Happy New Year!! As with each and every year, I like to make my own little list of 100 children’s book titles. These are pretty much for my own reference in the future, though you’re more than welcome to critique the choices as you prefer. Previous lists can be found for 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, […]
The Tea Party in the Woods By Akiko Miyakoshi Kids Can Press $16.95 ISBN: 978-1771381079 Ages 3-6 There are picture books out there that feel like short films. Some of the time they’re adapted into them (as with The Snowman or The Lost Thing or Lost and Found) and sometimes they’re made in tandem (The […]
A Great Big Cuddle: Poems for the Very Young By Michael Rosen Illustrated by Chris Riddell Candlewick Press $19.99 ISBN: 978076368116 Ages 0-4 On shelves now. Did you know that, generally speaking, Europeans have absolutely no interest in the works of Dr. Seuss? It’s true. For years his works have been untranslatable (though great inroads […]
Each year New York Public Library produces what I seriously consider to be the most beautiful Best Books list of them all. Encompassing 100 books in total, it breaks all children’s books written in different categories to the following: Picture Books, Early Chapter Books, Middle Grade Fiction, Poetry, Folk and Fairytales, Graphic Novels, and Nonfiction. […]
Buckle and Squash: The Perilous Princess Plot By Sarah Courtauld Feiwel and Friends (an imprint of Macmillan) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-250-05277-3 Ages 7-10 On shelves now. Considering that I will never but EVER write an early chapter book or, for that matter, an easy book for new readers, it’s funny how often I sit around contemplating […]
The Red Hat By David Teague Illustrated by Antoinette Portis Disney Hyperion (an imprint of Disney Book Group) $16.99 ISBN: 9781423134114 Ages 4-7 On shelves December 8th There is a story out there, and I don’t know if it is true, that the great children’s librarian Anne Carroll Moore had such a low opinion of […]
Emu By Claire Saxby Illustrated by Graham Byrne Candlewick Press $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-7479-3 Ages 4-7 On shelves now. Alas for poor emu. Forever relegated to be consider a second rate ostrich, it encompasses all of the awkwardness and none of the stereotypes. Does anyone ever talk about burying your head in the sand like an […]
Gone Crazy in Alabama By Rita Williams-Garcia Amistad (an imprint of Harper Collins) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0062215871 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. I’m a conceited enough children’s librarian that I like it when a book wins me over. I don’t want them to make it easy for me. When I sit down to read something I […]
Human Body Theater By Maris Wicks First Second (a imprint of Roaring Brook and division of Macmillan) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-59643-929-0 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. I gotta come clean with you. Skeletons? I’ve got a thing for them. Not a “thing” as in I find them attractive, but rather a “thing” as in I find […]
The Hired Girl By Laura Amy Schlitz Candlewick Press $17.99 ISBN: 978-0763678180 Ages 12 and up Bildungsroman. Definition: “A novel dealing with one person’s formative years or spiritual education.” A certain strain of English major quivers at the very term. Get enough Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man shoved down your gullet and […]
Robo-Sauce By Adam Rubin Illustrated by Daniel Salmieri Dial (an imprint of Penguin Books) $18.99 ISBN: 978-0525428879 Ages 4-6 On shelves October 20th. When I whip out the old we’re-living-in-a-golden-age-of-picture-book-creation argument with colleagues and friends, they humor what I’m sure they consider to be my hyperbole. Suuuuuure we are, Betsy. Not prone to exaggeration or […]
The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch By Chris Barton Illustrated by Don Tate Eerdmans Books for Young Readers $17.00 ISBN: 978-0-8028-5379-0 Ages 4-8 On shelves now “It’s the story of a guy who in ten years went from teenage field slave to U.S. Congressman.” Come again? That’s the pitch author Chris Barton pulled out […]
The Nest By Kenneth Oppel Illustrated by Jon Klassen Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-4814-3232-0 On shelves October 6th Oh, how I love middle grade horror. It’s a very specific breed of book, you know. Most people on the street might think of the Goosebumps books or similar ilk when they […]
Hypnotize a Tiger: Poems About Just About Everything By Calef Brown Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt (an imprint of Macmillan) $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-8050-9928-7 For ages 9-12 Why do I do this to myself? Let me tell you something about how I review. Board books? Pshaw. I can take one and write a nine-paragraph review parsing […]
Mars Evacuees By Sophia McDougall Harper Collins $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-06-229399-2 Ages 9-12 I’ve a nasty habit of finishing every children’s book I start, no matter how dull or dire it might be. I am sort of alone in this habit, which you could rightly call unhealthy. After all, most librarians understand that their time on […]
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