MORE 'BEST-BOOKS-OF-2016' POSTS
Snow White: A Graphic Novel By Matt Phelan Candlewick Press $19.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-7233-1 Ages 9-12 On shelves now I’d have said it couldn’t be done. The Snow White fairytale has been told and retold and overdone to death until there’s not much left to do but forget about it entirely. Not that every graphic novel […]
The Best Books of the Year lists are beginning to come out right around now. First we saw the Publishers Weekly List. Then the School Library Journal List was presented as part of a live feed on Kidlit TV. The New York Times released their Best Illustrated list for the year. Soon enough the other […]
Five Children on the Western Front By Kate Saunders Delacorte Press (an imprint of Random House) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-553-49793-9 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Anytime someone writes a new prequel or sequel to an old children’s literary classic, the first question you have to ask is, “Was this necessary?” And nine times out of ten, […]
The Cookie Fiasco By Dan Santat Additional Art by Mo Willems Hyperion Books for Children (an imprint of Disney) $9.99 ISBN: 978-1484726365 Ages 3-6 On shelves now See, this is tricky. Very tricky indeed. On the one hand, as a reviewer of children’s books, not bound to any single periodical, I have the freedom to […]
Juana and Lucas By Juana Medina Candlewick Press $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-7636-7208-9 Ages 6-9 On shelves now Windows. Mirrors. Mirrors. Windows. Windowy mirrors. Mirrory windows. Windows. Mirrors. Sliding doors! Mirrors. Windows. In the world of 21st century children’s literature, diversity should be the name of the game. We want books for our children that reflect the […]
What Color Is the Wind? By Anne Herbauts Translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick Enchanted Lion Books $19.95 ISBN: 978-1-59270-221-3 Ages 5 and up On shelves now I’m going to have a hard time of it when my kids grow up. When I had them I swore up, down and sideways that I wouldn’t turn into […]
Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko Narrative and Translation by David Jacobson, Sally Ito, and Michiko Tsuboi Illustrated by Toshikado Hajiri Chin Music Press $19.50 ISBN: 9781634059626 Ages 5 and up On shelves now Recently I was at a conference celebrating the creators of different kinds of children’s books. During one […]
Cloud and Wallfish By Anne Nesbet Candlewick Press $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-8803-5 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Historical fiction is boring. Right? That’s the common wisdom on the matter, certainly. Take two characters (interesting), give them a problem (interesting), and set them in the past (BOOOOOORING!). And to be fair, there are a LOT of dull-as-dishwater […]
They All Saw a Cat By Brendan Wenzel Chronicle Books $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-4521-5013-0 Ages 4-7 On shelves now It’s funny. Unless you’re a teacher or librarian, a grown adult that does not work or live with children will come into very little contact with picture books. Then, one day, they produce a few kids and […]
Presenting Buffalo Bill: The Man Who Invented the Wild West By Candace Fleming A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Book Press (a division of Macmillan) $19.99 ISBN: 9781596437630 Ages 9-12 On shelves September 20th I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we present history to our kids. Specifically I was thinking about picture book biographies […]