April 2008

35 new reviews

Entries this month: Picturebooks All Ages | Picturebooks Fiction | Picturebooks Non-Fiction | Beginning Readers/Chapter Books | Beginning Readers Non-Fiction| Middle Grade—Fiction | Middle-Grade Non-Fiction | Young Adult (YA)—Fiction | Parent/Teacher Resources

AGE GUIDES: these are approximate recommendations:

• Picturebooks, 3-6 years old (though often enjoyed by older children, too)
• Chapter Books, Beginning Readers-5-8 years old
• Middle Grade Books-7-11 years old
• Young Adult-11-18 years old

REVIEWERS: Alida Allison, SarahEllen Hickle, JoAnn Jonas, Emily Moore, Ellen Nef, Marie Soriano

* denotes San Diego writer and/or illustrator
** Age levels, when provided by the publishers, are included in the bibliographical information. Otherwise, category placements are our best approximations.

Picturebooks All Ages

• Edens, Cooper. Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A Classic Illustrated Edition. San Fransisco: Chronicle Books, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-8118-5459-7. ISBN-10: 0-8118-5459-0. All ages. $19.95.

Picturebooks Fiction

• Ahlberg, Allan. Previously. Illus. Bruce Ingman. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7636-3542-8. $16.99 U.S./ $21.00 CAN. Ages 6 and up.
  www.candlewick.com
• Aiken, Joan. The Wooden Dragon. Illust. Bee Willey. London: Jonathan Cape-Random House Children’s Books, 2004. ISBN: 0-224-06480-0. $14.99.
• Beaty, Andrea. Iggy Peck, Architect. Illus. David Roberts. New York: Abrams, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8109-1106-2. U.S. $15.95/ CAN. $18.95. Ages 6 and up.
  www.andreabeaty.com
• Bryan, Ashley. Let It Shine. New York: Atheneum, 2007. $16.99. ISBN 0689847327. Ages 4-8.
• De la Paz, Myrna J. Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderella. Illus. Youshan Tang. Walnut Creek, Ca: Shen’s Books, 2001. ISBN 1-885008-17-1. $16.95. Ages 7 and up.
• Fellowes, Julian. The Curious Adventures of the Abandoned Toys. Illust. S.D. Schindler. New York: Henry Holt and Company , LLC., 2007. ISBN: 0-8050-7526-7. $17.95.
• Isaacs, Anne. Pancakes for Supper! Illus. Mark Teague. New York: Scholastic, 2006. ISBN 0-439-64483-6. $15.99 U.S./ $21.99 CAN. Ages 7 and up.
• Lucas, David. Whale. New York: Alfred Knopf, 2006. $16.99. ISBN 978-0-375-84338-9.
• Schubert, Ingrid and Dieter. Hammer Soup. Asheville: Front Street and Lemniscaat, 2004. ISBN 1-932425-02-0. $15.95. Ages 2-8.
• Thach, James Otis. A Child’s Guide to Common Household Monsters. Illus. David Udovic. Honesdale, Pennsylvania: Front Street, 2007. ISBN 978-1-932425-58-1. Ages 2-6.
• Wallace, Nancy Elizabeth. The Kindness Quilt. Tarrytown NY: Marshall Cavendish, 2006. $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7614-5313-0.

Picturebooks Non-Fiction

• Aston, Dianna Hutts. A Seed Is Sleepy. Illus. Sylvia Lang. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8118-5520-4. $16.95 U.S. Ages 7 and up.
• Johnson, Dinah. Hair Dance! Illus. Kelly Johnson. New York: Henry, Holt and Company, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8050-6523-7. $16.95 U.S./ $21.00 CAN. Ages 5 and up.
• Truss, Lynn. The Girl’s Like Spaghetti: Why You Can’t Manage Without Apostrophes! Illus. Bonnie Timmons. New York: Putnam, 2007. ISBN 978-0-399-24706-4. $16.99 U.S./ $21.00 CAN. Ages 8 and up.
  www.eatsshootsandleaves.com www.bonnietimmons.com www.savethecomma.com
  

Beginning Readers/Chapter Books

• DiCamillo, Kate. Mercy Watson to the Rescue; Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride, Mercy Watson Fights Crime. Illus. Chris Van Dusen. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 2007. $38.75 for three book hardback boxed set. ISBN 978-0-7636-3684-5.
• Yee, Wong Herbert. Abracadabra! Magic with Mouse and Mole. Boston: HoughtonMifflin, 2007. ISBN 978-0-618-75926-2. $15.00 U.S./ $19.95 CAN. Up to Grade 3.
  

