Knucklehead

Title: Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories About Growing Up Scieszka Author: Jon Scieszka ISBN: 9780670011063 Pages: 106 pages Publisher/Date: Viking, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, c2008. The first time I heard the name Knucklehead, it wasn’t being used as a particularly good name. I think it was my dad, finding that [...]

Heart and Soul

Title: Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans Author/Illustrator: Kadir Nelson ISBN: 9780061730740 Pages: 108 pages Publisher/Date: Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, c2011. Awards: Won Coretta Scot King Author Award, 2012 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, 2012 Most folks my age and complexion don’t speak much about the past. Sometimes it’s [...]

Pocketful of Posies

Title: Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes Author: Salley Mavor ISBN: 9780618737406 Pages: 62 pages Publisher/Date: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, c2010. All households should have at least one collection of nursery rhymes for parents and caregivers to expose their children. This collection of nursery rhymes is a must have for [...]

Amelia Lost

Title: Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart Author: Candace Fleming ISBN: 970375814989 Pages: 118 pages Publisher/Date: Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House, c2011. The fear in Earhart’s voice made Leo Bellarts’s skin prickle. “I’m telling you, it sounded as if she would have broken out in a scream. . . [...]

September 11th in Picture Books

I debated with myself whether or not I should do this post. Not just because I figured that other websites would be doing similar tributes on the tenth anniversary of the World Trade Center Attacks and would probably do it better than I ever could. And I realize that it is timely, it’s relevant, and [...]

Celebritrees

Title: Celebritrees: Historic and Famous Tress of the World Author: Margi Preus Illustrator: Rebecca Gibbon ISBN: 9780805078299 Pages: 40 pages (Picture Book format) Publisher/Date: Christy Ottaviano Books, an imprint of Henry Holt and Company, LLC c2010. Published: March 1, 2011 “Trees inspire people to extraordinary achievements. Treaties have been signed, justice dispensed, and the seeds of the [...]

Soar, Elinor!

Title: Soar Elinor! Author: Tami Lewis Brown Illustrator: Francois Roca ISBN: 9780374371159 Pages: Picture Book Publisher/Date: Farrar Straus Giroux, c2010. Six-year-old Elinor Smith took her first airplane ride in 1917. Less than fourteen years later, she had become the youngest licensed pilot in the United States, male or female. A successful and acclaimed pilot in [...]

Wonder Horse

Title: Wonder Horse: The True Story of the World’s Smartest Horse Author: Emily Arnold McCully ISBN: 9780805087932 Pages: Picture Book Publisher/Date: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, c2010. Born Bill Key a slave on a plantation in 1833, “Doc” Key’s way with animals soon became well-known. An Arabian mare that he saved from a circus whipping [...]

Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix

Title: Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix Author: Gary Golio Illustrator: Javaka Steptoe ISBN: 9780618852796 Pages: 32 pages Publisher/Date: Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, c2010. The cover should give you a clue that this picture book just explodes with color! At times, the double page [...]

Best Friends Forever

Title: Best Friends Forever: A World War II Scrapbook Author: Beverly Patt Illustrator: Shula Klinger ISBN: 9780761455776 Pages: 92 pages Publisher/Date: Marshall Cavendish, c2010. “Dottie is the reason I am starting this scrapbook. She left today, and I don’t know when she’ll return. The Masuokas and all the other Japanese families have been ‘relocated’ (Mother [...]