MORE 'BEST-BOOKS-OF-2017' POSTS
The time is almost here! Almost here I say! Cast your mind back a year ago when, for whatever reason, I decided it might be a good idea to do 31 days of Best Of lists as they pertain to children’s books. That was then. This is now. And I am prepared to do it […]
HIC! By Anushka Ravishankar Illustrated by Christiane Pieper Tara Books $18.00 ISBN: 9789383145645 Ages 4-7 On shelves now Ladies and gentlemen I ask you, and I ask you truly, can you think of a more international childhood experience than the hiccups? Here we have an unwanted occurrence that comes to every nation in the world. […]
This week the “Best of” lists just started hopping out of the woodwork like fleas. On the one hand you have Kirkus, slowly releasing their lists in dribs and drabs, and on the other you have NYPL simultaneously dropping its YA and JUV lists with a great big thunk. I hear that even Chicago Public […]
I’m Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups By Chris Harris Illustrated by Lane Smith Little, Brown and Company $19.99 ISBN: 978-0-316-26657-4 Ages 7 and up On shelves now What exactly constitutes a celebrity children’s book these days? See, it all used to be so simple when it […]
Coyote Tales By Thomas King Groundwood Books $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-55498-833-4 Ages 7 to 12 On shelves now The older I get the more I like tricksters. I can’t think why that might be. By rights tricksters fall into the strict purview of children. Think of Bugs Bunny and Pippi Longstocking and R2-D2. I could make […]
The Antlered Ship By Dashka Slater Illustrated by The Fan Brothers Beach Lane Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) $17.99 ISBN: 9781481451604 Ages 4-7 On shelves now Take any number of picture books published in a given year. Read them all, cover to cover. Digest them. Ponder them. Then, I have no doubt, you’ll […]
Her Right Foot By Dave Eggers Illustrated by Shawn Harris Chronicle Books $19.99 ISBN: 978-1-4521-6281-2 Ages 6 and up. Consider your country, America. Consider what our teachers have been charged to do. Facing a future where the children of America are inadequate in the realm of nonfiction, our educators have been told to get them […]
Last Day on Mars By Kevin Emerson Walden Pond Press (an imprint of Harper Collins) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-06-230671-5 Ages 9 and up On shelves now I’ll often get what I’d call reference interview questions from the internet as a whole. They come in via Twitter, Goodreads, personal emails, my website, my blog, you name it. […]
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut By Derrick Barnes Illustrated by Gordon C. James A Denene Millner Book, Bolden (an imprint of Agate) $17.95 ISBN: 978-1-57284-224-3 Ages 4-7 On shelves October 10th Do you ever find yourself wondering if a book is too good to be true? Publishers are sneaky little devils. They know […]
Bolivar By Sean Rubin Archaia (a division of BOOM Entertainment) $29.99 ISBN: 9781684150964 Ages 7-12 On shelves November 28th It took a year and a half for me to notice, but by then it was too late. I moved to the Chicago area from New York City in what can only be described as a […]