series.

 

Icefall

Matthew J. Kirby

Princess Solveig and her siblings are trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen fjord. Along with her best friend and an army of restless soldiers, they are all awaiting news of the king's victory in battle, but as they wait for winter's end and the all-encompassing ice to break, acts of treachery make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst.

 

The Resisters

Eric Nylund

When twelve-year-olds Madison and Felix kidnap him, Ethan learns that the Earth has been taken over by aliens and that all the adults in the world are under mind control.

 

Wonderstruck

Brian Selznick

Relates the stories of twelve-year-old Ben, who loses his mother and his hearing in a short time frame and decides to leave his Minnesota home in 1977 to seek the father he has never known in New York City; and Rose, who lives with her father but feels compelled to search for what is missing in her life. Ben's story is told in words; Rose's in pictures.

 

You’ll Like It Here (Everybody Does)

Ruth White

Although Meggie Blue seems to be an average sixth-grader she is abnormally frightened when residents of her small, North Carolina town become fixated on aliens. Soon she and her family are forced to flee, making it clear that all is not as it seems.

 

Children's Non-Fiction

 

Planting the Wild Garden

Kathryn O. Galbraith

Planting the Wild Garden looks at how wind and water, birds and animals, plants and people work together unaware to create a wild meadow garden.

 

Mysterious Bones: the Story of Kennewick Man

Katherine Kirkpatrick

Mysterious Bones: the Story of Kennewick Man provides an illustrated account of the events that occurred after two young men stumbled upon a human skull along the bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, and discusses the debate over the importance of scientific study against respect for the customs of Native peoples.

 

World Without Fish

Mark Kurlansky

World Without Fish describes what is happening to fish, the oceans, and the environment in the early twenty-first century. It explains how commonly-consumed fish, such as tuna, cod, and salmon, are disappearing and discusses the impact of overfishing on other species and the effects of fishing on the oceans.

 

Hatch!

Roxie Munroe

Hatch! presents illustrations of various eggs with related clues, prompting readers to guess which type of bird laid the eggs; and provides details on the appearance, habitat, and behavior of each featured type of bird.

 

Marching With Aunt Susan

Claire Rudolf Murphy

Not allowed to go hiking with her father and brothers because she is a girl, Bessie learns about women's rights when she attends a suffrage rally led by Susan B. Anthony.

 

Treasury of Greek Mythology

Donna Napoli

The Treasury of Greek Mythology presents illustrated retellings of classic Greek myths, sharing the stories of Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena, Helen of Troy, Perseus, and Medusa. It includes sidebars for each god, goddess, hero, and monster that link the tales to constellations, history, geography, and culture, and including profiles, a family tree, and other resources. 

 

Saving Audie: a Pit Bull Puppy Gets a Second Chance

Dorothy Patent

Saving Audie: a Pit Bull Puppy Gets a Second Chance is a collection of photographs of Audie, one of the more than forty dogs rescued from Michael Vick's dog fighting ring. It provides details about the puppy's rehabilitation, adoption, and new life.

 

Every Thing (sic) On It

Shel Silverstein

Every Thing On It is A collection of more than 130 original, never-before published poems and drawings by Shel Silverstein.

 

An Edible Alphabet: 26 Reasons to Love the Farm

Carol Watterson

An Edible Alphabet: 26 Reasons to Love the Farm is a rhyming alphabet book that names things related to modern farming, and provides background information on each one.

 

Bugs By the Numbers 

Sharon Werner

Bugs By the Numbers contains images of insects made from different numbers, and includes information about each bug.

 

Young Adult Fiction

The Death Cure

James Dashner 

In the third volume of the Maze Runner series, Thomas must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, in a final effort to complete the blueprint for the cure, but Thomas does not trust Wicked and he remembers much more than they realize.

 

Devoted

Hillary Duff

Clea, not sure if her soul mate Sage is alive or dead, begins having dreams of him with another woman and decides to team up with his enemy in an effort to locate him.

 

Michael Vey: the Prisoner of Cell 25

Richard Paul Evans

Fourteen-year-old Michael discovers he has special electrical powers and, with the help of his best friends, becomes aware that there are other teens with similar powers. However, something or someone is hunting them and, after Michael's mother is kidnapped, he will need to rely on his powers and his friends to rescue his mom, protect himself, and save the others.

