1000 Books Before Kindergarten (birth to start of kindergarten)
All year!
Young readers earn milestone badges and prizes as they work towards reading 1000 books! Log progress in Beanstack or on a printable log. We encourage reading a favorite book several times because each reading counts! Questions? Email us at 1000books@bcpl.org.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library mails one free high-quality, age appropriate book each month to children from birth to age 5.
Tales Birthday Club
Children up to 5 years old are eligible to register for the Tales Birthday Club. During the month of their birthday, children will receive a card in the mail! Bring your Tales Birthday Card to any BCPL location to get the card stamped and receive a birthday gift.
Access Video - Just for Kids!
Stream many favorite children's programs and PBS favorites, such as Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Arthur, Reading Rainbow, and much, much more!
ComicsPlus for Kids
A growing collection of digital comics, graphic novels, and Manges specially curated for kids!
Explora for Kids
New Picture Books
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Ursula Upside Down
Ursula the catfish finds confidence in seeing the world her own way in another innovative, flipped-format picture book from Caldecott Honoree and Geisel Award winner Corey R. Tabor.
Ursula is a happy catfish, swimming through a shimmering river with weeds waving above and a sky full of scrumptious bugs below.
Then one question turns her world upside down.
Is left right Is right wrong Which way even is up
From the Caldecott Honor-winning creator of Mel Fell comes another innovative, flipped-format picture book that encourages children to find confidence in their individuality.
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The Wrong Book
What if the narrator of the book you're reading is just...WRONG?! This hilarious book from the author of The Day the Crayons Quit will have you correcting what you're reading—and laughing!
Do bicycles say cock-a-doodle-doo? Do firefighters shout Ding Dong! before they put out a fire?
That’s what the narrator of this hilarious picture book thinks! Good thing there are some other characters in this book to set him straight…
With bright bold illustrations, this laugh-out-loud funny story, written by the author of The Day the Crayons Quit, is sure to give kids—and grown-ups—a serious case of the giggles.
Because a flower goes chugga-chugga-choo-choo. Right? Right? -
This Book Is Definitely Not Cursed
Engage even the most can’t-sit-still little ones with this laugh-out-loud, interactive picture book for fans of The Book with No Pictures and The Monster at the End of This Book!
If this book were cursed, then you would probably become cursed if you read it. You’d start to experience strange symptoms, like the wiggles, the giggles, trouble licking your elbow, and all your food tasting like cabbage. And then you would need to take silly steps to break the curse, like reading a goofy poem or smelling someone’s feet.
Luckily for you, there’s no need to worry because this book is definitely not cursed! So read away without fear. -
Tate's Wild Rescue
A sweet, funny picture book about an animal-loving girl who invites wild animals to live in her house and be her best friend--with mixed results! Back matter also offers ideas for children on how they can help both wild and companion animals!
Tate loves animals, but she worries about the ones who live in the wild—aren’t they cold? Hungry? Lonely?
She is determined to help and comes up with the perfect plan: she’ll offer one a better life and they will be best friends! To her surprise, none of the wild animals she invites to live with her are impressed with her offerings—Orca is not interested in the kiddie pool, and Tiger would rather hunt than settle for cookies. Maybe Tate will have to look a bit closer to home to find her pawsitively perfect match.
Tate’s heartfelt hope to rescue a wild animal combined with the blunt hilarity of their responses makes this charming story perfect for anyone wild about animals! -
Just What to Do
A tender picture book about grief and the many ways to offer comfort in sad times, from Newbery Honor-winner Kyle Lukoff.
When you see someone sad, it's only natural to want to cheer them up. But how? Some people like hugs but others don't. Sometimes a joke is more comforting than a card. How can you do the just-right-thing if you don't know what it is?
With its spare, poignant text and unexpectedly levitous illustrations, Just What to Do offers an important lesson about how to offer comfort to loved ones by setting aside your assumptions and following their lead. -
What We Wear When We Take Care
From donning helmets in places where things clatter and clonk to wearing masks around people who cough or chatter, this is a lively look at the many items we wear to stay safe.
We often wear things to protect ourselves in different environments, whether it's goggles when snorkeling or helmets at the skate park. Sometimes it's headphones around loud noises, or neon vests when crossing a busy street, or warm gloves in the freezing snow. Whatever the situation calls for, special gear keeps us and others safe. Equal parts fun and informative, with kid-friendly artwork and sound words to engage the youngest readers, this picture book from creator Sarah Finan looks at the gear we wear, from head to toe, that helps us take care when exploring and enjoying the world around us. -
A Love Letter to My Library
A heartwarming picture book love letter to libraries and all the moments that make them so special!
