The Skylark’s War by Hilary McKay has won the Costa Children’s Book Award. The novel was published in the United States under the title Love to Everyone.
The Costa judges said it is “As perfect a novel as you could ever want to read.”
2018 Best Youth Nonfiction!
What a year for nonfiction! It was filled with looks at math, science, art, music and much more. Here are my picks for the best nonfiction for children and teens in 2018:
Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James R. Ransome (9780823420476)
An important and lovely book about Harriet Tubman that belongs in all libraries. – My Review
Carlos Santana: Sound of the Heart, Song of the World by Gary Golio (9781627795128)
A great pick for libraries looking for quality biographies of musicians. – My Review
Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez (9781682630136)
A glorious look at the Apollo missions. This belongs in every library. – My Review
Do Not Lick This Book by Idan Ben-Barak and Julian Frost (9781250175366)
A smart choice for libraries looking for great STEM reads. – My Review
Drawn from Nature by Helen Ahpornsiri (9780763698980)
Throughout there is a grace of line and delight. An organic look at nature in all of its beauty. – My Review
Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles edited by Jessica Burkhart (9781481494649)
Reading this book is an exercise in opening your heart. It belongs in every public library serving teens. It will save lives. Period. – My Review
Lovely Beasts: The Surprising Truth by Kate Gardner, illustrated by Heidi Smith (9780062741615)
A beautiful and fresh look at some of the most misunderstood animals in the world. – My Review
Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain by Cheryl Bardoe, illustrated by Barbara McClintock (9780316278201)
The book shows again and again the resilience and determination that it took for Sophie to succeed. – My Review
One Day a Dot by Ian Lendler, illustrated by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb (9781626722446)
A great look at the science of the Big Bang and evolution for small children, this is a cleverly designed book. – My Review
Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record Setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Katherine Roy (9780316393829)
A winner of a science read. – My Review
Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly Was Invented by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Steven Salerno (9781627791687)
A very intriguing tale that is a mix of women’s rights, ingenuity and economics. – My Review
So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk Toward Freedom by Gary D. Schmidt, illustrated by Daniel Minter (9781626728721)
This book aches with pain, loss, and grief. – My Review
The Sockeye Mother by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw (Brett David Huson), illustrated by Natasha Donovan (9781553791395)
The book is deep and lovely, the tone unique and lush. – My Review
Water Land: Land and Water Forms around the World by Christy Hale (9781250152442)
A brilliant book that will have young readers looking at water and land in a new way with plenty of terms to name what they are seeing. – My Review
We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices edited by Wade Hudson (9780525580423)
A call to action for young people, this book is an anthology that belongs in every library in our country. – My Review
Review: When Sadness Is at Your Door by Eva Eland
When Sadness Is at Your Door by Eva Eland (9780525707189)
This quiet book looks at how children can handle deep emotions like sadness in a proactive way. It explains how sadness, depicted as a large blue round creature, can arrive without notice and be so close you almost smother. It reveals how sadness can almost become you, but try not to be afraid. Instead listen to the sadness, ask it where it came from, be quiet and sit together for a while. Do things together, even take a walk with one another. Give it room and make it welcome, and then tomorrow is a new day.
Eland takes a rather Buddhist approach to handling negative emotions as she asks the reader to sit with their emotion, welcome it and basically make it feel at home. The book shows that emotions can’t be hidden or pushed away. This approach leads away from anger and misery and into an acceptance that makes this book very gentle. In the art there are clear echoes of Harold and the Purple Crayon in its simplicity. The color scheme is muted and reflects the quiet nature of the text and the content.
A clear and gentle look at difficult emotions. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Random House.
