Stanley's Library

by William Bee

It's another busy day at Stanley's Library! Stanley loads his van with books and sets off to the village green.Who will visit today and which books will they choose? Later, Stanley arrives back at the library just in time for a special event . . .A wonderful first introduction to libraries, books and the joy of reading. Discover more Stanley Stanley's GarageStanley the BuilderStanley the FarmerStanley's CafeStanley's ShopStanley the PostmanStanley's SchoolStanley's TrainStanley's Fire Engine

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Transport, Juvenile

32 pages, Paperback

Published September 9, 2021

About the author

William Bee was born in London but now lives in the English countryside. In addition to writing children’s books, he races a vintage sports car, is an international skier, and when at home tends his lawns and meadows.

Reviews

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance]

Stanley the hamster leads us through a day in the life of a librarian, sharing books that others will love and hosting an author event.

[Lauren Canaday Johnson]

Yay, a bookmobile book that is super simple and yet still highlights many of the cool things libraries do! I will probably read this one for storytime visits at schools.

[Claire]

Probably my favourite Stanley book so far because I love libraries. Such a sweet story.

[Olivia]

STANLEY'S LIBRARY is a delightful new picture book in the series about jobs featuring the preschool favorite, Stanley. Stanley has another busy day at the library. He begins by packing up some books and taking the mobile library to the park, where he finds and lends out the perfect books to all his friends around town. Myrtle picks books about cheese, Shamus and Little Woo get nautical books as they work on their boat, and so on. After Stanley returns to the library, he and Charlie get set up for a special visit by Agatha Mouse, who reads from her new book. The book ends the same way as others in the series - Stanley returns home for supper, bath, and bedtime!

What I loved: This series of Stanley books is absolutely perfect for a toddler and preschool audience. This is a fun look at a day in the life of a librarian, including many of the characters from the series and lots of delightful details. The simple, colorful details and straight-forward text are ideal for a pre-independent reading audience, who may start to decipher the book and text themselves. The cute details in the text around the books being handed out and laughable moments, such as Myrtle and her love of cheese that extends to her book choices, make this a great choice for caregivers and children to share.

This series is great for toddler and preschoolers who will enjoy seeing familiar characters and learning about different types of jobs. The large, clear font is easy to read and may aid in early word recognition. The repetitive format will be comforting for young children who enjoy revisiting Stanley and his world with all sorts of different jobs.

Final verdict: A delightful new installment, STANLEY'S LIBRARY takes the reader along with Stanley for a fun day in the life of a librarian. Highly recommend for toddlers and preschoolers.

[Erin Buhr]

Stanley fans will be thrilled! Adorable Stanley the hamster is back. This time it's all about one of my favorite places - the library! This is full of special books for all the rodent friends, story time and of course a book Stanley can't put down. Another adorable addition to this series for little ones.

[Jessica]

Stanley's adventures continue with him working the library.
Make sure you study the illustrations closely, especially in the beginning with all the library items.
And him reading in the bath is super cute.
📚

[Sandy Brehl]

STANLEY's LIBRARY is one of many in the STANLEY series. Stanley (hamster) stars in an ongoing series of delightful books for young audiences. Just as early chapter books offer a transition from beginning readers to actual youth novels, STANLEY's stories, though appealing to even the youngest eyes and ears, offers a set of stories and characters with enough substance to engage longer conversations, questions, reactions,, and connections that reach beyond the basic naming concepts in most board books. The colorful, graphic, but detailed images focus on the topic-related materials and their purposes for each of the many topics. Though seemingly simplistic, Stanley takes young minds on journeys into the world around them, reflecting things they know and extending their awareness to think and absorb more while having a grand journey through the day. The impact of a template or pattern that carries through each story/Stanley structure builds confidence and connection, including not-quite-identical end of day pages.
Side note, for anyone bemoaning the lack of analog clock faces in young lives, Stanley's bedtime clock is set each night, and the times are not the same. In fact, it's worth noting that the particular career he holds for that title is reflected in the time he is expecting to get up. I found that to be a wonderful example of the ways these seemingly simple books will transcend a few readings or even a few years.

