JUST BEING AUDREY by Margaret Cardillo, illustrated by Julia Denos (Balzer & Bray, 2011)
Her mother reminded her that there were more important things than fame..."You must always be kind."
Talk about a duckling growing into a swan! From Audrey Hepburn's childhood beginnings as a gawky girl in ballet class, hiding with family during WWII, to her adventures in acting (meeting the author Colette and cast as Gigi, and landing a role in Roman Holiday), to her other roles in life as a mother and as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, the life of a woman who knew how to be her own unique brave and endearing self is laid out to inspire a whole new generation. I am simply beside myself over the illustrations as lovely as a 1950's back-issue of Vogue; the double-page spread of Audreys all bedeckled in beautiful vintage Hollywood fashion from Funny Face to Breakfast at Tiffany's to My Fair Lady is sure to elicit groans of admiration, and the high-spirited smile Audrey wears as she dons one scarf four different ways is utterly contagious. The illustrator's style is spry, carrying us easily across the whirlwind timeline and aging our pixie queen most gracefully. While the fashionista that is Audrey is undeniable in these pages, the biography is not shallow, sharing insights and highlights of a real life and bringing it around nicely at the end, with a collection of sweet modern-day girls emulating her style. All I can say is: more! More! More! Gene Kelly biography next, please...and thank you. (6 and up)
Also of interest:
In Audrey Hepburn's honor, a clip from Funny Face
, accompanied by Kay Thompson (who is also the author of Eloise
):
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 2/6/2011
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
On Monday my fortune said: Money is like the wind.
And guess what?
I found a dollar under my pillow!
On Tuesday my fortune said: Try to find the good with the bad.
And guess what?
I lost my kite, but...I found a cat.
A week's worth of fortune cookies tell a homey story with a happily every after and a twist at the end. Pull tabs add interest to the concept, allowing each fortune to be tugged from it's fold, and the Caldecott-winning illustrator is in top form, with tight, boxy packaging nicely framing Raschka's wide-brush flourishes. Children's lit enthusiasts may recognize the name Al Bitterman as the author of the snarky and insightful reviews coming out of Reading Reptile, pretty much the greatest children's bookstore in the country. Bitterman is the pseudonym of the mighty Pete Cowdin, one of the store's owners, a guy who really knows what children like to read. He proved it by his inventory, and now, he proves it in his own book. Of course, there are tons of teacher-ly extensions: Chinese New Year, DIY fortune cookies where children write their own forecasts (haiku fortune cookies work nicely for National Poetry Month), or just a fun storytime with a treat at the end. Not since a cootie-catcher has telling the future been so much fun. Your fortune: Good books lead to good readers. You take it from there. (4 and up)
Also of interest:
I see a storytime in your future.
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 1/9/2011
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
The horse race for the Newbery points toward THE DREAMER
by Pam Munoz Ryan, a piece of magical realism that depicts the childhood of poet Pablo Neruda, backed by the ethereal art of Caldecott winner Peter Sis...
by Pam Munoz Ryan, a piece of magical realism that depicts the childhood of poet Pablo Neruda, backed by the ethereal art of Caldecott winner Peter Sis...
and ONE CRAZY SUMMER
by Rita Williams-Garcia, the sensitively told story of a girl in the late 1960's whose mother is involved in the Black Panther movement.
by Rita Williams-Garcia, the sensitively told story of a girl in the late 1960's whose mother is involved in the Black Panther movement.
5 Comments on ON THE EVE OF THE CALDECOTT/NEWBERY AWARDS, last added: 1/12/2011
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 1/8/2011
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
Talk about getting off on the right foot, early January marks the release of my own picture book, FAIRLY FAIRY TALES
(Aladdin, 2011).The inspiration for this book started with an experience I had reading aloud Paul Galdone's CAT GOES FIDDLE-I-FEE
to preschoolers, in the style taught to me by my former boss and mentor Andy Laties
. I hold up the book, where there is clearly a picture of a duck, and carelessly say it is a picture of a tractor, or a pizza, or a rhinoceros, or a pair of underpants. The children immediately correct/chide me. "Nooooooooo!" What fun to correct dumb grown-ups! Later, when I was working on a book about preschool, I visited a classroom to brainstorm about what should go in it, and remembered this tack. I showed them a bunch of pictures of things that might be in a classroom, such as blocks, a sand table, chairs, and...a Tyrannosaurus Rex. "Nooooooo!" cried all the children, except for one boy, a literalist, who promptly went to the toy box and pulled out a seven-inch plastic dinosaur. "Well, maybe," I had to concede. We were off and running. Space alien? Well, maybe, if one landed from Saturn. Cupcake? Well, maybe, if it were somebody's birthday and someone's mom brought them in. "Noooooo" is mighty fun. But the idea of possibility...the "well, maybe!" of it all...that's even funnerer. And that's the spirit I tried to put in this book, which was originally titled Well, Maybe (until the marketers thought, well, maybe something else).
to preschoolers, in the style taught to me by my former boss and mentor Andy Laties. I hold up the book, where there is clearly a picture of a duck, and carelessly say it is a picture of a tractor, or a pizza, or a rhinoceros, or a pair of underpants. The children immediately correct/chide me. "Nooooooooo!" What fun to correct dumb grown-ups! Later, when I was working on a book about preschool, I visited a classroom to brainstorm about what should go in it, and remembered this tack. I showed them a bunch of pictures of things that might be in a classroom, such as blocks, a sand table, chairs, and...a Tyrannosaurus Rex. "Nooooooo!" cried all the children, except for one boy, a literalist, who promptly went to the toy box and pulled out a seven-inch plastic dinosaur. "Well, maybe," I had to concede. We were off and running. Space alien? Well, maybe, if one landed from Saturn. Cupcake? Well, maybe, if it were somebody's birthday and someone's mom brought them in. "Noooooo" is mighty fun. But the idea of possibility...the "well, maybe!" of it all...that's even funnerer. And that's the spirit I tried to put in this book, which was originally titled Well, Maybe (until the marketers thought, well, maybe something else). A little boy has a pile of story books that he wants his mother to share at bedtime, but her reading seems a bit off. For instance, take The Three Little Pigs. Straw? Yes. Sticks? Yes. Bricks? Yes. Solar panels? Nooooooooo!
