Kids
Free access to unique opportunities and experiences at local attractions!
Need to secure your ride, but don't have a lock? MPL has bike locks available to checkout at the Main Service Desk.
Looking to bake a unique cake for a special occasion? Take a look at our selection of specialty cake pans available for checkout.
Counting, music, colors, and more! These kits contain books and games to familiarize the kiddos with a variety of concepts.
Looking for something new for game night? Search no further than MPL!
Learn about Wisconsin's flora and fauna while hiking the Ice Age National Scenic Trail with these Explorer Backpacks courtesy of the Ice Age Trail Alliance.
Staff Picks for Kids
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Cat Vs. Vac
The arrival of a mysterious box sets off a battle for control of the house in this hilarious rhyming Level 1 Ready-to-Read from Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor–winning author-illustrator Kaz Windness!
When a recently delivered package opens to reveal a vacuum, the house cat’s hair stands on end! What can be done about this newcomer? Young readers will be sucked into this lively tale of the timeless struggle between cat and vacuum. -
Ride Beside Me
The community that rides together, thrives together! New York Times bestselling comic creator Lucy Knisley celebrates the joys of biking in this picture book about coming together to build safer streets and a brighter future for all.
A mother and son hop on their bike for a ride through the neighborhood, joining friends and neighbors along the way. There are people on unicycles and tandem bikes, tricycles and recumbents—all kinds of bikes for all kinds of riders.
Before long, the bikes outnumber the cars and trucks, taking up more and more of the road until they form a parade of sorts, smiling and popping wheelies, ringing their bells, and celebrating the beautiful community they all share. -
This Baby. That Baby.
In this bouncy, playful picture book for very young listeners, follow two baby friends who live in facing buildings through their day--playing, singing, and napping--till they meet in the park!
Somewhere in the big, big city
two happy babies look out their morning windows
at the very same time.
Just what will these two babies do today? Well, this baby meows like his cat, and that baby barks like her dog. This mellow baby listens to a story, and that rambunctious baby sings a song.
Soon enough, both babies get hungry...and a bit cranky. How will this Mama and that Papa help them feel better? Perhaps a play date in the park will help!
Critically acclaimed and award-winning creators--author Cari Best and illustrator Rashin Kheiriyeh--team up for this delightful read-aloud that will have listeners clapping and giggling right alongside this baby and that baby. -
Family is Family
Celebrate the many wonderful ways families are unique and chickens are adorable!
On the way to school, Little Chick notices all the other kids are traveling with a mom or a dad, a big brother or a big sister. Little Chick doesn’t have a dad or siblings. He has two moms. His friend asks: Want to borrow a bear brother? No! Little Chick likes being an only chick. Although he’s fascinated to see that some families swim together and some fly, some have teeth and some have beaks, he’s happy to be a chicken—and to be right where he’s meant to be—with the family that loves him. -
Easter on the Farm
Spring is here, and the farm is waking up to new life!
A young girl and her family are ready to celebrate the new life of spring. She meets baby animals, helps prepare the garden for planting, and collects pussy willows by the marsh. As they get ready to host a community Easter egg hunt on the farm, the family also decorates eggs with natural dyes and makes funny gifts from egg shells and grass.
From the bestselling author of Thanksgiving in the Woods and A Simple Christmas on the Farm, this bright, hopeful story invites readers to gather and celebrate the beauty of spring. Backmatter includes handmade Easter craft activities, including coloring eggs with natural dyes and making eggshell critters. Easter on the Farm is the fourth in the Countryside Holiday series.
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Crunch the Shy Dinosaur
From Cirocco Dunlap (This Book Will Not Be Fun) and Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner Greg Pizzoli (The Watermelon Seed) comes a charming, giggly read-aloud that illustrates the particular art of making a friend!
Crunch is a lovely and quiet brontosaurus who has hidden himself in some shubbery and is rather shy. He would like to play, but it will require some gentle coaxing from you! If you are patient and encouraging, you will find yourself with a new friend!
This picture book is a warm, funny example of how to engage with someone new, who is perhaps a bit different from you. Lessons in friend-making (such as minding personal space and demonstrating interest in another's hobbies) are delivered so subtly that children will absorb them unconsciously as they delight in Crunch's silly hat and dance moves!
Cirocco Dunlap (This Book Will Not Be Fun) and Greg Pizzoli (The Watermelon Seed) enchant and surprise us with their first collaboration.
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2018! -
A Tree for Mr. Fish
In this humorous and heartwarming picture book, Mr. Fish refuses to share his tree with Bird and Cat—until he learns that making friends is more rewarding than losing them.
Bird and Cat meet in a tree. But someone already lives in this tree—Mr. Fish. And he does not want to share.
After Bird and Cat leave, Mr. Fish discovers that it’s actually pretty boring to sit in a tree all by yourself. Getting Bird and Cat back—along with Mr. Fish’s old friends from the sea—is going to require some real work. And Mr. Fish is already having a tough time, because fish aren’t supposed to be on land in the first place.