Beginning Readers Non-Fiction

• Kimmel, Eric A. A Picture for Marc. Illus. Matthew Trueman. New York: Random House, 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-83253-6. $11.99 U.S./ $15.99 CAN. Ages 7-12.

Middle Grade Fiction

• Anderson, John David. Standard Hero Behavior. New York: Clarion Books, 2007. ISBN-10: 0-618-75920-4 $16.00 Ages 9-12. 273 pp.
• LaFevers, R.L. Theodosia Throckmorton and the Serpents of Chaos. Illus. Yoko Tanaka. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. ISBN 0-618-75638-8. $16.00. Ages 9-12.
  www.theodosiathrockmorton.com
• O’Dell, Scott. The King’s Fifth. 1966. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0-618-74783-2. $6.95 U.S. Ages 12 and up.
  www.scottodell.com/index.html Newbery Honor Award 1967
• Patron, Susan. The Higher Power of Lucky. Illus. Matt Phelan. New York: Atheneum, 2006. ISBN 978-1-4169-0194-5. $16.95 U.S./ $21.99 CAN.
  Winner of the Newbery Medal
• Urban, Linda. A Crooked Kind of Perfect. San Diego: Harcourt, 2007. ISBN 978-0-15- 206007-7. $16.00 U.S. Ages 8-12.
  www.lindaurbanbooks.com www.HarcourtBooks.com
  

Middle Grade Non-Fiction

• Behnke, Alison. The Conquests of Alexander the Great. Pivotal Moments in History series. Minneapolis: Twenty-first Century Books, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8225-5920-7.
• Montgomery, Sy. Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forests of New Guinea. Photos by Nic Bishop. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. $18. ISBN 978- 0618-49641-9.
• Rubin, Susan Goldman. Delicious: The Life & Art of Wayne Thiebaud. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8118-5168-8. $15.95. Ages 10 and up.
• The Concise Nature Encyclopedia. Boston: Kingfisher, 2006. 14.95. ISBN 978-07534-5949-2.
• Villios, Lynne W. Cooking the Greek Way. Minneapolis: Lerner, 2002. ISBN 0-8225-4131-9. Ages 10 and up.
• Woodside, Martin. Thomas Edison: The Man Who Lit Up the World. New York: Sterling, 2007. ISBN 978-1-4027-49955-1. U.S. $12.95/ CAN. $14.95. Ages 10 and up.

YA—Fiction

• Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Illus. Ellen Forney. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007. ISBN 978-0-316-01368-0. $16.99 U.S./ $21.50 CAN. Ages 14 and up. www.lb-teens.com Winner of the National Book Award
• Canales, Viola. The Tequila Worm. New York: WendyLamb, 2005. ISBN 0-385-74674-1. U.S. $15.95/ $22.95 CAN. Ages 12 and up.
  Winner of the Pura Belpre Award
• Easton, Kelly. White Magic. New York: Wendy Lamb, 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-83769-2. U.S. $15.99/ $21.00 CAN. Ages 13 and up.
• Friesner, Esther. Nobody’s Princess. New York: Random House, 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-87528-1. U.S. $16.99/ $22.99 CAN. Ages 12 and up.
• Holder, Nancy. The Rose Bride: A Retelling of “The White Bride and the Black Bride.” Once upon a Time series. New York: Simon Pulse, 2007. ISBN-10: 1-4169-3535-5 $5.99 249 pp.
  
  

Parent/Teacher Resources

• Ecocraft. Creative Costumes. Boston: Kingfisher, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7534-5968-3. $7.95.