Kids Lit
Books and More for Children and Teens

The Horn Book Fanfare has been announced for 2006. It includes the best picture books, fiction and nonfiction of the year.

There are several fiction books that I haven't read yet and that I have seen on other lists. Plus I am trying to get through as many Cybil YA Long List titles as I can before January. AND I have been completely distracted by the new Tamora Pierce novel... Ah well. So many books...

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You all probably know about the great Richie's Picks website filled with reviews of books for children and teens. Richie is always right on the money with his reviews and reads an amazing number of titles each year. Richie has just announced his Richie's Picks Best of 2006.

I am prepared to forgive him his adoration of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane because he has so many great books on his list! :)

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Kirkus has released their Best Children's Books of 2006 list. It includes a lot of my favorites:

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
The Braid by Helen Frost
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Duck & Goose by Tad Hills (I can't believe that was this year! It seems like a classic already.)
Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock
Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton
Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin
Flotsam by David WIesner
Dizzy by Jonah Winter

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These two books from the publisher Barefoot Books include music CDs where the story is sung. 

The first, Dragon on the Doorstep by Stella Blackstone, illustrated by Debbie Harter, sung by Fred Penner, is a very cute story of two children who keep on finding wild animals throughout their house.  The animals follow them from place to place and children can spot their tails or ears in the illustrations.  Finally it is revealed that it is all a big game of hide and seek.  The illustrations are light and colorful.  The song that accompanies the book is lilting and fun.

The second, The Journey Home from Grandpa's by Jemima Lumley, illustrated by Sophie Fatus, is a repeating story with a chorus.  This works very very well with the accompanying CD.  The song is a simple one that children will enjoy listening to.  The illustrations in this book are loose and charming.  It is certainly a story that will have transportation loving preschoolers coming back again and again.

In both cases, the CDs include instrumental versions of the music, allowing talented children's librarians, parents and teachers to sing along on their own.

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The Book Standard is expanding its Book Video Awards to include a Teen Edition this year.  Working with Random House, the Teen Book Video Awards will feature films of How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray.  The videos will be online starting November 29th. 

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The New York Times has an article on the huge push from DC Comics to promote Minx, a new line of graphic novels for girls.  Cecil Castellucci, a great teen novelist, has been commissioned to write them.  Hurrah! 

I will be very interested to see what this new venture creates, especially seeing that it is said to be the largest promotional push that DC Comics has done in 30 years! 

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Julius Lester, amazing author of books like Day of Tears has announced that he is now blogging. His blog, A Commonplace Book, has amazing photography mixed with insightful essays. This is certainly one that should take the children's lit blogging world by storm.

You can also visit his website to learn more about his writing. My favorites are his great folktale retellings and his work with Jerry Pinkney.

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The Moon by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tracey Campbell Pearson. 

The poetry here can't be beat of course, and the illustrations offer an accessible, warm and lovely way to enjoy the words.  Stevenson evokes the wonder of a moonlit night with his poem and Pearson takes those words and makes them come alive as a father and child go on a night-time boat ride.  The paintings are evocative, often pairing just a line of words with a double-spread of page in a way that really allows children to internalize the words and bask in the beauty of the night. 

Share this with any child at all.  As a bedtime story, on your own moonlit evening, or as a great way to introduce poetry and a love of language.

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The 2007 longlist for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal has been announced. The Greenaway Medal is a UK award given for distinguished illustration in a children's book.

I am happy to see Down the Back of the Chair on the list, but haven't read any of the others. More books for my already-long list!

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Jen has posted the list of Young Adult Fiction Nominees for the 2006 Cybils Awards.  80 books were nominated!  I don't envy the Nominating Committee working their way through that many titles in a short amount of time.  But I am thrilled to be on the Judging Committee and happy to read the five nominated titles in January. 

I am trying to read as many of the nominated titles as possible hoping that I will have read at least a couple of the final five titles before I am called upon to judge them.  There has been such a crop of great YA titles this year, that narrowing it to five will be tough and then selecting one will be an amazing feat. 

