The Top Job by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, illustrated by Robert Neubecker.

It’s career day at school and one little girl hears about all of the amazing and fantastic jobs her classmates’ parents have.  When she stands up to tell about her father’s job and says he changes lightbulbs, the whole class mocks her.  But she keep right on telling her story about how her father took her with him one day.  She details the equipment he needs, and then readers get to travel to the top of the Empire State Building where her father changes the light way, way up on the tower at the tip of the building.  By the end of the story both the audience in the book and any reader will be cheering for her father and this book.

The illustrations by Neubecker are wonderfully detailed with deep colors and a real sense of action and space.  Wonderfully thick-lined and friendly, they add so much to this book.  Kimmel’s words have little humorous touches and a very childlike quality that reads well as the words of a child.  There is a distinct voice to the narrator of the story, which I really love.  She is self-assured and poised, a nice strong female voice.

The text is the perfect length for young elementary children, ages 5-8.  This would work well as a read aloud in a classroom where you are going to discuss careers. 

The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles

House is a twelve-year-old boy who adores baseball, especially pitching.  But last summer he missed the only real game of baseball that their small town actually gets to participate in because someone broke his elbow.   While he was healing, he was asked to be a companion to a dying neighbor who was known throughout town as a baby eater.  The book opens with the death of that man whom House has become close to over their months together.  But none of his friends know what he has been doing with his spare time.   House’s summer is also complicated by the return of the girl who broke his elbow the previous year.  She is back to run a pageant for the town which just happens to conflict in timing with the only real baseball game of the summer!

Golly, I loved this book.  The characters in it were astonishingly well-drawn in such a short book, but that is because Wiles has used each phrase and sentence to clarify and reveal the characters and the town.  It is a joy to read. 

The timelessness of the book was also appealing.  These children, parents and the entire town could have been any time in the last 50 years. 

Highly recommended as a classroom read for 3rd through 5th grades, this book should be put in the hands of any child who enjoyed The Penderwicks.  They offer similar styles and that wonderful timeless feeling where children can sink into the story and feel safe.  Rather like bottled childhood in the form of a book.

Treasure by Suzanne Bloom.

With this book, readers happily return to the friendship of a goose and a polar bear first read about in A Splendid Friend, Indeed.  Goose spots Bear making an X on a piece of paper and immediately assumes that X Marks the Spot and there must be treasure involved.  So Goose takes over and leads Bear on a wild search for treasure whether it be buried or sunk.  It isn’t until Goose gives up and despairs of finding any treasure at all that Bear points out the real treasure.

I just love Bloom’s books.  But I have one caveat.  If you are a grown up without a handy crowd of children to read them aloud to, you may miss their real charm.  The books have gloriously large pictures that show well to a crowd, but it is the words that come to life when read aloud.  I find that Goose has a very distinct and rather silly voice when read aloud, but that may be just me.  🙂  Children adore the quick pace and the animals, but they also love the situation that Goose puts Bear into. 

Another guaranteed giggle book, perfect for the final book of a story time on pirates.  Recommended for ages 3-6.

The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti.

Make room for another title on my best books of the year list! 

Jade, a senior in high school,  struggles with panic in her everyday life.  She is in therapy for it and has tools she uses to try to control it, including watching the zoo webcam that shows the elephants.  That is where she first sees the boy in the red jacket carrying the baby.  And that glimpse will be enough to send Jade out of her controlled world, allowing her to realize that even those things that seem simple in her life are more complicated and less absolute.  Jade learns to take risks, be true to herself, and find her own way with a little help from some very large friends and some human ones too.

The writing here is exquisite.  In the beginning and again at the very end, Jade is in a fragile state.  The writing is almost brittle, crumbling away with rushes of images rather like panic.  When Jade is content, the writing slows, meanders, but never wanders away.  The writing allows readers to share Jade’s contentment and bask in it with her.  Somehow Caletti has managed to create prose that in its very pacing and tone allows us to feel Jade’s mood.  It is a monumental accomplishment.

The characterizations are also masterfully done.  Jade herself is very complex and vivid.   And so are the many secondary characters, especially Jade’s parents who start out as Jade sees them and slowly are revealed to the reader and Jade to be so much more.  Jade is a young woman on the cusp of leaving home, so seeing the humanity of her parents is very powerful and rings completely true. 

This is a must-read, a book to put in the hands of teen girls.  Any teen girl.  They will all respond to Jade and her life.  The book is a triumph, but retains ties to teen-girl books everywhere with its romance and issues.  It is an easy step for girls reading series novels to enter this world and discover great writing. 

The Apple Doll by Elisa Kleven.

Lizzy had a special relationship with her apple tree, so when school was starting and she was worried about making friends, she found the perfect apple in the tree.  She made the apple a twig body and it became her friend who came with her to school.  Her teacher made her put away the apple but at lunch time, Lizzy brings her apple doll out again and the other children chat with Lizzie about her doll.  But it wasn’t that easy to make friends.  Lizzy continues to be lonely at school and her doll starts to look worse and worse.  Lizzy’s mother suggests drying the doll, and so the apple doll is preserved and Lizzy finds a new way to connect with her classmates.

