Ronan the Librarian

by Tara Luebbe, Becky Cattie, Victoria Maderna (Illustrator)

Overview

This humorous picture book from sister duo Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie and illustrator Victoria Maderna follows Ronan the Barbarian as he he grows from being just a rough-and-tumble warrior to Ronan the Librarian—a rough-and-tumble warrior who loves books.

Ronan was a mighty barbarian.
He invaded. He raided. And back home, he traded.
He always found the greatest treasures.
Until one day, Ronan found something no barbarian wants:
A BOOK.

At first, his fellow barbarians are skeptical of his newfound passion for reading, but in the end, even they aren't immune to the charms of a good book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250189219
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	04/21/2020
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	554,956
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD400L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie are sisters who discovered their love for books early on. Tara is a former children's bookstore owner and lives in Fort Mill, South Carolina, with her three boys and husband. Becky is a creative recruiter with a background in reality TV casting. She currently lives in Chicago.

Victoria Maderna is an Argentinian illustrator working mainly in children's publishing and fantasy tabletop games. She owns far too many books and is fond of bushy beards, but she strongly prefers sharp pencils to sharp axes. Victoria lives in Spain with her bushy-bearded husband.

She is the illustrator of Ronan the Librarian, Adventure Time: Beginning of the End #1, and Little Miss Sunshine: Here Comes the Sun, among many other books.

Editorial Reviews

02/10/2020

“Ronan was legendary for finding the best pillage,” write siblings Luebbe and Cattie (I Used to Be Famous). When a chest turns out to be filled with books instead of gold, he contemplates using the pages for kindling, toilet paper, or... origami? Though “barbarians didn’t read books,” a picture pulls him in, and Ronan is hooked. Maderna, whose gouache pictures have the visual zing of classic animation, shows her protagonist reading even while he’s raiding. Ronan loots so many books that he decides to open a library, even as a comrade dismisses the biblio-booty as “Too sparkly. Too kissy. Too wimpy.” But an impromptu story hour seeps into the collective barbarian consciousness, and the library becomes so popular that Ronan has to establish some rules, including “swords make terrible bookmarks.” A bushy-bearded fractured history capable of tickling the funny bones of bookworms and reluctant readers. Ages 4–8. Authors’ agent: Tracy Marchini, BookEnds Literary. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Uff da! Go berserk! Read this book!" — Kirkus Reviews

"A bushy-bearded fractured history capable of tickling the funny bones of bookworms and reluctant readers." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2020-01-21
A common raider finds an uncommon new passion.

Like his fellow barbarians, Ronan invades, raids, and trades on a regular basis. But everything changes the day he happens to glance at a picture in a book he accidentally stole. Rather than use it for origami, kindling, or toilet paper, Ronan discovers a passion for reading. Pillages now turn into new opportunities to find more reading material. Eager to share his new enthusiasm and his collection, he invites his fellows to a library opening only to find that you can lead a barbarian to a library but you can’t make ’em read. To truly hook these warmongers, it’ll take a clever read-aloud. Consistently clever and upbeat, this paean to reading is far more than just mere preaching to the book-loving choir. Choice use of repetition, hilarity, and good old-fashioned storytelling is the name of the game. Visual gags courtesy of Maderna complement but never overshadow the humor. You don’t have to be a librarian to appreciate signs like, “Come Read! Free Mead!” and the sneaky, book-eating goat that sharp-eyed listeners will notice cropping up on multiple pages. Ronan presents white while his fellow barbarians are a range of different skin tones.

Uff da! Go berserk! Read this book! (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews