some picture books for watch for in 2012

Loreen Leedy gives readers SEEING SYMMETRY (Holiday House 2012), a fascinating examination of symmetry in the world around us. Letters, numbers, animals, plants: many of these have symmetry. Different types of symmetry are clearly delineated and explained. if you have not had the chance to have read any of Leedy's other books, find MESSAGES IN THE MAILBOX, THE EDIBLE PYRAMID, and CRAZY LIKE A FOX among other terrific nonfiction titles. <44>




LADYBUGS by Gail Gibbons (Holiday House 2012) gives readers plenty of useful information about the various types of this beetle common to North America. From egg to pupa to beetle, Gibbons shows readers how ladybugs grow. Their role in helping farmers is also explored. <45>




THE ELIJAH DOOR by Linda Leopold Strauss with illustrations by Alexi Natchev (Holiday House 2012) is a Passover tale about two families that had been friends for a long time. The daughter of one family was even engaged to a son of the neighboring family. And then something happened. Who can remember what it was, but now the families are not speaking to one another. The engaged couple, with the help of their rabbi and the neighbors, devise a way to bring the two feuding families back together. <46>





BALLERINA SWAN by Allegra Kent with illustrations by Emily Arnold McCully (Holiday House 2012) is the story of Bella, a swan who longs to dance. One day she is invited to join the dance class and learn how to a ballerina. She even receives a special role in the class' performance of Swan Lake. <47>

Glory Be

GLORY BE by Augusta Scattergood (Scholastic, January 2012) examines the vestiges of racism in the South in the 1960s. Gloriana, Glory, is just shy of her 12th birthday which happens to fall on the Fourth of July. She hopes to be able to celebrate it at the community pool as she has in the past. However, some of the town leaders have decided to close the pool in order to avoid allowing Negroes to swim there. Some of the town residents resent the Freedom workers who have come to Hanging Moss, Mississippi, to help Negroes register to vote. There is palpable tension in the air. Glory writes a heartfelt letter to the editor of the local paper decrying the narrowmindedness that is keeping the pool closed and minds closed as well. Glory does not see herself as an activist, but that is indeed what she is becoming. Of course, she is also preoccupied with her older sister's sneaky visits out at night, with her own relationship with a lifelong friend, and with the other usual troubles and triumphs of being on the verge of young adulthood. Team this book up with A THOUSAND NEVER EVERS by Shauna Berg and A SUMMER OF KINGS by Han Nolan to name just a couple of other excellent books set in this era. <43>

Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore

This is one of the nominees for an Academy Award this year. If you have already seen it, you know its power. If you have not seen it yet, please take the time to view it. It is worth the time.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

learning about money

PRETTY PENNY CLEANS UP by Devon Kinch (Random House 2012) is a terrific book about money (hard to tell from the cover I know). Penny's best friend Emma wants to go to a concert but has no money. So, she and Penny set up a business taking care of pets. Before they open, though, Penny explains to Emma that there are three things that need to be done with money earned. One is to SAVE money. The second is to SHARE money with a chariry. Then, it is fine to SPEND money. This lesson is conveyed simply but forcefully. It is never too soon to get the message across, though. <42>

cats and dogs

ME AND MEOW by Adam Gudeon (Harper 2011) features a young girl and her pet cat, Meow. They eat together, play together, and nap together. Simple line drawings with bright colors should appeal to the very young readers for whom the book is intended. <40>





One look at the cover will send dog lovers into throes of "aw." THAT PUP! by Lindsay Barrett George (Greenwillow 2011) follows a pup as he digs up acorns. Of course, he learns later that the acorns have been buried by a squirrel for the winter, so he then proceeds to bury them back again. <41>

The Princely Printz Books

I have been scheduling blog postings for March, but I wanted to make sure this one got out right away. This year's Printz winner and honor books are just so terrific. Of course, since their winning title was also our winning title (I chaired Morris this year), that was a wonderful confluence. I had not had the chance to read all of the Printz Honor books as I was reading mostly debut novels this past year. So, right after the awards were announced, I pulled the ones I had not read and placed them in the toppling TBR stack (at the tippy top). Wow. I might have missed some of these gems were it not for the incredibly smart folks on the Printz Committee.




JASPER JONES by Craig Silvey (Knopf 2011)is really the story of Charlie. One night, Jasper Jones, the town outcast, comes to charlie's window and asks him for help. Charlie follows Jasper to a clearing where there is a girl hanging from a rope. She has been beaten, and Jasper knows the town will suspect him as the murderer since he was seeing Laura, the daughter of an important man in Charlie's town. Jasper enlists Charlie's aid in removing Laura from the tree and submerging her in the depths of the water in the glade. Now Charlie and Jasper must set about to make the true perpetrator confess to his misdeed. Over the course of a summer, Charlie will come face to face with quite a few monsters, some within the walls of his own house. Silvey's language is lyrical even in the most brutal circumstances. It deserves a slow and measured read and re-reading as well. Bravo Printz Committee for letting us meet Jasper and Charlie. <105>

too much stuff

Have a pack rat who lives with you? I do, two of them. I think I might just have to share these picture books with them both.




Edward loves STUFF. In Margie Palatini's new picture book, STUFF (Katherine Tegen Books 2011), Edward becomes so consumed with is stuff that he does not have time or room for his friends or even his pets. Then, one day, Edward is trapped inside by all his stuff. Will someone be able to rescue him? Take a close look at the illustrations to see what Edward thinks is worth keeping, too. <38>





In STUCK by Oliver Jeffers (Philomel 2011), Floyd gets his kite stuck in a tree. In order to dislodge it, he throws one shoe and then another. They both become stuck. Soon, Floyd has lost a ladder, a boat, a whale, and sundry other things in the tree. How can he ever rescue his kite? <39>