Much loved LaRue is back with LaRue For Mayor, Letters from the Campaign Trail by Mark Teague (www.scholastic.com/titles/authors/teague/). Yes, the election is over, finally, but next November there will be another one so keep this book in mind. Surely you will need to add it to your LaRue collection. Joan Steiner  (www.ceaco.com/ceaco/index.php?artist=53) has a new Look-Alikes, Around the World. The artwork is again absolutely spectacular! Another favorite author, Karen Beil (www.karenbeil.com/Site/Home.html), has a new picture book, entitled Jack’s House. This is an adorable contemporary rewrite of “The House That Jack Built”. Paula Fox (book.consumerhelpweb.com/authors/fox/fox.htm), perhaps better known for her intermediate level books, has written Traces. This book focuses on the fleeting glimpses of nature we see all around us if we look closely. Full of descriptive words and a poetic style, it is further enhanced by the illustrations of Karla Kuskin. Pat Schories (www.patschories.com/) is back with Jack in another wordless adventure entitled Jack Wants a Snack. A great book for not yet readers who want to ‘read’ their own story. Now for a new NY resident who has written a new book about an “old favorite” character, Madeline. John Bemelmans Marciano (http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2080/Marciano-John-Bemelmans-1970.html) brings us Madeline and the Cats of Rome. He is the grandson of Ludwig Bemelmans. If you are a Madeline lover get this one quick. Josephine Nobisso (www.josephinenobisso.com/Josephine_Nobisso_Site/Welcome.html) has a very interesting fable, Take It To The Queen: A Tale of Hope. She has written several books in this genre but this is the first one I have seen. If you are looking for some new fables you may want to check her out. This is a beautifully illustrated book and could well be used with intermediates as well. Building Manhattan by Laura Vila (www.lauravila.com/buildingmanhattan.html) is a simply written and colorful history of the city of New York. Check the website for a lot of activities for learning and enrichment. David Gordon’s (www.harpercollins.com/authors/26008/David_Gordon/index.aspx) Smitten is a fun fantasy book that kids will really laugh at. Another fable, always good for teaching critical thinking in a fun way, is The Contest Between the Sun and the Wind retold by Heather Forest (www.storyarts.org/heather.html). This is an exciting retelling of the Aesop’s fable and truly enhanced by the illustrations of Susan Gaber. Another humor selection is by Michael Rex (www.michaelrex.com/), entitled Goodnight Goon, a parody on Goodnight Moon. This one will be very amusing to the primary set as long as they don’t read it before bed. Valeri Gorbachev (www.harpercollins.com/authors/25540/Valeri_Gorbachev/index.aspx) has another delightful animal character story entitled Christopher Counting. Rachel Isadora’s (www.harpercollinschildrens.com/HarperChildrens/Kids/AuthorsAndIllustrators/ContributorDetail.aspx?CId=17066) The Fisherman and His Wife is her newest fairy tale with an African setting and her famous collage artwork. Another multicultural folktale is The Ghost Catcher, a Bengali Follktale by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss (www.beautyandthebeaststorytellers.com/). Don’t Worry Bear by Greg Foley (www.thankyoubear.com/) is his second book in the Thank You Bear series. This is a great book for the primary friendship theme. Ladybug Girl by David Somar and Jacky Davis (http://writingforchildrencenter.com/2009/01/02/ladybug-girl-by-david-soman-and-jacky-davis/) is a great story about a little girl who has to find some way to keep herself busy. This is a good book to stir some discussion on using your imagination. The only non-fiction book on this list is The Tooth Book by Edward Miller (www.harpercollinschildrens.com/HarperChildrens/Kids/AuthorsAndIllustrators/ContributorDetail.aspx?CId=12486) . This book is a must for Dental Health month. It covers everything you want to know about your teeth and how to take care of them for the primary audience. Great illustrations. Well, I hope you have found some new authors to check out and some great new books to use in your primary classes. I sure did.