Author-illustrator Peter Stein has created a quirky, hilarious take on the challenges and rewards of friendship—and being a fish out of water—in this unforgettable picture book that feels like a rediscovered classic.
An Imprint Book -
I'd Like to Be the Window for a Wise Old Dog
A comforting and timely new picture book that feels like an instant classic, written and illustrated by Philip Stead, author of the Caldecott Medal-winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee and the New York Times bestselling The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine.
The limitless possibilities of the world outside our windows—and the warmth and comfort of home—are explored in this thoughtful meditation on the imagination, as seen from the point of view of a wise old dog.
Any child who has ever felt uncertainty about the world outside will be soothed and enchanted by the open-ended, seemingly-unanswerable, and utterly whimsical questions this book poses: "Will I ever be the dawdle of a penguin? Will I ever be the waddle of a snail? Will I ever be the tumble of a honeybee? Will I ever be the bumble of a whale?"
Children will love poring over the vivid, whimsical artwork, asking their own imaginative questions, and thinking about their own view of the world outside their window. It's a perfect story for families to share together from the warmth and comfort of home. -
Everyone Loves Bacon
Egg loves Bacon.
Lettuce loves Bacon.
Waffle loves Bacon.
Bacon is sizzling with popularity.
And pretty much everyone thinks he is the best.
That is-until Bacon's fame goes to his head. He's so busy soaking up the attention, that he soon forgets the important things in life, like friendship and family. How will it all pan out for our dashing, delicious hero? -
The Truth As Told by Mason Buttle
From the critically acclaimed author of Waiting for Normal and All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, Leslie Connor, comes a deeply poignant and beautifully crafted story about self-reliance, redemption, and hope.
Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. Mason's learning disabilities are compounded by grief. Fifteen months ago, Mason's best friend, Benny Kilmartin, turned up dead in the Buttle family's orchard.
An investigation drags on, and Mason, honest as the day is long, can't understand why Lieutenant Baird won't believe the story Mason has told about that day.
Both Mason and his new friend, tiny Calvin Chumsky, are relentlessly bullied by the other boys in their neighborhood, so they create an underground haven for themselves. When Calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in trouble again. He's desperate to figure out what happened to Calvin and, eventually, Benny.
But will anyone believe him?
National Book Award Finalist * ALA Schneider Family Book Award * 2019 ALSC Notable Children's Book * Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 * 2019-2020 Nebraska Golden Sower Award * Amazon Best Books of 2018 * Kirkus Best of Children's 2018 * New York Public Library Best Books 2018 * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2018 * 2018 Nerdy Book Club Middle Grade Winner * South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee * 2020 Colorado Children's Book Award Nominee * Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year 2019 (9-12) * 2020 Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee * 2020-2021 Missouri Association of School Librarians Mark Twain Readers Award Preliminary Nominee * 2020-2021 Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee *
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That's My Sweater!
An outrageously funny sibling rivalry story with a hand-me-down twist
Olivia loves her favorite sweater. I mean, she really really loves it. So when her mom decides it's time to hand it down to Olivia's baby brother, Olivia vows that she will not rest until she and her beloved sweater are reunited.
In her riotously funny new picture book, Kevin the Unicorn creator Jessika von Innerebner puts an oh-so-satisfying spin on an age-old conflict that is bound to delight siblings of all stripes.
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Invasion of the Unicorns
He's just a cute little unicorn who wants to take over the world.
Special Agent Bubble07 is undercover on planet Earth. His mission: to decide whether his team of alien unicorns should invade Earth. Posing as a stuffed animal, he infiltrates the home of Earthling Daughter, where he puts up with dog slobber, tea parties, and show and tell. Will the unicorn blow his cover and call for backup? Or will his alien heart be won over by storytime, snow days, and snuggles? -
Iamasaurus
Award-winning author Anne Ylvisaker and illustrator Mark Hoffmann's picture book romp of a tale about the surprising similarities between dinosaurs and children.
Iamasaurus. I am noodlevorous. One of the genus Ridiculorous. Mothers abhor us. Babies adore us. We romp and we stomp and we chomp on the floras.
Turns out kids are not unlike T. rexes. Did you know both creatures share many of the same body parts--maxillae, mandibles, clavicles, ribs. Scapulas, humeri, tibias, fibs? This fun romp of a book will make young readers' inner dinosaurs roar with delight.
"An amusingly anarchic paleontological primer." --Kirkus Reviews
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Tap to Play!
In this interactive video-game-inspired picture book perfect for fans of Press Here and Tap the Magic Tree, Blip needs to reach the bar to win his game—but he needs the reader’s help. If he wins, he gets a surprise!
Tap, tickle, and shake Blip.
Tilt, turn, and bounce Blip.
Help Blip win the game in this spirited interactive book, perfect for reading—and playing—again and again!
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I Am Dog!
A day in the life of a dog – told from the dog's point of view! A funny rhyming picture book from Peter Bently and Chris Chatterton.
Have you ever wondered just what goes on in a dog's head? Now you can find out in this funny rhyming story!