The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author: Brian Selznick
Illustrator: Brian Selznick


Comments:
What a captivating masterpiece! The Invention of Hugo Cabret is part picturebook, part novel. As the work is inspired by the film maker, Georges Méliès, the illustrations serve as shots, for action or close-up, which usually require pages of words to fully describe. Selznick's sketches can be as closely analyzed as his prose, and the alternating of illustrations and text gives the book its flow.

Copyright: Scholastic Press, 2007
Age level: 9-12
Format: Chapterbook, Picturebook
Genre: Historical Fiction, Wordless
Multicultural/International: French
Award: 2008 Caldecott Award
Location: Personal Collection
Rating: * * * * *

Crickwing

Author: Janell Cannon
Illustrator: Janell Cannon

Comments:
Janell Cannon has created another unforgetable character like Stellaluna and Verdi. A cockroach does not seem an initially appealing protagonist. In fact Cannon drew inspiration from David G. Gordon's The Compleat Cockroach: A Comprehensive Guide to the Most Despised (and Least Understood) Creature on Earth. After playing a heart-warming, supporting role in Disney's Wall-E, cockroaches are making a comeback.

In addition to being a cockroach living in the rainforest, he is injured by a hungry toad and nicknamed Crickwing, which he finds so painful that he withdraws from the other creatures. He enjoys making scultpures out of his food, but other preditors steal it away from him before he has a chance to enjoy it. After enduring this bullying, Crickwing finds some insects small enough for him to pick on, some leaf-cutter ants. Unfortunately, the whole colony teams up to defend themselves against Crickwing. Little did they know that he has a secret talent that could relieve the leaf-cutters from the tyranny of the army ants.

There is so much depth to Cannon's stories. Crickwing emphasizes the value and uniqueness of each live, even those that are deemed less valuable. It also portraying the dangerous cycle of bitterness and bullying halted only by mercy and forgiveness.

After the story, Cannon includes scientific notes about Cockroaches and Ants.

Copyright: Harcourt, 2000
Age level: 6-9
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Fantasy
Multicultural/International: No
Award: Janell Cannon is the award-winning author of Stellaluna.
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * * * *

Guji Guji

Author: Chih-Yuan Chen
Illustrator: Chih-Yuan Chen

Comments:
Guji Guji is a crocodile who happened to be raised by a family of ducks. Each duck has its own unique quirk, so the mother easily accepts Guji Guji as one of her own. When Guji meet crocodiles of his own kind, he needs to choose between protecting his duck family or helping his new crocodile relatives. Themes of unexpected friendships, acceptance, adoption, and peer pressure run through this book.

Copyright: Kane/Miller Book Publishers (March 2007)
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Fantasy
Multicultural/International: No
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * *

A Fine, Fine School

Author: Sharon Creech
Illustrator: Harry Bliss

Comments:
What if your principal loved school so much that he canceled weekends, holidays, and summer break? That's what this picture book by Sharon Creech explores. Teachers can relate to wanting more time to learn more, but this books reminds kids, adults, and college students alike that a lot of learning happens outside the classroom, too!

Copyright: HarperTrophy, 2003
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Multicultural/International: No
Award: Sharon Creech is an award-winning author of children's novels.
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * *

Ouch! A Tale from Grimm

Author: Natalie Babbit
Illustrator: Fred Marcellino


Comments:
Natalie Babbitt retells Grimm's fairytale, "The Devil with Three Golden Hairs." A king does everything he can to get rid of a boy destined to marry his daughter, but each of his plans backfire. In addition to her award-winning novel, Tuck Everlasting, Babbitt has also penned more tales about the Devil in her books, The Devil's Storybook and The Devils Other Storybook.

Copyright: Harper Collins Publishers, 1998
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Folklore/Fairytales
Multicultural/International: No
Awards: Natalie Babbitt is an award-winning children's book author.
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * *

Anne Frank

Author: Josephine Poole
Illustrator: Angela Barrett
Comments:
The Diary of Anne Frank was one of my favorite books as a girl. This picturebook puts Anne's diary in context, and would be a good read aloud for even a middle school classroom preparing to read her diary. This book can help readers understand some of the causes of WWII and series of actions that lead to the holocaust. Ultimately, it makes historical events accessible to children because the book is based on Anne's perspectice.

Copyright: Red Fox, 2007
Format: Picture Book
Age Level: 10 and up
Genre: Nonfiction, Biography
Multicultural/International: Jewish
Awards: Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2005
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * * * *

The Other Side

Author: Istvan Banyai
Illustrator: Istvan Banyai

Comments:
Banyai's wordless book explores the significance of perspective. The right-side page shows the initial perspective, and then you turn page to see the same action from another perspective. Some of the images throughout the book seem unrelated, but each pair of pictures is truly "worth a thousand words."

