This list includes my favorite children's or young adult book of the month.  (I have included more than one title for some of the months.)  Most of the titles are recent publications; others are older books that I have just read for the first time.  Enjoy!

 

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September 2009: Rodowsky, Colby.  (2000).  Spindrift.  New York: HarperCollins. 

Gr. 5-7.  In this bittersweet coming-of-age novel, Cassie struggles to understand the breakup of her older sister's marriage and the impending loss of her childhood home.

 

August 2009: McGinty, Alice B., & Azarian, M.  (2009).  Darwin.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 

Gr. 1 - 5.  There's a lot of information about the famous naturalist packed into this brief picture book biography.  Darwin's early life, path into science, and most famous theories are explained in simple, clear language.  Azarian's signature watercolor-tinted woodcuts lend a historical mood to the text.

 

July 2009: Pinkwater, Daniel.  (2004).  Looking for Bobowicz: A Hoboken chicken emergency story.  New York: HarperCollins. 

Gr. 3 - 6.  It's a hot, hot summer in Hoboken, New Jersey, and someone -- or something -- is stealing bicycles around town.  Can Ivan and his friends solve this odd and hilarious mystery?

 

June 2009: Soto, Gary.  (2009).  Partly cloudy: Poems of love and longing.  Boston: Harcourt Mifflin. 

Gr. 6 - 9.  Highly accessible poems.  The first half of the book includes poems told from girls' points of view.  The second half includes poems told from males' points of view.

 

May 2009: Rassmus, J.  (1998).  Farmer Enno and his cow.  New York: Orchard Books. 

K - Gr. 4.  One night Farmer Enno dreams that he is sailing the seas on an orange ship.  He awakes the next morning to find a miniature version of the ship resting on his bedroom floor.  What could this possibly mean?  Rassmus' oil paintings provide surreal visual clues to this unusual picture book.

 

April 2009: Patricelli, Leslie.  (2009).  Higher!  Higher!  Somerville, MA: Candlewick. 

PreS.  At the playground, a little girl imagines swinging as high as a giraffe, as high as a skyscraper, as high as a mountaintop, and so on.  Bold naive art and hand-lettered text highlight the child's perspective.

 

March 2009:  Dakos, Kallis, & Reed, Mike.  (1999).  The bug in teacher's coffee and other school poems.  New York: HarperCollins.

K - 3.  A hungry school building, a frightened pencil yelling to get out of a messy desk, a playground slide bragging that "Children love to slide down me!"  These are just a few of the funny, fanciful poems in this easy reader collection.  The illustrations are equally humorous, giving faces to everything from a football to the number 3.

 

February 2009: Bruel, Nick.  (2008).  Bad kitty gets a bath.  New York: Roaring Brook Press. 

Gr. 2 - 4.  A cat owner struggles to give his very dirty--and very naughty--cat a bath.  The over-the-top humor in this cartoon-illustrated beginning chapter book will make cat lovers giggle and groan.

 

January 2009: Barrows, Annie.  (2008).  Ivy + Bean take care of the babysitter.  San Francisco: Chronicle Books. 

Gr. 2 - 4.  Best friends Ivy and Bean hatch a plan of revenge against the babysitter.

 

December 2008: Horvath, Polly.  (2008).  My one hundred adventures.  New York: Schwartz & Wade. 

Gr. 5 & up.  Tired of a happy but uneventful life with her mother and younger siblings, Jane prays for a summer filled with one hundred adventures.  Her summer turns out to be both adventure-filled and life-changing.

 

November 2008: Friend, Catherine, & Manders, J.  (2007).  The perfect nest.  Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

PreS - 2.  A scheming cat creates the perfect nest to attract birds.  Funny and ultimately sweet, with lively gouache paintings and lots of visual humor.

 

October 2008: Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn, & Clayton, Elaine.  (2008).  42 miles.  New York: Clarion.

Gr. 4 - 8.  A novel in free verse that tells of JoEllen's struggle to bring her two lives (one lived during the week with her mother in the city and one lived on weekends with her father in the country) together in her own mind.  Illustrated with drawings, photos, clippings, and other scrapbook items.

 

September 2008: Alexander, Sally Hobart, & Alexander, Robert.  (2008).  She touched the world: Laura Bridgman, deaf-blind pioneer.  New York: Clarion.

