Amazon’s Best Books of 2012–Picture Books

| Tasha

Amazon offers several annual best books lists.  These are their 20 Best Picture Books of 2012:

  

The Adventures of Little Nutbrown Hare by Sam McBratney

Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin Stead

Big Mean Mike by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Scott Magoon

  

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer and Elizabeth Zunon

The Cloud Spinner by Michael Catchpool, illustrated by Alison Jay

Crafty Chloe by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Heather Ross

  

The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce and Joe Bluhm

  

I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr., illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Llama Llama Time to Share by Anna Dewdney

Nightsong by Ari Berk, illustrated by Loren Long

  

Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton

Olivia and the Fairy Princesses by Ian Falconer

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean and Eric Litwin

 

Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

 

This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers

Those Darn Squirrels Fly South by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

Z Is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky

Review: I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr.

| Tasha

i have a dream

I Have a Dream by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., illustrated by Kadir Nelson

The power of Martin Luther King’s words meet the beauty of Nelson’s art in this luminous picture book.  Using lines pulled directly from the latter part of King’s famous I Have a Dream speech, Nelson shows young readers how history was made that day.  From King himself standing before the Lincoln Memorial to the seas of people listening, people of all colors standing side-by-side.  Kadir moves back and forth between capturing the magnificence of King and his speech to images of what the world being dreamed of would look like.  There are beautiful skin tones shown together as well as impressive vistas of the nation.  Pure celebration, this is a picture book that truly captures the heart of King’s speech in a way that children will be able to understand.

Nelson’s art has already won him a Caldecott Honor.  Here he has the courage to take on a famous man at his more memorable moment.  But he doesn’t just show us the history, he illuminates it.  King shines with light, stands with power, and beams with faith.  There is a humanity to him too, somehow Nelson has captured what is beneath the skin too.  Beautifully.

One of my favorite images of the book is the pair of white and black hands joined together.  Against a plain white background, the hands are such a powerful symbol.  Kadir paired those joined hands with a section about faith, so the two joined together become a prayer of their own too. 

This book belongs in every library, both for the historical power of the moment being captured, but also for its exceptional beauty and art.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Schwartz & Wade Books.

Review: Unspoken by Henry Cole

| Tasha

unspoken

Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole

Every now and then an illustrator takes an amazing risk and it works so beautifully that it’s a masterpiece.  That’s what Cole has done in this remarkable picture book.  Don’t expect to see the bright colors of his work in books like Moosetache or even the more subtle but equally bright And Tango Makes Three.  Instead Cole has turned to the medium of simple paper and pencil to create a book that is wordless and powerful.  It’s the story of a farm girl who discovers a runaway slave in their barn soon after seeing a group of men on horseback.  She is startled and unsure, but over the course of the evening decides to help him.  It is a story of gifts given and also received.

Cole’s delicacy of line and details are notable here.  He keeps the illustrations very child-friendly, but they are also mysterious, shaded in darkness.  He plays with light, as you can see from even the cover image.  These wordless pages build tension and roll like a film before your eyes.  I’m thinking that the skill shown with simple materials and the strength of this book could mean a Caldecott consideration.

This is a profound book that speaks volumes about the importance of personal courage and the difference that one individual can make.  This is not a wordless book for preschoolers.  It’s more appropriate for ages 7-9 who will understand the history better.

Reviewed from library copy.

Library Journal: Best Books 2012

| Tasha

lj reviews

Library Journal offers a variety of best book lists.  The one I watch for is the Young Adult Literature for Adults list.  Here are the books on the 2012 Best Books: Young Adult Literature for Adults:

  

Ask the Passengers by A. S. King

Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal- the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan

  

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Dodger by Terry Pratchett

 

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

Every Day by David Levithan

 

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Review: The Christmas Wombat by Jackie French

| Tasha

christmas wombat

The Christmas Wombat by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley

The original Diary of a Wombat returns in all of his carrot-munching glory with a Christmas title.  The book starts in a familiar way with a day spent sleeping, scratching, sleeping again, and eating.  But then, a Christmas ornament bops him on the nose.  The wombat gets rid of them.  Then the wombat meets Santa’s reindeer who also like carrots.  They fight a great battle and the wombat wins and after munching more carrots, curls up on the back of Santa’s sleigh. The wombat meets Santa, discovers snowmen with carrot noses, and continues to eat carrots across the world.  The book ends with the same simplicity as the beginning, and with a well-deserved nap.

