Sunday, June 3, 2012

Best books for Kids 2012


Last week I visited Prairie Lights Books for the FIRST Time!
It won’t be the last!
I met Barbara Stein, a guru of kids’ books who shared her knowledge and excitement of some of the new books for kids. She even gave me a copy of their 2012 favorites.
This list is compiled by Barbara Stein and Victoria Walton. I can’t wait to finish reading the list (and I’m not kidding!)

BOARD Books
Fox, Mem                        Hello Baby!
Gershator, Phillis            Who’s in the
                                    Farmyard?
Hutchins, Hazel            Up Cat; Up Dog
Stein, David                        Pouch

Poetry, Songs and Mother Goose
Alexander, Elizabeth            Praise Song for
                                    The Day
Elliot, David                        In the Sea
Florian, Douglas            UnBeelievables
Hoberman, MaryAnn
                                    Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart           
Loeb, Lisa                        Lisa Loeb’s Silly
                                    Sing-Along

Traditional
Ketteman, Helen            Senorita Gordita
Lowry, Amy                        Fox Tales: Four Fables from Aesop
Stampler, Ann                        The Wooden Sword” A Jewish Tale from                                                                                     Afghanistan

Picture Books
Allen, Jonathan            Don’t Copy Me
Buzzeo, Toni                        One Cool Friend
Davies, Nicola                        Just Ducks
Henkes, Kevin                        Penny and her Song
Hobbie, Holly                        Gem
Joose, Barbara                        Old Robert and the Sea-Silly Cats
Kalman, Maira            Looking at Lincoln
Lyons, Kelly                        Ellen’s Broom
Nichols, Grace                        I’m Fast                       
Parker, Marjorie            Whoa Baby, Whoa!
Patricelli, Leslie            Faster! Faster!
Schaefer, Lola M.            One Special Day: A Story for Big Brothers and Sisters
Singer, Marilyn            Tallulah’s Solo
Stoeke, Janet                        The Loopy Coop Hens: Pip’s Trip
Strauss, Linda                        The Elijah door: A Passover Tale
Wells, Rosemary            Yoko Learns to Read

Biography
Corey, Shana                        Here Come the Girl Scouts!
Kamkwamba,
William                        The Boy Who Harnessed Wind
Lang, Heather                        Queen of the Track
Nivola, Claire                        Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle
Tavares, Matt                        There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter who ever Lived
Walker, Sally                        Freedom Song: The Story of Henry “Box” Brown

Non-fiction
Abdul-Jabbar,
Kareem                        What color is my World? The Lost History of African-American
                                    Inventors
Carnesi, Monica            Little Dog Lost: The True Story of the Dog Named Baltic
Davies, Nicola                        Outside your Window: A First Book of Nature
Jenkins, Steve                        The Beetle Book
Judge, Lita                        Bird Talk: What Birds Are Saying and Why
The Mayo Clinic Kids’ Cookbook: 50 Favorite Recipes for Fun and Healthy eating
McHugh, Erin                        National Parks: A Kids’ Guide to America’s Parks, Monuments                                                 and Landmarks
Novesky, Amy            Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O’Keefe painted what she                                                 Pleased
Potter, Alicia                        Mrs. Harkness and the Panda

Transitional Chapter Books

Butler, Dori                        The Case of the School Ghost
Cronin, Doreen            The Legend of Diamond Lil: A J.J. Tully Mystery
English, Karen                        Nikki and Deja: A Wedding Drama
Hest, Amy                        Letters to Leo
Jonell, Lynn                        Lawn Mower Magic
Jones, Diana Wynne
                                    Earwig and the Witch
McCall Smith,
Alexander                        The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe’s Very First Case
McDonald, Megan            Stink and the Midnight Zombie Walk
O’Connor, Jane            Nancy Clancy Super Sleuth           

Fiction
Applegate, Katharine
                                    The One and Only Ivan
Boyce, Frank                        Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again
Foley, Lizzie                        Remarkable
Hiassen, Carl                        Chomp
Ibbotson, Eva                        One Dog and His Little Boy
Levine, Kristin            The Lions of Little Rock
McKay, Hilary            Caddy’s World
Palacio, R.J.                  Wonder
Rex, Adam                     Cold Cereal
Riordan, Rick                The Serpent’s Shadows: Kane Chronicles Book 3
Stewart, Trenton
Lee                                    The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict

Teens        
                       
Andrews, Jesse            Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Green, John                        The Fault in our Stars
Handler, Daniel            Why we Broke up
Petrucha, Stefan            Ripper
Quick, Matthew            Boy21
Voorhoeve, Anne            My Family for the War
Woodson, Jacqueline            Beneath a Meth Moon

Award winning, best and most excellent book lists for children, kids and teens




One of my favorite bookstores, ever, is Anderson's, I played, or should I say, worked there for six years and never found a more dedicated book of book gobblers. We loved reading and arguing about books. If you need suggestions for best books, great books, award winning books for children, kids, and young adults...this is a great resource.

