Kids Lit
Books and More for Children and Teens

Dooby Dooby Moo by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin is another in the charming Click Clack Moo series.  This time the duck, cows, sheep and pigs have decided to enter a talent contest at the fair.  The cows sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, the sheep sing Home on the Range, and the pigs do interpretive dance.  Duck manages everyone and makes sure they are rehearsing.  But once they get to the fair, the judges don't seem to appreciate their talents until Duck jumps on stage and saves the day.

Like all of the books in the series, this one begs to be read aloud.  It is such fun to sing like a cow or a sheep.  And the final twist to the story will have children giggling along. 

Share this one with preschoolers on up.  Even elementary age kids will enjoy the humor here.  Be careful because you will find yourself riding in the car and having to sing aloud like the cows and sheep.  A small price to pay for such an enjoyable read.

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Oh No, Not Ghosts!  by Richard Michelson, illustrated by Adam McCauley. 

This is one of those books that I had to sneak out of the house to get it back to the library.  My sons absolutely loved it.  It is the perfect Halloween read-aloud with a myriad of creepy creatures.  A brother and sister who are being quiet to let their father sleep hear a wailing sound.  The boy tries to reassure his sister that it is the wind, not ghosts, but all she hears is ghosts and cries, "Oh no, not ghosts!"  As he tries to reassure her, he continues to name other creatures she shouldn't fear and the pattern continues.

The pictures are creepy but cartoony, and each monster is revealed to be imaginary in the illustrations.  It is a great book to read aloud, because of the little girl's reactions.  Just play those up in a different voice or the book can be confusing to listen to.  What fun!  A perfect book to give kids a few safe shivers.

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Red Cygnet Press publishes children's books written by promising college students.  From shots of the covers alone, the art looks very well-done.  I look forward to reading some of the titles.  The website offers reviews of the books as well as sample pages.  You can also sign up for emails on their books. 

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Chronicle Books publishes a variety of books, including titles for children and teens. You will recognize their titles as being multicultural, clever, and eclectic.

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Bumble Bee Productions is a publisher of children's books. They have two new books coming out this fall, including a new Ruby Lee the Bumble Bee book.

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Dawn Publications is a publisher of nature books for children and adults. Their site offers a list of new releases, those coming soon, special sales, specific series, and specific topics.

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Tundra Books is a Canadian children's book publisher that specializes in bringing books as works of art to children. Their site offers information on their authors, new releases, teacher resources, and downloadable documents like catalogs and award lists.

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TwoCan & NorthWord Books publish informational books for children. NorthWord also publishes picture books and specializes in wildlife books.

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Peachtree Publishers has a special area, Treehouse for Kids, that has their catalog of books, information on events, selected favorite characters, and teacher's guides.

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Groundwood Books is a children's book publisher that focuses on books by Canadian authors. Their site offers information on their new publications, editorial guidelines, and their Latino Books.

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Candlewick Press has a nice site that offers information on their bestsellers, awards, a section on their authors and illustrators, and downloadable activity kits for some of their most popular books.

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Boyds Mills Press publishes books for children and teens. Their site tells of upcoming books, ideas for teaching their books, author and illustrator visits, and lists of books by genre and age.

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The homepage for Front Street Books offers information on the books for children and teens that they publish. They also have news, awards they have won, their writers, artists, and how to submit a manuscript.

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The American Psychological Association has Magination Press, where they publish children's books on special issues like adoption, ADD, depression, disability, divorce, death, emotions, and fears. You can browse by subject, new releases, title, author, and illustrator.

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Houghton Mifflin offers a very cool Curious George site that has information on Curious George, his books, films, art, and media. It also offers a teacher/librarian resource center with lesson plans and reproducibles, as well as online games for kids to play.

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Bloomsbury USA has a children's section where you can see their new releases and search their catalog by age.

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London Free Press: Gritty books appeal to teens is a look at Canadian Annick Press which publishes amazing books like Secrets in the Fire. Their focus is on getting teens to read books that are more reflective and well-written but also speak to today's serious issues. Knowing how great Secrets in the Fire is, I am happy to say that they are achieving their mission.

I must add that I do not agree with their premise that graphic novels are not literature and that we need to start fussing about WHAT kids are reading. I think that time and time again we have seen that the act of reading is what is important, especially for boys who will only read comics. Just let them read, but let us as children's professionals make sure that when they are ready to try something deeper, it is right there waiting for them.

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Barefoot Books offers a wonderful site for their books. You can look through sections with names like Family Hearth, Teachers' Tent, Artists' Cafe and Storytellers' Caravan. The site also offers activities for many of their books in pdf format.

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Llewellyn Publishing offers books for teens and tweens on their site. Many of their other books on wicca, tarot, the paranormal, and astrology would be of interest to teen readers as well.

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After seeing that MTV Books is publishing some books that other publishers are shying away from, I wanted to know more about what they have published. They are an imprint of Simon & Schuster and the site offers news, new releases and a list of books coming soon.

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Independent Publishers Group is a book distributor for independent publishers around the world. One section and catalog is dedicated to children's books. I am disappointed that there are virtually no pictures in the online catalog. With children's books in particular, I think that graphics are a necessary part of a catalog.

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Orca Book Publishers is a publisher of books for children and young adults. Their website offers teachers' guides, news, submission guidelines, and information on both their books and their authors.

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Free Spirit Publishing offers books that help children deal with life's challenges. On their site you can browse the catalog and order online.

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Charlesbridge is a children's book publisher that publishes books for young children as well as instructional materials. The site offers information on their new releases, backlist, authors and illustrators, as well as a section of downloadable activities for classrooms.

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Bolinda Publishing is a publisher of audio books for teens. Their prices are amazing, under $30 for unabridged Books on CD. And best of all, both YALSA and Booklist have included Bolinda titles on their best of 2004 lists.

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WalkerYoungReaders

Website for this publisher of children's books.

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Holiday House

Site for this publisher of children's books.

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Harcourt Children's Books

The Harcourt site has a section specifically on the children's books they publish.

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Enslow Publishers, Inc.

Site for this publisher of K-12 nonfiction books.

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Science Fiction & Fantasy from Baen Books

Since teens enjoy science fiction so much, librarians should know about Baen Books' site. They list new releases and offer a discussion board. But best of all, they have a free library of digital books!

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While visiting Tamora Pierce's site, I followed a link to Teens@Random. There I found lots of books that are on my future reading lists, so I think it is a pretty good site for announcements. I also like that teen fans can visit author's sites and win prizes.

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