French has an exquisite sense of timing in her text.  When I read the first book to my son, it quickly became one of his all-time favorites.  Finding a Christmas book with that same feel and humor to it was a highlight of our holiday season so far.  I enjoy reading the books with an Australian accent, since that’s how a wombat would talk, right?  And they are a delight to share aloud.  The timing of the humor is naturally conveyed in the writing.

Whatley’s illustrations are great.  They show the pride of the wombat, his unwavering courage even when facing much larger animals, and plenty of humor themselves.  With their larger format and white backgrounds, this picture book can merrily be shared with groups of children.

A great pick for a twist on the regular holiday picture books, this one may call for carrots to be shared afterwards.  Carrots…  Carrots… Carrots… Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Unwholly by Neal Shusterman

| Tasha

unwholly

Unwholly by Neal Shusterman

Unwind by Shusterman was a single book with an amazing premise: an American society where teens who were too unruly or too burdensome were unwound into parts for others to use.  Fans of the first book will be delighted that Shusterman is turning that single book into a trilogy.  Book two picks up soon after the first.  All your favorite characters who survived the first book are here.  Connor is running the Graveyard, a place of safety for over 700 teens who escaped being unwound.  Risa is at his side, working to keep the teens all healthy.  She’s in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down.  Lev is working with teens to try to keep them from being unwound by their parents, forced by the courts to do this.  But wait, there are new characters too.  There is Starkey, a boy who knows that he is destined for greatness and is sure he could lead better than Connor.  There is Cam, a boy who was manmade from unwound teens, who is sure he is human though others doubt it.  There is Miracolina, raised knowing she is a tithe and will be unwound.  There is Nelson, the cop who was shamed when Connor escaped and who has not stopped chasing him.  There is rewritten history that keeps teens victims.  There is a large corporation working against them.  And that’s just the beginning.

Shusterman does an amazing job here of juggling all sorts of different perspectives while keeping each personality distinct and fascinating.  All of the characters, even the villains, have clear motivations and reasons that they see the world the way that they do.  Some are blinded by faith, others by obsession, and still others by their own view of the world itself.  His character building is well done, especially for such a large cast.

Shusterman continues to point out throughout the book how his concept is not far-fetched.  By using actual newspaper articles that point to teens being vilified, he firmly ties his fantasy world to our own.  The entire premise of the series is fraught with gray areas, ethics on both sides, and straight humanitarianism.  It is in this gray area that Shusterman does his most powerful work.

There are moments where the momentum flags and the pace drags a bit.  But that is a minor complaint and one that would never prevent me from finding out how the entire series ends.  Here’s hoping for another complex and complicated book to complete the set!  Appropriate for ages 15-17.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Review: The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano

| Tasha

revolution of evelyn serrano

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano

It’s the summer of 1969 and garbage is piling up on the streets of Spanish Harlem.  Evelyn, who has changed her name from Rosa, has a new job at the Five and Dime.  It’s a lot better than her job in the family’s bodega.  But that summer is not going to be a normal summer at all.  First, Evelyn’s grandmother arrives, complete with large amounts of stylish clothes, makeup and books in Spanish.  If Evelyn thought she didn’t get along with her mother, that’s doubly true of her mother and her grandmother who seem to be opposites on everything.  One big thing that they disagree about is the Young Lords, young college students who are trying to get the Puerto Ricans in Spanish Harlem to stand up for themselves.  They want to find space for a daycare, a place to serve breakfasts to youth, and a place to hand out clothing.  Evelyn finds herself right in the middle of a revolution, one that her own family can’t agree about. 

Manzano, the actress who played Maria on Sesame Street, has followed up her successful picture book with a book for older readers.  Ideal for middle schoolers, this book addresses family issues that can be far more complicated than just not agreeing about food and clothes.  It also takes on a history that not many readers may know about, a peaceful revolution right in New York City. 

Manzano’s writing is very straight-forward, rarely heading into figurative writing or symbolism.  When she does work with imagery, it is very effective, making one hope that in her next books she writes with more depth.  That is not to say that this book is not effective as it is written.  But it remains more factual and solid.

A strong addition to any collection, this historical fiction novel will both instruct about history and inspire activism.  Appropriate for ages 10-12.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

PW Best Books 2012

| Tasha

PW Best Books

Publisher’s Weekly has their list of Best Books for the year.  There are categories for Children’s Picture and Children’s Fiction.  The latter includes teen books as well as those for elementary and middle school. 

The list has many of my favorites of the year, and then some surprises too.  Enjoy!

Kirkus Best Children’s Books of 2012

| Tasha

Kirkus has selected 100 books as the best children’s books of the year.  Lots of great books to be thankful for this year and plenty to add to your holiday wish list too. 

Stay tuned for their teen list which will be released on December 10th.