Nicholas at the Library

Agnes C. Farrell is an elementary-school teacher in Richmond, British
Columbia.

This is an imaginative story about a boy who discovers the joy of books.
The library is not Nicholas’s favorite place to go on a rainy day. He
would much rather have 23 friends over to build forts, but his mother
wisely insists that he accompany her to the library.

At first, all Nicholas can think of to do at the library is to build
forts with the books. But when he finds a “lost-story kind of
chimpanzee” behind the O shelf, the head librarian, with the help of
her “librarian’s emergency ring,” takes him on a series of
adventures through a wide variety of books to find where the chimpanzee
belongs. In the process, Nicholas becomes interested in stories. He
listens without once thinking about building forts while the head
librarian reads him the whole story about the chimpanzee.

Adults will enjoy reading this book to children. It has an interesting
story line and colorful, detailed illustrations. Children will recognize
many of their favorite characters in the books the story jumps through.
Although the hero is a preschooler, the story will appeal to older
children as they remember how they first became interested in books. It
might even inspire those who would still rather build forts than find an
adventure in a book.