Shelf Awareness--Nia and the New Free Library

PB Review: Nia and the New Free Library

Nia and the New Free Library by Ian Lendler, illus. by Mark Pett (Chronicle Books, 40p., ages 5-8, 9781452166865, June 1, 2021)

The Littletown Library had been around for so long that people almost forgot it was there. After a tornado blew through and "carried the whole thing away," residents weren't even sure they needed a new one. In the fanciful--yet eminently sensible--Nia and the New Free Library, one book-loving girl cooks up an imaginative plan, not only for rebuilding the missing institution, but for getting the entire town to value it as well.

Now that there's "an empty space where the library used to be," the builder thinks the town would be better off with another skyscraper, while the grocer is partial to a parking lot. The mayor sees no point in rebuilding, nor do the distracted mom and her son who get whatever they need online. The banker thinks it will cost too much, anyway. Only Nia misses the old Littletown Library, which she visited every week. After giving the matter some thought, Nia gathers "a desk and a chair. And a pencil and some paper. And a plate of orange slices for energy." She gets comfortable under her favorite tree and begins to write. Days later, Nia has created enough books to fill a little red wagon and she begins sharing this New Free Library with people in town. But the grocer thinks the words are wrong, and the distracted mom's son thinks the drawings are "terrible." So Nia gives out pencils. When the detective and the boat captain feel left out, they get pencils, too. And before long there are "enormous piles of freshly written books" that "spilled into the road and stopped traffic." Pretty soon "the entire town was lending a hand" to solve this new problem.

Ian Lendler (The Fabled Life of Aesop) deftly concocts a tale of kid-friendly activism, demonstrating how one small person might achieve outsize results by giving the whole diverse community a stake in the dream. His light touch is welcome, employing an upbeat tone and a smattering of playful literary references. The sketchy line work and pastel washes of Mark Pett (This Is My Book!) bring to mind the picture book art of David Small. His loosely defined panels give a graphic novel feel to some spreads, with the sequential art allowing the illustrations to propel the story forward. This inspired reimagining of the classic "Stone Soup" story shows how a positive project can bring people together. Nia and the New Free Library demonstrates how spreading the love of reading might well elevate an entire community. --Lynn Becker, blogger and host of Book Talk, a monthly online discussion of children's books for SCBWI.

Shelf Talker: After a tornado carries off Littletown's library, Nia's plan for building a new one hinges on getting the whole town involved in this charming, kid-friendly take on grassroots activism.