This post is part of a weekly series of synopses of children’s books, written by First Book staff members.

Dancing Dinos, by Sally Lucas, illustrated by Margeaux Lucas. While his dad takes a nap, a little boy’s imagination brings dinosaurs to life in a book he is reading. The dinosaurs dance through the house and make a mess! It’s a good thing that when Dad wakes up, the dinosaurs return to the pages of the book and all is well. Grades K-2.


Aliens for Breakfast, by Stephanie Spinner and Jonathan Etra. Richard Bickerstaff loves to eat cereal but gets a real shock one morning when an alien climbs out of his bowl! Aric has been sent to Earth to stop an alien plot and he needs Richard’s help. Things get ugly when they discover who the bad guy is- he’s the new cool kid in Richard’s class!. Grades 3-4.


Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry. Newly orphaned and lame from birth, Kira is in a constant struggle for her life. She is a talented weaver and because of that skill is taken from the chaos of her village to live in the Council Edifice. The adults who oversee her work are opressive and she is dismally unhappy, but with the help of a young boy and his dog Kira discovers the courage within her that not only to survive, but to shape the future of her society. Grades 5-6.