Lynne Brosch

Just finished reading Bravo Zulu Samantha (Duble, 2007).  Sam, who loves to memorize interesting facts, is begrudingly spending the first part of her summer with her grandparents.  I won’t give away the plot, but leave it to say that her former airforce pilot grandfather has some surprises in the back shed.  Intermediate readers will enjoy this if interested in aviation, but also Sam’s facts are humourous and will get kids diving into their own world records books.  This book also reminded me of Violet the Pilot (Breen, 2008), a book for primary students,  about Violet’s adventures with flight.  My daughter recognized Breen from his work as the cartoonist for “Grand Avenue”.  Both books use the background of airplanes & flying to  feature strong girl characters that resist common stereotypes.  Liz

I’ve been reading many dark YA novels (which I haven’t written about here), but in the midst of that reading I picked up a light and fun primary book.  Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mixup (Thomson, 2008 ) is a delightful read for K-2 kids.  Keena is imperfect, but tries her best–her character resonates with others such as Ramona and Junie B., characters that make us laugh and cry.  This is Thomson’s first book, but it seems like Keena would be a great character for a series.  Cover picture is from Amazon.  Liz

I just picked up two election books from a second grade class that was reading books and giving me feedback.  2nd graders reported liking Madam President (Smith) a silly look at a young girl as president in her own way.  The second graders also liked Grace for President (DiPuchhio).  Grace runs for president at her school and wins despite some less than honest campaigning by her opponent.  My third grade daughter liked the humorous ending pictures with Grace carved into Mt. Rushmore and the more prophetic picture of Grace being sworn in as president as an adult.  This text uses the electoral college in the fictional tale and then has an explanation of the real electoral college in the back of the text.  Also some facts woven through the text such as the lack of women presidents.

I am glad the presidential elections are over for now, but will keep these on the shelf to share during future election seasons!

Liz

Mary Beth and I had an opportunity to share books with “dramatic characters” at our Albany City Area Reading Council meeting yesterday. Here were a few of my favorites:

YA/Intermediate

The Night Tourist (Marsh). Imagine the life of the ghost of NYC!

Reality Leak (Sensel). The factory owner Mr. Keen reminds me of Willy Wonka.

Moxy Maxwell (Gifford). There are two books in this great series about spunky Moxy.

42 Miles (Zimmer). JoEllen’s parents live 42 miles apart and she finds herself stretched to find out who she really is amongst these different worlds.

Steel Drumming at the Apollo (Marx). True story of Schenectady musicians.

Primary/Intermediate

Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek (Hopkinson). Read the interview on this blog with the author.

Henry’s Freedom Box (Levine). True story of Henry “Box” Brown who escaped slavery by mailing himself to freedom.

Help me, Mr Mutt! (Stevens). Hilarious letters of advice from dueling cats and dogs.

Willow (Brennan-Nelson and Brennan). Strong teacher. Even stronger student.

Enjoy.

Liz

With my son entering kindergarten the alphabet is on our mind!  While we often think of alphabet books for young readers, many of these books are filled with information for older readers as well. Stargazer’s Alphabet by John Farrell has cool photographs of the starry world.   We’ve also received several alphabet books from Sleeping Bear Press.  Jacob (K student) enjoys E is for Extreme (Herzog).  I read the poem on each page and then he asks for the sidebar information to learn more about these extreme sports.  S is for S’mores (James) is in my Girl Scout collection, and I just shared A is for Abraham:  A Jewish Family Alphabet (Michelson) with the Jewish Community Center.  Have you read any good alphabet books lately?

Liz

As a member of the 2010 Charlotte Committee I have been fortunate to receive many of the newest publications in picture books and there are a surprising number of excellent New York State authors among them. Let me introduce you to some of them and their newest titles. Many of these authors have their own websites where you can learn more about them and the books they have published. If I was able to locate a website you will see it in parentheses. I am very excited about Astronaut Handbook by Meghan McCarthy (www.meghan-mccarthy.com), a very clearly illustrated and explained guide to becoming an astronaut suitable for younger readers. Again for younger readers I like the bunnies are not in their beds by Marisabina Russo (www.marisabinarusso.com), a very cute bedtime story which reminds me of Goodnight Moon. Daniel Pinkwater (www.pinkwater.com) has a new book we received entitled Bear’s Picture. We have received a whole series of easy readers, Elephant & Piggie from Mo Willems (www.mowillems.com) which are proving to be popular with younger readers. Also The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! has just arrived. Many committee members are interested in how many seeds in a pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara, illustrated by G. Brian Karas, and this has also gotten a lot of interest among teachers I have shared it with. Check out a really fun book called Late for School! by Stephanie Calmenson (www.stephaniecalmenson.com). This is one many students can relate to. Still for the younger readers, The Little Matador by Julian Hector (www.julianhector.com) and Princess Baby by Karen Katz (www.karenkatz.com) are worthy of note. Both authors have interesting websites.

