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Picture Book Winner

Extra Yarn
by Mac Barnett; illus. by Jon Klassen
Primary Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins 40 pp.
1/12 978-0-06-195338-5 $16.99 g
When young Annabelle (see p. 5) finds a small box containing yarn of every color, she does what any self-respecting knitter would do: she knits herself a sweater. Then she knits a sweater for her dog. Improbably, there’s yarn left over, so she knits colorful garments for everyone in her snowy, sooty, colorless town. Even Mr. Crabtree, “who never wore sweaters or even long pants, and who would stand in his shorts with the snow up to his knees,” receives a handknit gift: a hat with a pompom. Houses and buildings, too, are soon covered in natty sweaters, and fans of illustrator Klassen will smile to see critters strongly resembling the bear and rabbit from I Want My Hat Back (rev. 11/11) clad in variegated yarn cozies. When Annabelle, ever content to click-click away, refuses an archduke’s offer of millions for the box and its never-ending yarn, he steals it. Turns out the magic lies elsewhere (perhaps in the hands and heart of a little girl?), and all is made right. Klassen’s brown ink and digitally created illustrations pair nicely with the translucent, lightly inked knitwear. His pacing, especially the mostly wordless sequence when the box floats back to Annabelle on a triangle of an iceberg, is impeccable. The final spread, all light and yarn-covered tree limbs, brings Barnett’s clever, quiet yarn full circle, to a little girl and a town, now colorful and happy. (Robin Smith)

Honor Books

And Then It’s Spring
by Julie Fogliano; 
illus. by Erin E. Stead
Primary Porter/Roaring Brook 32 pp.
2/12 978-1-59643-624-4 $16.99
A small bespectacled boy and his companions, a dog, a rabbit, and a turtle, are on a search for spring. “First you have brown, / all around you have brown / then there are seeds / and a wish for rain, / and then it rains / and it is still brown, / but a hopeful, very possible sort of brown…” Fogliano’s poetic yet grounded narrative is reminiscent of Charlotte Zolotow’s picture-book texts in its understatement and straightforward, childlike observations. Her text builds the tension with an expertise of a much more experienced picture book writer, and she gets the pacing exactly right. As for the illustrations, there’s no sophomore slump for Stead: her second book is even better than her 2011 Caldecott winner, A Sick Day for Amos McGee (rev. 5/10). The graceful illustrations were created with the same medium (woodblock prints with pencil), but here she’s used a completely different palette of browns, grays, light blue, bright green, and touches of red, all set against negative space that most often suggests a cloudy sky. Observant readers will notice many humorous touches: the rabbit eagerly anticipating the first sign of carrots in the garden, the dog waiting for a bone he

Nonfiction Winner

Chuck Close: Face Book
by Chuck Close
Intermediate, Middle School Abrams 56 pp.
4/12 978-1-4197-0163-4 $18.95
Chuck Close’s art and life story are the ideal way to introduce art and artists to children. His work is easy to describe and understand because he creates only portraits, but since he does them in almost every possible medium and they have an intriguing trompe l’oeil effect, they are especially attractive to children. But the kicker is the way his life story and so-called disabilities relate directly to his style. As a child, severe dyslexia made school difficult, but art class was easy. Likewise, his prosopagnosia (face blindness) made him especially interested in what made a face recognizable. His early canvases in hyper-realistic style showed large faces in a somewhat disturbing warts-and-all close-up, created from photos divided into small squares. Later, after what he calls The Event—a collapsed blood vessel that left him paralyzed from the chest down—his style changed, once again working within his new set of abilities. In this Q&A– style narrative, Close himself answers questions supposedly asked by children (shown on scraps of colored paper in a child’s handwriting). His voice is clear and direct with not a hint of famous artist self-aggrandizement or angst. Instead, he comes across as humble and content with his life. A central section answering a question about his penchant for self-portraits shows fourteen of them in a variety of media on heavy card stock cut into thirds so readers can mix and match eyes, noses, and mouths. The cut pages feel like a bit of a gimmick, though they will probably appeal to younger children. Including the same paintings as a wordless sequence of full pages might have shown the artist’s variety more clearly, but overall this is a welcome primary source about being an artist. An illustrated timeline, a glossary, a list of illustrations, and extensive resources are provided at the end of the book. (Lolly Robinson)