6 Comments on HAPPY NEW YEAR and HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY TO ME!, last added: 1/10/2011
Display Comments
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 12/30/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
PICTURE BOOK
CLEVER JACK TAKES THE CAKE by Candace Fleming, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Schwartz & Wade, 2010)
Jack is bringing a gift to the princess for her birthday, and he has it all planned out. Even though he’s broke, he’s going to make the best with what he has.
And that same mornning, he traded his ax for two bags of sugar, and his quilt for a sack of flour. He gave the hen an extra handful of seed in exchange for two fresh eggs, and he kissed the cow on the nose for a pail of her sweetest milk. He gathered walnuts. He dipped candles. And in the strawberry patch he searched…and searched…and searched until he found the reddest, juiciest, most succulent strawberry in all the land. “Delicious!” said Jack as he plucked it from its stem.
Wah-lah, all the ingredients for a perfect cake, with “princess” spelled out in walnuts, and away sets Jack for the castle, only to be hindered by four-and-twenty blackbirds, an ogre with a sweet tooth, a dark forest, a hungry dancing bear and a castle guard who informs him that the princess is allergic to strawberries. Finding himself at the front of the royal receiving line, what does Jack have left to give? A story of course, and one that knocks the princess’ royal socks off.
Candace Fleming is crazy versatile in her gift for writing, penning ambitious and well-researched historical nonfiction for kids (check out BEN FRANKLIN’S ALM
0 Comments on CLEVER JACK TAKES THE CAKE (PICTURE BOOK) as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 12/1/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
PICTURE BOOK
“Where’s Keeko?” she asked.
“Ida!” scolded Katya. “That’s for babies.” She looked around, then whispered, “I still keep her in my pocket sometimes.”
With a laugh, Katya ran off. Ida chased after her.
Dotty tried to catch up, but the snow made it hard.
When Ida goes to school, she brings her imaginary friend Dotty with her, and it turns out that the classroom is populated with plenty of such companions. But as time passes, these partnerships dissipate, and Ida is stigmatized. All the same, she is not yet willing to say goodbye, Dotty being so very real to her in spite of what other people see. Only after a very poignant talk with her empathetic teacher is Ida able to loosen the leash on her pet, her own pedagogue proving that you don’t need to let go of the best parts of your imagination in order to carry on into the world of grown-ups.
Sometimes there comes a book that undermines any hope I could have of descriptive prowess and just sends me reeling into a repeating chorus of PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT! Oh my shelves, this is why you were built, let me put this on you and take it off again and again to see if it STILL makes me cry with each new reading, why YES IT DOES! Pardon my lack of decorum but my goodness, teachers certainly read a lot of books and it absolutely rattles the marrow to find one that “gets it” so 110%, one written with such a sense of surprise and real love, and one that so freshly suggests growing up is not necessarily about letting go, but about holding on with grace; a great message both for little people and the big people who share with them. Loose, lively, largely ink illustrations are very colorful and expressive, and manage the tricky realistic and the otherworldly dichotomy here. Do you still have what you imagine in your pocket, or on a long blue leash? Not since Margery Williams’ THE VELVETEEN RABBIT
0 Comments on DOTTY (PICTURE BOOK) as of 1/1/1900
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 11/22/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
Wow, a lot of cold and flu going around. Time for a reading prescription.
I FEEL BETTER WITH A FROG IN MY THROAT 
by Caralyn Becker (Houghton Mifflin)
by Caralyn Becker (Houghton Mifflin) Which is the surest cure for a wound: honey, moldy bread, puppy kisses, spider webs or maggots? All of these prescriptions were employed at some point in history. Millipedes were used for stomachaches, holes drilled in the head for migraines, and necklaces were made of earthworms for sore throats, all with varying degrees of success starting with zero. What fun, in multiple choice format, to discover the surprising answers of which alchemy rated an A+. Well written in an inviting conversational style, the text is enhanced with humorous digital mixed media illustrations that suggest rich paintings with tongue applied firmly in cheek. Following up on her unusual and enticing children’s nonfiction such as WHO PUT THE B IN BALLYHOO
and THE RAUCOUS ROYALS
, likewise, this well-researched, bibliography-backed volume doesn’t flinch as it conveys the finer, funnier and freakier details of history. A picture book boon for older children, this doubles most definitely as a sure cure for reluctant readers. (8 and up)
and THE RAUCOUS ROYALS, likewise, this well-researched, bibliography-backed volume doesn’t flinch as it conveys the finer, funnier and freakier details of history. A picture book boon for older children, this doubles most definitely as a sure cure for reluctant readers. (8 and up)Also of interest:
Add a Comment
0 Comments on I FEEL BETTER WITH A FROG IN MY THROAT (NONFICTION) as of 1/1/1900
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 11/12/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
PICTURE BOOK
MIRROR by Jeannie Baker (Candlewick, 2010)
“The idea for this book came from my delight traveling in a country very different from my own. At the time, in my own country, there was much political poisoning of attitudes of foreigners and foreignness. But traveling along in remote Morocco, a woman 'stranger' myself, I was met with much friendliness and generosity from 'strangers.' The idea for the book was right there: that outward appearances may be very different but the inner person of a 'stranger' may not be a stranger at all. Like each other, we live to be loved by family and friends and to be a part of a larger family, a community. Inwardly we are so alike, it could be each other we see when we look in a mirror."- Jeannie Baker
Get ready for something out of the children’s book “box.” Two parallel stories of two families: one in urban Australia, one in Morocco. When you open the single book, two bound texts are revealed, one on the front side of the binding and one on the backside, one you follow right to left, the other, left to right, in mirror image, with pages to be turned at the same time. In this way, we go wordlessly through an average day for both families, both involving shopping, one side featuring a boy’s trip to the mega hardware store in a shopping mall, the other to a sandy desert market. Not since Mistumasa Anno’s ALL IN A DAY has parallel timelines gotten such unusual play.