Gr. 4 & up.  Fifty years before Helen Keller, deaf-blind Laura Bridgman learned to communicate with others and managed to live an educated life, lighting the way for future generations of people with disabilities.

 

August 2008: McGill, Alice, & Daly, Jude.  (2008).  Way up and over everything.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Kindergarten & up.  This folktale, which the author heard from her own great-grandmother, tells of five newly captured Africans who fly up and into the sky to escape slavery on a Georgian plantation.  Folk art watercolors bring the antebellum setting to life.

 

July 2008: Hahn, Mary Downing.  (2008).  All the lovely bad ones.  New York: Clarion.

Gr. 3-5.  When Travis and Corey move to Vermont to spend the summer at their grandmother's hotel, their harmless pranks awaken the ghosts of the bad ones.  How can the children put the ghosts to rest again?

 

June 2008: Medearis, Angela Shelf, & Rogers, Jacqueline.  (1997).  The ghost of Sifty Sifty Sam.  New York: Scholastic.

PreS. - Gr. 3.  A Southwestern ghost story of a wailing ghost and the fry cook who tries to spend a night alone in an old house with him.  Dark, watery paintings give Sifty Sifty Sam a scary, scary face.

 

May 2008: Johnson-Davies, Denys, Hamdy, Hag, & Hany.  (2005).  Goha the wise fool.  New York: Philomel.

Gr. 1 - 4.  Brief stories of the beloved Goha character of the Middle East, a sometimes foolish, sometimes wise little man.  Quilted Egyptian tapestries illustrate the tales.

 

April 2008: Spinelli, Eileen, & Valerio, Geraldo.  (2004).  Do you have a hat?  New York: Simon & Schuster.

PreS. - Gr. 1.  Brief profiles of famous hat-wearers, from Nat Love to Carmen Miranda.  Bold acrylic art brings each subject to life.

 

March 2008: Hunter, Norman.  (1933).  The incredible adventures of Professor Branestawm.  London: John Lane.

Gr. 4 & up.  In this classic story collection, the Professor invents a series of wacky inventions, each more disastrous than the last.  These over-the-top stories are still hilarious after more than 70 years.

 

February 2008: Grimes, Nikki.  (2006).  The road to Paris.  New York: Putnam.

Gr. 4 - 6.  Paris is heart-broken when she must move into a foster home without her beloved older brother.  Can she find happiness with her new foster family?

 

January 2008: Berger, Barbara.  (2002).  All the way to Lhasa: A tale from Tibet.  New York: Philomel.

PreS - Gr. 3.  Striking Tibetan-style art decorates this quiet retelling of a Tibetan tale of patience and faith.

 

December 2007: Lin, Grace.  (2007).  Lissy's friends.  New York: Viking.

PreS - Gr. 2.  Lissy, the new girl in school, has trouble making friends.  She begins to fold origami paper animals which come to life and keep her company.  This comforting story, with its cheerful Asian-paper-patterned art, shows young children that it's OK to enjoy spending time alone.

 

November 2007: Lasky, Kathryn.  (2005).  Broken song.  New York: Viking.

Gr. 6 & Up.  After his village is torched during the late 19th century pogroms in Russia, Reuven is forced to flee home with his baby sister hidden in a basket.  (Note: Contains violence that may be inappropriate for some juvenile readers.)

 

October 2007: Madden, Kerry.  (2005).  Gentle's holler.  New York: Viking.

Gr. 4 & Up.  Tragic yet hopeful historical fiction about the struggles of an impoverished family in rural North Carolina in the 1960's.  The strong narrative voice is the great appeal of this novel.

 

September 2007: Levine, Ellen.  (2007).  Up Close: Rachel Carson.  New York: Philomel.

Gr. 6 & Up.  Riveting biography of the naturalist and author who single-handedly started the environmentalist movement. 

 

August 2007: Fradin, Dennis Brindell, & Fradin, Judith Bloom.  (2006).  Jane Addams: Champion of democracy.  New York: Clarion.

Gr. 6 & Up.   This well-crafted character study shows how illness and family tragedy led wealthy young Jane Addams to grow into a leading social worker and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

 

July 2007: Gorbachev, Valeri.  (2007).  Red, red, red.  New York: Philomel.

PreS - Gr. 1.   A sweet, somewhat old-fashioned picture book, in which turtle hurries through town to see something "red, red, red."  Watercolor and ink drawings add to the innocent tone of the story.

