Two Sticks by Orel Protopopescu, pictures by Anne Wilsdorf.

This jaunty title is filled with rhythm galore as well as rhymes.  It is the story of Maybelle, a girl who moves to her own beat.  She plays with two sticks that she creates rhythms with on all sorts of objects: doors, fences, logs, and more.  She gets carried away with her drumming and finds herself falling into a swamp with only her two sticks to save her from approaching crocodiles!  You can bet that the story ends with a lot of motion, rhythm and courage.

It took me a few pages to get the beat of the this book, because I was expecting less rhythm and more standard rhyme.  But once I got it, I was completely enchanted by the beat, the repetition and the joy inherent in the text.  Just make sure that you give it a read through before reading it aloud to a group.  Wilsdorf’s illustrations add to the wild drumming and the gutsy heroine with their bright colors, flamboyant compositions, and pure fun. 

Highly recommended for a bored group of preschoolers who would enjoy moving their bodies to a beat.  I would recommending handing out rhythm instruments (or sticks) to the children to get them participating.  This is a perfect closer to a story time on crocodiles or music. 

Fred Stays with Me! by Nancy Coffelt, illustrated by Tricia Tusa.

In this book, a little girl moves between her father and her mother, but Fred her dog moves with her to both homes.  She explains the differences between the two homes in terms of her bedroom and what Fred does.  But both of her parents are getting tired of Fred and all of the messes and problems he creates.  Neither of them want the dog to stay with them, but the little girl has the solution. 

This is a lovely book on divorce.  It is handled matter-of-factly, rather than as a disaster for a child.  I love the girl and her spunk that she obviously gets from Fred.  The text is very brief and many of the illustrations will have people giggling, especially when Fred barks at the poodle next door. 

Usually I am not one for bibliotherapy books, but this one would be nice to give to children going through a divorce.  Otherwise, it is a good read no matter what sort of family you live in, especially a family of dog lovers.

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis.

This is one that has been getting a lot of buzz, and deservedly so!

Emma-Jean does not fit in with the other seventh graders in her school.  She observes them from afar, but doesn’t concern herself much with what they think or do.  But when Colleen tearfully asks Emma-Jean for help, Emma-Jean is drawn to help her devising a scheme that solves the problem.  But the solution isn’t quite as elegant as Emma-Jean thinks, and Colleen is dismayed when she finds out what Emma-Jean has done.  Nevertheless, this doesn’t deter Emma-Jean from continuing to help another classmate out as well as looking for a wife for a graduate student who lives with her and her mother. 

This is a wonderful book with a protagonist who is able to be both tough and withdrawn as well as immediate and fragile.  Emma-Jean is one of the most well-conceived and well-drawn characters in recent memory.  I particularly enjoyed that we encounter Emma-Jean several years after her father has died.  We don’t witness the death, but rather come into the story as it is already in progress, which is a winning way to do this.  I also appreciated that even though Emma-Jean does some transforming by the end of the story, she remains quirky, strange and definitely unique.  Just like her beloved father. 

Highly recommended for tweens, this book will please both late elementary readers and middle school readers.  It is one that teachers of those grades will want to look at for a readaloud in their classrooms.  But it is also such a personal story that it is perfection for a tween to curl up with and read in a single sitting. 

Epic by Conor Kostick

Looking for a book that will hook all of those video game playing teens?  Well, look no further!  This is THE ONE.

Erik is a boy living on a planet where the world revolves around an incredible video game.  The game, Epic, decides the wealth of people in the real world, settles disputes, and works as a form of government.  The most powerful players in the game are the most powerful people in the world.  Erik’s parents are poor and Erik has had a hard time playing Epic well enough and cautiously enough to advance.  Soon the graduation trials were coming and Erik was expecting to do very badly.  That is until he decides to go ahead and go against the trend of highly armored and ugly characters and creates a lithe, beautiful swashbuckler as his character.  Soon Erik is discovering things about Epic that no one else has.  Will it be enough to help his family and his friends?  And what happens when you gain the attention of the most powerful gamers in the world?

This book completely rocks!  The writing is crisp and clear, creating a book that reads like a video game encounter.  It is just as all-encompassing and world bending as a great game too.  Even better, Epic asks questions and will generate discussion and thought for its readers.  It is the best of both worlds:  a book that is easily read and enjoyed but one that is worthy of digestion and thought.

I particularly enjoyed the characterizations of Erik, his family and friends.  All of them were three dimensional and well written.  Some of the villains were a bit cardboard, but that just added to the gaming feel of the story. 

Highly recommended to teens who enjoy video games.  Also for movie buffs and science fiction and fantasy readers.

At Night by Jonathan Bean.

This small and charming picture book offers a look at a long night when a small girl cannot fall asleep.  Her entire family sleeps around her, but she can’t sleep until she follows a breeze from her window, up the stairs up to the roof of her urban building.  Up on the roof, under her blanket and in a chair, she happily falls asleep.  Her mother joins her there, looking out at the night with a cup of coffee.

This book is simply lovely.  The illustrations are an integral part of the storytelling here.  When the child can’t sleep, the illustrations are boxed in by black lines with only a few images opening to the complete page.  Once she reaches the roof, the pages open to broad expanses so that the reader feels the sense of relief and space and even breezes along with her. 

The illustrations in the book have the feel of a Sendak to me in their color and style.  There is that feeling of home but a sense that anything could happen deep in the art.  The text is short, clear and crisp until she reaches the roof where the words and ideas expand along with the vista. 

This is a wonderful book that should be read to every child heading for bed.  It is a gem that I hope stays with families and libraries a long, long time.  Lovely.