[Rose Rosetree]

Through this picture book story, ostensibly about Stanley, children gain an age-appropriate understanding of how things work. With this book, which mystery is to be solved?

How to Run a Library?

Stanley knows and Stanley shows. Because a good library is far more than stacks of books.

A highlight of this book is a double page spread that shows Stanley having a bath. While reading in the bathtub. What's so much fun about that?

Before doing my reviewing this evening, I soaked in an Epsom Salts bath... and read a book. Ha ha!

FIVE STARS for another awesome survey, courtesy of William Bee and Stanley. Understanding even a little bit about how different things in life work? Such a good feeling!

[Sonya Bright]

For a very young audience, there’s not a lot of plot in this book, but small children will enjoy looking at the colourful pictures and noticing all the little touches (e.g. the funny hat book!).

This book (and series) reminds me of some of the things that were around in my childhood. There’s a very vintage feel to them.

This very British book is recommended for preschool age and under.

[Janet]

Perfect illustrations in this title as Stanley delivers just the right title to the people who come to the book an which is exactly what book van librarians do, match the the interests of the person with a book!
And the day is topped off with Stanley reading a new book that has come to the library. Love this one and the humor in the illustrations, books on cheese for the mouse and books on nuts for the chipmunk!
Well done.

[Roben]

Of course Stanley would have a bookmobile! I liked that the book was so interactive. There are lots of questions that you could ask about the illustrations to help extend the story! Who isn't dressed like an astronaut, for example. Stanley probably shouldn't take a library book into the bath, though. Other than that - another delightful tale about my favorite hamster - Stanley.

[Anastasia Tuckness]

Sweet story of Stanley as a librarian, loading up the carts for his library van, doing some personalized picks for patrons, and running an author visit. And then finishing off the day like any good librarian by reading a book in the bathtub.

[Mary]

It's a busy day for Stanley organizing the library, driving the book mobile, choosing books for patrons, preparing for special events, and more. A simple picture book that introduces the library and library staff. Add this to preschool units about using the public library.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian]

The adorable Stanley works in a library and runs the mobile library. He finds the perfect book for his readers. It's a full day of library work with the joy of going to bed with a good book.

2022 storytime theme: Libraries

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Y.Poston]

cute exploration of outreach librarianship

[A.]

Lucky Stanley with his little bookmobile! Fans of the series should be delighted, and librarians will appreciate the sweet introduction to circulation and readers advisory for the PreK set.

[Melissa the Librarian]

I don't like the art in the Stanley books...I see why toddlers like them, but they look amateurish and stretched out to me.

[Sarah Opgenorth]

Sibbie liked this one

[Liz Todd]

It’s the chunky cover for me… 🥰

[Kelly]

I love this series, and this is one of my favorites.

[Michelle]

Cute bright pictures with a nice, simple story.

[Lauren]

The story is just ok, but all the kids at Toddler Storytime seemed interested and said "Goodnight, Stanley!" at the end.

[Ken Yuen]

cute

[Kath S]

10/10 look into what it's like being a librarian. No notes except those of my adoration.

[Rose Cavanagh]

Stanley lifts the lid on some of the tasks (and joys) of what a library is all about. It helps that he’s cute and looks like a squishmallow.

[Nanny B]

As a newly employed librarian, I love this little book. The library has always been a "happy place" for me. Stanley's library is a happy one too with the costume story time and the mobile library.

[Mrs Heet -Librarian]

A really cute story, but might be better suited if your library actually has a bookmobile for the kids to see.

[Library Lady Terri]

I love all of Stanley's books. Solid story. So many details.

[Angela De Groot]

I love traveling libraries! Sweet book in the Stanley series about a hamster doing different jobs

[Fatima Seraj Alam]

Stanley works as a librarian in this one and it’s a fun book imagining if mice and hamsters had libraries and what books they would borrow.