 

June 2007: Levithan, David.  (2003).  Boy meets boy.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Gr. 8 - 12.  In many ways, Boys Meets Boy is a typical romance novel--except that both of the main characters are male.  Levithan creates a funny and realistic school culture in which the students celebrate each other for being who they really are, even if it means that the homecoming queen is a football-playing, mini-skirt-wearing transvestite. 

 

May 2007: Johnson, Maureen.  (2006).  Devilish.  New York: Razorbill.

Gr. 8 - 12.  Jane, a child prodigy attending a very Catholic girls' school, refuses to believe that her best friend has sold her soul to a demon, but all signs indicate that the crazy story is true....  A very funny horror spoof and a real page-turner.

 

May 2007: Horowitz, Dave.  (2007).  Five little gefiltes.  New York: Putman.

PreS - Gr. 3.  This is a silly parody of the old song "Five Little Ducks."  Both the story and the art are filled with affectionate stereotypes of Jewish culture, such as the chubby mama gefilte fish ball crying "Oy vey!" each time one of her little gefilte fish balls gets lots.

 

April 2007: Katz, Karen.  (2001).  Over the moon.  New York: G. P. Putman.

PreS - Gr. 2.  A mother lovingly recounts the story of how she and her husband  adopted their daughter from another country.  Vivid folkart adds joy to the story. 

 

March 2007: Woodson Jacqueline.  (1994).  I hadn't meant to tell you this.  New York: G. P. Putman.

Gr. 5 - 8.  Marie finds herself drawn to withdrawn and unkempt Lena, a new girl in school.  As the two become friends, Marie learns Lena's terrible secret.  A sensitive look at incest, race relations, and parental loss. 

 

February 2007: Slater, Dahka, & Ceccoli, Nicoletta.  (2006).  Firefighters in the dark.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

PreS - Gr. 2.  A little girl lies in her bed at night, listening to a fire truck siren and dreaming up series of magical fire-fighting adventures, such as firefighters flying through the night sky to extinguish a burning star.  Bold surrealistic art completes this unusual story.

 

January 2007: Pearson, Tracey Campbell.  (2002).  Bob.  New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

PreS - Gr. 2.  After Henrietta the cat tells Bob the rooster that he needs to learn to crow, Bob sets off to find a fit teacher.  Along the way, he learns to meow, chew his cud, ribbet, and much more.  Pearson's cheerful watercolor illustrations and droll storytelling make this a great read-aloud.

 

December 2006: Prince, April Jones, & Laroche, Giles.  (2006).  What do wheels do all day?  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

PreS - Gr. 1.  Simple rhyming text and lively painted paper collages make this a perfect picture book for toddlers and beginning readers.

 

November 2006: Ibbotson, Eva.  (2004).  The Star of Kazan.  New York: Dutton.

Gr. 5 & up.  Two cooks find a baby in a church and decide to adopt her.  Twelve years later, a strange woman comes to claim her and take her away from her beloved home.  Another page-turner by Eva Ibbotson, this time set in Pre-World War II Vienna.  Don't miss this one! 

 

October 2006: Ibbotson, Eva.  (2001).  Journey to the River Sea.  New York: Dutton.

Gr. 5 & up.  Maia, a plucky British orphan, travels to the wilds of Brazil in 1910 to live with relatives she has never met before.  A nail-biting adventure, in the grand tradition of 19th-century adventure stories. 

 

September 2006: Lowry, Lois.  (2004).  Messenger.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Gr. 6 & up.  Living in a secluded, peaceful community, young Matty begins to see unpleasant changes in his village.  This is the final title in the trilogy that includes The Giver and Gathering Blue.

 

August 2006: Johns, Linda.  (2006).  Hannah West in the Belltown Towers.  New York: Puffin.

Gr. 4 - 7.   If you're looking for some light reading, you might enjoy this fun mystery, in which middle school sleuth Hannah West sets out to solve a series of art thefts in her native Seattle. 

 

July 2006: DiCamillo, Kate, & Ibatoulline, Bagram.  (2005).  The miraculous journey of Edward Tulane.  Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Gr. 2 - 5.  Edward Tulane, a vain porcelain bunny, falls off of a ship at sea and embarks on a series of adventures and self-discoveries. This modern twist on The Velveteen Rabbit (Margery Williams & William Nicholson, 1922) is a real tear-jerker, and one you won't want to miss.  Ibatoulline's gouache illustrations augment the old-timey tone of the narrative.