Jeannie Baker is a seasoned children’s book illustrator (some teachers may recognize her earlier work, WHERE THE FOREST MEETS THE SEA 
from rainforest units). I hope it can be appreciated what a major, major undertaking this latest work must have been. Even the conception of the project, requiring some reader acrobatics decoding narratives in two different directions, literally and figuratively, redefines in some way the structure and expectation of a book. The wordless text gives the story universality, with a storyline intended clearly to unify, while never sacrificing the cultural integrity of each co
from rainforest units). I hope it can be appreciated what a major, major undertaking this latest work must have been. Even the conception of the project, requiring some reader acrobatics decoding narratives in two different directions, literally and figuratively, redefines in some way the structure and expectation of a book. The wordless text gives the story universality, with a storyline intended clearly to unify, while never sacrificing the cultural integrity of each co
0 Comments on MIRROR (PICTURE BOOK) as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 11/7/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
NONFICTION
STAND STRAIGHT, ELLA KATE by Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise (Dial, 2010)
Little Ella Kate Eming didn’t stay little for long. Due to a gland disorder that was poorly understood by the doctors of the late nineteenth century, she sprouted up like the tallest sunflower, ultimately over eight feet. In her small town in Missouri, she was able to find friends and had parents who cared for her dearly, building her a special desk for school, hemming her dresses longer and longer, and always advising her to “stand straight” instead of hiding her difference. All the same, some painful teasing makes it so she stays close to home. When a man from a museum approaches her with an unusual gig, will she cower or come into the spotlight? One of the most heartwarming parts of the story is when Ella Kate can finally afford to build a house to her specifications, and can really be at home, in her own place and her own body. First-person narrative helps to bring Ella Kate to life, and makes all the more palpable the pain of the moniker of “freak,” but also makes her victories glow all the more brightly, a woman who traveled, earned money and had great and unique adventures when few opportunities were available to women of any size. The matte acrylic illustrations are folksy but still manage great feeling, with varied layouts that maintain interest and compliment the action throughout. This is a book about a true hero, inspiration and rare spirit, executed with a great and contagious affection and admiration for its subject. What child doesn’t feel different in some way, and wouldn’t be fortified by such a story? Read this, and you’ll be standing straight for an ovation for a truly outstanding picture book biography. (7 and up)
Also of interest:
Step right up, and see the four-year-old Charles Stratton, two feet tall and fifteen pounds, same as he was as a seven-month-old baby. Master promoter P.T. Barnum didn’t miss a beat when it came to recruiting Charles for his circus, making him ve
0 Comments on STAND STRAIGHT, ELLA KATE (NONFICTION) as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 10/27/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
THE DARK EMPEROR & OTHER POEMS OF THE NIGHT by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen (Houghton Mifflin)
To all of you who crawl and creep,
Who buzz and chirp and hoot and peep,
Who wake at dusk and throw off sleep;
Welcome to the night.
To you who make the forest sing,
Who dip and dodge on silent wing,
Who flutter, hover, clasp and cling:
Welcome to the night!...
Welcome, indeed, to page after page of the most striking hand-painted relief prints since the work of Christopher Wormell, decorated by pristine poetry (sigh to the ardency of the “Love Poem of the Primrose Moth,” mind the “Night Spider’s Advice” [ Do your work, then / sit back and see / what falls into your lap. / Eat your triumphs, / eat your mistakes…”] and amble along in jocular step with “I Am a Baby Porcupette”). From the loamy mushroom rot and curl of a forest underfoot to the swirl and swipe of bat’s wings, croak of toads and crawl of efts, the book parlays back and forth between mysterious midnight spell a scientific explanation. While the somewhat bright azure background color conveys a mood that is not always shadowy enough for the subject, the full moon traverses the sky on every page and peeks out from between tree trunks, boughs and webs to remind us, this is night. These poems are the right size for a child’s imagination, with succinct and elegant scientific explanations in the right-side columns anda nifty glossary to help young readers tackle words like “stridulation,” “spinnerets” and “wane." Even after the closing of the book, the content spreads in the spirit like the lightening sky of day. A small epic to mood and beauty. (7 and up)
Also of interest:
0 Comments on THE DARK EMPEROR AND OTHER POEMS OF THE NIGHT (POETRY) as of 1/1/1900
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 10/24/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
PICTURE BOOK
NAPI MAKES A VILLAGE/NAPI FUNDA UN PUEBLO by Antonio Ramirez, illustrated by Domi (Groundwood/Libros Tigrillo) Drawing from the author's own childhood memories, we have the story of a Mazateca girl (from Oaxaca, Mexico) whose family and village is relocated into the jungle so the government can build a dam. There, the community works struggles to tame the wild landscape so they may continue to live and farm there, all under the watchful eye of a stoic jaguar in a tree. When Napi's father is injured in an accident with a workhorse, the jaguar comes to Napi in a dream, soothing her and advising her on what such a little girl might do to help facilitate his healing. Even in the midst of great adversity unique to the geography and circumstance, the universal love of family and the challenges of a big move stays focal in this story. Oversized and especially bright, the simple, folkloric watercolor illustrations have an extreme vibrancy and vim, seeming to bleed into unexpected rainbows and pools in the heat of the jungle's canopy. Children will appreciate the engaging drama of this real
conflict combined with the magic of a dream, and the hopeful ending that underscores the resiliency of both the child and the group that works together. Created by two activists for Mexico's native peoples, the story never strays from genuine feeling while never resorting to the didactic; rather, it is an extremely personal story treated with great beauty, sure to build an empathetic bridge across miles of experience for many American children. Alternating Spanish and English text make this an extra marvelous pick for bilingual collections. (7 and up)Also of interest:
RAIN SCHOOL by James Rumford (Houghton Mifflin)Thomas arrives at the schoolyard, but there are no classrooms. There are no desks.