To see the nominees for the other Cybil Award categories, go to the official website.

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The longlist for the 2007 CILIP Carnegie Medal has been announced. The Carnegie Medal is a UK award, given each year to the author of an outstanding book for children. The short list will be published in April 2007 and the award is announced in June.

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The Christian Science Monitor Books Section has several articles on children's books. They feature some great new additions to popular series, a review of One Potato, Two Potato, a small list of noteworthy titles from 2006, and features on other books.

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Chowder by Peter Brown.

Chowder is a bulldog who leads a rather unique life.  He doesn't fit in with other dog, doesn't like to take walks and is happy left at home alone to play with people toys like computers.  But he is lonely and wants to make friends.  The other dogs have told him he belongs in a zoo, so when he sees a billboard for a new petting zoo at a supermarket, he finds a way to get there.  But it is still complicated getting the petting zoo animals to be his friend, especially when he kicks their ball high into a tree.  In the end, he manages to make a whole group of new friends.

Peter Brown's art is a wonderful mix of quirky modern and vintage.  It is eye-catching and a lot of fun.  Children will immediately be caught up in a book that opens with Chowder sitting on a toilet and the words, "Chowder had always been different."  The book has the perfect amount of words for the story to be well told and complete, but not for small children to be overwhelmed. 

Add this to your dog storytime or share it with children in a discussion of being different and unique.  Chowder certainly is...in a wonderful way. 

You can also visit his website where you too can be tempted by wallpaper for your computer that shows Chowder sitting at his.

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Find Anthony Ant by Lorna and Graham Philpot.

Warning!  This is not a book recommended for reading to a group, rather it should be shared with just one or two children while cuddled happily.  A clever book for kids who are just a little too young for Where's Waldo, children follow Anthony Ant through a maze trying to spot his red backpack, red cap and yellow shirt in one of three spots in the maze.  It is going to be a leisurely read with small fingers tracing the mazes and laughter as ants on toilets are found, and debates about where Anthony is. 

The sense of humor adds a lot of fun to this book, and the maze feature makes it much less frustrating than the Waldo series.  Share this with your Kindergartener or first grader for a good cozy time.

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Just got an email in my box that announced the release of SLJ's Best Books of 2006!  Hurrah!  I always love getting these lists of books and discovering what I missed out on through the year.  Enjoy!

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Max's Words by Kate Banks, pictures by Boris Kulikov.

Max has two brothers.  Benjamin collects stamps and Karl collects coins.  Neither will give Max even a single stamp or coin for himself.  So Max decides to start his own collection, of words.  He starts with small words and moves on to larger ones.  When his brothers boast that they have thousands of stamps and hundreds of coins, Max says that he is saving to have enough for a story.  Max starts to sort through his words, and his brothers are caught up in the joy of creating a story too.

Banks has written a readable, friendly book about the joy of language.  Her word choices are wonderful, and you can tell that she had quite a large collection to choose from herself.  Kulikov's illustrations add a whimsical, humorous side to the story, especially in the section where the words that Max is collecting are listed.  He uses graphics mixed with the words themselves to create a visual feast of words. 

My youngest son is an emergent reader and loved being able to match the words I was reading aloud with their graphic depiction.  The story is rich and wonderful and begs to be shared with children.  Kindergarteners through second graders should enjoy the story and may be prompted to start their own word lists or even their own stories. 

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Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? is a series of illustrations by famous children's book illustrators that give the punch line to the gag.  The list of illustrators is amazing with people like Marla Frazee, Mo Willems, David Shannon, Tedd Arnold, Jerry Pinkney and many many others.  Some of the spreads are wordless, others offer a punchline.  It is a book that showcases the breadth of talent and types of art happening in children's literature today.  Anyone who loves picture books will find themselves happily turning from page to page, immediately recognizing the style of almost every illustrator.  The joy is seeing the art one after the other, like a visual who's who of children's artists. 