Everyone loves visiting the library! Children--and adults alike--enjoy searching the shelves for new adventures, curling up in their favorite cozy chair during story time, and even laughing with their friends during arts and crafts. The library has something for everybody!
Thank you, library, for books in every nook and cranny.
Thank you, library, for taking me on adventures from the seas to the stars.
Thank you, library, for helpers who find the perfect book that I hug hard the whole way home.
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The Big Squeeze
A hardworking sponge makes its debut in this delightful and relatable picture book perfect for fans of Lou by Breanna Carzoo and The Creature of Habit by Jennifer E. Smith!
The little sponge has a BIG job. She washes and mops and scrubs away all the messes in the kitchen.
But what happens when the mess gets TOO BIG and she just CAN'T clean anymore?
Find out how far friendship, self-care, and a BIIIIIIIG squeeze can go in one sponge's charming battle against total burnout.
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There Are No Ants in This Book
This hilarious meta picture book from the author of Butterflies Are Pretty . . . Gross! shows us that ants aren't so bad. In fact, they're pretty amazing, and with their humongous families, they might turn your picnic into a party!
Nothing can ruin a picnic faster than a bunch of ants. It's a good thing there are no ants in this book . . . well, maybe there's only one. Or two. . . . Or ten??
Maybe it's not so bad. Ants are kind of cool, after all — especially the ones with amazing butts, like the Acrobat Ant that waves its back end around to scare off enemies. Or the Slender Leaf Ant that can glide through the air. Or the Dinosaur Ant, which is the biggest ant in the world! Okay, so a picnic with ants is actually lots of fun!
But what if an anteater also wants to join the picnic?
New Graphic Novels for Kids
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Sweet Valley Twins: The Haunted House
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • There's a new girl in Sweet Valley...and she's a witch?! Join twin sisters Jessica and Elizabeth as they discover if the rumors match reality in this all new graphic novel from the The New York Times bestselling world of Sweet Valley Twins.
The buzz at Sweet Valley Middle School is all about Nora Mercandy, the new girl living in the town's infamous haunted house. Jessica is convinced there's something witchy about her, but Elizabeth thinks there's more to the story. Caught in a whirl of rumors and a rift with her twin, can Elizabeth discover the truth before friendships are torn apart? -
Fairest of All: A Graphic Novel (Whatever After Graphic Novel #1) (Whatever After Graphix)
The magic of the New York Times and PW bestselling Whatever After series comes to life in this brand-new graphic novel adaptation that will appeal to fans of the BSC and Wings of Fire alike! Fractured fairy tales have never been this fun.
Once upon a time, Abby and her little brother, Jonah, were ordinary kids. The next minute? The mirror in their basement slurped them up and magically transported them into the fairy tale of Snow White.
Yes, really!
When Abby and Jonah stop Snow from eating the poison apple, they think they're heroes. But wait! If Snow doesn't die, she won't meet her prince and get her happy ending. Oops.
Now it's up to Abby and Jonah-- with some help from Snow and the seven dwarfs--to outwit the witch and save the famous fairy tale in time.
But what if Snow's REAL happy ending is something else entirely?
Bestselling author Sarah Mlynowski and award-winning illustrator Anu Chouhan join forces to bring us this vibrant, action-packed, enchanting graphic novel adventure that will appeal to fans of fairy tales, Raina Telgemeier, The Land of Stories, and all magical, empowering adventures.
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Dr. Seuss Graphic Novel: Cat Out of Water
Discover Dr. Seuss’s whimsical world like never before in this colorful graphic novel companion to The Cat in the Hat! With all-new illustrations and easy-to-read paneled storytelling, this is the perfect next step for beginner readers transitioning to chapter books!
It’s a normal day with normal chores for Sally and her brother…until everything turns topsy-turvy when the Cat in the Hat arrives! With a whirlwind of fun, and the hilarious but chaotic antics of Thing 1 and Thing 2, the day promises to be anything but boring. Yet Sally’s wise pet, the Fish, warns them about letting the Cat stay. The question looms: Can they wrap up their tasks before their parents return, or will the Cat’s zany escapades throw them off course?
