MORE 'BEST-BOOKS-OF-2011' POSTS
From Then to Now: A Short History of the World By Christopher Moore Illustrated by Andrej Krystoforski Tundra Books $25.95 ISBN: 978-0-88776-5407 Ages 9 and up On shelves now. I have nothing but respect for contemporary historians. A few of them, let us be honest, are rock stars. They have to take something as strange […]
What Animals Really Like By Fiona Robinson Abrams Books for Young Readers $15.95 ISBN: 978-0-8109-8976-4 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. I’m sitting in a room with other children’s librarians. Together, we are attempting to determine what the best children’s books of a given year are. It’s late in the publishing season and we haven’t a […]
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans By Kadir Nelson Balzer and Bray (an imprint of Harper Collins) $19.99 ISBN: 978-0-06-173074-0 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Humans tend to be a highly visual species. When folks tell you not to judge a book by its cover, that’s an optimistic sentiment rather than […]
A Monster Calls By Patrick Ness Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd Illustrated by Jim Kay Candlewick Press $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-5559-4 Ages 11 and up On shelves now I don’t mind metaphors as much as I might. I think that generally I’m supposed to hate them when they show up in children’s literature. I […]
Nursery Rhyme Comics Edited by Chris Duffy Introduction by Leonard S. Marcus $18.99 ISBN: 978-1-59643-600-8 Ages 9-12 On shelves October 11, 2011 Nursery rhymes. What’s up with that? (I feel like a stand up comedian when I put it that way). They’re ubiquitous but nonsensical. Culturally relevant but often of unknown origins. Children’s literary scholar […]
Wonderstruck By Brian Selznick Scholastic Press $29.99 ISBN: 978-0545027892 Ages 9 and up On shelves September 13, 2011 Hype. What’s the point? A publisher believes that a book is going to be big so they crank up the old hype machine and do everything in their power to draw attention to it long before its […]
What Do You See? By Martine Perrin Albert Whitman & Co. $8.99 ISBN: 978-0-8075-6712-8 Ages 0-4 On shelves now. *Offspring Approved* I have always acknowledged the danger of having a child of my own. You see, as a children’s librarian I deal with parents that truly believe that if their kid does or does not […]
Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem By Rosalyn Schanzer National Geographic Children’s Books $16.95 ISBN: 978- 1426308697 Ages 10 and up On shelves September 13th Sometimes I wish I could sit down with my 10-year-old self and have a conversation. We’d chat about the improvements that will come to fashion someday (I […]
Jefferson’s Sons By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Dial (an imprint of Penguin) $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-8037-3499-9 Ages 9-12 On shelves September 15th When I was in high school I started reading Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved on my own. At the time, my mother said something about the book that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever […]
Never Forgotten By Patricia C. McKissack Illustrated by Leon and Diane Dillon Schwartz & Wade $18.99 ISBN: 978-0-375-84384-6 Ages 4 and up On shelves October 11, 2011 The more I read children’s literature the more I come to realize that my favorite books for kids are the ones that can take disparate facts, elements, and […]