Editor’s Note: Each month, the children’s librarians at Bangor Public Library offer a selection of classics and new favorites designed to encourage reading and provoke thought in young readers. The books may be purchased at local bookstores or found at your local library.

Young adults

FRANKENSTEIN, by Mary Shelley, New York Bantam, 1991 edition now out of print, 206 pages, other editions available.

Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” written in 1817, is a classic tale told in the genre of science fiction. Capt. Walton, in search of fame and glory, writes letters to his beloved, telling her about a strange encounter with a scientist named Dr. Frankenstein in an unexplored land of ice and snow.

Walton and Frankenstein both longed to conquer nature and its mysteries. Frankenstein was obsessed with re-creating life, but when he finally succeeds, he neglects to give his creation the nurturing it needs. Frankenstein and the monster he has created suffer the consequences of the doctor’s actions. The monster, whose hideous looks make him a freak of nature, suffers as a consequence of developing the qualities of a sensitive human being. The creature’s loneliness and rejection lead to a rage inside, reaching a point where he kills.

Frankenstein, realizing what he has created, suffers as much as the monster.

“Frankenstein” will appeal to young adults and anyone who loves scary stories. Included in this edition is a piece about how Mary Shelley developed the tale and a biographical sketch of the author, an interesting story in itself.

HANG A THOUSAND TREES WITH RIBBONS, by Ann Rinaldi, Harcourt Brace Co., San Diego, 1996, 336 pages, $12.

Based on Phillis Wheatley’s life, “Hang a Thousand Trees With Ribbons” is an exciting historical fiction of America’s first black woman poet. The setting is Boston just before the Revolutionary War. Wheatley tells of being kidnapped from Senegal, in West Africa, in 1761, and of her unspeakable experience on board a ship coming to America. She tells of her family life before becoming a slave and of her attempts to keep those memories alive while a slave.

Nathaniel Wheatley, a wealthy merchant, buys her at the auction block and takes her to his home, where he treats her kindly but without respect. He initially questions whether she has the ability to learn. But she surpasses his expectations and shows that she has talents, ideas and knowledge. She searches to find a skill that would be acceptable. Poetry emerges as her way of speaking.

When she gets a chance to go to England with Nathaniel to have her poetry published, she receives praise and respect for her work. Realizing that fame and possible wealth would leave her as still a slave, she decides to ask for her freedom. Freedom meant that she no longer had the support and influence of the Wheatleys.

The pain and passion of Phillis Wheatley’s life may lead the reader to her own books and others on life as a black woman poet of the Revolutionary War.

Grades 4-6

NO MORE NICE, by Amy MacDonald, illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith, New York Orchard Books, 1996, 123 pages, $15.99.

Not many youngsters visiting aunts and uncles are given “un-lessons” — instructions in being a kid that include practicing socially unacceptable conduct. Two weeks before his 11th birthday, Simon Maxwell is sent to spend spring vacation with his Great-Aunt Mattie and Uncle Philbert. He finds himself with eccentric, playful adults bent on teaching him to cuss (“confusticate this machine, you misbegotten metal monster”), to eat properly (“no vegetables or chicken for you, young man, until you’ve finished your pie”), to spit (“the llamas won the spitting contests easily … They could spit farther and seldom missed their target”), and to engage in other behavior they consider essential to youth.

Returning home, Simon gets into a fight with a schoolmate and becomes entangled in family situations that challenge him to strike a balance between the etiquette he grew up with and the un-lessons of his vacation. Simon’s heart and sensibility help bring him through his struggles.

Cartoony pen-and-ink drawings by Smith match the irreverent spirit of the text with flair. Written by Falmouth resident Amy MacDonald, “No More Nice” takes aim at what constitutes good behavior and capably balances silly and wise.

MR. POPPER’S PENGUINS, by Richard and Florence Atwater, illustrated by Robert Lawson, Boston, Little, Brown and Co., 1938, 139 pages, $16.95.

