Fall 2009

73 new reviews

Entries this month: Special Feature: Peter Neumeyer's Reviews and Recommendations | Pop-Up and Novelty Books | ABC Books | Picturebooks - Fiction | Picture books—Folklore/ Religious Tales | Picture books—Non-Fiction | Beginning Readers—Fiction | Beginning Readers—Non-Fiction |Political Books for Children | Middle Grade—Fiction/Fantasy | Middle-Grade Poetry/Picturebooks | Middle Grade—Non-Fiction | YA—Fiction/Graphic Novels | YA—Non-Fiction | Special Section—Norse Mythology-based Novels

 

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, Chris Bell, Natoya Faughnder, Michael Mahin, Peter Neumeyer, Marianne Paluso, Sean Prinz, Carole Scott, Marie Soriano, Shelley McRoberts

* 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.

Special Feature: Picturebook Reviews and recommendations by Peter Neumeyer, Professor Emeritus English Dept., SDSU; Founding Member, National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, SDSU; Boston Globe book reviewer; author of The Annotated Charlotte’s Web Burton, Virginia Lee. The Little House (board book). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009, 1942. $7.99. Ages 3 to 6. Carroll, Lewis, ill. Rodney Matthews. Alice in Wonderland. Templar Books, an imprint of Candlewick Press, 2009. $24.99. Ages 9 and up. Field, Eugene W. ill. Giselle Potter. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. Schwartz and Wade Books, 2008. $16.99. Ages 3 to 7. McCloskey. Robert. Make Way for Ducklings. Viking, 1941, 1969. $17.99. Ages 4-8. Sami. The Big, Bigger, Biggest Book. Blue Apple Books, 2008. $14.95. Ages 2-5. Schallau, David. Come Back Soon. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2009. $17.00. Ages 6 to 10. Smee, Nicola. Clip-Clop. Boxer Books, 2003. $12.95. Ages 2 to 5. Williams, C. K., illustrated by Stephen Gammell. How the Nobble was Finally Found. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. $18.00. Ages 6 to 10.

Picturebooks—Fiction

• Beiser, Tim. Bradley McGogg, The Very Fine Frog. Illus. Rachel Berman. Toronto: Tundra, 2008. ISBN 978-0-88776-864-4. CAN. $19.99/ U.S. $17.95. Ages 4-9.
• Brown, Peter. The Curious Garden. New York Little Brown and Company, 2009. ISBN 0-316-01547-9. $16.99.
• Bruna, Dick. Miffy the Artist. London: Tate, 2008. ISBN 978-1-85437-823-1. U.S. $11.95/ CAN. $12. 95. Ages 4-7.
• Burton, Virginia Lee Burton. Life Story: The Story of Life on our Earth from Its Beginning up to Now. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, first published 196, New updated edition. ISBN 0-547-19508-7. $22.
• Cooper, Helen. Dog Biscuit. NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008. ISBN 0-374-31812-3. $16.
• Egan, Tim. Dodsworth in Paris. Boston: Houghton, 2008. ISBN 978-0-618-98062-8. Ages 4-7.
• Gagné, Michel. A Search for Meaning: The Story of Rex. Burbank: Gagné International Press, 2002. ISBN: 0-9819053-1-2. $14.95.
• Gagné, Michel. The Towers of Numar. Bellingham: Gagné International Press, 2003. ISBN 0-9719053-3-9. $14.95.
• Inches, Alison. The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle: A Story about Recycling. Illus. Pete Whitehead. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2009. ISBN 1-4169-6788-5. $3.99.
• Isadora, Rachel. The Princess and (sic) the Pea. NY: Putnam, 2007. ISBN 0-399-24611-1. $16.99.
• Jenkins, Emily. Sugar Would Not Eat It. Illus. Giselle Potter. NY: Schwartz and Wade (Random House), 2009. ISBN 0-375-83603-9. $16.99. www.emilyjenkins.com. www.gisellepotter.com
• Le Guin, Ursula K. Cat Dreams. Illus. S.D. Schindler. New York: Orchard, 2009. ISBN 978-0-545-04216-1. $16.99 U.S./ $21.99 CAN. Hardback. Ages 4-7.
• Light, John. The Flower. Illust. Lisa Evans. Swindon: Child’s Play, 2006. ISBN 1-84643-072-0.
• Lionni, Leo. Little Blue and Little Yellow. New York: Knopf, 2009 (50th Anniversary Edition). ISBN 0-375-86013-3. $15.99.
• Lithgow, John. I Got Two Dogs. Illus. Robert Neubecker. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008. ISBN 978-1-4169-5881-9. U.S. $17.99/ CAN. $19.99. Hardback with CD. Ages 2-6.
• Mahy, Margaret. Bubble Trouble. Illus. Polly Dunbar. NY: Clarion Books, 2008. ISBN 0-547-07421-4. $16.
• Monfreid, Dorothée de. Dark Night. New York: Random House, 2009. ISNB: 978-0-375-85687-7. $14.99.
• Morris, Jackie. Tell Me a Dragon. London: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 2009. ISBN: 978-1-84507-534-7. Ages 6-12. $17.95.
• Shields, Gillian and Elizabeth Harbour. Puppy Love: The Story of Esme and Sam. NY: Simon & Schuster, New York, 2008. $16.99. ISBN 1-4169-8010-0. Ages 4 to 8.
• Wilson, Karma. Mortimer’s First Garden. Illus. Dan Andreasen. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2009. ISBN 978-1-4169-4203-0. U.S. $16.99/ $19.99 CAN. Ages 4-8.
• Wood, Douglas. Old Turtle. Illus. by Cheng-Khee Chee. New York: Scholastic Press – Scholastic, Inc., 1992. $17.99 U.S./$19.99 CAN. ISBN: 978-0-439-30908-0.
• Wong, Herbert Lee. A Brand New Day with Mouse and Mole. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008. ISBN 0-618-96676-9. $15.00

