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Mrs. McBloom Clean Up Your Classroom! by Kelly DiPucchio (Hyperion Books, Ages 5-8) Mrs. McBloom is a beloved teacher at the elementary school in Up Yonder, but over the 50 years she has been teaching in Room Five, she has never once tidied up. Now that Mrs. McBloom is getting ready to retire, how will she get rid of the 50 years' worth of science projects, books, papers and knickknacks that make up her black hole of a classroom? And who knows what kind of weird and wonderful stuff is at the bottom of all those piles? Extremely detailed illustrations with lots of visual humour ensure parents will be as amused as children by this truly delightful book that serves as a lighthearted cautionary tale for everyone who hates to tidy up.

  The first of these, and my personal favorite, is Kelly DiPucchio's \"Gaston.\" \"Gaston\" is the story of a bulldog puppy who is switched at birth and raised with a litter of poodles. Despite his \"brutish, brawny\" breed, Gaston works hard to learn all of the refined skills that a poodle puppy needs. The third of these books is a new gem by David Ezra Stein, whose \"Interrupting Chicken\" was a 2011 Caldecott Honor book. Every book he releases is better than the last, and \"I'm My Own Dog\" is no exception. It's told from the perspective of a nameless dog who is undeniably his own master, until the day when a human follows him home from the park. The dog feels sorry for the man, so he gets a leash so he can lead the man around. He teaches his man how to play fetch, how to sit and speak, and even though the man doesn't understand ALL of his commands, the dog knows that he's learning. Eventually, dog and man become best friends. (What a surprise, right?)

This year's books include selections suitable for preschool readers all the way through adults. The titles are \"Say Hello!\" by Rachel Isadora (preschool); \"The Sandwich Swap\" by Kelly DiPucchio and Queen Rania of Jordan (grades K-4); \"Extra Credit\" by Andrew Clements (grades 3-5); \"A Long Walk to Water\" by Linda Sue Park (middle school); and \"Girl In Translation\" by Jean Kwok (teens and adults). In past years, the reading lists have included such works as \"The Help,\" by Kathryn Stockett, \"The Kite Runner,\" by Khaled Hosseini and \"Persepolis,\" a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi. This year's books cover a wide range of issues. \"Girl in Translation,\" the teen/adult title, tells the story of an 11-year-old girl's efforts to lift her and her mother out of poverty after they move to Brooklyn from Hong Kong. \"A Long Walk to Water,\" the middle-school title, is set in war-ravaged Sudan, and features narratives that follow characters in 1985 and 2008.

Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes Juan Felipe Herrera, illustrated by Raul Colon Dial Books for Young Readers, $19.99, ages 9-12 These biographies pay homage to prominent Hispanic Americans, including activist Cesar Chavez, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and baseball player Roberto Clemente.

Dragon Was Terrible by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Greg Pizzoli.

Everyone Loves Cupcake by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Eric Wight is reviewed.

Adult Fiction The Art of Floating by Kristin Bair O'Keeffe When her beloved husband, Jackson, disappeared without a trace, popular novelist Sia Dane stopped writing, closed down her house, stuffed her heart into a cage and started floating. It wasn't the normal response to heartache, but Sia rarely did things the normal way. Exactly one year, one month and six days after Jackson's disappearance, Sia discovers a mysterious man on the beach. He's mute, unresponsive and looks as if he has just walked out of the sea. It's the sort of situation Jackson would have solved with a simple call to the police. But Jackson is gone. As unreal as he seems, Sia is determined to help this man. Perhaps she can return him to his place in the world to whoever lost him and loves him. Perhaps she can answer their questions the way no one could answer hers. But as her friends and family help her winnow her way to the truth, Sia comes to realize that the unfathomable leap between sorrow and healing begins with a single step. Non-Fiction Duct Tape Selling: Think Like a Marketer - Sell Like a Superstar by John Jantsch Many of the areas with which salespeople struggle these days have long been the domain of marketers, according to bestselling author John Jantsch. The traditional business model dictates that marketers own the message while sellers own the relationships. But now, Jantsch flips the usual sales approach on its head. It's no longer enough to view a salesperson's job as closing. Today's superstars must attract, teach, convert, serve and measure while developing a personal brand that stands for trust and expertise. In Duct Tape Selling, the author shows how to tackle a changing sales environment, whether you're an individual or charged with leading a sales team.

Sometimes we see them up close, as when we join blue poison dart frogs on their droplet-speckled lily pads; sometimes we're at a distance, watching as the cobalt back of a blue whale breaches the moonlit surface of an ultramarine sea.

A pink elephant named Poe sits in the middle of a town's only road and won't budge--until someone bothers to find out why he's there.

\"Littles are loved from the moment they're born. / They're swaddled, / and coddled, / and kissed every morn.\"