 

June 2006: Parnell, Peter, Richardson, Justin, & Cole, Henry.  (2005).  And Tango makes three.  New York: Simon & Schuster.

PreS - Gr. 2.  The true story of Roy and Silo, two penguins who live at the Central Park Zoo.  When all of the other penguins pair up in male/female couples, Roy and Silo pair up together as well--even though they are both male.  This story of untraditional love and family in the animal world is told with gentle humor and illustrated with softened watercolor paintings. 

 

May 2006: Johnson, Maureen.  (2005).  13 little blue envelopes.  New York: HarperCollins.

Gr. 8 & up.  Seventeen-year-old Ginny embarks on a mystery tour of Europe, sent by her late aunt.  Along the way she encounters foreign cities, striking scenery, a slightly insane artist, and even a touch of romance.  Perfect beach reading.

 

April 2006: Green, John.  (2005).  Looking for Alaska.  New York: Dutton.

Gr. 9 & up.  With a fresh new voice that is both quirky and bittersweet, first-time novelist John Green tells the story of Miles Halter's first year at an Alabama boarding school.  Miles meets an usual group of friends, most notably the beautiful and emotionally unstable Alaska.

 

April 2006: Ogburn, Jacqueline K., & Priceman, Marjorie.  (2005).  The bake shop ghost.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Kindergarten - grade 3.   This original American folktale involves "the best bake shop in these parts" and the ghost baker who haunts it.  Priceman's flowing watercolor illustrations do a fine job of parallel storytelling.

 

March 2006: Partridge, Elizabeth.  (2005).  John Lennon: All I want is the Truth.  New York: Viking.

Gr. 9 & up.  This handsomely designed photographic biography details Lennon's troubled youth and his meteoric rise to fame.

 

February 2006: Kraske, Robert, & Parker, Robert A.  (2005).  Marooned: The strange but true adventures of Alexander Selkirk, the real Robinson Crusoe.  New York: Clarion.

Gr. 3-6.  A short, highly readable biography of the man who inspired the classic novel Robinson Crusoe.  Even though the facts are not documented very well, and the illustrations do a poor job of depicting Selkirk's island home, the story is so interesting that it still stands as my favorite book for the month.

 

January 2006: Say, Allen.  (2005).  Kamishibai man.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Kindergarten - grade 3.  A retired kamishibai (storytelling picture card) man wants to revive his business, but can his simple stories compete with television?  With the same under-stated prose and exquisite watercolor paintings that he used so successfully in Grandfather's Journey (Houghton Mifflin, 1993), Say again makes the life and culture of modern Japan alive and accessible to young English-speakers.

 

December 2005: Woodson, Jacqueline, & Talbott, Hudson.  (2005).  Show way.  New York: Penguin.

Kindergarten - grade 5.   With poetic prose and multimedia art resembling quilt patterns and scenes, this picture book traces Soonie's maternal heritage beginning with her great-grandmother, a slave whose daughter was sold away from her at the age of seven.  Although many of the ideas in the book are painful, the author's delicate tone manages to avoid being maudlin and even approach joyful at the end. This is a treasure for all mothers and grandmothers to share with their daughters.

 

December 2005: Taback, Simms.  (2005).  Kibitzers and fools: Tales my Zayda told me.  New York: Viking.

Gr. 1 - 5.   A picture book collection of humorous short stories from the author/illustrator's Yiddish-speaking Polish grandfather, illustrated in Taback's typically detailed mixed media paintings.  As I read the stories, I can remember my own grandparents and in-laws using many of the same Yiddish phrases.

 

December 2005:  Kudlinski, Kathleen, & Schindler, S. D.  (2005).  Boy were we wrong about dinosaurs!  New York: Penguin.

Kindergarten - grade 3.  More than your average dinosaur picture book, Boy were We Wrong about Dinosaurs! shows how past scientists often made incorrect conclusions about dinosaurs, such as believing that all dinosaurs had scaly skin.  (Today scientists think that many dinosaurs had fur or feathers.)  The art, which mixes cartoon and realistic elements, helps young readers to understand the important idea that science is speculation, not indisputable fact.