It doesn't matter.
There is a teacher.
"We will build our school," she says. "This is the first lesson."
And so the children learn to make mud bricks and desks, construct a roof of grass and saplings, and bring in chairs of wood. And inside, amidst the warm smells of fields ready for planting, the children learn and learn and learn. When the big rains come, nine
4 Comments on NAPI MAKES A VILLAGE (PICTURE BOOK), last added: 10/25/2010
Display Comments
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 8/17/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
PICTURE BOOK
1+1=5 AND OTHER UNLIKELY ADDITIONS
by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Brenda Sexton (Sterling, 2010) When does 1+1=5? How about 1 set of triplets + 1 set of twins = 5 babies! Does 1+1=14? Yes, when 1 ant + 1 spider = 14 legs! Sometimes 1+1= hundreds and hundreds, if you are counting the seeds in 1 pumpkin + 1 watermelon! And more traditional number-crunchers needn't worry, 1+1 does ultimately equal 2, if you count two friends. This ingenious book makes the impossible very possible by exploring outside of the box, and while it may not do wonders for math skills, it certainly creates magic when it comes to divergent thinking. Bright, geometric illustrations nicely bordered and framed make every page fun to turn, and add a sense of order to the boundless imagination that this book will inspire. For older children, use it as a warm-up to the more advanced mathematical poems in Betsy Franco's marvelous MATHEMATICKLES
(where a tadpole=2/3 frog, and cold air divided by breath = tiny cloud). Easily one of the most inventive books of the year, what creative math problems can your children devise with such inspiration? 1 crazy original read-aloud + 1 classroom/homeschooler/booklover eager to look at math in a whole new way = integrated learning. It all adds up. (6 and up)Also of interest:
Other new picture books to add to the teacher's fall reading pantry.
SIVU'S SIX WISHES
by Jude Daly (Eerdmans, 2010) Sivu the stonemason has a talent for carving beautiful sculpture, but he remains unsatisfied. How wonderful it must be to have the power of the rich businessman who patronizes his work! Magically, Sivu's wish is granted. When he disc
1 Comments on 1 + 1 = 5 (PICTURE BOOK), last added: 8/21/2010
Display Comments
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 8/10/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
My list of 10 Picture Books I Couldn't Teach Without is posted at
Cathy Mere, author of MORE THAN GUIDED READING
and blogger at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community, in cooperation with Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning, invited/challenged members of the Kidlitosphere blogging community to come up with ten picture books they couldn't teach without. Please visit my other blog especially for educators to see which titles I chose...and to devise your own "if I were on a desert island" collection!
and blogger at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community, in cooperation with Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning, invited/challenged members of the Kidlitosphere blogging community to come up with ten picture books they couldn't teach without. Please visit my other blog especially for educators to see which titles I chose...and to devise your own "if I were on a desert island" collection!Meanwhile, the schoolbell's ringing! Readers, please line up for some middle-grade stories that will really stretch your thinking.
FICTION 
ME AND ROLLY MALOO 
by Janet S. Wong (Charlesbridge, 2010)Jenna Lee is a smart, math-loving fourth grader, but is frowned upon by the more popular girls in her class (and their mothers) for being slightly shabby and idiosyncratic. Queen Bee Rolly Maloo concedes to some limited friendship with Jenna, though, when it means she can ask for an answer on a high-stakes test. When Mrs. Pie busts them in the act of cheating, it is the beginning of a turn of events that can send Jenna Lee into a downward spiral...unless a few loyal classmates speak out, and a teacher in a compromising position can solve the mystery behind the misbehavior. Cheating makes for an engaging subject, but beyond that, many complex issues are addressed here with honesty, age-appropriateness and aplomb: economic class prejudice, the pressures and impact of high-stakes testing on school communities, the difference between tattling and protecting, and the effect of parent
3 Comments on ME AND ROLLY MALOO (FICTION) and 10 PICTURE BOOKS I WOULD NOT WANT TO TEACH WITHOUT, last added: 8/11/2010
Display Comments
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 8/8/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
PICTURE BOOOK
For my birthday I get tickets to the Royal Ballet. "Can Biff come, too?" I ask Dad. "He loves ballet..."
"No," says Dad. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: Dogs don't do ballet!"