2018 Best Board Books!
2018 was a great year for board books! Here are my picks for the ten best board books of the year:
Ciao, Baby! Ready for a Ride by Carole Lexa Schaefer, illustrated by Lauren Tobia (9780763683979)
A loving and warm look at life in an urban setting with a Hispanic family at its heart. – My Review
Holi Colors by Rina Singh (9781459818491)
Joyous and bright – My Review
Little Truck by Taro Gomi (9781452163000)
Exactly what little ones will love! – My Review
Opposite Surprise by Agnese Baruzzi (9789888341375)
The illustrations are simple and bold and will lead to discussions about how they could be interpreted. – My Review
A Pile of Leaves by Jason Fulford and Tamara Shopsin (9780714877204)
Clever and a delight to explore, this board book is like breathing crisp fall air in book form. – My Review
Shapes by Jacques Duquennoy (9782747086998)
This clever mechanism makes for a dynamic book that will have children wanting to make their own shapes too. – My Review
Toesy Toes by Sarah Tsiang (9781459813427)
The book has a simple format, bright colors and a rollicking rhythm that keeps the pace brisk and lively. – My Review
Wee Beasties: Huggy the Python Hugs Too Hard by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Alex G. Griffiths (9781534410800)
One of those special board books that has a real story arc, this one is funny and filled with love. – My Review
You and Me by Rebecca Kai Dotlich (9781568463216)
These are images of a loving African-American family that celebrate being an older sibling. – My Review
You See, I See in the City by Michelle Sinclair Colman, illustrated by Paul Schmid (9781524715007)
A winning board book full of urban sights. – My Review
Review: One-Third Nerd by Gennifer Choldenko
One-Third Nerd by Gennifer Choldenko, illustrated by Eglantine Ceulemans (9781524718886)
Released January 29, 2019.
The award-winning author of the Al Capone series returns with a book for younger children. Liam is a fifth grader whose life has gotten complicated. He lives with his mother and two younger sisters in a basement apartment near San Francisco. Fifth grade isn’t the same as younger grades and Liam is concerned with appearing to not be as poor as his family actually is. Even worse, their dog, Cupcake, has started having a peeing problem and they don’t have the money to get her special tests done. Meanwhile, Dakota, one of Liam’s sisters is trying to make enough money to save Cupcake, since if she doesn’t stop peeing on things they will need to get rid of her. Unfortunately, it involves selling some of Liam’s favorite things and conducting some wild science experiments. Then you have the youngest in the family, Izzy a child with Down syndrome, who makes friends easily and gives great hugs. Can this family of nerds, jocks and friendliness come together and save Cupcake?
The writing here is just right for younger readers who will love the brisk pace mixed with with madcap humor. Liam is a strong protagonist who is starting to become more aware of social standing and how others perceive him, and being a big brother to the disruptive Dakota is not helping matters. Even when he is exasperated with his sister though, he tends to be calm and show a great deal of maturity in each situation.
I love that this book is not focused on big issues. There are several that could have been the focus in a more dramatic book, such as poverty, Down syndrome, and divorce. Instead Choldenko tells the story of a family facing a variety of challenges and weathering them together, several of the obvious challenges actually turn out to be strengths along the way. The light tone is also conveyed in the illustrations with their light touch and humorous takes on the scenes.
This funny wild romp will be enjoyed by elementary readers. Appropriate for ages 6-9.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Wendy Lamb Books.
Review: Saturday Is Swimming Day by Hyewon Yum
Saturday Is Swimming Day by Hyewon Yum (9780763691172)
A little girl wakes up with a stomach ache on Saturday, worried about her swimming lesson. When they get to the pool, it is loud and cold and wet. She doesn’t enter the pool at all, only getting wet when she takes a shower afterwards. The next week, she has a stomach ache again. This time, her instructor asks her to try getting in the pool and gently encourages her to try some movements in the water. The following week, she doesn’t have a stomach ache at all! She tries bobbing her head and even floating on her back, though she’d like her instructor nearby at first. This picture book looks positively at giving children time to adjust to new experiences and yet to continue encouraging them to try new things.
Yum captures the feelings of a child learning to swim. It is a frightening experience at first, filled with echoing noise, dampness and others enjoying it far more. All of the adults in the little girl’s life allow her time to be brave and don’t push in a negative way. The book is told her voice, so she demonstrates on her own how her viewpoint changes over time and the experience becomes positive and source of pride for her.
Yum’s illustrations are expressive and center on the little girl in each image. She uses watercolors very successfully to capture the flow of the water in the pool and its blue depths. Against that softer texture, the characters pop in bright colors as they swim, or don’t swim yet.