 

November 2005: Allison, Jennifer.  (2005).  Gilda Joyce: Psychic investigator.  New York: Dutton.

Gr. 5 - 8.   After Juliet's dead Aunt Melanie starts to haunt the spooky Victorian mansion where she and her father live, Juliet and her cousin, self-declared "psychic investigator" Gilda Joyce, set out to solve the mystery of Aunt Melanie's death.

 

October 2005: Jurmain, Suzanne.  (2005).  The forbidden schoolhouse: The true and dramatic story of Prudence Crandall and her students.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Gr. 5 & higher.   A biography of brave teacher Prudence Crandall, who withstood extreme social pressure and persevered in her efforts to open a school for African American girls in early 19th century Connecticut. Engaging writing and plentiful illustrations will keep readers of all ages anxiously turning pages.

 

September 2005: Dewdney, Anna.  (2005).  Llama llama red pajama.  New York: Viking.

Preschool - Kindergarten.   A little llama in red pajamas has trouble going to sleep in this simple rhyming tale.  Jewel-toned cartoon llamas add to the fun.

 

August 2005: Potter, Ellen, & Reynolds, Peter.  (2005).  Olivia Kidney at the Exit Academy.  New York: Philomel.

Gr. 5 - 8.   This second entry in the Olivia Kidney series is part comedy, part supernatural fantasy, and part ghost story.  It follows Olivia as she and her father move to a spooky new house where her father is employed as the maintenance man.  A truly strange and fascinating work.  SPOILER WARNING: Read the first entry in this series (Olivia Kidney, 2003) before reading the second entry, as the second volume gives away many of the first volume's secrets.

 

August 2005: Giblin, James Cross.  (2005).  Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth.  New York: Clarion.

Gr. 6 - 10.  Another fascinating book by one of my three favorite nonfiction writers (James Cross Giblin, Russell Freedman, and Jim Murphy).  Giblin's portrait of the Booth brothers is gripping, and the documentation of his research is exemplary. 

 

July 2005: Lowry, Lois, & Thomas, Middy.  (2002).  Gooney Bird Greene.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Gr. 1 - 3.  In this amusing transitional novel, second-grader Gooney Bird Greene tells her classmates a series of amazing true stories about her life, such as the story of how she acquired her unusual name, and the story of how she once rode a flying carpet. 

 

June 2005: Collard, Sneed.  (2005).  The prairie builders: Reconstructing American's lost grasslands.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Gr. 3 - 7.  Farming and industrial development have destroyed more than 96% of America's tallgrass prairies.  This book tells the story of the creation of Iowa's Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, a reconstructed tallgrass prairie.  It is illustrated with stunning full-color photographs of prairie grasses, bison, and butterflies.

 

June 2005: Landry, Leo.  (2005).  Eat your peas, Ivy Louise.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Preschool - Kindergarten.  An exuberant toddler imagines that her peas are tiny circus performers.  Simple cartoon drawings add to the fun. 

 

May 2005: Brown, Don.  (2004).  Odd boy out: Young Albert Einstein. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Gr. 2 - 5.  In this picture book biography of Albert Einstein, the loneliness and oddness of Einstein's childhood are portrayed as by-products of his burning intellectual curiosity.  Expressive watercolor and pen and ink sketches echo the sparseness of the text.

 

April 2005: Henkes, Kevin.  (2003).  Olive's ocean. New York: Greenwillow.

Gr. 4 - 7.  Martha receives a part of Olive Barstow's journal after Olive is hit by a car and killed.  This incident leads her to struggle to understand Olive's death, Martha's place in her family, and her blossoming interest in romance.  Another gentle novel by the beloved picture book illustrator/author, who is an equally talented novelist. 

 

March 2005: Gollub, Matthew, & Stone, Kazuko, G.  (1998).  Cool melons -- turn to frogs!  New York: Lee & Low.

Gr. 1 - 4.  This unusual picture book biography combines text, watercolor illustrations, and a large number of haiku to tell the life story of the Japanese poet Issa, who wrote more than 20,000 haiku over the course of his life. 

 

February 2005: Yolen, Jane, & Nolan, Dennis.  (2004).  The perfect wizard: Hans Christian Andersen. New York: Dutton.

Gr. 1 - 4.  This picture book biography of the beloved writer shows him to have been driven by a life-long search for fame.  Throughout the text, quotes from his stories show how his writing relates to his own life.  Nolan's muted paintings add a note of melancholy to the story.

