The Loud Librarian

by Jenna Beatrice, Erika Lynne Jones (Illustrator)

A little librarian with a larger-than-life voice finds her place in this sweet and uproarious picture book about being true to yourself—no shushing required!

Penelope is perfect for the job of student-librarian. Friendly? Check. Helpful? Check. Book lover? Check. There’s just one snag. Penelope is...LOUD. Bookcases may topple and the ground may quake at the sound of her voice, but Penelope is determined to prove she’s perfect for the job and stay true to herself. Can a little librarian with a big voice find a place where she belongs?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Humor, Books About Books, School

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 2023

About the author

Jenna Beatrice is an author, lawyer, and mom. She began her legal career as a lawyer for children before becoming a litigator and a trustee of a children’s advocacy center. As an author, Jenna now shares the joy of reading with young children. She lives in northern New Jersey with her husband and two young sons.

Reviews

[Tegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is for all my fellow loud librarians out there!

My only qualm is the "library voices." Libraries aren't quiet places. If a kid is excited and wants to run up and tell me about their new favorite book, do it!

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you! A book about libraries for children with a more nuanced take. I am amused, and delighted with the outcome. But also, I am concerned that no one is following up on Penelope's hearing.

Library copy

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me laugh. It's true, there are all types of librarians (even loud ones!) just like there are all types of children. And storytime is the perfect vehicle for a loud librarian, as Penelope discovers. What a sweet, funny book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's great to see representation in the field- signed, a Loud Librarian

[Kelsey Gross · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE LOUD LIBRARIAN is relatable for all kids who struggle with sometimes following the rules -- in this case, being too loud in the library. Written with wit and humor, the resounding message is, "you don't have to change who you are." The main character is empowered to solve her own problem, and remains true to her spirit.

The story is paired with delightful illustrations that are fresh and inviting, and really welcome readers into the main character's world.

I highly recommend this book for kid-friendly humor and positive messages about self-acceptance and kids' ability to come up with creative solutions.

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's cute. I thought, oh they wrote a book about me. 😅 It's pretty much how it sounds. This little girl was picked to be the librarian and she'd been practicing to do the duties of being a librarian. Only... she is loud.

[Nathan Bartos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this! I know plenty of loud librarians; they're called children's librarians!

[Octavia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since the colorful cover page caught my attention while I was leaving one of my favorites libraries branches, I just had to check out this picture book to see if the pages were just as captivating...
Firstly, I loved that the copy of this picture was actually the VOX book version, which means an audio-enabled book with a VOX audio-reader attached permanently; allowing children to read and listen to this book at the same time. ❤️💛💚
This book is very cute. But, right at just page 3 they're was something about this book that wasn't sitting well with me. I couldn't not understand it at all untilI felt the needed to research the authorship of this book... After doing do, I then understood since I was left with so many questions at the conclusion.

[Shannon Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is adorable. A girl finally gets her turn to be the student librarian. She has practiced and can do every part of the job except for one small thing. Keeping a library-level voice is a struggle. When Penelope gets an idea, she just may have found the perfect way she can be a library helper after all. This is a great story and the illustrations are delightful!

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story of my life

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just as the story ends with the words, over and out, this story and title just wasn’t interesting to me.

[Moni Ritchie Hadley · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a parent of a daughter that does not have an indoor voice, I found this story hilarious! Young Penelope finally gets her chance to be a student librarian but wreaks havoc in the library with the booming of her voice. Luckily there is a job perfect for her. This book conveys to kids that everyone has strengths and that there is a place where they can shine exactly the way they are.
Thanks to the publisher for the advance copy!

[Kelly Rice Schmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious! How to Fit In While Being Yourself

This adorable, hilarious story with bright, colorful art is a delight. We were laughing out loud at Penelope's lovable inability to be quiet, despite her best efforts. A charming tale of being true to yourself but finding a way to fit in. Great for all kids, especially those who are loud, love the library, or love outer space, as that makes a few surprise appearances too! As a fellow loud book lover.. I whole-heartedly recommend!

