Ronan the Librarian by Tara Luebbe & Becky Cattie. Illustrated by Victoria Maderna. unpgd. Roaring Brook Press/ Macmillan, April, 2020. 9789781250189219. (Review of finished copy courtesy of authors.)
The way to a librarian's heart is through a picture book that depicts the importance of libraries. Think Library Lion by Michelle Knudson or Bats in the Library by Brian Lies to name two of my faves. Ronan the Librarian just begs to be read aloud with your ham on. The rhythm is jaunty as we learn that Ronan was a barbarian's barbarian. "He invaded. He raided. And back home, he traded."
But one pillage didn't go as expected. He came home with a pile of books. "Barbarians didn't read books." After considering using them for kindling, origami and, gasp, toilet paper, Ronan settles down with a book...and gets sucked in. A reader is born! He has trouble convincing his fellow barbarians about how wonderful reading is. "Barbarians do not read books."
Like any good librarian, he used food as bait and soon his horde was gobbling books as well.
The humor in the energetic text is complemented by colorful illustrations that contain quite a few visual gags for sharp-eyed readers/ listeners. I just loved this one and can't recommend it enough. It makes me wish I was back at my K - 8 school to share it with younger students!
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