Beginning Readers—Fiction

• Sattler, Jennifer. Sylvie. New York: Random House, 2009. ISBN 0-375-85708-9. $15.99

Middle Grade Fiction

• Barnhouse, Rebecca. The Book of the Maidservant. Random House, New York; 2009. ISBN 0-375-85856-7. $16.99
• Ibbotson, Eva. The Secret of Platform 13. Illus. Sue Porter. New York: Puffin, 1994. ISBN 0-14-130286-0. $5.99. Ages 8-12.
• Klise, Kate. 43 Old Cemetery Road: Dying to Meet You, Book One. Illus. M. Sarah Klise. Boston: Harcourt, 2009. ISBN 978-0-15-205727-5. Ages 7-12. $15.00 U.S.
• LaFevers, R.L. Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris. Illus. Yoko Tanaka. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. ISBN 978-0-618-92764-7. $16.00. Ages 8-12.
• Leszczynski, Diana. Fern Verdant and the Silver Rose. New York: Knopf, 2008. ISBN 978-0-375-85213-8. $15.00 U.S./ $18.00 CAN. Ages 8-12.
• Nelson, Marilyn & Tony C. Hegamin. Pemba’s Song: A Ghost Story. New York: Scholastic, 2008. ISBN 054502076X. $16.99.
• Van Draanen, Wendelin. The Gecko and Sticky: Villain’s Lair. Illustrated Stephen Gilpin. New York: Knopf, 2009. ISBN# 978-0-375-84376-1. $12.99. Middle Grade Readers (up to Gr. 8).

Middle Grade Poetry/Picturebooks

• Rex, Adam. Frankenstein Takes the Cake. Orlando: Harcourt, 2008. ISBN 978-0-15-206235-4. $16.00. Ages 7-12.

Young Adult (YA)—Fiction/Graphic Novels

• Carmody, Isobelle. Obernewtyn, Book One: the Obernewtyn Chronicles. New York: Random House, 1987. ISBN 978-0-375-85767-6. U.S. $6.99/ $7.99 CAN. Ages 12-18.
• De la Pena, Matt. We Were Here. New York: Delacorte, 2009. ISBN 978-0-385-73667-1. $17.99. 14+.

• Hale, Shannon and Dean Hale. Calamity Jack. Illus. Nathan Hale. New York: Bloomsbury, 2010. ISBN 978-1-59990-373-6. $14.99. Ages 10 and up.
• - - - . Rapunzel’s Revenge. Illus. Nathan Hale. New York: Bloomsbury, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59990-288-3. $14.99. Ages 12-18.
• Kibuishi, Kazu. Copper. New York: Scholastic, 2010. ISBN 978-0-545-09893. $12.99.
• Osborne, Mary Pope. Kate and the Beanstalk. Illus. Giselle Potter. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. ISBN 0-689-82550-1. Ages 6-12 $16.00.