The Harvey Awards were given out at New York Comic Con. There are specific categories for youth and then some crossover books won awards as well that I will list below:
BOOK OF THE YEAR
Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
BEST CHILDREN OR YOUNG ADULT BOOK (Tie)
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill
BEST EUROPEAN BOOK
Calfornia Dreamin’: Cass Elliot before the Mamas & the Papas by Pénélope Bagieu
Blue by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (9781626720664)
In her follow-up to Green, Seeger once again explore all aspects of a single color. With blue, there are baby blue blankets, blue berries, ocean waves, blue skies, and deep night blues. Blues can also feel different from one another. Some can be silly, others stormy and still others icy cold. Told through the lens of a boy and his dog, the book explores different seasons and the blues that accompany their days together.
I must say that this book cannot be summarized easily at all. The text is entirely simple, just naming each color of blue and each mood being depicted. It is the illustrations that are awe-inspiring. They use a cut-out mechanism to lead from one blue to the next, one image to the next, connecting each image to the next.
This is done by a master though, the cutout sections to surprising and unique. I found myself running my fingers over the page to find the holes in the page because they are not obvious at all. Then I would flip back and forth, back and forth to see how the images somehow incorporated those cut areas flawlessly. Even when I knew where to look they disappeared into the images. And the images are grand, beautiful and full of depth. They invite readers into this world of blue.
A picture book to marvel at. Appropriate for ages 1-4.
Reviewed from copy provided by Roaring Brook Press.
Here is trailer for Mortal Engines, a film based on the book by Philip Reeve and from the team that did Lord of the Rings:
No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen (9780735262751)
Felix loves trivia and his gerbil who is named after a famous Canadian game show host. He lives with his mother Astrid, who struggles to keep jobs and tends to tell lies whenever she wants. Living in Vancouver is expensive, so when Astrid loses her job and then offends the person who takes them in, Felix finds himself living in a camper van. It’s only temporary, so Felix starts school and doesn’t explain to anyone where he is living. Astrid uses her ability to stretch the truth convincingly to get him a place in the school he wants and to get them a mailing address. Still, living in a van is not any fun after awhile and as Felix makes new friends, he finds it hard to keep lying to them. But there is a way out, if Felix can win the junior version of a national game show, he might just have enough money to get them back on their feet and into a home.
Nielsen tells a story about the power of hope, the importance of friendship and the creation of a community of people who care. It is also the story of a mother who is struggling with depression and an inability to keep a job. Astrid is a great character, a mother who manages to continue to be sympathetic but also disastrous. She is complicated just like their story of homelessness is. This is not a flat look at homelessness but instead an in-depth exploration of how it happens, the trap of being in it, and the long climb back out.
Felix too is a wonderful character. He is bright, funny and written as a twelve-year-old boy. That means that his sense of humor is a little naughty and his sense of integrity and honor is strong. His voice resonates as that of a child his age, not reaching up to be a teen yet. The friends he makes are also depicted well, from his old childhood friend with the warm and messy home to the girl he likes, maybe, and her straight-talking hard-hitting journalism approach.
A nuanced and skilled look at homelessness with great characters to discover along the journey. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
Reviewed from copy provided by Tundra Books.