 

Nocturne

Christine Johnson

After the tragic events of the summer, Claire wants to worry about nothing but finding the perfect dress for the Autumn Ball, but her worst nightmares come true when someone learns that she is a werewolf, placing everyone she knows at risk. Sequel to: Claire de Lune.

 

The Name of the Star

Maureen Johnson

Rory, of Boueuxlieu, Louisiana, is spending a year at a London boarding school when she witnesses a murder by a Jack the Ripper copycat and becomes involved with the very unusual investigation. Shades of London, Book 1.

 

Silhouetted By the Blue

Traci L. Jones

After the death of her mother in an automobile accident, seventh-grader Serena, who has gotten the lead in her middle school play, is left to handle the day-to-day challenges of caring for herself and her younger brother when their father cannot pull himself out of his depression.

 

Now Playing Stoner & Spaz II

Ron Koertge

High schooler Ben Bancroft, a budding filmmaker with cerebral palsy, struggles to understand his relationship with drug-addict Colleen while he explores a new friendship with A.J., who shares his obsession with movies and makes a good impression on Ben's grandmother. Sequel to: Stoner & Spaz.

 

Want to Go Private?

Sarah Darer Littman

Insecure about the changes high school brings, Abby ignores advice from her parents and her only friend to "make an effort" and, instead, withdraws from everyone but with Luke, whom she met online. However when Abby agrees to meet Luke in person, she discovers that her friend is not who he claims to be.

 

Game Over

James and Rust Patterson

In Tokyo, fifteen-year-old Daniel X faces two of the most dangerous aliens on the planet, who are plotting to use video games to control children and turn them into an army of doom. #4 in Daniel X series.

 

Blood Wounds

Pfeffer, Susan Beth:

Willa's life as part of a loving, blended family is torn apart when her estranged father kills his new wife and children and heads east in pursuit of her and her mother. While in police protection, Willa learns her mom has been harboring secrets and tries to decide whether to share a devastating secret of her own.

 

Seizure: A Virals Novel

Kathy Reichs

Tory Brennan and her friends team up to save the Loggerhead Island Research Institute when it runs out of funding. They make tracks for Charleston, where the treasure of the she-pirate, Anne Bonney, was lost but never found. Tory and her friends are not the only ones searching for the treasure, and their special powers might not be enough to keep them out of trouble this time around. Sequel to: Virals.

 

Eternal

Gillian Shields

When Sarah, Evie, and Helen see that the horrors surrounding Wyldcliffe Abbey School are not over, Sarah tries to continue working in the background, being strong and good for the others,but finds herself thrust into prominence as evil surfaces again. #3 in Immortal series.

 

Hey 13!

Gary Soto

A collection of thirteen short stories about the ups and downs of being thirteen years old.

 

Psycho Killer

Cecily Von Ziegesar

The beautiful Serena van der Woodsen returns to her privileged private school in New York to make amends with her best friend, Blair Waldorf, and decides the only way to set things straight is to kill Nate, the guy who came between them, while Blair has her own ideas about who should be murdered. #13 in Gossip Girl series.

 

How to Save a Life

Sara Zarr

Told from their own viewpoints, seventeen-year-old Jill, in grief over the loss of her father, and Mandy, nearly nineteen, are thrown together when Jill's mother agrees to adopt Mandy's unborn child but nothing turns out as they had anticipated.

 

Young Adult Non-Fiction

Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition

Karen Blumenthal

Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition chronicles the history of Prohibition in the United States, a period from 1920 to 1933 during which it was illegal to sell or drink alcohol. It discusses how what began as a movement to heal social ills, became a burden to ordinary citizens and a boon to criminals.

 

The Star Wars Craft Book

Bonnie Burton

The Star Wars Craft Book provides illustrated instructions to create Star Wars- themed crafts, including a Chewbacca sock puppet, an Ewok flower vase, an At-At herb garden, Hanukkah Droidels, Wookiee Pumpkins, Bounty Hunter Light-Switch Frames, and more.

 

Earth’s Changing Climate

Christine Peterson

Earth’s Changing Climate provides comprehensive information on Earth's climate changes, discussing ancient Earth's climate, the impact of climate change on Arctic regions, and recent studies on future complications.

 

The Art of Chinese Brush Painting

Lucy Wang

The Art of Chinese Brush Painting is a guide to Chinese brush painting that provides information about materials and offers seventeen step-by-step lessons on techniques and rendering a variety of subjects.