This was a joy.  It can be shared with children, especially those who enjoy art and will like looking at each piece slowly.  Children who have read a lot of books will also enjoy seeing their favorite artists next to others that they don't know.  Pure children's lit fun.

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ScienceDaily has an article on a study that concluded that children can distinguish between reality and fantasy using contextual cues.

"In three studies, about 400 children ages 3 to 6 heard about something new and had to say whether they thought it was real or not. Some children heard the information defined in scientific terms ("Doctors use surnits to make medicine"), while others heard it defined in fantastical terms ("Fairies use hercs to make fairy dust"). The researchers found that children's ability to use contextual cues to determine whether the information is true develops significantly between the ages of 3 and 5."

And what does this have to do with children's literature? Plenty!

My question is what is wrong with a child between the ages of 3 and 5 or even much older believing in fairies or other amazing creatures like elves, witches, dragons, etc. Why does this demonstrate their ability to distinguish reality from fantasy? Seems to me that there is a lot larger issue that if something is seen as scientific it is real and if it is creative it must be untrue.

Or perhaps I am just a trippy type of person who wants children to read books, internalize them and dream their big dreams. I want children to be children a lot longer than they are in our society. Let's give them their years to believe in fairies and the fantastical. Let's allow them to be real for children.

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This meme is all over the kidslitblogosphere, and I have some time on a Friday to participate!  This is a list of the top books of all time for children (I think, though I don't know for sure.  Certainly they have included some of my top books.)  The ones in bold are the ones I have read.  Then the ones with a star are the ones I liked.  Let's see...  Looks like my score is 94!  Holy cow!  Now admittedly, a lot of these are from my reading to my own children, not from my childhood.  I would have scored far lower without two boys who love picture books.

*Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
* The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
* Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
* The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
*Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
* The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
*The Mitten by Jan Brett
*Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
*Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
* The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
* Where the Sidewalk Ends: the Poems and Drawing of Shel Silverstein by Shel Silverstein
*Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
*Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola
*Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
*Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr.
*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
*A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
* How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
*The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
* Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by John Archambault
*Little House on the Prarie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
*The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
*The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
*Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
*Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
* Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
The BFG by Roald Dahl
*The Giver by Lois Lowry
*If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
*James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
*Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
*Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
*The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
*The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
*Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
*Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
*Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
*Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
*The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
*Corduroy by Don Freeman
*Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
*Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
*Matilda by Roald Dahl
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
*Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
*Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
*The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
*Are You My Mother? by Philip D. Eastman
*The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
*Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
*One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
*The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
*The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
*The Napping House by Audrey Wood
*Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
*The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
*Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
*The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
*Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
*Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
Basil of Baker Street, by Eve Titus
*The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
*Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey
*Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
*Arthur series by Marc Tolon Brown
*The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
*Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
*Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
*The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
*Sideways Storiesfrom Wayside School by Louis Sachar
*Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
*Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
* A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
*Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater (don't remember)
*My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
*Stuart Little by E. B. White
*Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
*The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
* The Art Lesson by Tomie De Paola
*Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Clifford, the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
*Heidi by Johanna Spyri
*Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
* The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsc

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An interesting AP article on the topic of increasing challenges to graphic novels in libraries, shows that people are finding graphic illustrations of adult themes much more provocative than the same actions in written form. They have some examples of adult graphic novels that are being questioned in public libraries.

When I went to library school, I learned that if a librarian is doing their job and truly selecting items that will serve even the marginal people in their community then you definitely can expect to have materials questioned. Sounds like this new director at the library has pushed the envelope a bit more than her predecessor. Complaints about materials aren't the end of the world, they may just be the indication that you are doing your job extremely well.

Via LISNews.org

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Too Small for Honey Cake by Gill Lobel, illustrated by Sebastien Braun.

I know that there are many books about new siblings and how older siblings have to cope.  Even in this crowded field, this book is a warm charmer that should be noticed.  Little Fox is finding that Daddy Fox has almost no time for him because of the baby.  His father won't look at his block tower, he sings the baby Little Fox's special song, and the baby sleeps in Little Fox's cradle.  It isn't fair!  So Little Fox decides that he is not living there anymore and moves into the space under the stairs.  He stays there angry and saying mean things until his father finds a way to make peace with a bit of honey cake.