Here are my finds on Twitter and Pinterest this week:
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
“The book that made me is yet to come. I’m looking forward to that one.” – Illustrator Helen Oxenbury discusses her career with @CharlotteLEyre here: http://bit.ly/2DrVnvN
Don’t Eat Your Friends: Picture Books with Bite https://buff.ly/2OAc3Wa #kidlit
Misty of Chincoteague https://buff.ly/2NcHrW5 #kidlit
Netflix Announces New Narnia Series https://buff.ly/2DVElWY #kidlit
Picture Books That Invite Connection | ShelfTalker https://buff.ly/2NharvQ #kidlit
SLJ: Reading Around the World: 25 picture books that evoke a specific setting or culture while revealing universal themes. https://t.co/kDsTuvVyB3
Twin Cities author Kate DiCamillo: ‘I’m looking forward to taking my heart on the road’ http://strib.mn/2xW9LqL via @StarTribune
TEEN READS
10 YA Fantasy Books Written by Women of Color https://buff.ly/2P9cFyX #yalit
50 Must-Read YA Books About Mental Illness (Plus A Few More) https://buff.ly/2NWRYtz #YAlit
USA Today Review: ‘The Hate U Give’ is one of the rare important teen films that needs to be seen by everybody. https://t.co/Vc8idNPlfv
YA Books Turned Movies 2019, Teen Novels Turning Into Films Next Year https://buff.ly/2ycn0Db #yalit
Parents Magazine has announced their picks for the Best Children’s Books of the year. This is their tenth annual list which contains fifteen titles. Their process takes nominations from literacy experts like teachers and librarians and then 75 children and their families test them out. Here are the winners:
BEST BOARD BOOK
Hi-Five Animals by Ross Burach
BEST ALPHABET BOOK
Mr. Bear’s ABC by Virginie Aracil
BEST BEDTIME STORY
Star in the Jar by Sam Hay, illustrated by Sarah Massini
BEST GIFT BOOK
Happy Birthday to You! by Nicola Slater
BEST FIRST PICTURE BOOK
Hungry Bunny by Claudia Rueda
BEST FIRST NONFICTION BOOK
Do Not Lick This Book by Idan Ben-Barak, illustrated by Julian Frost
BEST ANIMAL FACTS BOOK
The Big Book of Blue by Yuval Zommer
BEST PICTURE BOOK
My Pet Wants a Pet by Elise Broach, illustrated by Eric Barclay
BEST BOOK THAT CHAMPIONS KINDNESS
I Walk with Vanessa by Kerascoet
BEST BIOGRAPHY
Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed, illustrated by Stasia Burrington
BEST EARLY READER
Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick and David Serlin
BEST NEW SERIES
Polly Diamond by Alice Kuipers, illustrated by Diana Toledano
BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL
Be Prepared by Vera Bosgol
BEST CHAPTER BOOK TO READ ON THEIR OWN
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
BEST CHAPTER BOOK TO READ TOGETHER
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
Mama Dug a Little Den by Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Steve Jenkins (9781481480376)
In this companion book to Mama Built a Little Nest, the story explores the many animals who build dens to protect their babies. The book offers rhyming couplets as the main part of the story but each animal also has facts included on the page. These facts include how long the babies stay with their mothers, how the dens function and how the animals are fed while in the den. There are mammals, toads, lizards, spiders and many more on these pages, each with a unique den of their own and interesting reasons for having them.
Ward has selected a broad range of animals to highlight here. Her poems are jaunty and clever, the rhymes never feeling forced. The facts she shares are brief, pertinent and fascinating, just what you need in a picture book format. As always, Jenkins’ art is exceptional. He captures small details and interesting habitats with his cut paper collage that introduces texture to the illustrations as well.
Curl up in your own den to share this with your own baby animal. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from copy provided by Beach Lane Books.
The finalists for the 2018 Governor General Literary Awards have been announced. The Canada Council for the Arts is responsible for administering the awards which are given in seven categories in English and French. Here are the finalists in the Young People’s categories in English:
YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE – TEXT
Ebb and Flow by Heather Smith
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
Learning to Breathe by Janice Lynn Mather
Sweep by Jonathan Auxier
Winnie’s Great War by Lindsay Mattick and Josh Greenhut, illustrated by Sophie Blackall
YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE – ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
Africville by Shauntay Grant, illustrations by Eva Campbell
At the Pond by Werner Zimmermann
Go Show the World by Wab Kinew, illustrated by Joe Morse
Ocean Meets Sky by The Fan Brothers
They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki
Albert’s Very Unordinary Birthday by Daniel Gray-Barnett (9781525301186)
Albert lives a very ordinary life and even his birthday is just an ordinary day. No parties for him, instead he got birthday socks as his gift and plain toast for breakfast. All he could do was imagine that he had a candle to blow out on his piece of chocolate-cherry-ripple cake. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and when Albert answered it, there stood his Grandma Z. She told his parents that they were just going to do ordinary birthday things, but their day together was anything but ordinary! They explored the woods, climbed a huge rock, looked at a dragon’s tooth, visited a palace, rode a roller coaster over and over again, and finally had a big slice of chocolate-cherry-ripple cake.
This import from Australia is an entirely energizing read. Nicely, the text doesn’t rhyme but instead holds together with its structure and tone. Told in a breathless voice once the fun starts, the book moves from its staid and dull beginnings into a hurtling pace of doing all sorts of marvelous things over the course of one amazing day. The text and illustrations work together well, showing them flying with birds, a dragon asleep in a cave nearby, and horses riding the coaster with them.
A wild ride of a birthday book, expect requests for chocolate-cherry-ripple cake in the future. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Kids Can Press.
Waking Brain Cells 