Copyright: Chronicle Books (July 7, 2005)
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Wordless Book
Multicultural/International: No
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * * *

Iguana in the Snow and Other Winter Poems

Author: Francisco X. Alarcon
Illustrator: Maya Christina Gonzalez


Comments:
Alarcon pens concise poems that directly relate to the experience of children, especially Hispanic readers. Each poem is printed in English and Spanish and uniquely incorporated into the illustrations. This allows the two languages to be compared and lends itself to choral readings. This book is set in San Fransisco and explores topics like the Delores Mission, barrios, the pier, bilingual school, Las Posadas songs, migrant life, Sequoias, and first snows.

Other bilingual titles by Alarcon include:

• Poems to Dream Together: Poemas Para Sonar Juntos
• From the Bellybutton of the Moon/Del Ombligo de la Luna : And Other Summer Poems/Y Otros Poemas de Verano
• Angels Ride Bikes/Los Angeles Andan En Bicicleta : And Other Fall Poems/Y Otros Poemas de Oto
• From the Other Side of Night/Del otro lado de la noche : New and Selected PoemsAnimal Poems of the Iguazu/Animalario del Iguazu
• Laughing Tomatoes/Jitomates Risuenos : And Other Spring Poems/Y Otros Poemas de Primavera

Copyright: Children's Book Press; Bilingual edition (March 10, 2005)
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Poetry and Verse
Multicultural/International: Hispanic, bilingual text
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * *

Albert

Author: Donna Jo Napoli
Illustrator: Jim LaMarche


Comments:
Albert learns to take in the good and the bad sounds in life as well as nature itself when a family of birds choose his arm as their perch. This books shows what you can learn from nature and how it can enhance your life if embraced. I'm also interested in reading some of her young adult novel like Smile and Beast.

Copyright: Voyager Books, 2005
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Multicultural/International: No
Awards: Napoli is an award-winning children's book author. Albert specifically has won the Kentucky Bluegrass Award winner, New York Public Library Children’s Books 2001, New York Times Ten Best Illustrated Books 2001.
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * * *

Hoops

Author: Robert Burleigh
Illustrator: Stephen T. Johnson

Comments:
In this free verse jam about basketball, the illustrations express just as much of the action as the stanzas. The pick-up game is transformed into a body of water, a fox, a hawk, and a thicket through Burleigh's figurative language. Even middle-schoolers studying poetry would enjoy this picture book.

Copyright: Laurel Leaf, 1983
Age level: Young Adult
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Poetry and Verse
Multicultural/International: Urban, African American
Awards: An ALA Notable Children's Book, A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, A New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * *

In the Swim

Author: Douglas Florian
Illustrator: Douglas Florian


Comments:
This is one of many books the Florian has written about animals. In this book, he defines each type of fish with an illustration and a concise, often humorous poem. His collections would be valuable resources for the science classroom and references for student research.

Other books by Douglas Florian include:

• Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars : Space Poems and Paintings
• Lizards, Frogs, And Polliwogs
• Insectlopedia
• Mammalabilia
• On The Wing
• Beast Feast
• bow wow meow meow : it's rhyming cats and dogs

Copyright: Voyager Books (April 1, 2001)
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Poetry and Verse
Multicultural/International: No
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * * *

The Story Goes On

Author: Aileen Fisher
Illustrator: Mique Moriuchi

Comments:
Cyclical like First the Egg, this book begins with a seed and follow the food chain until it returns to the ground where the seed once grew. This book is good for predicting and can also be incorporated into science lessons. Moriuchi's illustrations, created with paint and newpaper through collage techniques, are bright and fanciful.

Copyright: Roaring Brook Press (April 13, 2005)
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Nonfiction, Poetry and Verse
Multicultural/International: No
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * * *

The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss

Author: Kathleen Krull
Illustrator: Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher


Comments:
This biography of Dr. Suess is sure to relate to young readers in many ways. Ted Geisel is a first generation American teased about his German heritage, especially during wartime. He loves animals, parades, doodling, and movies. This biography traces his childhood and his struggle to become "successful" by doing what he loves.

This book could prompt students to conduct their own author study. Before reading this book, students can imagine questions that they would ask Dr. Suess if they could meet him, and then they can seach for the answers in the text. Reading groups could also discuss the term "success" and what it means/meant for Ted to become successful.