Naperville    Downers Grove     Aurora
in Illinois
Illinois Reading Council
March 14th-17th, 2012
Looking at New Books for Children
Presenter, Becky Anderson
Grades K-3

Picture Books                                                                                                            _____________
And Then It’s Spring         Julie Fogliano, illus. Erin E. Stead
Another Brother        Matthew Cordell
Chopsticks        Amy Krouse Rosenthal,    illus. Scott Magoon           
Extra Yarn       Mac Barnett,      illus. Jon Klassen
Goodnight iPad,  A Parody for the Next Generation     Ann Droyd
Grandpa Green         Lane Smith
I Don’t Want To Be a Pea!       Ann Bonwill,   illus Simon Rickerty
I Want My Hat back                   Jon Klassen
Little Treasures         Jacqueline K. Ogburn,     illus. Chris Raschka
The Monster Returns         Peter McCarty
Moonlight          Helen V. Griffith,    illus. Laura Dronzek
M.O.M.            Doreen Cronin and Laura Cornell
More                  I.C. Springman,  illus.  Brian Lies           
No Bears         Meg McKinley,  illus. Leila Rudge
One Cool Friend         Toni Buzzeo,  illus.  David Small
Otto, The Book Bear           Katie Cleminson
Paul Thurlby’s Alphabet            Paul Thurlby
Pete the Cat .. I Love My White Shoes and Rocking In My School Shoes       Eric Litwin,  illus. James Dean
Petunia Goes Wild                    Paul Schmid
Piggy Bunny                         Rachel Vail,    illus.  Jeremy Tankard
The Princess and the Packet of Frozen Peas           Tony Wilson,  illus.  Sue deGennaro
Prudence Wants a Pet           Cathleen Daly,   illus. Stephan Michael King
Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit         Chris Van Dusen
The Really Awful Musicians            John Manders
Stuck           Oliver Jeffers
Suppose You Meet a Dinosaur           Judy Sierra,  illus. Tim Bowers
Virginia Wolf           Kyo Maclear,  illus. Isabelle Arsenault
Z is for Moose          Kelly Bingham,  illus. Paul Zelinsky
Zero the Hero    Joan Holub,  illus. Tom Lichtenheld

Poetry, Language and Words________________________________________________
Book Speak! Poems about Books            Laura Purdie Salas, illus. Josee Bisaillon
Edgar Allan Poe’s Pie            J. Patrick Lewis, illus. Michael Slack
Grasshopper Pie and Other Poems           D.J. Steinberg,  illus. Adrian Sinnott
The Great Migration – Journey To The North           Eloise Greenfield,  illus. Jan Spivey Gilchrist
I’ve Lost My Hippopotamus           Jack Prelutsky,  illus. Jackie Urbanovic
A Meal Of the Stars – Poems Up and Down          Dana Jensen,  illus. Tricia Tusa
Out Of This World – Poems and Facts About Space           Amy E. Sklansky,  illus. Stacey Schuett
Poem Runs – Baseball Poems and Paintings            Douglas Florian
The President’s Stuck In the Bathtub – Poems about the Presidents      Susan Katz,  illus. Robert Neubecker
Step Gently Out           Helen Frost,  illus. Rick Lieder
UnBEElievables – Honeybee poems and paintings           Douglas Florian
We Are America – A Tribute From the Heart            Walter Dean Myers,  illus. Christopher Myers

People, Places and Things____________________________________________________
ABC’s of Baseball          Peter Golenbock,  illus. Dan Andreasen
Bambino and Mr. Twain         P.I. Maltbie,  illus. Daniel Miyares
A Boy Called Dickens            Deborah Hopkinson,   illus.  John Hendrix
The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind          William Kamkwamba,   illus.  Elizabeth Zunon
Brothers at Bat          Audrey Vernick,  illus.. Steven Salerno
Escaping Titanic         Marybeth Lorbiecki,  illus. Kory S. Heinzen
Freedom Song           Sally M. Walker,  illus. Sean Qualls
Friends            Catherine Thimmesh
G is For Gold Medal         Brad Herzog,  illus. Doug Bowles
Here Come the Girl Scouts!           Shana Corey,  illus. Hadley Hooper
Looking at Lincoln           Maira Kalman
There Goes Ted Williams         Matt Tavares
Those Rebels, John & Tom    Barbara Kerley,   illus. Edwin Fotheringham
We March          Shane W. Evans
Women Explorers           Julie Cummins,  illus. Cheryl Harness
Words Set Me Free           Lesa Cline-Ransome,  illus. James E. Ransome