With brand-new illustrations and easy-to-follow paneled storytelling, this graphic novel is an excellent bridge for kids transitioning to chapter books. A perfect must-have for young readers and Dr. Seuss fans alike. -
The Hiding Place
One of the bestselling books of all time-- now a captivating graphic novel!
It's World War II.
Darkness has fallen over the world as the Nazis spread fear and hatred.
No one feels safe.
But on a city corner in Holland one woman fights against injustice and darkness. In a quiet watchmaking shop, Corrie ten Boom and her close-knit family risk their lives to hide hundreds of Jews and others hunted by the Nazis in a secret hiding place they built into the old building.
Until one day when Corrie and her family are betrayed. They're captured and sent in cattle cars to the notorious Nazi concentration camps to die. Yet even in that darkest of places, Corrie still fights.
This is her incredible true story, now a visually stunning graphic novel. With more than 1,500 engaging full-color illustrations, this real-life heroine comes to life--showing how even in the most desperate, loneliest, and darkest of times, faith, hope, and love will ultimately triumph.
"There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still."--Corrie ten Boom
"This graphic adaptation . . . beautifully captures the essence of sacrifice, bravery, and love for others."--Kirkus Reviews
"In addition to being unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists, it will prove to be a singular popular addition to family, elementary school, middle school, and community library Graphic Novel collections."--Midwest Book Review -
Ali Cross: The Graphic Novel
It's up to Ali Cross to solve the mystery of his missing friend in this action-packed thrill ride, a full-color graphic novel adaptation of the #1 New York Times bestseller Ali Cross!
Ali Cross has always dreamed of following in the footsteps of his father, famous detective Alex Cross, who never gives up on a case. Ali's chance to prove himself arrives sooner than he might think when his best friend, Gabe, goes missing.
But the more Ali digs, the more he realizes maybe he didn't know his friend as well as he thought. At the same time, his house is hit in a string of burglaries. With his father on trial for a crime he didn't commit, Ali is on his own to piece together the clues. Will Ali be able to trust his instincts and find his friend--or is he in over his head?
This action-packed, page-turning, full-color graphic novel is a blockbuster addition to any shelf. -
The Circuit Graphic Novel
Poignantly told from a young boy's perspective, the popular and award-winning memoir centered on a Mexican family working California's fields is now a powerful graphic novel that will appeal to readers of Illegal and They Called Us Enemy.
An honest and evocative account of a family's journey from Mexico to the fields of California--and to a life of backbreaking work and constant household moves--as seen through the eyes of a boy who longs for education and the right to call one place home.
A popular choice for community reads, as well as school curricula and curriculum adoptions, Francisco Jiménez's award-winning memoir, now brought to life in Celia Jacob's beautiful and resonant artwork, is a powerful story of survival, faith, and hope.
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Timid
A semiautobiographical middle-grade graphic novel about frenemies, fitting in, and finding your voice.
Cecil Hall and his family have just moved from Florida to Massachusetts, near Boston. Cecil is anxious about making friends because he doesn't know where he'll fit in. His older sister, Leah, thinks he should befriend the other black kids at his new school, but Cecil isn't sure how he'd go about doing that. He wants to be known for his comics-making talent, anyway. But the few kids who are impressed by Cecil's art aren't always nice to him. When one of his drawings is misused and gets him into serious trouble, can Cecil stand up for himself and figure out who his real friends are?
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I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919 (I Survived Graphic Novel #11)
One of the strangest disasters in U.S. history is brought to vivid life in this graphic novel adaptation of Lauren Tarshis's bestselling I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919, with text adapted by Georgia Ball and art by Karen De La Vega.
It's been four years since Carmen and Papa moved from Italy to Boston. Life here is exciting, but not always easy. And then there's the massive metal tank that rises up over their crowded North End neighborhood. The ugly tank, filled with sticky brown molasses, has always leaked. But nobody imagined that it could one day explode apart, sending a tsunami of molasses into the streets.
Caught in the flood, Carmen must fight for her life -- the life that she and Papa built together in America. But where will she find the strength?
Lauren Tarshis's New York Times bestselling I Survived series comes to vivid life in graphic novel editions. Perfect for readers who prefer the graphic novel format, or for existing fans of the I Survived chapter book series, these graphic novels combine historical facts with high-action storytelling that's sure to keep any reader turning the pages. Includes a nonfiction section at the back with facts and photos about the real-life event.