Honor Books

The Elephant Scientist [Scientists in the Field]
by Caitlin O’Connell and Donna M. Jackson; photos by Caitlin O’Connell and Timothy Rodwell
Intermediate, Middle School Houghton 71 pp.
7/11 978-0-547-05344-8 $17.99
Scientist O’Connell’s contributions to our understanding of elephant communication propel this account of scientific research in action. O’Connell and Jackson focus on the ways in which these animals communicate through vibrations sent through the ground, a technique O’Connell first observed in her masters degree work with insects, and later with African elephants in Namibia. They describe the findings in a way that lets readers witness the unfolding of a research program, as hypotheses lead to new insights that beget even more questions. Featured are observations of animal behavior, lab-based examinations of the cells in elephant feet and trunks that facilitate vibration sensing, and experiments with varying sounds and their effects on elephant herds. The many color photographs, predominantly from the Namibian field sites, capture the majestic elder elephants, their always appealing offspring, and the dusty, rugged landscapes in which the scientists and research assistants camp and work. Readers are directed to the website of the nonprofit organization founded by O’Con

Fiction Winner

No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson; illus. by R. Gregory Christie
Middle School, High School    Carolrhoda Lab    188 pp.
2/12    978-0-7613-6169-5    $17.95
e-book ed.  978-0-7613-8727-5    $12.95
Inspired by Marcus Garvey and the drive to make a difference, Lewis Michaux opened the National Memorial African Bookstore in Harlem at the end of the Great Depression with an inventory of five books and a strong faith that black people were hungry for knowledge. Over the next thirty-five years, his store became a central gathering place for African American writers, artists, intellectuals, and political figures, including Malcolm X, who frequently gave his speeches in front of the bookstore. But Michaux also sought to reach ordinary citizens, believing that pride and self-knowledge would grow naturally from an understanding of global black history and current events. He didn’t just sell books; he surrounded his customers with ideas and provocative discussion. He also drew people in with pithy window signs that used humor and clever rhymes. When Sugar Ray Robinson stopped by in 1958, for example, Michaux communicated his disapproval of the hair-straightening products the boxer used: “Ray what you put on your head will rub off in your bed. It’s what you put in your head that will last ’til you’re dead.” Short chapters—some just a paragraph or two—are written in thirty-six different voices, mostly those of Michaux himself, family members, and close associates. Some of the voices are those of fictitious characters based on composites—customers, a newspaper reporter, a street vendor—but most are real people whose statements have been documented by the author in her meticulous research. The voices are interspersed with documents such as articles from the New York Amsterdam News and Jet magazine and with excerpts from Michaux’s FBI file. As Michaux’s grandniece, the author also had access to family papers and photographs. Given the author’s close relationship with the subject, she manages to remain remarkably objective about him, largely due to her honest portrayal of the lifelong conflict between him and many of his family members, most notably his evangelist brother, who didn’t approve of his radical politics. Sophisticated expressionistic line drawings illustrate key events. An extraordinary, inspiring book to put into the hands of scholars and skeptics alike. Appended are a family tree, source notes, a bibliography, further reading, and an index of historical characters. (K. T. Horning)

Honor Books

Life: An Exploded Diagram
by Mal Peet
High School Candlewick 387 pp.
10/11 978-0-7636-5227-2 $17.99
e-book ed. 978-0-7636-5631-7 $17.99
In this ficti

If you’re coming to BEA, please join 2010 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner Rebecca Stead and me on Thursday as we announce the winners of the 2012 BGHB Awards, live with champagne, in the Librarians’ Lounge (booth #2148), 1:00PM, at the Javits Convention Center. If you can’t be there, we (fingers crossed and prayers sent aloft) will be showing a video of the announcement Thursday afternoon (threeish? fourish?) at www.hbook.com. All I’m gonna tell you NOW is that our judges did a GREAT job.

Our Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards judges (Lauren Adams, Megan Lambert, and chair Thom Barthelmess) will finish their deliberations this month. I will be announcing the winners on Thursday, June 7 at 1:00 P.M. at BookExpo America in New York City. The press conference will take place in the Librarians’ Lounge (Booth #2148), and all BookExpo attendees are invited. There will be snacks and special guests, I am told. If you can’t be there, check out www.hbook.com later that afternoon, as we will be webcasting a video recording from the event.

Roger Sutton
Editor in Chief

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