Devins, Cara. The Brilliant Ms. Bangle. Feiwel and Friends, 2023. 978-1-250-24770-4. $18.99. 32 p. Grades K-3.

On the first day of school the students of Bedford Elementary excitedly enter the building. They are eager to share their summer adventures with each other and to get the new school year started. Principal Lyle announces that Ms. Stack moved over the summer and there is a new school librarian. The students are distraught. They loved Ms. Stack and are sure that no one could ever be as kind or as much fun as she was. The students band together to form a plan to scare the new librarian away so that Ms. Stack will return. When the class gets to the library they meet the new librarian, Ms. Bangle. She is very different from Ms. Stack. She is funny, loud, and energetic. She is nothing like Ms. Stack. Some of the students have to resist laughing at Ms. Bangle’s jokes, but the class stands firm in their resolve to stick to the plan. As Ms. Bangle begins class, the students refuse to answer her questions. She tries to begin a read aloud, but one brave student interrupts and explains that the class loves Ms. Stack and wants her back. Ms. Bangle wisely understands that she cannot ever replace a beloved librarian, so she says she didn’t really want to read to them anyway and has some other things to take care of. She offers to stop teaching if the students will do some library tasks for her. Ms. Bangle asks the class to shelve books, catalog new books, review lesson plans, and take some empty boxes to the basement. The students agree and quickly get to work. Ms. Bangle sits down to call a friend and hem some pants. The children soon discover that being a librarian is a complex job. The book truck is heavy, and book sorting is tedious. Confused by standards, objectives, and frameworks (and deeply scared to go to the basement), the students eventually realize they would much rather read with Ms. Bangle. Ms. Bangle happily grabs a book, and the class settles in to listen to a fabulous read aloud. 

THOUGHTS: This title is a must have for new school librarians replacing a much loved librarian who has retired or moved away. K-Fai Steel’s amusing illustrations highlight the many emotions the loyal students go through as they meet their new librarian. Delightful and funny, but very realistic, one can’t help but cheer for clever Ms. Bangle who manages to simultaneously emphasize the many jobs of school librarians while also charming her new students into giving her a fair chance. 

Picture Book