New Picture Books

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales is the story of her immigration to the United States with her then three month old son to join her American citizen husband in 1994. They settled in San Francisco. She and her son spent their days in the San Francisco Public Library learning English and learning about their new country. The illustrations in the library show many of the books they read. Books opened the door to their new life. Yuyi Morales became an award winning writer and illustrator. This is a powerful book about the value of libraries and reading.
The Sonoma County Library has fourteen copies.

Carmela Full of Wishes is written by Matt de Pena and illustrated by Christian Robinson, the award winning (Newbery Medal and Caldecott Honor) of Last Stop on Market Street. It is Carmela's birthday. She finds a spent dandelion, her brother tells her she has to make a wish before she blows the seeds away, but what should she wish for?
The Sonoma County Library has nine copies.

Drawn Together is written by Mihn Le and illustrated by Dan Santat. A young boy is being babysat by his grandfather. They eat lunch and watch a little TV. Neither one speaks the others language so how do they communicate?  By drawing a story together, each in his own style, they find a language they both understand.                                                                                                                               
 The Sonoma County Library has eleven copies.                                                                                                                                                         

Good Rosie by Kate Di Camillo with pictures by Harry Bliss is about a good dog who sometimes gets lonely and dare I say bored. George, her owner, tries something new, they go to a dog park. At first Rosie doesn't know what to do and is scared of a big dog named Maurice. But eventually she makes friends with a little dog and by the end of the book they both become friends with Maurice.
The Sonoma County Library has thirteen copies.

My Dog Laughs is written and illustrated by Rachel Isadora. Children introduce us to their dogs, tell us what their dog likes, show us how they train their dogs and how their dog plays. The pictures give clues to the text and there is plenty of white space between each vignette. 
The Sonoma County Library has six copies.

The Day You Begin by Newbery Medalist  Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Rafael Lopez is a story about feeling different for any number of reasons and how by sharing your story others will meet you halfway.
The Sonoma County Library has twenty copies.

What Can A Citizen Do? by Dave Eggers with pictures by Shawn Harris is about being a citizen. Since the characters in this book are children, citizen is meant in a much broader sense than just voting. "A citizen's not what you are-a citizen is what you do."
The Sonoma County Library has seven copies.

Wisdom From Kate DiCamillo

Hat tip: Reading is Fundamental

Reading With Your Kids

Words of wisdom from children's book authors Kate DiCamillo, Loren Long and Brad Meltzer:

Hat tip: Raising Readers and Reach Out and Read

Chapter Books for Beginning Readers

Nerdy Book Club contributor, Arika Dickens, has written an article about books she thinks are surefire hits for transitioning readers to chapter books. An added bonus is that all but The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes are the first in a trilogy or series. You can find her post here. Some of these books have been reviewed on this blog: Lulu and the Brontosaurus, Dory Fantasmagory and Bink and Gollie. Please note that two of these books are written by two time Newbery Medalist  Kate DiCamillo. It is wonderful that such a distinguished author is writing for beginning readers.

Hat tip: Growing Book by Book

Leroy Kinker Saddles Up

 

Leroy is meant to be a cowboy. He has boots, a hat and a lasso; what he doesn’t have is a horse. He answers an ad for a horse for sale. Maybelline is a particular horse, she likes sweet talk, she eats  lots of grub and she gets lonesome. She is past her prime, way past actually. It is love at first sight for Leroy and Maybelline. Leroy learns to take particular care of Maybelline and they are getting along well until a thunderstorm comes along. Like in all love stories, Leroy’s true love is lost but he finds her again. And they live happily ever after.

Leroy appeared in the third book of the Mercy Watson series by Kate Di Camillo, Mercy Watson Fights Crime. Mercy and hot buttered toast make an appearance in Leroy Ninker Saddles Up. It is illustrated by Chris Van Dusen. Several copies and formats are available at the Sonoma County Library.

Time Magazine’s 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time

It is more accurate to say that this is a list of Middle Grade and Young Adult books. Charlotte's Web is probably read by more third graders than high school sophomores. Then again, The Hunger Games, would be more appropriate for an older reader. Some of my favorite books are on this list including From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The Invention of Hugo Cabret , Holes, A Wrinkle in Time, When You Reach Me, The Graveyard Book, Wonder, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime , Matilda and of course, The Sorcerer’s Stone (the first Harry Potter book).

2014 Newbery Medal and Honors

A book that I loved but didn’t think it had a chance, Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo was awarded the Newbery Medal. I couldn’t resist a superhero squirrel who writes poetry and I guess, neither could the committee.