The story of this picture book has depth and interest.  The relationship between Lizzy and her older sister is complex and honest.  Lizzy’s love for the apple is also complicated, and Kleven as an author allows it to be so, much to her credit.  Equally wonderful is the fact that Lizzy has to try several times to make connections with her classmates and still manages to connect in her own personal, introverted way.  Adding to the pleasure of this book are the illustrations, also by Kleven.  She has captured a vibrant world filled with deep, bright colors, activity and animals.  The pictures simply look like childhood with their bright and whimsical take on life. 

Recommended as a read-aloud for story times dealing with fall or returning to school.  Children ages 5-7 will enjoy it, especially if you have apples ready to be carved into apple dolls. 

Starring Miss Darlene by Amy Schwartz.

Darlene, a hippopotamus, wanted to be famous, so she signed up for theater classes.  SheUn auditioned and got the part of the Flood in the Noah’s Ark performance.  Her part was so simple, she didn’t need to be part of the rehearsals.  Unfortunately, it turns out it wasn’t so easy after all.  But Darlene got rave reviews in spite of her mistake on stage.  In the next performance, Darlene got thirteen lines!  But she also got stage fright.  Messing up again in front of the audience, she again got rave reviews.  And finally, Darlene got the part of Sleeping Beauty.  She was a sleeping beauty who really slept.  Snored even.  And guess what, rave reviews.

This is a great book for all sorts of children.  Children interested in plays and acting will love it.  Children afraid of making mistakes will also relate happily to the story.  And also children who just love twists and turns in their books will appreciate this one.  Schwartz’s writing is simple, clear and inviting.  Children are led up to the emotions but not told what to think, which is very refreshing in a picture book.  In fact, the children will fret much more than Miss Darlene ever does about her mistakes.   Expect a lot of laughter with the Sleeping Beauty ending.

Recommended reading for children ages 5-7.  This will work well as classroom reading before a school performance or concert. 

Shark and Lobster’s Amazing Undersea Adventure by Viviane Schwarz, colored by Joel Stewart.

Huge and toothy Shark admits to his friend Lobster that he is terrified of tigers.  They decide to build a fortress to protect them from the striped threat of tigers.  As they build it, more and more sea creatures start helping and start fearing tigers.  Deciding that the fortress doesn’t offer enough protection, they all dive deep down into the sea to find a sea monster to guard the fortress.  And in the process they find the courage to face their fear of tigers.

This is silly, silly fun.  The illustrations are done in a comic book style that is friendly and inviting, until the sea monster is introduced with its alarming strangeness is stark contrast to the friendly Shark and Lobster.  A wonderful contrast in style that makes the monster all the more effective and spectacular in its huge oddity.   There are very funny touches throughout the book, including the tiny cuttlefish who offers his help with building the fortress and is very effective much to Shark’s and the readers’ surprise. 

Children of all ages will immediately get the humor of a shark being scared of tigers and children all the way to age 8 will love the cartoon feel and silly spirit of the book.  Not recommended for reading at a story time, this book is much better suited to small groups or one-on-one sharing.  Good choice for guaranteed giggles.

The Bravest Knight by Mercer Mayer.

If you have any little knights at home, this is the book for you.  It begins with a small boy dreaming of being a knight, wishing that he had lived long ago.  He would be the squire for the bravest knight, polishing armor, searching for adventure, rescuing fair ladies, and much more.  Finally, the king and queen would send the brave knight and his squire off to fight the giant troll.  And from there, I will leave you to read the rest.  Let me just say that my little knights were shocked by the ending. 

This picture book has the trademark Mercer Mayer art that offers details worth seeking out and funny situations.  It is fresh, fun and also has a classic feel.  The text of the book is simple and friendly.  My only misgiving is that young female knights and princesses don’t have any role at all.  The women in the book are helpless females who either need rescuing or sit mindlessly knitting in the face of danger.  Too bad because all it would have taken was to reverse the king and queen’s facial expressions once in awhile or to have a gutsy damsel and it all would have felt much more modern.

Recommended with reservations.  I would pair this only with a strong female counterpart if I was going to read it aloud to a group. 

What Happens on Wednesdays by Emily Jenkins, pictures by Lauren Castillo.

I am a fan of Emily Jenkins’ That New Animal, so I was glad to see a new picture book by her. 

The story of this picture book is told by a young girl who tells the readers about what happens in her family on a Wednesday.  Each detail is lovingly told with care and sometimes with a sense of glee.  The wonder of it is that very little actually happens on a Wednesday that is unusual, so it is really a normal day for this urban child.  She is surrounded by a loving family where both mother and father are equally involved in taking care of her.  Just wonderfully accepted as the norm.

Jenkin’s prose is flawless.  It invites readers in with the down-to-earth tone and small touches that bring it all to life.  In particular, the “no-kissing day” theme captures this little girl perfectly.  Jenkins manages in a picture book to show and not tell, which is quite a trick.  Pair this masterful prose with Castillo’s art and you have a complete treat.  This is Castillo’s first picture book and her art is strong, comfortable and very warm.  For some reason this book bring to mind one of my favorite childhood books, Tell Me a Mitzi by Lore Groszmann Segal.  Perhaps it is the urban setting or the familial warmth, but that is certainly a book to find if you adore this one as much as I do. 

High recommended and one of my favorites of the year, this is a nice read aloud for four through seven year olds.