 

January 2005: Lynch, Chris.  (2000).  Gold dust. New York: HarperCollins.

Gr. 7 - 12.  When young Napoleon moves to town from Dominica, baseball fanatic Richard dreams that the two of them will become famous baseball pros together.  Although sports scenes dominate much of the story, this is really a book about race relations in the United States.

 

December 2004: Dessen, Sarah.  (2004).  That summer. New York: Orchard.

Gr. 7 - 12.  Fifteen-year-old Haven attends two weddings in one summer, her father's wedding to a woman other than her mother, and her sister's wedding to an unremarkable young man.  A melancholy evocation of summer--of heat, of waiting, of lost childhood, and of the bittersweet memories of first love.

 

November 2004: LaRochelle, David, & Wakiyama, Hanako.  (2004).  The best pet of all. New York: Dutton.

Preschool - grade 3.  A little boy begs his mother to let him have a dog.  She says no, but allows him to get a dragon instead.  The simple story and nostalgic 1950s-style paintings add up to a lot of giggly fun.

 

November 2004: Dessen, Sarah.  (2000).  Dreamland: A novel.  New York: Viking.

Gr. 8 & higher.  This melancholy novel tells the story of Caitlin's dark and violent relationship with her first real boyfriend.  The beauty of the tale lies in its carefully crafted prose.

 

October 2004: Hunter, Mollie.  (1988).  The mermaid summer.  New York: Harper & Row.

Gr. 3 - 6.  "About a hundred years ago, they say, there was a mermaid who ruled the cold, wild sea that washes around northern lands." So begins this tale of a girl and boy who attempt to outwit the dangerous mermaid threatening to harm their beloved grandfather.

 

October 2004: Cabot, Meg.  (2000).  The princess diaries.  New York: HarperCollins.

Gr. 7 & higher.  This book and its sequels (four to date) are my guilty pleasure for the month.  There's nothing deep here, just a fun story about fun characters, and some truly funny scenes of high school life.  (Warning: The movie version is DREADFUL.  Save your nine dollars and buy yourself a paperback instead.)

 

October 2004: Lewin, Ted.  (1998).  The storytellers.  New York: HarperCollins.

Gr. 1 - 4.  In the old city of Fez, a boy and his grandfather walk deep into the crowded marketplace.  Breathtaking watercolors evoke the sights, sounds, and smells of historic Morocco.

 

September 2004: Van Draanen, Wendelin.  (2001).  Flipped.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Gr. 5 - 7.  Ever since they were seven years old, eighth-grader Juli has had a crush on her neighbor and classmate Bryce.  But will Bryce ever learn to appreciate the sometimes odd, sometimes flamboyant, and always original girl-next-door?

 

August 2004: Freedman, Russell.  (2004).  The voice that challenged a nation: Marian Anderson and the struggle for equal rights.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Gr. 5 - 9.  Another of Freedman's fine photobiographies.  This time Freedman profiles singer Marian Anderson, the contralto of tremendous talent who became an unwitting progenitor of the Civil Rights movement.

 

July 2004: Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds.  (2001).  Bernie Magruder and the haunted hotel.  New York: Aladdin.

Gr. 4 - 6.  Bernie Magruder is another great series from the prolific Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  In this entry, Bernie is visited by a young ghost.  (Originally published as Bernie and the Bessledorf Ghost.) 

 

June 2004: Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds.  (2004).  Including Alice.  New York: Atheneum.

Gr. 6 - 9.  This is the 16th book (not including the three prequels) in the popular Alice series.  It's a realistic, slightly humorous, series that traces an average young girl as she matures to adulthood.  After reading over 2,000 pages about Alice, I feel as if I actually know her.

 

May 2004: Kraft, Betsy Harvey.  (1998).  Sensational trials of the 20th century.  New York: Scholastic.

Gr. 6 & higher  Fascinating reconstructions of eight controversial trials and the surrounding social contexts: the Sacco-Vanzetti trial, the Scopes monkey trial, the Lindbergh baby trial, the Rosenberg trial, Brown vs. the Board of Education, the Watergate trial, the John Hinckley trial, and the O. J. Simpson trial.

 

April 2004: Johnson, Angela, & Huliska-Beith, Laura.  (2004).  Violet's music.  New York: Penguin.