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delight! This was a lovely book about a young burgeoning librarian finding her place in the new environment.
She practices sorting, sharing and being kind at home. When she reports on her first day on the job as a student librarian she discovers that there’s one characteristic she has that doesn’t quite fit in at the library.
Such a cute book with fun and whimsical illustrations.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drawn to this book because of the title!

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have loved reading this out loud to my classes!

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute book. As a former Youth Services person at a library, I appreciate everything in this story. Bright and colorful illustrations.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel obligated to like any book about librarians. I do like this one, just not as much as I wanted to. This could be a fun read-aloud, reading Penelope's dialogue.

Story: 3
Illustrations: 3
Read-aloud: 3

[Jordan MacKinnon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I found and instantly thought of myself because I to am a loud librarian!! Just such a delightful story about being yourself and not giving up on your dream!

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clearly written with knowledge from a public library and not what school librarians actually do or look like (we are loud and our spaces are loud. Learning is noisy.)

[Jilanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all know the kids who struggle to use their inside voices (pretty much most kids), but what can Penelope do if she has a big voice AND is picked to be Student Librarian of the Week (a job that's she's been eagerly preparing for)? Penelope tries and tries and tries, with hilarious results. The good news? She figures out just how she can use her voice to benefit everyone. With illustrations that add tons of visual humor to an already funny text, this story is sure to bring out the giggles while making kids realize that a person's weakness can also be seen as a strength. Great way to sneak in a little social and emotional learning skill.

[Candace Spizzirri · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sweet book! Penelope is thrilled when she gets her turn to be the student librarian. The only problem is she doesn’t exactly have a quiet library voice. Her voice is super-duper LOUD!!!!!!
In fact, Penelope’s voice can be heard all the way out in space. Her dream of working in the library does come true, just not in the way expected and Penelope finds her true calling. Illustrations by Lynne Jones are a delight! A must-read.

[Kate Allen Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally laugh AND cry during a picture book, but this one did it. With fresh humor and bright, beautiful illustrations, THE LOUD LIBRARIAN is the heart-warming story of Penelope, an aspiring student-librarian with big dreams and a bigger voice. Just when her dreams are almost dashed, Penelope finds that her enthusiastic presence might make her a great librarian after all.

[Ellen L. Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three loud cheers for THE LOUD LIBRARIAN.
1. It’s a fantastically funny book!
2. It has a likeable heroine!! Penelope, proud to be the student librarian for the week, approaches the job with enthusiasm and lots of volume.
3. It has a surprise ending!!! Penelope, determined as well as loud, finds the perfect way to succeed as a “loud librarian.”

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little girl with a love of books and a big voice learns that there's a perfect place for her in the library. This is a delightful, upbeat book that both quiet and loud librarians (and library patrons) will love.

[Elaine Fultz, Teacher Librarian, MLS · Rating 2 out of 5]

The loudest kid in the class is chosen as the student librarian, but she causes disaster after disaster until her volume is needed for outdoor storytime. Colorful, but just OK.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

When Penelope's class assigns student helper positions, she is very excited to be assigned to help in the library. She's been practicing all year, alphabetizing things, pushing carts, and reading books. The only problem? Penelope is also very loud. She's very helpful to the other students, but struggles to use a "library voice". She's so loud that her voice knocks books from the shelves, pictures from the wall, and eventually destroys the library. Luckily, there is one thing that a strong voice is good for-- reading books aloud! She puts on her own story hour outside and her peers enjoy it. So do the astronauts in space who can hear her even from so far away.

Young readers will love Penelope's enthusiasm, and the ridiculousness of the power of her voice. Clearly, she's not loud enough to cause the bricks and mortar of the library to fall apart, but the large font of her words is a good excuse to yell those parts of the text while reading out loud. I can see this creating quite a racket as children try to out yell each other so that they, too, can be heard in space!

Bright colors appear throughout the story; Penelope has a denim jumper with a rainbow skirt and wears bright green glasses, the classroom and library have vibrant posters and decorations, and Penelope's dialogue is accompanied by Batman-style exclamations in red speech balloons, mimicking the sounds of books falling everywhere.

