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Poems by Alan Katz Drawings by Edward Koren Margaret K. McElderry / Simon & Schuster 2008 Okay, once again just to make sure we're all on the same page: do not give your book a title that can be used against you in a review. You would think editors would be the first to understand the rules of making a book review-proof. Of course, it's also a good idea to make sure the content followed the

How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy! by Barbara Kerley illustrated by Edwin Fotherignham Scholastic 2008 Yes, a picture book biography about Teddy Roosevelt's tomboy daughter "running riot" in and out of the White House around the turn of the century. “I can be president of the United States, or I can control Alice." And so it is that while

also: Fancy Nancy and The Boy From Paris & Fancy Nancy at the Museum all by Jane O'Connor illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser HarperCollins 2008 What began as a cute picture book for the pink-and-sparkly girly-girl set is now officially a brand, a series, and an inferior product. This, the third Fancy Nancy book, was released the same day as two I-Can-Read titles that are trading on the Fancy

The awards are up, a valentine for kidlit from the bloggers who love them. It's nice to see a number of books I actually read made it. You can read my take on the non-fiction picture book award winner, Lightship, as well as the middle grade fiction winner, A Crooked Kind of Perfect. The Awards are over here. You should see what this chucklehead has to say about the graphic novels. Sheesh!

by S. E. Hinton Delacorte 1975 Did I really reread this? Did I need to? Man, this thing didn't age well. Rusty-James thinks he's the the world on a string. Kid brother to the infamous Motorcycle Boy, RJ walks around honestly believe he has his older brother's smarts, looks and charisma to run the gangs of their midwest town. But RJ isn't any of those things, and where his brother used the

written and illustrated by Matt Faulkner Simon and Schuster 2008 LuLu and Jelly can't believe that Abbey saw a fountain in town that bubbled colored water; they have to see this for themselves. When their Uncle Jack needs to make a run into town the kids beg to go with so they can investigate. Oh, but this is the Deep South, and it's mid 1960's, and the town is crowded with freedom riders and

Goodnight, Little Bear (1961) Chipmunk's ABC (1963) The Bunny Book (1955) by Richard Scarry Golden Books 2008 At first blush there isn't really much one can say about these classic picture books featuring early Richard Scarry artwork. The stories themselves are practically ur-picture book archetypes: the little bear that won't go to bed and "hides" on his father's shoulders; a basic animal ABC

"retold" and "illustrated" by Barry Downard Simon & Schuster Put. The Photoshop. Down. Seriously, this is one of the most atrociously illustrated books I've seen in a stretch. Retelling the Aesop Tortoise and Hare fable what we have goes beyond the usual anthropomorphic animals, it actually grafts human features like eyes, lips, hair and teeth onto the animals to create a creepy Island of Dr.

by John Porcellino from the writings of Henry David Thoreau with an introduction by D.B. Johnson Center for Cartoon Studies/Hyperion April 2008 Moving to New England a few years ago I felt compelled to finally be a good citizen and read Walden. It was one of those books assigned to me back in high school that I never go around to because I could never get into it. Thoreau was not approachable