A winning book that shows how bravery sometimes takes time. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from library copy.
This Week’s Tweets
Here are some of the links I shared over the last couple of weeks on Twitter:
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
“Harshly” Judging Islamophobia – https://t.co/nlnAP4LDX6
Irish children’s books enjoying a new ‘golden age’ https://buff.ly/2LKZnYA #kidlit
Newly Updated! Understanding Transgender with LGBTQ Books for Kids http://bit.ly/2xX5Yss via @pragmaticmom
Telling Her Story: Picture Books about 99 Real-Life Mighty Girls… https://t.co/r1qRwz6649
READING
NPR – Why Millions Of Kids Can’t Read, And What Better Teaching Can Do About It https://buff.ly/2F3JOd7 #reading
TEEN LIT
“2018 Proved Black Kids Read (And White Kids Read Books With Black Leads)” by @getnicced https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-ya-books-black-leads_us_5c2136a4e4b05c88b6fb6a4b?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004 …
Entertainment Weekly – Best Comics of 2018 – https://t.co/5nrOiYyOX7
Paste – The 10 Most Anticipated Young Adult Novels of 2019 https://buff.ly/2QgWIGD #YAlit
Review: The Secret Kingdom by Barb Rosenstock
The Secret Kingdom: Nek Chand, a Changing India, and a Hidden World of Art by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Claire A. Nivola (9780763674755)
A nonfiction picture book look at the incredible Rock Garden of Chandigarh. Chand grew up happily in a small village in the Punjab region of India. He grew up there, hearing stories and building palaces on the sand near the river. As an adult, he became a farmer but everything changed when the partition of India happened in 1947. Forced from his home and into a city, Chand struggled to find the beauty he had grown up with. He finally discovered it in the jungle along the city’s edge. There he cut back the vegetation and built himself a hut. He started gathering items and bringing them into the jungle. Then he started building a secret kingdom, one that was undiscovered by anyone else for fifteen years. When the officials wanted it destroyed, the local community rose up to protect this outsider’s art.
Rosenstock manages to keep the complicated story of the partition of India to a scale that allows young readers to understand its impact on Chand, but also not get caught in the political details. She cleverly uses repetition of themes in the book, creating a feel of a traditional tale that suits this subject perfectly. She also shows the care and attention to detail that Chand demonstrated in his quiet work. There is a sense of awe around both his skill and his dedication to his vision.
Nivola’s art is fine-lined and marvelously detailed. From the lush jungle setting to the various figures he created. It is impressive that when the pages unfold to show photographs of the actual Rock Garden, there is no jarring moving from illustration to image. It flows naturally and yet allows the full images to amaze too.
A look at an outsider artist who created a world all his own. Appropriate for ages 4-7.
Reviewed from library copy.
2018 BCCB Blue Ribbons
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books has named their 2018 Blue Ribbons. On their website, you will find short descriptions of each book with age ranges. Here they are with covers:
FICTION
Astrid the Unstoppable by Maria Parr
Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick and David Serlin
The Book of Pearl by Timothee de Fombelle
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Dream Country by Shannon Gibney
Love to Everyone by Hilary McKay
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea by Lynne Rae Perkins
The War Outside by Monica Hesse
When Light Left Us by Leah Thomas
The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
NONFICTION
Americanized: Rebel without a Green Card by Sara Saedi
Attucks!: Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team That Awakened a City by Phillip Hoose
Bird Builds a Nest by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Richard Jones
Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend by Karen Blumenthal
Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu
The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman
Hey, Kiddo! by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
A History of Pictures for Children: From Cave Paintings to Computer Drawings by David Hockney and Martin Gayford, illustrated by Rose Blake
Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Barb Rosenstock
Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow
PICTURE BOOKS
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael Lopez
Do You Believe in Unicorns? by Bethanie Deeney Murguia
Drawn Together by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat
Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
The Eleventh Hour by Jacques Goldstyn
The Funeral by Matt James
Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
Night Job by Karen Hesse, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
A Parade of Elephants by Kevin Henkes
The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke, illustrated by Van Thanh Rudd
Waking Brain Cells 