I enjoyed this story of a father dealing with children.  So often we have stories of inept fathers who have to be helped with childcare.  In this case we have a capable father who can bake too!  The illustrations are warm depictions of a safe and cozy home.  Little Fox's insults about the baby are right on target for that age and will have preschoolers and Kindergarteners giggling.

Share this with children expecting a new sibling, but also share it for a depiction of a single parent story or just a great warm book about brothers. 

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Sold by Patricia McCormick.

The exquisite cover promises great things inside and does not lie.  McCormick has created a gut-wrenching, poetic, amazing verse novel of a young girl sold into sexual slavery.  Lakshmi is from a small village in Nepal where she has a loving mother, tiny baby brother and absent stepfather who gambles away any money they manage to scrape together.  One season after an awful drought, the monsoon returns with too much rain destroying their rice plantings for the next year.  Lakshmi is told that she is being sent to be a maid for a wealthy city family, so she is willing to leave to give her family more money, her brother a better life, and her mother a new tin roof.  But she is not headed for a family, rather an brothel in India.  This is the story of how a young girl uses her intelligence and courage to survive the unthinkable.

The power of the poems in this volume hits like a hammer right in the chest.  Amazingly many of them are complete enough to stand as single poems, but placed together in order they form a chain of poetry that is solid and strong.  They are a testament to what is happening to thousands of girls each year. 

I admit freely that I tend to cry at the end of books.  Sometimes it is the loss of these characters I have been living with other times it is the anguish of the story itself.  Rarely do I weep in the middle of a book, but I did when reading this.  The pain of the brothel and her bravery in overcoming the situation were so palpable and real that they seared right through me.  The eyes on the cover will stay with me for a long time, but the poetry is what is tattooed in my heart.  To say such evil things with such beauty and strength.  To not shy away from the truth of what happens took courage for the author as well.

All I have is applause for this novel.  It is a masterpiece of brevity and power.  This is one of my top books of the year.  I consider it a must read.

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CBS News has some study results that will not surprise any of us: Picture Books Really Do Teach Toddlers. I know that this is one of those, well duh! moments, but I do think that it is wonderful when studies support what we all intuitively know.

So, keep on reading to those kids! Whether they are 18-30 months old or not!

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One Potato, Two Potato by Cynthia C. DeFelice, pictures by Andrea U'Ren.

This is the story of an old couple who live in absolute poverty with only one chair, one coat to share between them, one blanket, one gold coin, and each day only one potato to eat.  When they run out of potatoes in the garden, the old man digs deeper hoping to find one, but all he finds is an old pot.  He places the last potato inside as he carries the pot back to the house.  But when he gets home, his wife finds that there are now 2 potatoes inside the pot.  The magical pot will duplicate anything placed inside.  Soon they have two tattered coats, two thin blankets, and many potatoes.  When the wife remembers the coin and they make copies, the husband heads to town to buy new things for them.  But it can never be quite that easy in fairy tales and the next twist will have children gasping.

Some picture books with this many words will bore children, but not this one.  The language is fresh, keeping the story vivid and wonderful.  I always enjoy when a storyteller allows her own love of language to come across in a book.  Add to it the illustrations with their vintage cartoon feel, and you have a great book for reading aloud to children from kindergarten through second grade. 

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National Book Awards have been announced and the winner of the Young People's Literature award is M.T. Anderson for The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol I: The Pox Party. I have a copy at the top of my to-read pile and am looking forward to it!

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Gregory K. at GottaBook has a great post on reading aloud to children: A little library business. I completely recognize the incredible feeling when a group of children are all listening as hard as they can, caught up in the story being told. It is quite a rush to realize not only the power of the reader but the power of the read-aloud.

A large part of this tingle and success is picking the right book for the right crowd at the right time. Another part is being a good reader. Now I love to read aloud to children, make silly voices, ask them to be silly too, sing along, and much more. But when I see a great reader I know that I am only a pretender. They can capture children with the wrong book, at the wrong time. They can make words that would be stilted in my mouth come out dancing.

