Kids at St Croix Falls Public Library had an amazing year in 2025! 523 people attended 46 programs over the course of the year, from storytimes to no-school-day events to summer programs. Kids enjoyed 360 Whats-In-The-Boxes during the summer. And patrons checked out 12,111 children’s items from the library! That includes 8074 books, 1415 graphic novels, 722 board books, 64 books that read themselves out loud, 91 magazines, 53 audiobooks on CD, 1524 DVDs, 87 videogames, and 75 kits. The remaining items included board games and music CDs. Wow!
Here are some of the top-circulating items of the year:
Picture Books
- Tie: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and If You Give a Mouse a Brownie by Laura Numeroff (10 checkouts each)
- Big tie: Truck Full of Ducks by Ross Burach, That Is Not a Good Idea! by Mo Willems, I Am a Tornado by Drew Beckmeyer, Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin, Duck Duck Taco Truck by Laura Lavoie, and Dewdrop by Kay O’Neill (9 checkouts each)
- Another big tie: The End by John Bray, The Bakery Dragon by Devin Elle Kurtz, Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw, Little Dumplings by Jekka and Krissy Kuhlmann, Home in the Woods by Eliza Wheeler, Fire Truck vs. Dragon by Chris Barton, Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea, Daddy Robot (a Bluey picture book), Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly by Jane O’Connor, and Chickens to the Rescue! by John Himmelman (8 checkouts each)
Fiction Books
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (8 checkouts)
- A wimpy kid ties with himself: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dog Days, The Meltdown, and Old School by Jeff Kinney (7 checkouts each)
- Big tie: The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down and Big Shot by Jeff Kinney, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, and The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Warner (6 checkouts each)
- Even bigger tie: I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 by Lauren Tarshis, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess, No-Brainer, The Deep End, and The Getaway by Jeff Kinney, 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving by Catherine O’Neill Grace (nonfiction!) and The Bad Guys (#1) by Aaron Blabbey (5 checkouts each)
Most Popular Children’s Authors (both picture books and chapter books)
- Mo Willems (The Pigeon, Elephant and Piggie) (204 checkouts)
- Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) (93 checkouts)
- Gertrude C. Warner (The Boxcar Children) (92 checkouts)
- Sandra Boynton (Little Pookie, Hippos) (73 checkouts)
- Jane O’Connor (Fancy Nancy) (72 checkouts)
Graphic Novels: notice any patterns here?
- Dog Man by Dav Pilkey (16 checkouts)
- Dog Man Unleashed by Dav Pilkey (13 checkouts)
- Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild by Dav Pilkey (11 checkouts)
- Tie: Wings of Fire 3: The Hidden Kingdom by Tui Sutherland and Dog Man: Mothering Heights by Dav Pilkey (9 checkouts each)
- Dog Man ties with himself: Dog Man and Cat Kid, For Whom the Ball Rolls, and Big Jim Begins by Dav Pilkey (8 checkouts each)
Graphic Novel Authors
- Dav Pilkey (Dog Man) (138 checkouts)
- Kusaka Hidenori (many Pokemon manga storylines) (122 checkouts)
- Ann M. Martin (The Baby-Sitters Club) (42 checkouts)
- Tui Sutherland (Wings of Fire) (32 checkouts)
- John Patrick Green (InvestiGATORS) (31 checkouts)
Audiobooks/Book and Audio
- Tie: Green Eggs and Ham and Other Servings of Dr. Seuss audiobook CD, and Duck on a Bike Wonderbook by David Shannon (4 checkouts each)
- Bigger tie: Moon! Earth’s Best Friend Wonderbook by Shannon McNulty, Llama Llama Mess Mess Mess Wonderbook by Anna Dewdney, The Spacesuit: How a Seamstress Helped Put Man on the Moon by Alison Donald, Dinotrux Wonderbook by Chris Gall, and I Love You More Than… by Taye Diggs (3 checkouts each)
Magazines
- Ranger Rick magazine (20 checkouts across all issues)
- Chickadee magazine (17 checkouts across all issues)
- National Geographic Kids magazine (15 checkouts across all issues)
- Babybug magazine (14 checkouts across all issues)
DVDs
- The Wild Robot (2024) (15 checkouts)
- Bluey Seasons 1 & 2 (2022) (12 checkouts)
- Tie: Encanto (2022) and Elemental (2023) (11 checkouts each)
- Bigger tie: The Peanuts Movie (2016), Over the Hedge (2018), and Big Hero 6 (2015) (10 checkouts each)
- Even bigger tie: Zootopia (2016), Dumbo (2019), The Little Mermaid (2023), Ferdinand (2018), Mary Poppins Returns (2019), and A Wrinkle in Time (2018) (9 checkouts each)
Videogames
- Super Paper Mario for Wii (4 checkouts)
- Big tie: Minecraft for both Switch and PS4, Super Mario All-Stars for Wii, Endless Ocean: Blue World for Wii, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for Wii (3 checkouts each across all platforms)
Kits
- STEM Kit: Planetarium, and Early Literacy Kits: All About Me and Dinosaurs (5 checkouts each)
- STEM Kits: Botley the Coding Robot, Electronics, and Simple Machines (4 checkouts each)
- STEM Kits: Energy and Motion, Birdwatching, and Magnetism; and Early Literacy Kits: Colors & Shapes, Fit Families Movement, and Bears (3 checkouts each)