Copyright: Random House Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (January 13, 2004)
Age level: 9-12
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Biography
Multicultural/International: German-American
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * *

The Retired Kid

Author: Jon Agee
Illustrator: Jon Agee

Comments:
I was initially drawn to this book for its connection to the life of grandparents and senior citizens. Readers can imagine what it might be like to walk a day in their grandparents shoes. In this story, Brian gets a rare opportunity to learn the pros and cons of being both young and old.

Copyright: Hyperion Book CH (June 24, 2008)
Age level: 4-8
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Multicultural/International: No
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * *

What to Do About Alice?

Author: Barbara Kerley
Illustrator: Edwin Fotheringham

Comments:
We may know about President Teddy Roosevelt, but how much do we know about his daughter, the First Maiden, Alice Roosevelt? This book shows what it's like to be the closest thing to a princess in America. Through the life of Alice, it also shows how expectations for girls and women were beginning to change. What would you want to do if you were the son or daughter of the President of the United States? This question may be especially relevant since the daughters of Barack Obama will be moving into the White House this January.

Copyright: Scholastic Press (March 1, 2008)
Age level: 9-12
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Historical Fiction
Multicultural/International: No
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * *

You're on Your Way, Teddy Roosevelt

Author: Judith St. George
Illustrator: Matt Faulkner

Comments:
How does a puny kid like Teedie become the President of the United States? This book explores Teddy Roosevelt's childhood and his determination to learn all he could and overcome his asthma. St. George wants her readers to consider turning points in Roosevelt's life and their own.

Copyright: Publisher, yearPhilomel (September 2004)
Age: 9-12
Format: Picture Book with chapters
Genre: Biography
Multicultural/International: No
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * *

The Watertower

Author: Gary Crew
Illustrator: Steven Woolman
Comments:
Watertower experiments with formatting and illustrating multiple perspectives. The book shifts from landscape to portrait orientation and you end up rotating the book as you read. This spiral motif is incorporated into the illustrations. However, the story itself seems to lack that appeal. Two boys go swimming in a water tower, and one loses his pants, so the other runs home to get them. The theme that emerges is more illustrated than verbal: fear of the unknown and the anxiety of waiting.

Copyright: Crocodile Books (September 1999)
Age level: 9-12
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Multicultural/International: Australian
Awards: The Children's Book Council of Australia: Picture Book of the Year
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * *

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village

Author: Laura Amy Schultz
Illustrator: Robert Byrd


Comments:
This book of miniature plays include 19 monologues and 2 dialogues for students to perform in a reader's theatre. The dramas are of different lengths and formats so that they can be matched to the reading ability. Schlitz wrote these plays for her students which working as a librarian. The drama is set in an English manor in the year 1255. The characters range from about 10-15 years of age and include nobility and paupers who has similar adolescent experiences but in different contexts. For example, Hugo, the Lord's nephew, must overcome his fear of his harsh uncle during a coming of age challenge. Taggot, the blacksmith's daughter, deals with body image issue and young love.

Copyright: Candlewick, 2008
Age level: 9-12
Format: Picture Book, Drama
Genre: Historical Fiction, Poetry and Verse, Drama
Multicultural/International: No
Awards: The Newbery Award
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * * *

A Caribbean Dozen: Peoms From Caribbean Poets

Author: Edited by John Agard and Grace Nichols
Illustrator: Cathie Felstead


Comments:
Thirteen Caribbean poets share their work for children in this collection which is divided into sections by author. Each section includes each author's autobiography, and a variety of folk art aptly illustrates each poem. Many poems address issues of bilingualism and biculturalism by incorporating dialogue and juxtaposing cultural experiences. Common poetic techniques include free verse, the use of refrains, brief lines, and couplets. Other topics include school, family, animals and nature.

Copyright: Walker Books Ltd, 1996
Age level: 9-12
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Poetry and Verse
Multicultural/International: American, Canadians, and Brits from the Caribbean
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * * *

Revolting Rhymes

Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake

Comments:
If you think the classic fairytales are just to boring and predictable, then Ronald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes is for you. In the true spirit of the brother's Grimm, Dahl gives the stories a little more gore and surprise endings.

For example, Cinderella meets the Prince at the disco and because he won't let go of her dress as she tries to leave, she runs home naked. Her stepsisters flush down the toilet the shoe she left behind and replace it with their own. Once the Prince finds out that he has to marry them instead, he chops off their heads. This turns Cinderella's feelings for him sour, and she wishes for a decent man, a Jam-maker.

"I guess you think you know this story.
You don't The real one's much more gory.
the phoney one, the one you know,
was cooked up years and years ago,
and made to sound all soft and sappy
just to keep the children happy."

Copyright: Puffin, 2003
Age level: 9-12
Format: Picture Book
Genre: Folklore (Fractured Fairytales)
Multicultural/International: No
Location: Peabody Library
Rating: * *