BOOK MARKED
Love Stories and
Campfire Tales
12 Books to Melt Hearts and Winter
Weather BY JENNIFER ROTHSCHILD, YOUTH SERVICES LIBRARIAN FOR ARLINGTON
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
L ove is in the air as we make valentines for our friends and family, but the promise of
warmer days is also ahead. This month, we have books for the chocolate lover, the
romantic, those who can’t wait for the long days of summer at camp and those of us
who are a bit of all three.

PICTURE BOOKS:
EARLY READERS
“Cocoa Magic”
by Sandra Bradley, illustrated by
Gabrielle Grimard
Daniel’s Great-Uncle Lewis is a chocolatier,
and Daniel loves to help him before school.

He often takes a bit of chocolate to secretly
leave for classmates who could use a pick-
me-up. When Great-Uncle Lewis goes on a
trip, it turns out Daniel’s gift giving wasn’t
much of a secret after all—his friends
return his small acts of kindness to cheer
him up until his uncle returns.

“On the Corner of Chocolate Ave-
nue: How Milton Hershey Brought
Milk Chocolate to America”
by Tziporah Cohen,
illustrated by Steven Salerno
This beautiful picture book biography
details Milton Hershey’s rags-to-riches
story, focusing on his many failures and
his persistence in trying to find the perfect
milk chocolate. In detailing the different
variables he used (such as trying milk from
different types of cows), it shows the pro-
cess of scientific experimentation, as well as
the importance of not giving up. The book
ends with Hershey’s philanthropic work.

“Moon Camp”
by Barry Gott
Jake is not a fan of summer camp. His bunk
is terrible, all the good activities are taken
and he misses home. Camp is no fun, even
if it is on the moon. But when a new batch
of campers arrives, Jake makes a friend
and finally discovers all the joys camp has
to offer in this classic camp tale with a fun
outer space twist.

“Who Wet My Pants”
by Bob Shea, illustrated by Zacariah
Ohoro Reuben the Bear and his scout troop are
camping in the woods when he notices a
tell-tale wet patch on the front of his pants!
Someone has wet Reuben’s pants! He
insists it wasn’t him and interrogates all his
friends to see who did it. Luckily, his friends
offer empathy and understanding, even as
Reuben says that his pants are broken. A
hilarious tale of kindness.

28 Washington FAMILY FEBRUARY 2022
“Matchmaker (Miles Lewis #3)”
by Kelly Starling Lyons
In the third installment of this early chap-
ter book series, Miles is not excited about
Valentine’s Day but does enjoy doing sci-
ence experiments on candy hearts. When
his grandfather comes in to help with his
class, Miles realizes he may be the perfect
match for his friend Jada’s grandmother.

Can the two friends play cupid for their
grandparents? “Nugget and Dog: S’More That
Meets the Eye”
by Jason Tharp
In this early-reader graphic novel, Nug-
get and Dog (a chicken nugget and hot
dog, respectively) are off to summer camp,
where they run into the mean kid, Dijon
(a mustard packet). Dijon has big plans