But never fear! You need not be a master reader to be a success. You can be like me, a fairly good reader who really enjoys children and books and doesn't fear being a fool. That is enough to create that magical tingle that those master readers can pull from nothing and we must wait for that perfect melding of audience and book. But what a tingle it is, definitely worth striving for.

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Where's My Darling Daughter? by Mij Kelly and Katharine McEwen.

Poppa Bombola looks in the bed for his darling daughter, but he can't find her.  As he searches around the farm, he repeats, "I know I put her somewhere safe.  Oh where's my darling daughter?"  On the second or third page, kids will notice the darling daughter dangling on her daddy's back in a baby carrier.  All ends happily of course, but not until all the children will be able to chorus the refrain along with the reader. 

The writing has rhythm and rhyme, carrying the reader as you race around the farmyard.  The art is child-friendly, filled with color and action.  It will project well for a crowd of children, and plays equally well as a lap book. 

This one is great fun.  Perfect for reading aloud as a silly finish to a story time on fathers or farms.  I guarantee giggles galore! 

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Born to Rock by Gordon Korman.

This is another teen novel that I heard great things about and simply had to read.  Korman is one of my favorite authors, and I was not let down by this one.  It may be one of his very best to date.

Leo is a member of the Young Republicans, has a 4.0 grade point average and has an early acceptance to Harvard.  His life is mapped out and he is ready for it.  But when he stands up against a principal who is trying to ruin the record of another student, Leo instead finds himself the target.  Accused of cheating, his flawless record now has a black mark, and he is kicked out of not only the Young Republicans but also his Harvard scholarship.  In a fluke, Leo discovers that his biological father is the infamous punk rock star, King Maggot.  Leo decides that King is the way to get his Harvard tuition, so he joins King in his punk-rock tour of the United States until they receive the results of the official paternity test.  On the tour, Leo discovers that he has a lot more in common with King that he had expected.

Korman's writing is always effortless in its skill.  He incorporates a great sense of humor into his books, and many parts of this novel will have readers chuckling along.  I enjoyed the pairing of a conservative teen with a rock and roll elder, and the situations that it created.  This entire book was great fun, cover to cover.

Recommend this one to boys and girls alike who enjoy music of any kind.  I think it would make a great pairing with Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, another music-based novel from this year. 

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Skin by Adrienne Maria Vrettos.

Donnie has always had his sister to rely on.  Through their parents' fighting, through his unpopularity at school, and through his loneliness.  But when his sister develops an eating disorder, it is Donnie that starts to look out for everyone, even though as he does it he loses himself, turning invisible in school and at home. 

This is a stark, vivid portrayal of an eating disorder from the point of view of a sibling who is also damaged by the disease.  The writing pulls you into Donnie's world filled with loneliness and confusion.  Even as you realize that Donnie is disappearing, you are struck by the quality of the writing that can create a main character who is becoming nearly invisible.  Yet Donnie's voice and point of view are never compromised.  Karen, the sister, is equally well-written as the reader and Donnie both continue thinking, hoping that she has defeated her demons and overcome her disorder.  The author has created a book with a unique perspective that is one of the best eating-disorder novels for teens that I have ever read. 

This book will be an easy sell with teens who enjoy problem novels or books about eating disorders.  But it will also be enjoyed by boys who may not usually pick up problem novels.  It is a searing look at a serious issue, so boys looking for reality books will enjoy it.

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Shug by Jenny Han.

Shug is a charming story about the perils of being a twelve-year-old girl.  Shug, also known as Annemarie, struggles with her family where her mother is a distant drinker, her father is in and out of her life, and her older sister is focused more on leaving for college than in her younger sister.  When Shug realizes that she has suddenly fallen for her best friend, Mark, she no longer knows how to act around him, and the distance between the two of them grows.  Starting junior high as a non-popular girl is also a challenge as she tries to navigate between being herself and still having friends.  As her best girl friend Elaine is courted by the popular crowd, Shug finds another friend in the very last place she expected to.

