MORE '2011-REVIEWS' POSTS
Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory By George O’Connor First Second (an imprint of Roaring Brook) $16.99 ISBN: 978-1596437241 Ages 9 and up On shelves now. Aw, phooey. Phooey and also consarn it. George O’Connor is making me break my usual rules about reviewing. Generally speaking, when I review the first book in a series […]
When Life Gives You O.J. By Erica S. Perl Alfred A. Knopf $15.99 ISBN: 978-0-375-85924-3 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. Children’s librarians can be neatly divided into two categories with relatively little difficulty. Basically, they either love and adore dogs and all things doggie related or they don’t. I don’t. I was never the kid […]
A Little Bitty Man and Other Poems for the Very Young By Halfdan Rasmussen Translated by Marilyn Nelson and Pamela Espeland Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes Candlewick Press $15.99 ISBN: 978-0763623791 Ages 3-8 On shelves now. Denmark! Mention the country and children’s literature in one breath and what would most Americans think of? Well, if they […]
The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale By Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright Illustrated by Barry Moser Peachtree Press $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-56145-595-9 Ages 7-12 On shelves October 1, 2011 Animal stories. Done well and you get something like Charlotte’s Web or The Incredible Journey. Done poorly and you cannot name for me […]
The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred By Samantha R. Vamos Illustrated by Rafael Lopez Charlesbridge $17.95 ISBN: 978-1-58089-242-1 Ages 4-8 On shelves now I am lucky to work in a children’s room with a significantly sized bilingual section. The books you’ll find there cover a wide range of languages. Chinese, Arabic, Urdu, you name […]
Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert By Marc Aronson Atheneum Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) $16.99 ISBN: 978-1416913979 Ages 10 and up On shelves August 30, 2011 The notion that history is always happening isn’t necessarily obvious to a kid. I remember […]
Hound Dog True By Linda Urban Harcourt Children’s Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) $15.99 ISBN: 978-0-547-55869-1 Ages 9-12 On shelves September 20th There’s identifying with a work of children’s fiction and then there’s wondering if the author of the work has somehow discovered time travel and was able to observe your younger self. […]
The Book That Zack Wrote By Ethan Long Blue Apple Books $11.99 ISBN: 978-1-60905-060-3 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. I have a theory. Bear with me here. My theory is that whenever there is a literary phenomenon in the teen or middle grade chapter book world, you see little echoes of it in the picture […]
Around the World By Matt Phelan Candlewick Press $24.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-3619-7 Ages 9 and up On shelves October 11, 2011 Book phenomenons are something, aren’t they? Get the right writer and they can use words alone to inspire people to do the craziest things. Whether it’s Wizard Rock or standing on docks to find out […]
Marty McGuire By Kate Messner Illustrated by Brian Floca Scholastic $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-14244-1 Ages 5-9 On shelves now It’s high time “tomboys” rescued their term from its negative connotations. One very rarely runs across parents who use the word with pride. It happens, sure, but more often than not it’s paired with a complaint. Same […]