After a huge box arrives at the Popper home, the pace quickens for the out-of-work painter, his wife and their two children. In the box is a penguin, sent as a gift from Adm. Drake in response to a letter Mr. Popper had written to him in the Antarctic.

The Poppers turn their refrigerator into a nest for Capt. Cook, the name they give the penguin, and proceed matter-of-factly with life. Told in a disarmingly simple style that facilitates acceptance of the idea of penguins in the house, the Atwaters’ story marches tidily through straits of penguin loneliness, the arrival of a mate for Capt. Cook, and the birth of 10 chicks.

Lawson’s comic illustrations manage to add both pomp and levity to the goings-on. A Newbery Honor Book in 1939, Mr. Popper’s adventures have been making children long for a penguin pet for years. The extra-short chapters make this fantasy a great read-aloud for beginning chapter book listeners.

Grades 1-3

HAILSTONE AND HALIBUT BONES, by Mary O’Neill, newly illustrated by John Wallner, Doubleday, 1989, original 1961, unpaged, $14.95.

Tune in with your senses as Mary O’Neill explores colors. See and smell green: “Green is the grass and the leaves of trees … Green is the smell of a country breeze.” Feel black: “Black is a feeling hard to explain like suffering without the pain.” Hear blue: “… and if you listen you can hear blue in wind over water.” Taste brown: “Brown is cinnamon and morning toast.” Enjoy these poems and others within the color spectrum.

A new edition of O’Neill’s renowned work of poetry features lavish and striking illustrations. In an introduction, O’Neill tells of the enormous response that her original “Hailstones and Halibut Bones” inspired. Children the world over started to write their own compositions about color. I am grateful for this updated edition for a new generation of readers.

RIDDLE-ICIOUS, by J. Patrick Lewis, Alfred A. Knopf 1996, unpaged, $16.99.

“Riddle-icious” is a poetry book with a twist, poems done in riddles. Can you answer this one? To folks in Maine, they’re red and round and you can find them underground. In Idaho, they’re brown and big but still grow underground, you dig?

You’ll find more light-hearted fare in this compilation of silly poems.

Comic illustrations complement these short poems. What better way to introduce your child to the magic of poetry?

Preschool and kindergarten

WHERE’S BUNNY’S MOMMY? by Charlotte Doyle, illustrated by Rick Brown, Simon & Shuster, 1995, $14.

Bunny’s day is quite busy. At the day care center, Bunny paints, plays with friends, feeds the fish, eats his lunch, naps and listens to stories. But where is Bunny’s mommy while he’s so busy?

In this charmingly simple picture book we see where mommy is and what she does while her little one is at day care. Doyle addresses a keen anxiety for young children and parents alike, in a most upbeat manner. We see how each enjoys the day apart, while maintaining affection for one another. This is a wonderful book to share with a young child who is in day care or about to attend.

UNCLE WIGGILY’S STORY BOOK, by Howard R. Garis, Putnam, 1987, 260 pages, $12.95.

Howard Garis introduced Uncle Wiggily in 1910 as an extra assignment for the Newark News. For the next 50 years Garis wrote six children’s stories a week for the newspaper.

Uncle Wiggily stories have been a favorite of children for generations. The stories are brief, have a moral and are chock-full of such memorable characters as Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, Baby Bunty, Sammie and Susie Littletail, the fearsome Pipisewah and of course the old rabbit gentleman himself, complete with tall silk hat and red-white-and-blue striped rheumatism crutch.

Each story has a nonsensical tag line, giving the promise of the story to follow. This literary ploy is guaranteed to have the child ask for the next story.

There is a certain amount of stereotyping of boy-girl roles, but this can easily be placed in context to the period. The gentleness and nurturing element of the stories more than make up for any flaws.

“And if the onion doesn’t make tears come into the eyes of the potato when they’re playing tag around the spoon in the soup dish, the next story will be …”