The writing in this book is sparklingly clean and clear, making it easy and very pleasurable reading.  The characters face challenges that are not easily solved and the world of junior high is as confusing and amazing as it was when I was that age.  I truly appreciate someone writing a great book for girls at this age, before they are teenagers but at the same time that so many confusing things are happening with their emotions and their bodies.  The character Annemarie or Shug is so well-developed that she becomes real. 

Recommend this to preteens as well as teenagers.  This is a true tween book, and you know where to find the exact girls for it.  Additionally, it is a great book for mothers to share with daughters and have a conversation about the new challenges of becoming a teen and the world of junior high.

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Check out the 2006 Graphic Spotlight from Kirkus.  Graphic novels appropriate for teens are scattered among those that are not, and if you are looking for titles for children, scroll all the way down to page 22.  Keep an eye out for their Best of 2006 Children's Books list that will be released in early December. 

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Amazon has announced their Best of 2006: Books. Scroll all the way to the bottom past the adult fiction and nonfiction, and you will find the top picks for picture books, middle readers, and teens.

I agree with a handful of their choices, but other ones have me scratching my head. I think all of them are nice books, but top of the year? I'm just not sure.

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Mama, I'll Give You the World by Roni Schotter and S. Saelig Gallagher.

Simply gorgeous, this picture book will tug at your heart and take you into a precious world.  After school, Luisa spends her time at her mother's place of work, Walter's World of Beauty.  There she watches her mother cutting, coloring and curling hair.  But her mother no longer dances now that her father is gone.  Luisa spends her time creating her own hair creations from colored paper and hatches a plan for her mother's birthday that will give her mother the world.

The writing in this book is lovely, filled with great language that reveals the beauty of Luisa's life.  The illustrations are equally evocative, capturing the warmth and liveliness of the beauty shop and the many characters that frequent it.  One of my favorite aspects of the book is that this is a single mother and child and their lives are not easy, but Luisa is more concerned with her mother than with her missing father.  They are a complete unit, not grasping for a father figure to fill a hole in their lives.  It is a lovely portrayal that single-parent children will recognize and relate to. 

This is a book about the love between parent and child.  It is perfect for curling up with your own children, but would be equally welcome in a Kindergarten or first grade class when talking about parents or families. 

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The Great Race: the story of the Chinese zodiac by Dawn Casey, illustrated by Anne Wilson.

This trickster tale tells the story of the creation of the Chinese zodiac calendar.  The Jade Emperor decides to create a calendar and name each year after an animal.  In order to decide what order the animals should be in, he decides to have them race.  Rat is the smallest of the animals and worries that he will come in last and not have a place on the calendar.  But then Rat gets an idea that just might have him come in first!

The book is great fun with clever ideas and tricks.  The art conveys a strong sense of place while at the same time being whimsical and light-hearted.  Appended at the end is the zodiac calendar where children can find their own year of birth and see what their animal sign means. 

This is a lovely multicultural title that can be shared at any time of the year.  It is a great way to introduce elementary students to the concept of the zodiac and alternate calendar systems. 

Oh, I am the loving and tender-hearted Sheep, married to a happy Monkey, mother to both an honest Ox and a wise Snake. 

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Teens voted for their favorite young adult book during Teen Read Week. Here is the top ten:

1. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
2. "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer
3. "Eldest" by Christopher Paolini
4. "Rebel Angels" by Libba Bray
5. "Peeps" by Scott Westerfeld
6. "13 Little Blue Envelopes" by Maureen Johnson
7. "Poison" by Chris Wooding
8. "Captain Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth" by J.V. Hart
9. "If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where’s My Prince?" by Melissa Kantor
10."Elsewhere" by Gabrielle Zevin

Whoa! Some of my favorite teen novels! These teens have great taste. I too loved Peeps, Elsewhere, and Rebel Angels.

