Downtown

If you lived in the White House, you’d change those things your parents grumble about. And in the new book, “The White House for Kids,” you’ll see what it’s like to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Anna Hibiscus from the children’s picture book ““Splash, Anna Hibiscus!” by Atinuke and Lauren Tobia” watched the ocean waves as they splashed and laughed. She wanted so much to splash, too, and she wanted everyone else to come with her!

Yep, taking things apart is fun, even though it might make your parents or teachers a little crazy. So maybe you need to read “Ask a Science Teacher” by Larry Scheckel instead. That might be somewhat safer.

Sometimes, even the best intentions get out of hand, as you’ll see in the new novel “Charly’s Epic Fiascos: Beware of Boys” by Kelli London.

Taken to Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines, nurses saved as many American lives as they could with the scant resources they had — despite that the nurses themselves suffered terribly from disease and starvation in the POW camps.

Imagine wading to school in snow that’s waist-high and having to build a fire when you got there. Imagine going outside to go to the bathroom, no matter what the weather. And then read “One Room Schools” by Susan Apps-Bodilly.

He loves me. She loves me not.

Patricia Hruby Powell’s children’s book “Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker” is written almost like scat: quick lines, be-bopping here and shooby-loobing there, rising and falling as though Josephine Baker herself was singing the story. It’s infectious, even in the sad parts. Your little one might not notice that hoppity-bop but once you do, you won’t be able to not see it.

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