Happy New Year! Here are some great new books that will be coming soon to the Children’s Room.

“Very Good Hats” by Emma Staub is a story about, you guessed it, hats! Hats can be made in fine shops and be very expensive. But we all know hats that are made of the tops of acorns, raspberries on your thumb, and a pudding cups that make a dashing hats for a teddy bears. Children will love to see that their suspicion that anything can be a hat is true.

I was sad to read that Steven Jenkins passed away last year at this time. I thought we had seen our last book by this award-winning author and illustrator. I was so thrilled to see “The Bird Book” by Steven Jenkins and Robin Page. It is a beautifully illustrated book filled with facts about what makes a bird a bird, what they like to eat, and where they like to make their homes.

Another award-winning author and illustrator, Jason Chin, has two new books coming to the junior non-fiction collection soon. In “Your Place in the Universe,” Chin zooms outward, from Earth to the solar system and the galaxy to the outer reaches of the observable universe. He reverses course in “The Universe in You: A Microscopic Journey.” He zooms in past our skin to our cells, molecules, and atoms, all the way down to particles so small we can’t even measure them yet. In his usual style these books are well researched with crisp and clear illustrations.

In Kerry O’Malley Cerra’s new book, “Hear Me,” twelve-year-old Rayne has spent a year after her diagnosis trying to come to terms with her hearing loss. She is doing her best but her hearing keeps failing even with hearing aids. She is no longer able to follow conversations with her friends, her grades are slipping, she can’t surf the way she used to, and she can no longer understand the lyrics of her favorite singer’s new song. Her parents are set on her getting cochlear implants, but Rayne isn’t convinced it’s worth the risks and the challenges. With the surgery looming she sets off on an adventure to find an alternative way to hear. Along the way she discovers that “normal” has many meanings. And though her ears may be “broken”, she is not.

I love the Who HQ series by Scholastic. This series of biographies cover people, places and event that have made an impact on our lives. The newest books out this month are “What is the Story of Nancy Drew?” by Dana M. Rau, and “What Was the Reconstruction?” by Sherri L. Smith. The character Nancy Drew has longevity and she has been featured in many venues including print, television, and movies. The period after the Civil War, the Reconstruction, was meant to be a time when newly freed slaves could enjoy the same freedoms and rights as white people. Find out what went wrong in this fascinating overview of this troubling time. You will find both of these new books at the end of the junior non-fiction area.

Please ask at the Children’s desk if there is something you’re looking for and can’t find right away; we’re here to help. Check out our monthly calendar of programming too. We offer a variety of activities for all ages, from story time to book club for teens. You can find more information on our website at www.newulmlibrary.org on the Library Events page.

The library is located at 17 N. Broadway and is open to the public Monday to Thursdays 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and Friday and Saturdays 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. The library will be closed on Monday, January 16 for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.