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The Horn Book has a nice collection of reviews of great new children's holiday titles:  Holiday High Notes.  There are certainly enough titles here to fill up a sleigh and keep a whole bunch of naughty or nice children happy for hours. 

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My Buddy, Slug by Jarrett Krosoczka.

This is the rather strange but ultimately wonderful story of Alex whose best friend is Slug.  They do everything together all day long and at first it is fun, but then it gets to be a bit too much for Alex.  Finally, when Slug is sleeping over, Alex complains to his mother.  But Slug overhears and is crushed.  Eventually, after being very lonely, Alex finds a way to apologize to his friend and repair the damage. 

At first, I was a little worried about the premise of a boy having a huge orange slug for a friend, but Slug is really a warm lump of a friend who is completely lovable if a little annoying.  It turns out that using Slug as a friend makes the story more accessible and less judgmental.  The friendly, cartoon-style art is fun and vibrant.  I enjoyed Slug's comments and l-o-n-g stories as well. 

This one is a lot of fun and can make for an interesting addition to bug storytimes or friend units.  It is appropriate for preschoolers and kindergarteners, but could be used for slightly older children to start a discussion on friendships.

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It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini.

It is always amazing when you read a book by a known author and it is entirely different in tone and writing from their previous book.  Vizzini, author of Be More Chill, a sparkling teen book on being cool, reaches a new depth in this novel. 

Craig works very hard to get into the prestigious Executive Pre-Professional High School, but once he succeeds he becomes more and more depressed, until he is barely getting out of bed and spends his days with his best friend smoking pot.  One night when his depression gets to be too much for him and he seriously contemplates suicide, Craig calls the suicide hotline and is told to go to the hospital.  It is there in the mental hospital that Craig learns about what he really wants and needs. 

Taking clinical depression and making it kind of funny, this book is a marvel.   Vizzini succeeds in making Craig a complicated protagonist who can be related to by all readers.  Add to that a non-stereotypical supportive family as well as vivid mental patients and you have a real world for the reader to be part of.  Craig is witty and sarcastic.  He is so well written that seeing the world through his eyes is large part of the joy of the story. 

Recommend this book to teens looking for something a little dark.  They will find that books about depression do not need to be tragedies.  Teens who enjoy humor will also find a great read here. 

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School Library Journal has an interesting article about OST, out-of-school time, which is a school term that directly asks places like public libraries to offer quality programs for children outside of school.  I like that the emphasis is on providing fun for school-aged children.  Many public libraries are already doing this sort of programming.  In fact, I did exactly this sort of thing years ago in the first public library I worked in.  Quality time and programming for latchkey children. 

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The Braid by Helen Frost.

There is some poetry that reads complete with rhyme and a galloping rhythm, and then there is poetry like this book where the word play and skill is so skillfully done that it is almost invisible to the reader.  

This is the story of the intertwined lives of two sisters who are caught in the exodus from Scotland in the 1850s and escape into two very different lives that, like the poems that make up the story, are separate but braided together.  Jeannie leaves Scotland for Canada with her mother, father, younger sisters and baby brother.  Sarah stays with her grandmother, moving to an island in the Outer Hebrides.  The two girls slowly grow up apart from one another and often unable to communicate in any way, though they remain connected by a braid of both their hair that each girl carries. 

The stories of the girls are in turn tragic, amazing and typical of so many people forced to leave their homelands.  The skillfulness of Frost's poetry makes their situation all the more moving.  Once readers finish the book and reach the explanation of the poetic forms, they will find themselves turning back through the poems and marveling at what happened right in front of them but they were unaware of.  It is amazing skill to write this well, but to do it with a limitation of form that doesn't ever seem to limit the writing is simply remarkable. 

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Red Fox at McCloskey's Farm by Brian J. Heinz and Chris Sheban.

Now this is one that I should save for Poetry Friday, but I just can't!  I read this to my sons last night and had both of them listening intently all the way to the end, even though the older one had not started out listening at all. 

Red Fox is sneaking onto Farmer McCl