Fiction_____________________________________________________________________
The Amazing Adventures of John Smith, Jr. AKA Houdini              Peter Johnson                        Gr. 3-7
Bad Kitty for President          Nick Bruel                                                                                                Gr. 2-5           
Listen to My Trumpet!  and Happy Pig Day!        Elephant and Piggie Books     Mo Willems            Gr. K-2
Ellray Jakes in Not a Chicken!  And Ellray Jakes is a Rock Star!         Sally Warner                        Gr. 2-4
The Flying Beaver Brothers:  The Evil Penguin Plan  and  The Fishy Business     Maxwell Eaton III Gr. 1-4
Gooney Bird on the Map          Lois Lowry                                                                                                Gr. 2-4
Heidi Heckelbeck  Casts a Spell and Has a Secret         Wanda Coven                                                Gr. 2-4
Kaspar the Titanic Cat          Michael Morpurgo    Illus.   Michael Foreman                                    Gr. 3-7
Kindred Souls           Patricia Mac Lachlan                                                                                                Gr. 2-5
The Legend of Diamond Lil   and  The Trouble with Chickens   Doreen Cronin  Illus.  Kevin Cornell Gr. 2-4
Magic Tree House #47:  Abe Lincoln at Last  and Abraham Lincoln Fast Tracker  Mary Pope Osborne
Nancy Clancy  Super Sleuth           Jane O’Connor   Illus.  Robin Preiss Glasser                                    Gr. 2-4
Oddfellows Orphanage             Emily Winfield Martin                                                                        Gr. 3-6
The One and Only Ivan            Katherine Applegate                                                                        Gr. 4-8
Penguin New Young Readers:      multiple titles                                                                                    Gr. K-3
Penny and Her Song            Kevin Henkes                                                                                                Gr. Prek--3
Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade and Princess Posey and the Next Door Dog  Stephanie Greene
Super-Sized Slugger           Cal Ripken Jr.                                                                                                Gr. 3-7
Stella Batts  Needs a New Name        Courtney Sheinmel                                                                        Gr. 2-4
Stink and the Midnight Zombie Walk        Megan McDonald                                                            Gr. 2-4
Take Your Best Shot         John Coy                                                                                                            Gr. 3-7
LogoABC with boy logo
AB with name

Naperville   Downers Grove   Aurora
Illinois Reading Council
March 14th-17th, 2012
Looking at New Books for Children
 Intermediate, Grades 4-8
Presenter, Becky Anderson

Novels and Stories                                                                                                ______________­­­­

