This blog and I will be taking a little holiday break through New Year’s Day. I’ll return in the new year with lists of my top picks for 2018.
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2018 Costa Book Award Shortlist
The Costa Book Awards have announced their shortlists. The award is the only major UK book prize limited to only authors residing in the UK and Ireland. Here are the titles shortlisted for the Children’s Book Award:
Bone Talk by Candy Gourlay
The Colour of the Sun by David Almond
Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen
The Skylark’s War by Hilary McKay (published as Love to Everyone in the US)
School Library Journal Best Books
Another 2018 best books list has been released, this time from SLJ! Here are the titles:
PICTURE BOOKS
Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin
Black Bird, Yellow Sun by Steve Light
Blue by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, illus. by Rafael López
Drawn Together by Minh Lê, illus. by Dan Santat
The Field by Baptiste Paul, illus. by Jacqueline Alcántara
Fox + Chick: The Party and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier
Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
Me and My Fear by Francesca Sanna
Mommy’s Khimar by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illus. by Ebony Glenn
A Parade of Elephants by Kevin Henkes
The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke, illus. by Van Thanh Rudd
Saffron Ice Cream by Rashin Kheiriyeh
Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora
They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki
Zola’s Elephant by Randall de Sève, illus. by Pamela Zagarenski
CHAPTER BOOKS
Meet Yasmin! by Saadia Faruqi, illus. by Hatem Aly
Tiger vs. Nightmare by Emily Tetri
MIDDLE GRADE
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
Blended by Sharon M. Draper
The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell
Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older
A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano
Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender
Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya
Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon
The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani Dasgupta
Swallow’s Dance by Wendy Orr
They Call Me Guero by David Bowles
You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly
NONFICTION
Americanized by Sara Saedi
Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
Eat This!: How Fast Food Marketing Gets You to Buy Junk (and How You Can Fight Back) by Andrea Curtis, illus. by Peggy Collins
Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass, a Monumental American Man by Tonya Bolden
The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix
I Have the Right To: A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope by Chessy Prout with Jenn Abelson
Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968 by Alice Faye Duncan, illus. by R. Gregory Christie
Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham
Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Barb Rosenstock, illus. by Katherine Roy
Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide by Isabel Quintero, illus. by Zeke Peña
Prickly Hedgehogs by Jane McGuinness
Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and the War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow
The Triumphant Tale of the House Sparrow by Jan Thornhill
We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorrell, illus. by Frané Lessac
YA
After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay
All That I Can Fix by Crystal Chan
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLeMore
Blood Water Paint by Joy McCollough
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
Mirage by Somaiya Daud
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
The Promised Neverland, Vol. 1: Grace Field House by Kaiu Shirai
A Room Away from the Wolves by Nova Ren Suma
Sadie by Courtney Summers
Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, illus. by Emily Carroll
When Light Left Us by Leah Thomas
POETRY
Jabberwalking by Juan Felipe Herrera
Martin Rising: Requiem for a King by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illus. by Brian Pinkney
Seeing into Tomorrow by Richard Wright & Nina Crews
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy by Tony Medina
GoodReads Choice Awards – Children’s Nominees
Voting for the 10th Annual GoodReads Choice Awards has opened. They have two categories that are specifically for children’s books. Just as with the YA nominees, there are some odd additions here that are surprising to see in such a strong year for books for children. Here are the nominees:
MIDDLE GRADE & CHILDREN’S
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead
City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall
The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
Sunny by Jason Reynolds
The Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan
Willa of the Wood by Robert Beatty
You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly
PICTURE BOOKS
Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick and David Serlin
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss, illustrated by E.G. Keller
Drawn Together by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat
Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall
I Am Enough by Grace Byers
Islandborn by Junot Diaz, illustrated by Leo Espinoza
Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
Love by Matt De La Pena, illustrated by Loren Long
Ocean Meets Sky by The Fan Brothers
Petra by Marianna Coppo
The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld
They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki
We Don’ t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds
Mary Poppins Returns – The Trailer
A charmer of a trailer:
Review: What’s Your Favorite Bug? by Eric Carle
What’s Your Favorite Bug? by Eric Carle and Friends (9781250151759)
Following the first two picture books in this series, this one focuses entirely on insects. As with the other boos, Eric Carle is joined by other illustrators who draw an image of their favorite insect, tell a little about it and explain why they love it. One of the major treats of this series is never knowing what the page turn will bring, since each double-page spread is done by a different illustrator.