Miss Polly, the ballet teacher, concurs with Dad. This does not stop the little bulldog from twisting his neck upward to longingly admire a tutu hanging on a doorknob, or peering over a windowsill to observe an eclectic row of little girls of all colors, body types and fabulous hair-do's lined up at the barre. The dog's owner can't help from feeling watched as she rides the bus and walks down the street en route to the big show. It seems like this canine understudy is not so easily discouraged by a few haters. More than ready for his moment in the spotlight, is the audience ready for him? Animals with performance aspirations are not new to the pages of children's books (Robert Kinerk's CLORINDA
, Margie Palatini's MARY HAD A LITTLE HAM
, Sergio Ruzzier's especially lovely AMANDINA
, and Lydia and Don Freeman's PET OF THE MET
to name a few), but the theme is executed here with a special panache, each page as fresh as a bloom in an opening night bouquet. The storytelling moves along at a nice allegro tempo, the art well-matched with a loose a
, Margie Palatini's MARY HAD A LITTLE HAM, Sergio Ruzzier's especially lovely AMANDINA, and Lydia and Don Freeman's PET OF THE MET to name a few), but the theme is executed here with a special panache, each page as fresh as a bloom in an opening night bouquet. The storytelling moves along at a nice allegro tempo, the art well-matched with a loose a
0 Comments on DOGS DON'T DO BALLET (PICTURE BOOK) as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 8/2/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
NON-FICTION
ORANGUTANS ARE TICKLISH: FUN FACTS FROM AN ANIMAL PHOTOGRAPHER by Steve Grubman, with Jill Davis (Schwartz & Wade, 2010)The cheerful little organgutan, hands on his knees, postured like an old vaudevillian foreshadows the fun inside this book. All sorts of familiar wild animals get double-page spreads, each with a great photo and unusual facts. Did you know giraffes whistle, moo hiss and roar (and sometimes kiss), kangaroos can't hop backwards, and like snowflakes, no two zebra patterns are exactly the same? Information about each animal is succinct and conversational, but the photos take on special meaning thanks to the back story: looking at a tiger feels different once you know it chased the photographer, and the lion's expression takes on new meaning, knowing what has caught his eye. Speaking from a school librarian POV, this is the kind of book that starts a tug-of-war, so consider a couple for your animal book menagerie. (6 and up)
Also of interest:
Kids always love information about the animal kingdom, and there are some wonderful contemporary authors and series that readers will be wild about.
Check out the work of Steve Jenkins, especially his recent release NEVER SMILE AT A MONKEY
(Houghton Mifflin, 2009) featuring his signature paper-cut illustrations and perfectly paced paragraphs that pack a punch of information on every page. Each elegant, sharp picture against a white background is coupled with an exploration of an animal's defense mechanism, often very surprising and hidden...I never knew a platypus had ven
2 Comments on ORANGUTANS ARE TICKLISH (NONFICTION), last added: 8/5/2010
Display Comments
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 7/17/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
For children, so much of the school year is clogged with assigned reading, it's a treat as delicious as an orange push-up to get to choose books that reflect personal tastes without judgment or tests and that can be read at any pace, books that are relaxing and friendly and plain old fun, books that make us laugh or carry us away! I had such a wonderful time recently on NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook show, discussing some of the best summer reading (click to listen!) with experts Pete Cowdin of Reading Reptile Bookstore and Monica Edinger of the blog Educating Alice! My only complaint was that when we were finished, I felt we were just getting started. So in the spirit of "to be continued," here are a few favorite summer fiction picks for children old enough to get lost in a book.
THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA
by Tom Angleberger (Amulet, 2010)
THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA by Tom Angleberger (Amulet, 2010)This hilarious book in short chapters is presented like a collection of scientific evidence to discover whether the goofy origami Yoda puppet that Dwight insists on wearing on his finger is an oracle, able to give advice on such important middle-school matters as what to do when splashed water makes it look like you’ve wet yourself or how to talk to a girl, or is it just a wad of green paper? At the start of the story, Dwight is often called a weirdo and a geek, but by the end of the book, the characters sense that isn’t very nice, and maybe isn’t even that accurate. Friends (and the opinions of friends) rightly play an important role, and commentary is inserted throughout, making for the kind of eclectic format that appeals to reluctant readers. Of course, instructions for folding your own origami Yoda are in the back. This pitch-perfect middle school book full of clever resolutions to common conundrums is both a solid pick for independent fun or discussion with groups. Fans and finishers of DIARY OF A WIMPY KID
by Jeff Kinney will find what they’ve been wishing for here. If you have a child going into the sixth grade all the way through sophomore year of high school, you need this book, and if you have a boy in that age group, you
by Jeff Kinney will find what they’ve been wishing for here. If you have a child going into the sixth grade all the way through sophomore year of high school, you need this book, and if you have a boy in that age group, you
6 Comments on THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA and GREAT SUMMER READS (FICTION), last added: 7/19/2010
Display Comments
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 7/15/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
PICTURE BOOK
MISS BROOKS LOVES BOOKS (AND I DON'T) by Barbara Bottner, illustrated by Michael Emberley (Knopf, 2010)
Miss Brooks tells us about something truly terrifying: Book Week!
"You each need to pick a favorite story to share with the class. I want you to wear a costume and tell us about it. Really show us why you love it!"
"I'll never love a book the way you do," I tell Miss Brooks.
"Don't be so sure," she says.
Fairies? No. Dogs? No. Cowboys? No. This reluctant reader is "stubborn as a wart." Did somebody say warts?! Heyyyy...! This hilarious and honest picture book tells it like it is: with some persistence, there's a book out there for every reader, it's all about making the right connections. The wry cartoon illustrations are priceless, particularly those that show Miss Brooks pulling out all the stops in order to share her enthusiasm, whether dressing as a Very Hungry Caterpillar, donning a pumpkin on her head for a seasonal storytime, or packing her unwilling patron's backpack full of about three thousand books in the quest to help her find the one that will make all the difference. This book has so much that is recognizable to readers, whether it's the tug of war between red-hot booklover and lukewarm browser, to the title that ultimately creates a reading convert. More than just a very funny story by a veteran of children's book charmers (remember BOOTSIE BARKER BITES?) this is a celebration of why we need libraries: not just as places where we find books, but places where we find the people who believe in their power. This is a must-must-MUST-have for every reluctant reader, and for every cutie embarking on a summer reading program (cuties being both kids and librarians). Ummm, why isn't this book a New York Times bestseller? Yet? (5 and up)
Also of interest:
THE JELLYBEANS AND THE BIG BOOK BONANZA
8 Comments on MISS BROOKS LOVES BOOKS (AND I DON'T) (PICTURE BOOK), last added: 7/17/2010
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 6/28/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
It's beautiful summertime, what could be better than a day in the country? Here's a book that will take you there.