The Honors went to Doll Bones by Holly Black

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

 

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake

and Paperboy by Vince Vawter

 

Congratulations! I have some reading to do! The Year of Billy Miller is terrific.

Thought For Today

Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or a duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift. – Kate DiCamillo

Hat tip: Imagination Soup

NYPL Top Children’s Books of the Last 100 Years

The New York Public Library (NYPL) presented its first ever list of the Top Children’s Books of the Last 100 Years. Many of the books are no surprise: Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle and Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. Some have been featured on this blog: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, Holes by Louis Sacher and The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. There are books that I loved as a kid: Charlotte’s Web by E B White, Madeleine by Ludwig Bemelmans and The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien. A generation later my children loved: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume, The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. My grandchildren love: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J K Rowling .  Check out the  complete list at School Library Journal.

Bink & Gollie

Roller skating Bink and Gollie are best friends. In this, the first of three books by Newbury Honor winner Kate DiCamillo and New York Times best selling author Alison McGhee, Bink & Gollie, features three adventures  about the two friends. One friend, Bink, is short, with wild blond hair and a penchant for loving things that drive her friend crazy. Gollie is tall and put-together, serious and steady.

 

The illustrations by Tony Fucile brings these girls to life with all their personality and quirkiness. I have long been fascinated by the relationship between author and illustrator. What kind of collaboration goes on? Whatever happened between the illustrator and the two authors, two unforgettable characters have been created. Bink & Gollie was given the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award in 2011.

Is this a chapter book? It has three of them but with pictures and only a sentence or two per page, perhaps not. Is it a graphic novel? It does not follow the conventions of one. Is it a picture book? It has 81 pages. Even different libraries within the Sonoma County system disagree what it is.  An Amazon review called it a hybrid of all three. Works for me!

The AR level is 2.5. The Sonoma County Library has many copies of this title and the two sequels.

Because of Winn-Dixie

In Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo,  India Opal Buloni goes to the Winn-Dixie for some groceries and comes back with a dog. A big, ugly dog who was tearing up the produce aisle at the store. To keep him from going to the pound, Opal (as she is called) claims the dog as her own.  The first name that pops into her head for him is Winn-Dixie.

Opal and her daddy, the preacher, have just moved to Naomi, Florida from a Watley in the north of the state. Since she has moved, she has been thinking about her mother, who left  when Opal was three. As she is bathing and brushing her new dog, she is telling Winn-Dixie about missing her mother. He is looking at her extra hard, so she asks him, “Do you think I should make the preacher tell me about her?”. Winn-Dixie looks at her so hard he sneezes. ( Note: My dog Piper would answer questions with a sneeze for yes and a whole body shake for no.) So Opal learns 10 things about her mother because of Winn-Dixie. She also makes friends with the librarian, a pet store clerk who plays beautiful guitar music and an almost blind woman who the neighbor boys think is a witch, all because of Winn-Dixie.  Opal’s dog becomes the catalyst for creating her new community in Naomi.

The Sonoma County Library has many copies of this Newbery Honor book.

The Yulupa Library has eight copies. The AR level is 3.9 and the test earns 3 points.

Summer Reading Recommendations 2013

The Horn Book, a publication about books for children and young adults, has published a long list of recommended summer reading from picture books to books for young adults. All were published in 2012 or 2013. For first and second grade readers, the Early Readers and Young Fiction category may be especially helpful. There is a list of books and description for each one  here.

Some of the featured books have been reviewed here: The One And Only Ivan, This Is Not My Hat and That Is NOT a Good Idea! Even more are in my to-review or to read pile: The Dark, Who Could That Be at This Hour?, Three Times Lucky, The Great Unexpected and H.O.R.S.E: A Game of  Basketball and Imagination. I have also been meaning to read at least one of the Bink & Gollie books because they are co-written by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee. Bink & Gollie: Best Friends Forever is on the early reader list.

The Tale of Despereaux

This Newberry Award winning fairy tale by Kate DiCamillo is the story of Despereaux Tilling, an unusually small mouse, with big ears, who loves the human Princess Pea, music and tales that begin, “Once upon a time” . It is also the story of Roscuro, a rat who loves the light and a serving girl named Miggery Sow who wants to be a princess. As all four of these characters do not conform to their expected roles an interesting fate awaits them. This is a story of love, hope and forgiveness told in a “dear reader” style. The author occasionally asks the reader, “what would you do if…” , which makes it a great book to read with your kids so you can answer those questions together.

The Sonoma County Library has many copies of this book and it can be downloaded to a Kindle or in pdf. format. The Yulupa Library has four copies of this book.