MORE '2008-REVIEWS' POSTS
Amandina By Sergio Ruzzier Roaring Brook Press $16.95 ISBN: 978-1596432369 Ages 4-8 On shelves now There is a very specific feeling you get from a picture book when the combination of text and image is pitch perfect. It’s a very hard thing to get, mind you. You might have a book where the words are […]
Found (The Missing: Book One) By Margaret Peterson Haddix Simon & Schuster $15.99 ISBN: 978-1416954170 Ages 8-14 On shelves now I’m a children’s librarian so I get to see a lot of children’s books pass through my hallowed public library doors. Lots. But a person can’t see everything so once in a while I like […]
Princess at Midnight By Andi Watson Image Comics, Inc. $5.99 ISBN: 978-1-58240-928-3 Ages 8-12 On shelves now I’m always on the lookout for good kid-friendly graphic novels to stock my library’s shelves with. And I am particularly interested in publishers that don’t get as much library face time as they might since the presence of […]
Snake and Lizard By Joy Cowley Illustrated by Gavin Bishop Kane/Miller $14.95 ISBN: 978-1-933605-83-8 Ages 6-10 On shelves now I appreciate children’s books that acknowledge the bloodthirsty nature of the wild. Oh now look what I’ve gone and done. With one little sentence I’ve given you the impression that the book I’m about to discuss […]
Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories About Growing Up Scieszka By Jon Scieszka Viking (a Penguin imprint) $12.99 ISBN: 978-0670011384 Ages 9-12 On shelves now To adults that don’t normally wander through the shelves of children’s literature the notion of the autobiography for kids is a pretty odd beast. You write a book about […]
The Cabinet of Wonders (The Kronos Chronicles: Book 1) By Marie Rutkoski Farrar, Straus and Giroux $16.95 ISBN: 978-0-374-31026-4 Ages 10 and up On shelves now It seems to me that today’s average everyday fantasy author for kids has to walk a delicate line. You want to create an alternative history novel laden with magical […]
Wombat and Fox: Tales of the City By Terry Denton Kane/Miller $13.95 ISBN: 978-1-933605-81-4 Ages 4-10 On shelves September 1st The old don’t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover rule. It gets me every time. Of course I judge books by their covers! I’m a children’s librarian with a particular kind of taste in titles. I know what I like and […]
Jake Starts School By Michael Wright Feiwel and Friends $16.95 ISBN: 978-0-312-36798-5 Ages 3-8 On shelves now Let’s see. As a kid I had a brief love of a blanket (which ended abruptly when my mother put it in the washing machine one day). I was a perpetual crier, bursting into tears at the slightest […]
The Graveyard Book By Neil Gaiman Illustrations by Dave McKean Harper Collins $17.99 ISBN: 978-0060530921 Ages 11 and up On shelves September 30th I’ve noticed that there’s been an increased interest in the macabre in children’s literature lately. Sometimes when I’ve had a glass or two of wine and I’m in a contemplative mood I […]
King George: What Was His Problem? Everything your schoolbooks didn’t tell you about The American Revolution By Steve Sheinkin Illustrated by Tim Robinson Flash Point (a Roaring Book Press imprint) $19.95 ISBN: 978-1-59643-319-9 Ages 10 and up On shelves now Children are taught history. They turn into teenagers and find out that much of what […]