Leilong the Library Bus
Region: East Asia, China
Author: Julia Liu
Original Language: Chinese
Translator: Helen Wang
Illustrator: Bei Lynn
Characters: Leilong, Maggie, Mo, and Max
Genre: Fairytales
Descriptors: Dinosaurs, friendship, libraries, mobile libraries, and story time.
Age: 2-8 years old
Review
The library is a place for everyone. This is the overarching message in the book Leilong the Library Bus written by Julia Liu. Leilong is a brontosaurus who adores listening to stories but has never been to the library. His friends Maggie, Mo, and Max bring Leilong to their local story time and tell him he may even hear a story about dinosaurs. However, Leilong is far too big to fit inside the library and, ultimately, turned away for his size and lack of a library card. The clever brontosaurus finds another way to listen to the story by reaching his long neck through the second story window. Leilong is so invested in the story that he shouts through the window and causes books to shake off their shelves. The library manager asks Leilong to leave once more. Children at story time follow the friendly dinosaur and soon the library is empty. A librarian acknowledges that Leilong is not too big for the library but the library is too small for him. They turn Leilong into a library bus for all the neighborhood children. In the end, there is always a story about a dinosaur just for Leilong. Julia Liu did a wonderful job portraying the shift in libraries from a brick and mortar existence, to more community-based. Though the story begins with a strict old-fashioned view of a library, the end proves that a library can exist anywhere. In addition to the progressive message, the cartoon-like illustrations are simple but capture the emotions of the story perfectly. Readers will fall in love with the giant green dinosaur, Leilong, and feel transported to a city in China just by looking at the pictures. The story is short to hold the attention spans of a young audience 2-4 years old, and the vocabulary suits beginning readers, 5-8 years old. Children can enjoy this book in Chinese or English through eBook or print.
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