This collection has racial diversity in the illustrators included and also has a nice mix of male and female artists. As with all of the books in the series, there is a wonderful diversity in the art styles as well. The design of the book and the order of the pages works particularly well. There are dark and bright pages that lead readers on a journey of light and shadow that is particularly effective when combined with the crawly nature of bugs.
Another winner in this series that will have you searching out new illustrators to see their full books. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Reviewed from copy provided by Henry Holt.
Review: Dear Substitute by Liz Garton Scanlon
Dear Substitute by Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Chris Raschka (9781484750223)
When Mrs.Giordano has to stay home sick, a substitute comes to run the classroom. Unfortunately though, all of her changes are really disruptive for the very young students in the class. So one of the students writes a series of poems to Miss Pelly, the substitute. Miss Pelly doesn’t know how to pronounce their names, doesn’t collect the homework that is due. The class doesn’t visit the library on their scheduled day, the turtle tank isn’t cleaned, and turns at being line leader are disrupted. Miss Pelly even laughs too often, but she does share a great book of poems with the class and it might just be alright if Mrs. Giordano takes another day off to get well.
The authors capture the confusion at having routines disrupted by a substitute teacher. Through the vehicle of short poems, this picture book is approachable and gives voice to a child’s frustration at things being changed and grappling with being flexible and understanding. The illustrations have a childlike whimsy to them, with noble turtles, red-glasses wearing crocodiles, and a substitute who looks kind even when the child is unsure.
A winner for classrooms preparing for substitutes or other big changes. Appropriate for ages 5-8. (Reviewed from ARC provided by Disney Hyperion.)
Waking Brain Cells Anniversary
This weekend my blog turned 15 years old! It’s hard to believe that I’ve been doing this for that long. It started when my son was a toddler and now he’s about to enter his senior year of high school. My daughter was just entering school, now she’s starting her final year of college.
The landscape for children’s literature has changed as well. The focus on diverse voices telling their own story is the most gratifying to see happening. I’m hoping that my focus on sharing my favorites of these books is a small help in getting them seen and available in libraries. Our libraries need to reflect our communities, show them diverse voices from around the world, and celebrate our differences as we build a strong community for children.
Thank you for joining me on this journey through children’s books and literature. I appreciate my readers, the publishers who share their books with me, and all of the authors and creators who do the hard work of dreaming and writing for us all.
Review: The Shadow in the Moon by Christina Matula
The Shadow in the Moon: A Tale of the Mid-Autumn Festival by Christina Matula, illustrated by Pearl Law (9781580897464)
The whole family gathers for the Mid-Autumn Festival to give thanks for the harvest. They will look at the moon and then each person makes a wish for the upcoming year. As the mooncakes are served, Ah-ma tells the story of Chang’e, the Spirit and Lady in the Moon. It was in a time when there were ten suns in the sky, baking the earth. The suns would not listen and stop shining so hard, so a young archer, Hou Yi, shot down nine of the moons. The last one he asked to share the sky with the moon. Hou Yi was given a magic potion for his courage by the Immortals. When a thief came to steal the potion, Hou Yi’s wife, Chang’e, drank it rather than have it fall into the wrong hands. The potion turned her into the Spirit and Lady in the Moon. Hou Yi discovered what had happened and would sit in the garden and look up at the moon, providing mooncakes on the anniversary of the day she transformed. After the story, the girls are ready to light their paper lanterns and make their wishes, inspired by the heroism of Hou Yi and Chang’e.
Matula merges a modern tale of a Chinese family with the legend that inspired this festival. The two stories are clearly separate, which works really well for a young audience. Her writing is clear, describing the mooncakes in a mouthwatering way and the inspiring actions of the legendary characters in a way that allows the melancholy yet beautiful tale to shine. The illustrations also make a clear distinction between the stories. The modern family is shown on white backgrounds that are clean and crisp. The legend is shown with primarily deep jeweled colors as the background, inviting readers into the richness of the tale.
A wonderful and warm introduction to Chinese festivals, this picture book offers a look at how festivals carry on in modern society while also telling the story behind it all. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Reviewed from copy provided by Charlesbridge.
Waking Brain Cells 