LBPH staff recently enjoyed recording several short books that were each nominated for Maryland’s Black-Eyed Susan Picture Book Award. A project of the Maryland Association of School Librarians, the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award is a student-choice award for the state of Maryland that seeks to promote literacy and lifelong reading habits. Through the Black-Eyed Susan program, students are encouraged to read quality literature that broadens their experience and provides new insights into their own lives. Nominations include books in several categories to cover different grades and formats.
Children’s Books
DBC 12551 – A House That Once Was, by Julie Fogliano
Narrated by LaShawn Myles, Youth Services Librarian
“Deep in the woods is a house. Just a house that once was, but now isn’t, a home.” Who lived in that house? Who walked down its hallways? Why did they leave it, and where did they go? Two children set off to find the answers by piecing together clues found, books left behind, forgotten photos, and discarded toys, creating their own vision of those who came before.
DBC 12552 – Do Not Lick this Book: It’s Full of Germs, by Idan Ben-Barak
Narrated by Kevin Middleton, Computer Network Specialist
Min is a microbe. She is small. Very small. So small, in fact, that you would need to look through a microscope to see her. Or you can read this book and take Min on an adventure to amazing places she's never seen before – like the icy glaciers of your tooth or the twisted tangled jungle of your shirt.
DBC 12553 – Are You Scared, Darth Vader? by Adam Rex
Narrated by Joseph Beckett, Education Coordinator, Maryland Accessible Textbook (MAT) Program
It's midnight and the moon is full, but Darth Vader isn't scared. Nothing can scare Lord Vader! Not monsters or witches or ghosts, and especially not the dark. So what is Darth Vader scared of? Read on in Adam Rex's hilarious and spooky Star Wars tale to find out!
DBC 12554 – A Place for Pluto, by Stef Wade
Narrated by John Owen, Director
Pluto gets the shock of his life when he was kicked out of the famous nine. His planet status was stripped away, leaving him feeling lost, confused, and left out. He doesn't fit in anywhere. But when Pluto is about to give up, he runs into a dwarf planet that helps him figure out who he really is and his true place in the solar system.
DBC 12555 – Geraldine, by Elizabeth Lilly
Narrated by Ashley Biggs, Marketing & Outreach Librarian
No, no, NO! Geraldine is NOT moving. Not to this new town where she’s the only giraffe. Not to this new school where she has no friends. Not to this new place, where everyone only knows her as That Giraffe Girl. But soon Geraldine meets Cassie, a girl who is just as much of an outcast as she is, and as time goes by, she realizes that being yourself and making one really good, unusual friend can help someone who literally stands out fit right in. Together, Geraldine and Cassie play by their own rules.
DBC 12556 – The Day You Begin, by Jacqueline Woodson
Narrated by Brittney Lee, MAT Program Associate
There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you. There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it's how you look or talk, or where you're from; maybe it's what you eat, or something just as random. It's not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it. This story reminds us that we all feel like outsiders sometimes – and how brave it is that we go forth anyway. And that sometimes, when we reach out and begin to share our stories, others will be happy to meet us halfway.
DBC 12557 – The Rabbit Listened, by Cori Doerrfeld
Narrated by Mary Ramos, Assistant Director
When something sad happens, Taylor doesn't know where to turn. All the animals are sure they have the answer. The chicken wants to talk it out, but Taylor doesn't feel like chatting. The bear thinks Taylor should get angry, but that's not quite right either. One by one, the animals try to tell Taylor how to act, and one by one they fail to offer comfort. Then the rabbit arrives. All the rabbit does is listen . . . which is just what Taylor needs.
DBC 12558 – Inky’s Amazing Escape: How a Very Smart Octopus Found His Way Home, by Sy Montgomery
Narrated by Taryn Tranby, Patron Services Specialist
Inky, the Octopus, had been at the New Zealand aquarium since 2014 after being taken in by a fisherman who found him at sea. Inky had been getting used to his new environment, but the staff quickly figured out that he had to be kept amused or he would get bored. Then one night in 2016, Inky, about the size of a basketball, decided he’d had enough. He slithered eight feet across the floor and down a drainpipe more than 160 feet long to his home in the sea. An octopus is a curious animal, and Inky wanted to again explore the rest of the vast ocean he called his home.
DBC 12559 – The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World’s Coral Reefs, by Kate Messner
Narrated by Taryn Tranby, Patron Services Specialist
All it takes is one: one coral gamete to start a colony in the ocean, one person to make a difference in the world, one idea to help us heal the earth. The ongoing conservation efforts to save and rebuild the world's coral reefs – with hammer and glue and grafts of newly grown coral – are the living legacy of environmental scientist Ken Nedimyer, founder of the Coral Restoration Foundation. In telling the story of this sea conservation pioneer and marine life protector, the author creates a stunning tribute to the wonders of nature and the power of human hope, a power even the youngest readers can access in their quest to aid our extraordinary planet.
DBC 12560 – Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon, by Annette Bay Pimentel
Narrated by Amanda Gonzalez, Reference and Patron Services Librarian
This is the inspiring story of the first female to run the Boston Marathon. Because Bobbi Gibb is a girl, she is not allowed to run on her school's track team. But after school, no one can stop her, and she is free to run endless miles to her heart's content. She is told “no” yet again when she tries to enter the Boston Marathon in 1966 with officials claiming that it is a man's race and women are just not capable of running such a long distance. So what does Bobbi do? She bravely sets out to prove the naysayers wrong and show the world just what a girl can do.