I don't know why, why, why BEACH
didn't win one of the most major awards the year it came out in 2006, I suppose I just have to file that one under "s" for "shrug" or "w" for "what the heck more could they want?" or possibly "what-evah," but luckily the voice of this quick-sketching artist has not been quieted. In these latest pages is a grace as deep as the roots of striving plants, as high as cirrus clouds.
didn't win one of the most major awards the year it came out in 2006, I suppose I just have to file that one under "s" for "shrug" or "w" for "what the heck more could they want?" or possibly "what-evah," but luckily the voice of this quick-sketching artist has not been quieted. In these latest pages is a grace as deep as the roots of striving plants, as high as cirrus clouds. "The girl picks more corm for dinner...When she shucks the ears of corn, they squeak."
"Even the clouds seem to make noise as they bump across the sky."
"On the farm, even when it's dark, some animal is always awake."
"The rows look like wet hair just after it has been combed."
"...the fields change from the color of milk chocolate to the color of dark chocolate."
"The girl reads on the swing, until the sun finds her under a tree."
"Birds whirl behind the chaff, eating insects.""Kernels rattle against the silo's metal sides like someone typing very loud and fast."
"September shows that some things are not forever."
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 6/9/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
THE NIGHT FAIRY by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Angela Barrett (Candlewick, 2010)
On the night of Flory's peril, she was less than three months old. It was a windy night: cool and sweet with springtime. Flory was coasting on the breeze, letting it toss her wherever it liked. She was still very tiny--as tall as an acorn--and her green wings glittered in the moonlight. A little brown bat swooped down upon her, caught her, and crunched up her wings.Flory cried out...If she had been a hundred years old she could have cast a spell to make her wings grow back in an instant. But the cry that came from her was no spell at all, only a sound of pain and loss.The little bat, realizing his mistake, opened his mouth and spat. He stammered, "So sorry!" but Flory did not hear...she was falling through the night, spinning like a maple seed.
Who could have imagined the drama playing out in a backyard garden! After Flory's injury, she is forced into living and hiding in an abandoned birdhouse, marveling and managing the wonders of an unfamiliar world: spiders, hummingbirds, raccoons, the mysterious human who refills the bird feeder, and her ally Skuggle, a hungry squirrel with a one-track mind. Flory's temper, her bravery, her loneliness and hope are all exquisitely drawn, and the author never loses the fervor of her first chapter, introducing exciting situations that maintain a cliffhanging tension from the first page to the last. The story ends on a high note of friendship from an unexpected place, and the reassurance that faced with our fears, all may yet be well. Painted plates gracefully illustrate the scenes about the fate of the little fairy we come to know and care about. The book is brief at a little over a hundred small, double-spaced pages, making a lovely short story for an advanced reader or an achievement for an emergent reader; either way, it's a perfect brief read-aloud or a teacher looking to share a great book over just a few days. Schlitz is batting a thousand in terms of publication; she has yet to write a bad book (evidenced in A DROWNED MAIDEN' S HAIR 
and the Newbery-winning GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES!
), reason enough to warrant much deserved praise, but even more than that, she has already succeeded so brilliantly i
and the Newbery-winning GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES!), reason enough to warrant much deserved praise, but even more than that, she has already succeeded so brilliantly i
0 Comments on THE NIGHT FAIRY (FICTION) as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 6/2/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
BIG RED LOLLIPOP by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Viking)
When I was teaching at a Chicago Public School, a wonderful, seasoned kindergarten teacher described a debacle: a new student, from China, who barely spoke English, had been excluded from receiving an invitation to a birthday party that other girls had attended. The new girl did not know what an American birthday party comprised, having never been to one, and if she wasn't invited, how could she learn? The teacher's solution was to throw an "unbirthday" party in the classroom, in which everyone received a formal invitation, and the little girl was then comfortably welcomed into the culture of pin-the-tail on the donkey and candles on cupcakes. The teacher gift-wrapped a book and read it aloud to the class, as a present to all!
I could not help remembering this story and that student's initial exclusion as I read the trials of Rubina, who is so excited to receive her first invitation to an American birthday party, but her mother's cultural background (Pakistani?) and new immigrant status does not allow her to recognize the faux pas in bringing an uninvited sibling as a guest to the fête. Rubina is scandalized at being forced to have her little sister in tow, and to add insult to injury, she eats the coveted red lollipop that was in Rubina's goody bag. The pathos is palpable: "The worst thing is that all the girls at school know if they invite me to their birthday parties, I have to bring Sana. I don't get any invitations for a really long time," and the accompanying illustration makes a poignant use of empty space, distancing Rubina from potential friends. When little sister Sana comes home waving an invitation, it's a perfect opportunity for a ruthless payback; but instead, Rubina responds with empathy, and manages to convince her mother not to make the same mistake twice. This ending is unexpected, graceful and kind, and especially refreshing in a literary world where children's realistic fiction can be so often unnecessarily--and unrealistically--snarky. The story's framework is universal; pesky sisters, the excitement of invitations, trying to be included and grown-ups who just don't seem to understand are all themes that will have a lot of heads nodding and offers plenty to discuss. We have already enjoyed the illustrator's fetching line and stand-out sense of humor in JUMPY JACK AND GOOGILY
, MEET WILD BOARS
and most fam
, MEET WILD BOARS and most fam
0 Comments on BIG RED LOLLIPOP (PICTURE BOOK) as of 6/3/2010 12:25:00 AM
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 5/11/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
PICTURE BOOK
What if you had a garden in which the flowers could change color and pattern with the variety of a turning kaleidoscope, just by thinking about it? What if the rabbits were made of chocolate? What if you planted a seashell, and seashells grew...or jellybeans, or buttons, or umbrellas? What if the strawberries glowed like lanterns? In the tradition of Ruth Krauss' THE CARROT SEED
and the lesser-known LOLLIPOP TREE
by Cherney Berg, in this little girl's garden, the seeds of imagination are what germinates the fastest. Henkes' colorful watercolors are so vibrant they seem nearly still wet on the page, as if we were sitting beside the illustrator as he dipped his brush...the perfect spirit for a story of gardening alongside a friendly grown-up. Share it, plant the idea of "what if" and watch...how does your garden of possibility grow? (4 and up) And for more picture book flower power, click here!