Kindergarten - grade 2.  Even as a baby, Violet loved to make music: "Boom, shake, beat, shake, all day long."  A joyous story paired with vibrant acrylic and collaged paper illustrations.

 

March 2004: Patz, Nancy.  (2003).  Who was the Woman who Wore the Hat?  New York: Dutton.

Gr. 4 & higher.  Inspired by a hat in the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam, poet/illustrator Patz combines an achingly simple poem with pencil, watercolor, and photograph illustrations to celebrate one of the many lives lost to the Holocaust.

 

March 2004: Kraft, Betsy Harvey.  (2003).  Theodore Roosevelt: Champion of the American spirit.  New York: Clarion.

Gr. 5 - 9.  Lively writing effectively portrays the tireless President as a politician, naturalist, and adventurer extraordinaire.

 

February 2004: Craft, Charlotte, & Craft, K. Y.  (1999).  King Midas and the golden touch.  New York: HarperCollins.

Kindergarten - grade 4.  A lavishly illustrated retelling of the classic story.  Finely detailed oil over watercolor paintings highlight the emotional content.

 

January 2004: Alvarez, Julia.  (2002).  Before we were free.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Gr. 6 & higher.  This is the first young adult novel from the acclaimed author of How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1991).  Although it starts out slowly, tension builds as the story of the 1960s revolution in the Dominican Republic unfolds.

 

December 2003: Johnson, Angela.  (2003).  The first part last.  New York: Simon & Schuster.

Grade 8 & higher.  This beautiful novel uses spare language to tell the rare story of how a sixteen-year-old boy became an unwed teen father.

 

November 2003: Jenkins, Steve, & Page, Robin.  (2003).  What do You do with a Tail like This? 

Kindergarten - grade 3.  Vivid cut-paper collages illustrate this nonfiction picture book.  It makes a great group-share guessing game, as in, "What do you do with a nose like this?"  Answer: "If you're a mole, you use your nose to find your way underground."

 

October 2003: Florian, Douglas.  (2003).  Autumnblings.  New York: Greenwillow.

Kindergarten - grade 6.  The third in Florian's delightful series of seasonal poems and paintings.  Florian paints simple scenes of leaves, wind, pumpkins, and snow in a gentle introduction to the world of poetry.

 

September 2003: Grunwell, Jeanne M.  (2003).  Mind games.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Grades 5 - 8: An oddball group of middle school students spends the semester creating a science fair project about ESP.  An unusual novel that is both funny and touching.

 

August 2003: Garret Freymann-Weyr.  (2000).  When I was Older.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Grades 6 - 9:  Sophie is 15 and still trying to come to grips with her younger brother's death three years earlier.  She forms an emotional alliance with the son of her mother's new boyfriend, who has also suffered a loss.  The beautifully written prose is emotional without being maudlin...kind of like an Anne Tyler novel for teens.

 

July 2003: Crowe, Chris.  (2003).  Getting away with murder: The true story of the Emmett Till case.  New York: Phyllis Fogelman.

Grades 7 & up: This nonfiction book relates the tragic race-related beating and murder of a fourteen-year-old African American boy in 1955 in Mississippi.  Sadly, the confessed murderers (who were white) were never convicted of the crime.  Although the prose is not as well written or as well organized as it could be, this is an important story that all U.S. citizens should know--and never forget.

 

June 2003:  Fleischman, Sid.  (2003).  Disappearing act.  New York: Greenwillow.

Grades 4 - 6.  Fleeing a stalker, Kevin and his older sister move to Venice Beach, California, where they meet a series of unusual street performers.  A typically-Fleischman rollicking tale.

 

May 2003: Day, Nancy Raines, & Haskamp, Steve.  (2003).  Double those wheels.  New York: Dutton.

Kindergarten - grade 3.  This simple introduction to multiplication moves from unicycle to bicycle to car and so on, as a pizza delivery monkey uses a series a transportation modes to deliver a birthday pizza.  Cheery cartoon art in primary colors adds to the fun.

 

April 2003: George, Kristine O'Connell, & Otani, June.  (2002).  Little dog and Duncan.  New York: Clarion.

Preschool - grade 3.  A series of short poems that detail Duncan the dog's visit to his friend Little Dog's house.  Otani's watercolor illustrations capture the energy, anticipation, and affection of the two dogs.

 

 

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