A Drop of Water by Gordon Morrison.

I always enjoy well-done children’s nonfiction, and this is certainly a nicely done book.  It is a study of the water cycle from puddles to clouds to the mountain and then returning to the puddle.  But the best part is that it not only focuses on the water but also on the different species of birds, animals and plants that live at each stage on the mountain and down to the stream and pond.  It reinforces that life is dependent upon water in its many stages and that the environment is all interconnected.  And it does that without lecture or preaching and with a light enjoyable touch.

The illustrations of the book are beautiful.  They are line drawings with patches of color that show the water, the animals and the plants.  They are highlighted on the page, a blank canvas on which the world of the water is the focus. 

This is recommended as a great read aloud for children who prefer nonfiction.  It is a nice book to read with a small group or one-on-one because of the detail in the illustrations.  Children will delight in finding the birds hidden in the trees and the exact plants mentioned in the text. 

The Most Important Gift of All by David Conway, illustrated by Karin Littlewood.

Ama is a little girl who lives in Africa.  She has a new little baby brother and decides that she needs to give him a gift.  Her grandmother tells her that the most important gift she can giver her brother is love, so Ama sets off to find love.  She asks the weaverbird, the giraffe, and finally an old lion who tells her that “as sure as the rain comes, you will always know love when you have found it.”  Ama’s father finds her and returns her to the village where they celebrate the birth of her brother with a special meal and songs.  And the rain comes.

This is a lovely picture book with richly colored paintings as illustrations. The depth of the night out under the baobob tree and the brightness of the following day are marvelous.  The illustrations truly add another dimension to the book.  The language of the writing is also rich and deep, creating a believable world where lions can give advice to small children and there is a certain safety to the wildness of the world. 

Share this one with kindergarteners and first graders who may be welcoming their own new siblings.  It reads aloud well, but is also a nice lap book to share. 

Little One, We Knew You’d Come by Sally Lloyd-Jones, illustrated by Jackie Morris.

This incredibly lush and lovely picture book tells two stories, one of the miracle of everyone’s birth and the other the miraculous arrival of Jesus.  The words echo the feelings of longing of all parents while the illustrations show Mary and Joseph on their way to the stable.  The poetic language of the text rocks with a quiet rhythm of cradle, rocking chair, and arms.  The illustrations are deeply colored, filled with butterflies, fruits, animals, angels, and touches of gold.  This is a beautiful book for the Christmas Season.

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, illustrated by Henry Cole.

With all of the hub-bub about And Tango Makes Three, I thought I should actually take it home and read it.  I shared it with my five-year-old son at bedtime with his nine-year-old brother listening avidly in the background.  This is a sweet book about two male penguins hatching an egg.  One of the most touching parts was when the two penguins are trying to hatch an egg-shaped rock.  The story focuses on the love that the two penguins share and bring to their hatchling.  It is a beautiful book.

Why are people attacking this book?  It is about the true story of these real-life birds, so there’s not much to dispute there.  Additionally, it is a great picture book on its own, whether the two penguins are male or are a male-female couple who failed to hatch an egg of their own.  The illustrations are child-friendly, the language is accessible, and the story is universal.  (Much of which could not be said about the earliest picture books to feature gay families!) 

I do know that some families will have problems with this book.  They can choose not to share it with their children.  But public libraries and school libraries should certainly have it.  Both to serve the children in gay families and to share with children in more traditional families that there are different sorts of families in our communities.  Heck, Sesame Street has said this since I was a small child!  Why can’t our picture books! 

The Monster in the Backpack by Lisa Moser, illustrated by Noah Z. Jones.

Annie just got a beautiful new backpack with pink and blue flowers.  But an unexpected surprise came along, a little orange monster.  The monster eats Annie’s lunch, except for the carrots, puts gum in one of her boots, and rips up her homework.  Annie is very annoyed, but by the end of the day, she realizes that what she has in her backpack is actually very special and something that she could never get rid of. 

With this unique premise for a beginning chapter book, the book is a lot of fun.  The monster is incredibly cute and nonthreatening.  Readers will giggle at his antics that drive Annie crazy.  The book leaves everyone wishing for a monster in their backpack too.

Recommended as a beginning reader with a great sense of fun.  Beginning readers in first and second grade are sure to enjoy it.

What Happened to Cass McBride? by Gail Giles. 

Where do I start to tell you how wonderful this novel is?  Perhaps with the skill of the writing that manages to create a breakneck speed buts stays firmly in control of the plot points and horror.  Perhaps with the fantastic characterizations that slowly reveal what is lacking in these teenage lives.  Perhaps with the simple fact that it is Gail Giles and we know to expect great quality fiction from her.  Or perhaps with the way that this book with enter your psyche and stay with you whether you are reading it right then or not. 