Youg readers who love books and visits to the library will want to pair this with Gassman's Do Not Bring Your Dragon to the Library, Knudsen's Library Lion, and The Not So Quiet Library by Zachariah Ohora. It's a good idea to also talk about how perhaps yelling in the public library isn't the best idea, but I can imagine that Penelope's antics could be a great way to remind children to be quieter; they wouldn't want to bring the library down around their ears!

[Elena Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Penelope is estatic when she is chosen to be the new student librarian! She is helpful, friendly, and loves to read. But, the irony is Penelope is loud. So loud that even astronaunts in space can hear her! That’s probably why author Jenna Beatrice chose the title of the book to be The Loud Librarian.

As Penelope tries to figure out how to balance her love of reading with her loud voice, she will hopefully inspire readers of this book to compromise when things get in the way of accomplishing their dreams.

llustrator by Erika Lynne Jones sent me this ARC (Advanced Reader’s Copy), which will be available to the public next month. I really liked the illustrations because they were so cute and very diverse in characters! In fact, I loved Penelope so much because she reminded me a lot of myself. She has brown skin, curly hair, a love for books, and enjoys talking to people.

When I started my blog five years ago, it was because I didn’t see myself in the books I was reading and as I was on the hunt for books with more diverse characters, I wanted to share my finds with others. Now, it is so satisfying to see characters who represent a variety of people in the books I’m reading much more than I did as a kid.

The story was so funny, and I loved how it ended. I recommend this book to readers ages 5-9. I liked the creativity in the plot and the pictures! This is a book perfect for young readers in libraries or on book shelves.

Read the review on my blog: https://elenareads.com/2023/03/18/rev...

[Elayne Crain · Rating 5 out of 5]

HI, BOOK FRIENDS! HOW ARE YOU DOING? ARE YOU READY FOR A BOOK REVIEW??

For those of you who know me IRL, it's probably not a shocker that a picture book about a very enthusiastic library-lover with (perhaps, maybe, some might say) a voice that "carries" would pique my interest.

But the things I love about The Loud Librarian by Jenna Beatrice and Erika Lynne Jones are not only the main character, Penelope, who, let's say, I overstand.

They include:
- The hyperbole. My goodness, the hyperbole! From a craft perspective, it is a delight to see a joke pushed in this way in a picture book. Her sonic boom of a voice knocks over bookshelves and shakes the ground--it even registers in space. IN SPACE, Y'ALL!
- The read-aloud-ability. Also, how many books make use of VOLUME within a read-aloud? Not nearly as many as there should be, IMHO!
- The bonus jokes: I will never NOT laugh at a building named Paige Turner Library.
- You know that special feeling you get when you read a book and you can just tell the people who made it ENJOYED making it? Like, you can feel the fun they had radiating off the pages? This is that sort of book!

Best of all, it's not about Penelope changing who she is--rather, it's about her finding her way to use her natural abilities and interests. It's a hopeful, inclusive message emphasizing what we all love best about libraries: that everyone with love in their hearts truly "belongs" in one. And for that reason, I will proclaim (loudly): I THINK YOU'LL ENJOY THIS BOOK!

[Tonja Drecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tip-toeing through the library falls to pieces despite the good intentions of a very enthusiastic heroine.

Penelope dreams of the week, when it's her turn to help out at the school library. She's practiced in every possible way and is more than prepared. So when the day comes, her excitement shoots into high-gear, and she does great...except for her voice. But this isn't really her fault, since it is a naturally, overly loud one, and there doesn't seem to be anything she can do about it.

This is a fun and hilarious read, promising giggles and laughs from beginning to end. While the book starts out normal enough, it soon becomes clear that Penelope's situation is anything but normal...and that invites silliness pure. The text is concise, pulls in, and makes for a perfect read-aloud (which is important in another way...but I'm not saying why), and the font makes sure that the emotions sit. But it's the balance with the illustrations, which really let humor fly.

The illustrations are well played by mixing normality with imagination's extremes. The humor builds bit by bit in a mostly subtle way, which isn't subtle by the end. I appreciate how ridiculousness pops up without pardon, while still keeping the characters and setting as usual as usual can be. It's a great mix, which is sure to delight. I received an ARC and found the humor refreshing.