Addie on the Inside        James Howe                                                                        Gr. 6-8
The Amazing Adventures of John Smith J. AKA Houdini      Peter Johnson            Gr.4-7
The Auslander       Paul Dowswell                                                                                    Gr. 7-12
Bliss        Kathryn Littlewood                                                                                                Gr. 4-7
Breaking Stalin’s Nose       Eugene Yelchin                                                                        Gr. 4-7
Cinder       Marissa Meyer                                                                                                Gr. 7-12
The Case of the Deadly Desperados       Caroline Lawrence                                    Gr. 4-7
The Cheshire Cheese Cat, A Dickens of a Tale     Carmen Agra Deedy                        Gr. 4-8
Cold Cereal       Adam Rex                                                                                                Gr. 4-8
Crow         Barbara Wright                                                                                                Gr. 4-7
Death Cure-Bk. #3 Maze Runner Trilogy    James Dashner                                                Gr. 7-12
Divergent  Veronica Roth    Bk. 2—Insurgent-(Coming May 1st)                                    Gr. 7-12
Explorer:  The Mystery Boxes      Kazu Kibuishi                                                            Gr. 4-7
The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman      Meg Wolitzer                                                Gr. 4-12
The Fourth Stall  Part II       Chris Rylander                                                               Gr. 4-7
The Gathering Storm       Robin Bridges                                                                        Gr. 7-12
Glory Be        Augusta Scattergood                                                                                    Gr. 4-7
How Not to Run for President     Catherine Clark                                                            Gr. 4-7
The Invisible Tower      Nils Johnson-Shelton                                                            Gr. 4-7
Kaspar The Titanic Cat     Michael Morpurgo                                                            Gr. 4-7
Kindred Souls      Patricia MacLachlan                                                                        Gr. 3-6
Legend      Marie Lu                                                                                                            Gr. 7-12
The Lions of Little Rock         Kristin Levine                                                            Gr. 5-8
May B.     Carline Starr Rose                                                                                                Gr. 4-7
The Mighty Miss Malone    Christopher Paul Curtis   (Sequel to Bud Not Buddy)Gr. 4-7
My Family for the War         Anne C. Voorhoeve                                                            Gr.7-12
Oddfellows Orphanage         Emily Winfield Martin                                                Gr. 3-6
The One and Only Ivan      Katherine Applegate                                                            Gr. 3-8
Same Sun Here        Silas House and Neela Vaswani                                                Gr. 4-8
Stealing Magic         Marianne Malone     (Sequel to The Sixty-eight Rooms)            Gr. 4-7
Super-Sized Slugger       Cal Ripken Jr.                                                                        Gr. 3-6
Take Your Best Shot       John Coy                                                                                    Gr. 3-6
Winterling        Sarah Prineas                                                                                    Gr. 4-7
Wonder          R.J. Palacio                                                                                                Gr. 4-8
Novels for 8th Grade and above-“Not for Kids Only”______________________________
Ashes      Ilsa Bick
The Berlin Boxing Club             Robert Sharenow
Between Shades of Gray            Ruta Sepetys
Embrace               Jessica Shirvington
Future of Us    Jay Asher  and  Karolyn Mackler
Guantanamo Boy        Ann Perera
Illuminate         Aimee Agresti
Incarnate         Jodi Meadows
A Million Suns        Beth Revis      (Sequel to Across the Universe)
Pandemonium         Lauren Oliver    (Sequel to Delirium)
Playground         50 Cent 
Switched   and   Torn      Amanda Hocking  
Under the Never Sky     Veronica Rossi
The Way We Fall       Megan Crewe
Poetry-Language,  Words_and_Pictures_________________________________________
100 Great Poems for Boys        Edited-  Leslie Pockell
100 Great Poems for Girls        Edited- Celia Johnson
The Arrow Finds Its Mark, A Book of Found Poems      Edited-Georgia Heard
Edgar Allan Poe’s Pie,  Math Puzzles in Classic Poems     J. Patrick Lewis
Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It,  False Apology Poems    Gail Carson Levine
Goodnight iPad,  A Parody for the Next Generation        Ann Droyd
The Hound Dog’s Haiku and Other Poems for Dog Lovers      Michael J. Rosen
Poems I Wrote When No One Was Looking    Alan Katz
Requiem, Poems of the Terezin Ghetto     Paul Janeczko
Step Gently Out           Helen Frost,  illus. Rick Lieder

Non-Fiction_____________________________________________________________
100 People Who Made History, Meet the People who Shaped the Modern World    Ben Gilliland
Black and White        Larry Dane Brimner
The Book of Perfectly Perilous Math      Seam Connolly
Bootleg, Murder, Moonshine , and the Lawless Years of Prohibition    Karen Blumenthal
Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London     Andrea Warren
First Girl Scout, The Life of Juliette Gordon Low       Ginger Wadsworth
Ghosts in the Fog, The Untold Story of Alaska’s WWII Invasion       Samantha Seiple
Heat and Soul, The Story of America and African Americans     Kadir Nelson
His Name was Raoul Wallenberg      Louise Borden
Lives of the Presidents, Fame, Shame and what the Neighbors Thought      Kathleen Krull
Marching to the Mountaintop           Ann Bausum
So You Want to be President    Judith St. George   illus.  David Small
Superman Versus The Klu Klux Klan        Rick Bowers
Steve Jobs, The Man who Thought Different        Karen Blumenthal
Stolen into Slavery, The True Story of Solomon Northup      Judith and Dennis Fradin
Surviving the Angel of Death, The True Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz   Eva Mozes Kor
Surviving the Hindenburg     Larry Verstraete    illus.   David Geister
Temple Grandin, How the Girl who loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World-
Sy Montgomery
Titanic Sinks         Barry Denenberg
Trapped            Marc Aronson
Usborne War Stories, True Stories         Paul Doswell
The War to End All Wars, World War I         Russell Freedom
We’ve Got a Job, The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March      Cynthia Levinson
Witches, The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem         Rosalyn Schanzer