and the lesser-known LOLLIPOP TREE by Cherney Berg, in this little girl's garden, the seeds of imagination are what germinates the fastest. Henkes' colorful watercolors are so vibrant they seem nearly still wet on the page, as if we were sitting beside the illustrator as he dipped his brush...the perfect spirit for a story of gardening alongside a friendly grown-up. Share it, plant the idea of "what if" and watch...how does your garden of possibility grow? (4 and up) And for more picture book flower power, click here!Also of interest:
More spring-y stories of what-if.
More spring-y stories of what-if.
HEY, RABBIT! by Sergio Ruzzier (Roaring Brook, 2010) A little rabbit pushes around a mysterious suitcase to the foot of each of his friends, inspiring the queries, "is there anything for me in your suitcase?" What is inside for the dog, the toucan, the kitty, crab, mouse, bear? Each suspense-filled turn of the page reveals a double-paged spread of each creature's secret wish. When all is said and done, what is left for the rabbit? This book was made for storytime, and for a lift-the-flap craft project in which children can draw their heart's desires inside
1 Comments on MY GARDEN (PICTURE BOOK), last added: 5/12/2010
Display Comments
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 4/28/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
POETRY
MIRROR, MIRROR: A BOOK OF REVERSIBLE VERSE
by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Josée Masse (Dutton, 2010)It may be such
a fairy-tale secret,
this much I know:
The road leads
wherever
you need to go.
***
You need to go
wherever
the road leads---
I know
this much.
A fairy tale secret?
It may be such.
According to our inventive author, a reverso is a poem that can be read from top to bottom or bottom to top, the only changes allowed in punctuation and capitalization. They can be about any topic, but here, they shift the point of view backwards and forwards in familiar fairy tales: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Goldilocks, Rapunzel, the Ugly Duckling, Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, Beauty and 
the Beast and more get the up-and-down treatment to good effect. Folksy paintings with clear brushstrokes that seem done against enchanted wood are very reminiscent of the style of Stefano Vitale
, and cleverly take on the half-and-half theme, with one side of the painting telling
0 Comments on MIRROR, MIRROR (POETRY) as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 4/20/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
TURTLE, TURTLE, WATCH OUT! byApril Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Annie Patterson (Charlesbirdge 2010)Oh, the peril of being a small, small thing in a big, big world! From the moment the endangered sea turtle is planted in its egg into the damp sand, it takes a combination of good luck and good friends to bring the life cycle full-circle. Pursued by sharks and caught in nets, the journey is both harrowing and beautiful, with the refrain "Turtle, turtle, watch out!" lending itself to be shared with a group. Paintings capture the milky moonlit crawl across the sand to the skimming across tides of dappled turquoise seas, and straightforward language underscores and never intrudes upon the exciting real-life story. Thorough endnotes offer ways in which humans help sea turtles, additional resources, and descriptions of sea-turtle species. This non-fiction book is a solid example of the best of its genre, creating interest and empathy in the natural world, while telling a compelling tale, and what a pleasure to find non-fiction that reads aloud so smoothly! This is a superb preface to the novella by the great Roald Dahl, ESIO TROT
, or for a springboard into conversation about the current environmental threats to sea life. (5 and up)
, or for a springboard into conversation about the current environmental threats to sea life. (5 and up)Also of interest:
A toast! To life on Earth! And books about it!
Add a Comment
0 Comments on TURTLE, TURTLE, WATCH OUT! (NONFICTION) as of 1/1/1900
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 4/4/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
PICTURE BOOKS
THIS LITTLE BUNNY CAN BAKE by Janet Stein (Schwartz & Wade) "Eager students have come from far and wide to study with the master pastry chef." Enter Chef George, an austere but expert owl epicurean set on helping a motley menagerie discover their inner foodie through a series of kitchen exercises. Poodle mistakes a loaf of french bread with a bone, and the cat's choice to add cheese puffs to a cake may be suspect, but the cream of the class' crop rises to the top: quiet little bunny, who has been concentrating all along, creates a chef d'ouerve worthy of her inner culinary confidence. Brush and ink illustrations with a very limited palette of pink and black gives the book a very retro feel, but the effervescent spirit leaves the reader feeling no want of color, hearkening back to the vintage book spirit of Lisl Weil. The story is funny, the concoctions are odd, children will love picking out their favorite animal chef from the line-up, and, since kids have to go to classes every day, what's not to love about looking at school a whole new way (like Robin Pulver's HOLIDAY HANDWRITING SCHOOL, Betsy Lewin's PURRFECTLY PURRFECT: LIFE AT THE ACATEMY, Louis Sachar's SIDEWAYS STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL...what other ones can you think of?). From the recipe card bookends (chocolate salami, anyone?) to the buttercream frosting letters on the story's climactic cake, this book about an adventure at a "school of dessertology" serves up story time fun with sugar on top. Yummy. (4 and up)
Also of interest:
IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES by Lisa Schroeder (Aladdin) Follow along with Isabel and her family as they build on the dream of riding the cupcake craze with a fledgling bakery business. The story rises to the realistic fiction occasion, as Isabel tunes in to the family's tensions while they undertake the venture. Many little girls are "idea people" who will really enjoy the entrepreneurial excitement of the story, but this is secondary to the relationships between Isabel and her family, and her own need to make things seem "happy" even when that's not her job, especially when dealing with her mom (who is so blue that even sprinkles can't really cheer her up). Reading fun with frosting for thought, cupcake recipes and spot illustrations thrown in for good measure, this will be an especially appetizing pick for mother-daughter book clubs...discussion to be followed by cupcake-decorating, of course (personally, I love t
