About the Holiday
For bibliophiles, this may be the best month of the year! Not only does your local library have shelves stacked with books, magazines, movies, and music of every kind, it offers comfy chairs, fascinating lectures, kids programs, and more! While this year most libraries have been closed for in-person visits or offered shorter hours, the librarians and staff have worked hard to offer curbside service and devise ways to provide the same types of programming and services patrons love and need. This month be sure to take part in some of the activities librarians have planned for you!
Where Is Our Library? A Story of Patience & Fortitude
Written by Josh Funk | Illustrated by Stevie Lewis
At the stroke of midnight lions Patience and Fortitude woke from their slumber, left their pedestals, and crept into the New York Public Library for their nightly story time. But when they walked through the doors of the Children’s Room to find that all of the books were gone. They ran down the street, hiding in the shadows, to a street blazing with lights. “Fortitude yelled, ‘See the lights? Look up there! / That’s where the books have been taken.’ But when they arrived in the heart of Times Square, / He realized that he’d been mistaken.”
Image copyright Stevie Lewis, 2020, text copyright Josh Funk, 2020. Courtesy of Henry Holt & Co.
Fortitude was embarrassed by his mistake, but then Patience had an idea. They entered Central Park, passing by fountains, the zoo, and a carousel, through a tunnel, and around a pond. Then Fortitude spied a statue with a mad hatter, a rabbit, a Cheshire cat, and a little girl. While the hatter just offered a riddle, Alice pointed them in the direction of a man with a duck, where they might find an answer.
Image copyright Stevie Lewis, 2020, text copyright Josh Funk, 2020. Courtesy of Henry Holt & Co.
They met Hans Christian Andersen, awake from his stony nap, and told him about the missing books. He gave the lions a list of other libraries to check. They loped through the city rom Harlem and Washington Heights to the Upper East Side and Lower Manhattan. “They scoured each library, scanned every stack, / And pored through each awesome collection. / They found some new books, but they wanted theirs back! / Where was their old children’s section?”
Image copyright Stevie Lewis, 2020, text copyright Josh Funk, 2020. Courtesy of Henry Holt & Co.
In the Chatham Square Library, a dragon kite hanging from the ceiling suggested a new perspective, so they took to the High Line and looked here and there, but the sun was beginning to dawn. “Their library lost. Their quest was now ending. / They hurried back home feeling blue.” But when they got close to their home—in fact right across the street—they saw two new signs: “Children’s and Teen Center! Opens Today! and “Newly Renovated Children’s Center.” Thrilled, Patience and Fortitude went inside and happily found books to read. The next morning, the lions thought about their nighttime jaunt and “were thrilled with their city-wide tour, / For finding new worlds is a treat.”
Facts about Patience and Fortitude and the New York Public Library as well as information on the statues, the libraries, and the new Children’s and Teen Center of the New York Public Library follow the text.
Image copyright Stevie Lewis, 2020, text copyright Josh Funk, 2020. Courtesy of Henry Holt & Co.
Kids who have been sad to see their children’s rooms close for in-person visits this year will empathize with Patience and Fortitude when they wake up expecting to enjoy their nightly story time only to find no books on the shelves. Readers will love joining the two New York Public Library lions as Josh Funk takes them on a rhyming jaunt through the city from Times Square to Central Park to the High Line park. They visit many of the city’s libraries and finally find themselves inside the new Children’s and Teen Center. Readers will have fun imagining the statues of Hans Christian Andersen and the characters from Alice in Wonderland coming to life and talking with the lions.
Stevie Lewis invites kids on this literary tour of New York with her beautiful illustrations. Gorgeously lit, Lewis’s after-dark images reflect the excitement of the city that never sleeps. Readers get to see the seals in the zoo, the famous carousel, the big chess board, and the duck pond as Patience and Fortitude wend their way through Central Park. As the lions visit several libraries, children will enjoy comparing their décor with that of their library’s Children’s Room. Kids will be wowed at the stately architecture of New York that Lewis reproduces faithfully throughout the pages. In Times Square and on the library shelves, kids will have fun pointing out familiar plays and favorite picture books.
An enchanting tour through New York City for book lovers, Where Is Our Library is a charming sequel to Josh Funk’s and Stevie Lewis’s Lost in the Library and will excite kids to visit their own libraries.
Ages 4 – 8
Henry Holt and Co., 2020 | ISBN 978-1250241405
Discover more about Josh Funk and his books on his website.
To learn more about Stevie Lewis, her books, and her art, visit her website.
Library Lovers Month Activity
Kids in the Library Find the Differences Puzzle
While your library may always look the same, it’s different every time you visit. New materials have been put on the shelves and books, movies, and magazines that were there last time have been checked out. Can you find the differences in these two pictures of kids in the library? Then have fun coloring it!
You can find Where Is Our Library? at these booksellers
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million
To support your local independent bookstore, order from
Picture Book Review
celebratepicturebooks.com 