It is the story of Cass McBride, a perfect daughter to an imperfect father, who strives to do her best in all things but can’t help being a little bit catty.  When a loser asks her out, she nicely says no, but then writes a horrible note about him to her friend.  The boy reads the note and later that day commits suicide.  The boy’s older brother blames Cass for his death and kidnaps her, trapping her in a crate buried beneath the ground.  And there is where all of the characters reveal more and more of themselves until the tension finally breaks.

The book is riveting with a pace that matches the frenzy of the older brother but controlled and forceful like Cass herself.  It moves from a book about the search for Cass to a character study of two teens who couldn’t be more different and more the same.  The writing is accessible and clear, helping the pace of the book stay zippy and the tension build to almost unbearable levels.

Recommend this to every teen out there.  It is a creepy, fast-paced thriller of a novel.  It will be one of those books that is devoured and then shared with friends.  Read it, enjoy it and then pass it on. 

On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman.

I am not a fan of most books that tell children about the day/night they were born and how special it was.  They tend to be overly sweet and to not capture the real amazing magic of birth.  So it wasn’t until I saw this book on several lists from independent booksellers as a top pick that I decided to take a look at it. 

It turns out that all of those independent booksellers are right.  This is a magical book with appeal to parents and children alike.  Filled with evocative paintings that create a mood of quiet amazement, the text tells children not of the fact that they were born, but about how unique and special they are. 

I shared this one in bed with my five-year-old son.  At the beginning of the book, it says ” There had never been anyone like you… ever in the world.”  He turned to me with a look of such wonder on his face and whispered, “Never?”  It was a moment of pure connection with the wonder of himself, a moment that every child should have. 

Take this one home to your little one or recommend it to families who adore reading bedtime stories.  It is one to be shared quietly and lovingly in parent-child pairs.  It would also make a fabulous gift for new babies or young children of any age. 

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Lawson.

I am a long-time lover of pioneer stories having been raised on Laura Ingalls Wilder.  This novel is a wonderful, more modern extension to the pioneer story.  In 1918, Hattie is left a homestead claim in Montana by her maternal uncle.  Both of her parents are dead and Hattie has lived with a series of ever-more-distant relatives.  The homestead finally gives her a place to call her own.  But in order to stake her claim, she has to farm a certain amount of the land and fence it.  Hattie finds a real life on the Montana prairie, with neighbors she loves and lots of hard work.  The homestead aspect of the story makes it accessible and fascinating.  But into this world comes World War II.  Hattie has a friend who is fighting overseas and people in Montana begin to question whether her German neighbors are actually enemies of the state.  Oppressive fees and demonstrations of patriotism are forced upon the homesteaders despite their meager amounts of money.  It takes the book to another, more complex level.

I completely delighted in this novel.  It starts out and appears to be a story of farming and toil and becomes much more than that.  Nothing is easy in the book, there are no simple answers, no sudden successes, and no miracles that save Hattie or other homesteaders from failure.  It is brutally honest, amazingly readable, and impossible to put down.

Recommend this to teens who enjoy historical fiction, but also encourage others to try it.  Hattie is an incredible female character who embraces a new way of life and builds herself the life she wants.  Teens will find her inspiring and see themselves and their abilities in a new light.  This is certainly one of the best of the year.

The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman.

Cushman, known for her incredible teen novels set in medieval times, breaks from that time period up into the 1950s with great success.  This is the story of Francine Green, a teen who lives in Hollywood and adores all things to do with movies, especially Montgomery Clift.  Francine is a quiet girl, always worried about doing the right thing and avoiding trouble.  When she becomes best friends with fearless Sophie, she struggles with her own need to not be in the spotlight.  Sophie is loud, brash and always getting into trouble, often seemingly deliberately.  As the world around them begins to change, Francine is forced to examine whether she can stay quiet as McCarthyism begins to affect the people she loves. 

As always Cushman’s prose is inventive, gloriously clear, and inviting.  She has created two teenage girls who are polar opposites but manage to be best friends.  Both of the teens as well as their very different families ring true with the adults becoming more human throughout the novel. 

This is an important novel for teens today to read.  The parallels between McCarthyism and today’s American society are alarming.  Teens will feel themselves called to be vocal about the changes we see happening around us today.  Recommend this novel for classroom sharing and discussion.  It will generate it.  I would also recommend it for book talking.