Ladders to the Moon

MAX AND THE TAG-ALONG MOON by Floyd Cooper. Philomel, 2013.

Max hates to leave his Grandpa. But Grandpa tells Max that the moon is always following him, that the moon connects them both. I did a quick brainstorm below of other books that could fit on a ladder featuring the moon:





KITTEN'S FIRST FULL MOON
MAX AND THE TAG ALONG MOON
THE MOON WAS THE BEST
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
A LADDER TO THE MOON
COME BACK MOON
GOOD NIGHT MOON
HOW TO BICYCLE TO THE MOON AND PLANT SUNFLOWERS
MOONCAKES
THE MOON SAW IT ALL
SIDNEY, STELLA, AND THE MOON
LITTLE BUNNY'S NIGHT LIGHT
CINDY MOO
ON THE NIGHT YOU WERE BORN
OWL MOON
THE SAND MAN
BEFORE YOU CAME
BROTHER SUN, SISTER MOON
A CIRCLE IN THE SKY
HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE
THE RABBIT AND THE COYOTE

Flights of Fancy

CAN'T SCARE ME by Ashley Bryan. Atheneum, 2013.

He's ever afraid
Until three headed giant
Threatens to eat him.

WHEN EDGAR MET CECIL by Kevin Luthardt. Peachtree, 2013.

Edgar's in a new school.
He makes a new friend, Cecil.
They become buddies.

PIRATES LOVE UNDERPANTS by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort. Aladdin, 2013.

Golden underpants
Are the treasure pirates seek
Beautiful bounty.

Talk to the animals

DING DONG! GORILLA by Michelle Robison with illustrations by Leonie Lord. Peachtree, 2013.

A young boy explains to his parents that all of the destruction in the house is due to a gorilla who rang the front door bell. And the gorilla is also why the ordered pizza is missing.

LION VS. RABBIT by Alex Latimer. Peachtree, 2013.

The lion cannot be bested by any of the animals of the jungle. And then, the rabbit arrives and challenges Lion to contests that the Lion loses over and over again. How can one tiny rabbit best the lion?

PANDA-MONIIUM AT THE PEEK ZOO by Kevin Waldron. Templar Books, 2013.

Fold outs are just part of the fun as readers follow the zookeeper Mr. Peek and his son Jimmy as they prepare for an important event. Some carelessness lets animals loose as evident in the illustration above.

ABOUT PENGUINS: A GUIDE FOR CHILDREN by Cathryn Sill with illustrations by John Sill. Penguin, 2013.

Each double page spread presents a simply text along with illustrations of different species of penguins in different habitats.

Never bored

THE GREEDY PYTHON by Richard Buckley with illustrations by Eric Carle. Little Simon, 2013.

A greedy python
Eats everything in his sight
Including his tail!

OLIVIA THE BALLERINA by Farrah McDoogle with illustrations by Patrick Spaziante. Simon Spotlight, 2013.

Eat, breathe, think ballet
But what can Olivia do
She must be the best.

THE FOOLISH TORTOISE by Richard Buckley with illustrations by Eric Carle. Little Simon, 2013.

Tortoise leaves his shell
Thinking that's a good idea
Needs to think again.

Making a Production Out of It

THE TEMPLETON TWINS MAKE A SCENE by Ellis Weiner with illustrations by Jeremy Holmes. Chronicle Books, 2013.

Fraternal twins John and Abigail are back along with their absent-minded professor father and a few other characters who will be familiar to those who read the first book in this series. This time, the professor is employed by a performing arts college to design a close-up lens for stage plays. He has, of course, managed to create just that. However, in steps someone to claim partial credit for the invention. Fortunately, John and Abigail, and their overly-excited dog Cassie are up to the challenge of unmasking this villain. Our narrator is back, snarky as ever, ready to comment on the events, the people, AND the reader. Perfect for reading aloud.

Counting by 7s

COUNTING BY 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan. Dial, 2013.


Willow Chance is an extraordinarily gifted 12 year old. Her mind is constantly seeking more and more information, especially about her passions, one of which is gardening. Her parents (who adopted her when she was a baby) encourage Willow to be herself. But when Willow wants to wear her gardening clothes on the first day of middle school, they are a little hesitant. Willow IS different from the other students, at least most of them. When she achieves a perfect score on a reading test, her teacher accuses her of cheating and Willow is sent to see a counselor. And this is where the already rather eccentric tale takes an incredible turn. While Willow is seeing her counselor, her parents are killed in a car accident. What will happen to Willow now? How can she possibly cope with this situation? A counselor, a family who runs a nail salon, an apartment complex that has seen better days: all of these seemingly disjointed things and people combine to create a story of hope, family, coping, and so much more.

No Small Feat

FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell.

Macmillan, 2013.

Do not ask me how Rainbow Rowell was able to produce TWO incredible books this year (rush out and get ELEANOR AND PARK if you have not read it yet). This second offering is just as stunning as her first. Cath (she does not like to be called Cather) and her twin sister Wren are off to college. For Cath, it is a time of separation anxiety. She worries that her father will be all right with the separation. She is still angry that Wren decided that the two of them should not room together. Cath sinks herself into two things: her fiction writing class where she is the sole freshman, and the world of Simon Snow fanfiction where she is one of the reigning queens. Over the course of a semester with plenty of challenges, Cath learns how to stand up for herself, how to deal with her sometimes conflicting feelings, and most of all, how to find her own voice in her writing. Chapters from Cath's fanfiction and the book from which she is drawing her stories are interspersed in between the chapters and serve to reveal much about Cath along the way.