Little Libraries, Big Heroes

by Miranda Paul, John Parra (Illustrator)

Overview

From an award-winning author and illustrator, the inspiring story of how the Little Free Library organization brings communities together through books, from founder Todd Bol’s first installation to the creation of more than 75,000 mini-libraries around the world.
 
Todd and his friends love heroes. But in school, Todd doesn’t feel heroic. Reading is hard for him, and he gets scolded for asking too many questions. How will he ever become the kind of hero he admires?

Featuring stunning illustrations that celebrate the diversity of the Little Free Library movement, here is the story of how its founder, Todd Bol, became a literacy superhero. Thanks to Todd and thousands of volunteers—many of whom are kids—millions of books have been enjoyed around the world.

This creative movement inspires a love of reading, strengthens communities, and provides meeting places where new friendships, ideas—and heroes!—spring to life.

Includes an author’s note and bibliography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544800274
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/03/2019
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	750L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Miranda Paul is an award-winning children’s author of more than twenty books for children. Several of her books have been named Junior Library Guild selections and CCBC Choices selections. Her acclaimed work includes One Plastic Bag, Water Is Water, Whose Hands Are These?; Nine Months, illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Jason Chin; Little Libraries, Big Heroes; Thanku: Poems of Gratitude; and Speak Up.

Some of her most notable titles with international acclaim have stemmed from collaborating with activist icons—Isatou Ceesay, Farmer Tantoh Nforba, and Rashida Tlaib. She is an annual faculty member at the Highlights Foundation and a co-founding member of the nonprofit organization We Need Diverse Books. She currently serves on the board of Americans Serving African Children (ASAC). Learn more at www.mirandapaul.com.

John Parra is the Pura Belpré Honor award–winning illustrator of many books for young readers, including Hey, Wall: A Story of Art and Community by Susan Verde and Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos by Monica Brown, which was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. He is also a designer, educator, and fine artist whose work can be seen on six new Forever Stamps titled Delicioso from the U.S. Post Office. He lives with his wife, Maria, in Queens, New York.

johnparraart.com

Twitter: @johnparraart

Editorial Reviews

Parra's friendly, bustling illustrations convey the power of a truly unifying and useful idea.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

06/17/2019

Paul (Nine Months) frames her nonfiction account of Little Free Libraries as a story about ordinary heroes. After Todd Bol’s librarian mother dies, he creates a small one-room schoolhouse on a stand and fills it with books to share her “love of reading with anyone who passed by.” But no one notices until he explains it to his neighbors, after which the “little library became the center of their neighborhood.” Bol’s friend Rick Brooks helps him dream bigger: Parra (Hey, Wall) shows the two of them talking excitedly, angular figures on pages textured like woodblock prints. They build many of the structures and, when they can’t sell them, install them all over the upper Midwest. Now there are hundreds, all over the world. Paul writes of the way Bol’s mother encouraged him as a child (“You could do anything,” she tells him in the story’s opening pages, a warm smile on her face) and finishes by nudging readers: “Tomorrow might bring another hero story, written by YOU.” The way the text traces Bol’s big idea back to its emotional source offers a path to heroes literary and ordinary both. Ages 4–7. Author’s agent: Karen Grencik, Red Fox Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Adriana Dominguez and Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel, Full Circle Literary. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Little Libraries, Big Heroes captures the magic of the Little Free Library movement and the power of a single person to make a difference. When kids read this book, we think they'll want to be big heroes, too! Highly recommended!" —Margret Aldrich, program manager at the national Little Free Library nonprofit organization and author of The Little Free Library Book  "This book proves ordinary people can do extraordinary, life-changing things. Readers will be inspired to make their own difference in the world." —Pat Zietlow Miller, NYT bestselling author of Be Kind  "[A] celebration and history of the Little Free Library movement....A book to share about book-sharing at its best."—Kirkus "The way the text traces Bol’s big idea back to its emotional source offers a path to heroes literary and ordinary both." —Publishers Weekly "Kids curious about the little neighborhood libraries that look a bit like oversized mailboxes or book-holding birdhouses will be interested to find out how they came to be and how a simple idea can gain traction."—Booklist "[T]he story will appeal to and inspire all ages to join the movement. An important book recognizing a true ­everyday hero."—School Library Journal —

From the Publisher

09/01/2019

Gr 1–4—When he was young, Todd's mom, a teacher, shared her love and enthusiasm for books with him and the children in their neighborhood. When she died, adult Todd got an idea. "He cut up an old door and hammered the pieces together to make a tiny one-room schoolhouse. He stacked books inside…and placed the little library on his lawn. Now he could share his mother's love of reading with anyone who passed by." A neighborhood rummage sale was the spark that got his neighbors to notice the little library, and it became the center of the community. Todd told his friend Rick Brooks, and they worked together to bring their idea to life. Eventually, they planted 30 little libraries across the Midwest. The media spread the word, and Little Free Libraries sprouted all over the U.S. and other countries, including Ireland, Pakistan, South Korea, and South Sudan. An author's note provides more background information and celebrates the creators of these libraries. "Building materials have included an old TV set, a telephone booth, newspaper vending machines, a medicine cabinet, a mini-refrigerator, electronic waste, Lego bricks, and even a large block of ice!" VERDICT The childlike acrylic illustrations and engaging text make this title accessible to young readers, but the story will appeal to and inspire all ages to join the movement. An important book recognizing a true everyday hero.—Barbara Auerbach, Cairo Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

2019-06-10
A book-sized celebration and history of the Little Free Library movement.

Paul's heartfelt text delivers the story behind Todd Bol's founding of the Little Free Library nonprofit, which began as a tribute to his late mother in his home state of Wisconsin and has since spread around the world. Bol (who passed away in 2018 just weeks after a cancer diagnosis) built his first little library with discarded lumber, placing it at the edge of his yard and filling it with books for passersby to borrow. After seeing how it "became the center of [the] neighborhood" Bol approached his friend Rick Brooks for advice about how to spread what they came to call "Little Free Libraries" to other communities. Paul's text details the ups and downs of their grassroots efforts, noting that they were inspired by librarian Lutie Stearns, "who brought travelling libraries all over Wisconsin," and Andrew Carnegie, "who once built 2,510 libraries!" Parra's accompanying illustrations, rendered in acrylics, depict Bol and Brooks, both white men, and the diverse people from across the United States and around the world who became "stewards," or "community heroes" in the words of the text, of their own Little Free Libraries. Their flat aesthetic has something of a DIY/painted-on-lumber appearance, which adds to the homespun feeling of the text and the very movement that inspired it.

A book to share about book-sharing at its best. (Picture book. 4-10)

Kirkus Reviews