Also of interest:
IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES by Lisa Schroeder (Aladdin) Follow along with Isabel and her family as they build on the dream of riding the cupcake craze with a fledgling bakery business. The story rises to the realistic fiction occasion, as Isabel tunes in to the family's tensions while they undertake the venture. Many little girls are "idea people" who will really enjoy the entrepreneurial excitement of the story, but this is secondary to the relationships between Isabel and her family, and her own need to make things seem "happy" even when that's not her job, especially when dealing with her mom (who is so blue that even sprinkles can't really cheer her up). Reading fun with frosting for thought, cupcake recipes and spot illustrations thrown in for good measure, this will be an especially appetizing pick for mother-daughter book clubs...discussion to be followed by cupcake-decorating, of course (personally, I love t
1 Comments on THIS LITTLE BUNNY CAN BAKE (PICTURE BOOK), last added: 4/4/2010
Display Comments
Add a Comment
By: Esme Raji Codell,
on 4/3/2010
Blog: The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag
PICTURE BOOK
THE EASTER EGG by Jan Brett (Putnam,2010) The great egg decorating contest is on, and all the bunnies are trying to "bring it!" so they can win the honor of helping the Easter Rabbit deliver the eggs. Page after page, we find bunnies in creative throes via panoramic chocolate eggs, painted eggs, Ukranian eggs, marbleized eggs, straw eggs, golden eggs, beaded eggs...how can Hoppi hope to compete? Finally, he decides, "I guess I don't have to win. I just want to make an egg I am proud of." Hoppi's artistic endeavors are sidetracked when he encounters a robin's egg in need of some warmth and decides to put first things first, and manages to impress the boss bunny anyway. With a little blue jacket, Hoppi must be a nod to Peter Rabbit by another great children's book illustrator and naturalist, Beatrix Potter, though the story line gives more of a nod to Demi's THE EMPTY POT, about the celebration that comes with doing one's personal best. Brett used real rabbits as models, and it shows. The angora on the first spread looks like it might very well wiggle her nose at any moment! Signature illustrated borders are used to optimal effect; the pussy willows morphing into fluffy white bunnies is true picture book magic. This book is so gorgeous that it verges on the alarming; the many types of beautiful eggs boggle the brain, there's a dramatic fold-out page featuring a chariot drawn by red hens, and the forest detail, from the curve of a fiddlehead to the tentative downy bloom of flowering trees in the background, conspire in an ethereal mix of whimsy and realism to create a believable and textured world. Jan Brett, please illustrate Howard Garis's classic Uncle Wiggly next! This artist is putting some of her best work on display as vividly as a crocus bed, making this book is a true harbinger of spring. Sure to be savored repeatedly by the whole family, you can supplement your enjoyment of this title with the many resources available on Jan Brett's spectacular website. Honestly, I nearly ran out and bought a lop-eared rabbit of my very own. But then I remembered: bunnies eat books. (5 and up and up and up)
Also of interest:
More bunnies for your holiday book basket, and beyond.
THE STORY OF THE EASTER BUNNY by Katherine Tegen, illustrated by Sally Ann Lambert (HarperCollins) This very imaginative story perfectly paced for sharing tells how a sweet old couple started the Easter traditions of eggs and baskets while their family pet looked on, and when they were not
Also of interest:
More bunnies for your holiday book basket, and beyond.
THE STORY OF THE EASTER BUNNY by Katherine Tegen, illustrated by Sally Ann Lambert (HarperCollins) This very imaginative story perfectly paced for sharing tells how a sweet old couple started the Easter traditions of eggs and baskets while their family pet looked on, and when they were not
3 Comments on THE EASTER EGG (PICTURE BOOK), last added: 4/5/2010
Display Comments
Add a Comment
View Next 25 Posts
Personally I'm holding out for One Crazy Summer for the Newbery and A Pocketful of Posies for the Caldecott. But the winners could totally unexpected books. That has happened before... I'd love a copy of your book so I will keep my fingers crossed!
My vote goes to Rita Williams Garcia for ONE CRAZY SUMMER and G. Brian Karas for SWITCHING ON THE MOON. I'd love a copy of your new book, too! My fingers are *also* crossed. :-)
Hi Esme! Great post! I particularly like to your "dark horses." If I had to guess the choice for Newbery, I'll choose One Crazy Summer. (As I tell the students, it was one of my favorites, since it is so hard to have A favorite from a year! :)I think perhaps Countdown and The Dreamer have the closest chances for honors. For the Caldecott, I'll go for City Dog, Country Frog. I'd love to see a choice from Joyce Sidman included, as her illustrators always support her word beauty with illustrative beauty. Chalk has distinctive illustrations. I know "old school style" A Sick Day for Amos McGee is quite popular and a sweet story. Like Esme said, there are a few out of the competition due to currently residing in different countries. I could go on and on about favorites of the year, other awards, etc. But I thought I'd at least guess the Newbery/Caldecott big kahuna awards. :) Thanks for the chance Esme!
Intriguing and thoughtful choices, Esme. Love them.
New here...was intigued by your award choices. I'm smiling now that I saw that Tomie De Paola has won the Laura Ingalls Wilder award for his contribution to American story books. He is always my go to when teaching litugical church stories. He has been an author favorite as well as our four children. Yippee!