Now for slightly older readers, mostly 2nd grade and up, a great book I like a lot is Sugar Cane: A Caribbean Rapunzel by Patricia Storace. This is of course a version of the fairy tale Rapunzel. I suggest it for 2nd and up but a first grade teacher friend used it with her class and told me they loved it. Susan Jeffers ( www.susanjeffers-art.com), long one of my favorite authors, has a new book, an absolutely beautiful book, entitled My Chincoteague Pony. This one would be especially appealing to all the horse lovers out there. Tedd Arnold (www.geocities.com/teddarnold), always a favorite with kids, has a book called The Twin Princes which is full of puns and language tricks, good for a lot of inferential thinking activities with intermediates. I had a couple of great discussions with third graders after reading this one. Not all of them at this level quite understand it. Velma Gratch & the way cool butterfly, by Alan Madison (www.madisonia.com) has been popular among committee members. A couple more in the fantasy genre are Priceless Gifts by Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss (www.beautyandthebeaststorytellers.com) and Moonpowder by John Rocco (www.roccoart.com). Both are wonderfully illustrated and worth checking out. Now for more in the historical fiction genre, Ain’t Nobody a Stranger to Me by Ann Grifalconi and Jerry Pinkney and Ellen Levine’s Henry’s Freedom Box, one of my very favorite books. These are two books that can spur a discussion of slavery issues and get kids thinking. By the Sword, by Selene Castrovilla (www.selenecastrovilla.com) is an action adventure story which tells the true story of the Battle of Long Island in 1776. Young Pele: Soccer’s First Star, by Lesa Cline-Ransome (www.lesaclineransome.com) is the true story of Pele from Brazil and how he struggled and through hard work and perseverance became a famous soccer star. Stargazer’s Alphabet by John Farrell (www.johnfarrell.net) is an excellent reference book on the night sky wonders and contains fantastic photos that bring astronomy to life. I very much enjoyed the story of Pale Male, Citizen Hawk of New York City by Janet Schulman. This is a story I remember hearing about in news articles some time ago and this version really tells a wonderful story of bird conservation in New York City that will get kids thinking when they see how even people in a big city like New York can stop and discover the needs of birds. A very different sort of book is Jeeps at War by Bob Fletcher and the entire Fletcher family from New Milford, NY. This book educates on the history of jeeps, their design and use in wars. Two more nonfiction presentations are Steel Drumming at the Apollo by Trish Marx and Ellen Senisi (www.trishmarx.com) which tells the story of a group of Hamilton Hill teen musicians who made it to NYC to perform. The book even includes a CD of their performances. Caring for Cheetahs, My African Adventure by Rosanna Hansen is a book for older students full of photographs and detailed information on the cheetah and its conservation. There are many excellent NY authors whose books we have not received and if you are looking for more information on close to home authors check out the Children’s Literature Connection at www.childrensliteratureconnection.org and use their links to authors’ websites. You will also be able to check out their author events. I will have an additional post on YA level authors.

Lynne Brosch

Here are some interesting pictures books that recently arrived.

Abe Lincoln Crosses A Creek: A Tall Thin Tale (Introducing His Forgotten Frontier Friend) (Hopkinson, 2008). A new tale about Lincoln with great voice from Hopkinson and spirited illustrations from Hendrix. My favorite of these books.

About Rodents (Sill, 2008). The About books never disappoint, and this one continues the tradition.

Astronaut Handbook (McCarthy, 2008). After my daughter read this she told me she was considering being an astronaut when she grew up.

Born to Read (Sierra, 2008). Latest collaboration between Sierra and Marc Brown. Literacy advocates will like the message about the power of reading.

First Dog Fala (Van Steenwyk, 2008). FDR’s presidency from the view of his dog.

A Kitten Tale (Rohmann, 2008). This is a gentle story with a positive moral about trying new things.

Princess Baby (Katz, 2008). A book you could give as a gift for the princess in your life

Singing to the Sun: A Fairy Tale (French, 2008). Fairy tale with modern twists and illustrations that exquisitely complement the tale.

Liz