Home to Me - Lee Bennett Hopkins

POETRY
Poems Across America
Illustrator: Stephen Alcorn
For: Anyone (but written for kids)
Published:2002
Rating: 4/5
Endpapers: 12 illustrations (different ones on front and back) taken from the illustrations within the book.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN AND ELLA. I have five birthdays in the year that are of the utmost importance to me, and TWO fall on the same day, this day. So I've been looking through my poetry collection this morning for a good poem. I decided NOT on a birthday poem, but on one that reminds me of my family. This book is a short anthology of "place" poems. Included is one called "Rez Road" by Joseph Bruchac that would be a great accompaniement to The True Diary of a Part-time Indian (Alexie, just reviewed). Also included is a favorite, "My Desert Home" by Lillian M. Fisher. But the one that's speaking to me today is:

ON MY ISLAND
by Patricia Hubbell

I watch sleek seals on wave-wet rocks,
rowboats bobbing at weathered docks.

I hear the buoy's lonely bell,
I touch a chalky oyster shell.

All about me, pines grow tall.
All about me, seagulls call.

I dream of sunken ships, dim caves,
mermaids floating on sunlit waves,

then wake to silver everywhere --
fog drifting through my island air.

I long, sometimes, to go away,
and other times, just want to stay

on my island far at sea,
this island -- home to me.

September in Maine. Crisp autumn air. The greeness beginning to be touched by reds and yellows. Indian summer days...the best. Happy birthday, Brian. Happy Birthday, Ella.

Sweet Life - Catie Curtis

Released Sept. 2008
Compass Records

Mmmmm, love Catie Curtis. Love her voice, love her lyrics. She's written most of the songs on this album herself. Really upbeat, from the the singable refrain of "Happy, to the honky tonk sound of "Lovely" to the wonderful "The Princess and the Mermaid", which is a celebration of relationships and family.

I can remember sitting in my dorm room at Barnard, a zillion summers ago (well, maybe 10 or 12), listening over and over to "Grandmother's Name", which is on her "From Years to Hours" album. (I've got my grandmother's name but she don't remember who I am.)

Catie writes in the liner notes for this latest album, "When I was 15 years old and living in Saco, Maine, I wanted to play guitar but didn't have one. Lynne Ramsdell, stage manager at a local theater, gave me an old Yamaha saying, 'You can have this if you promise me you'll learn to play it.' She left Saco shortly after that and I never got the chance to thank her for changing my life. I'd like to thank her now." I've listened to Catie Curtis for years and years, and never realized that she's a Mainer. And now I can totally SEE "River Winding", another of my very favorites, from her "Catie Curtis" album. (River winding, throught this milltown, my hometown is dark by four.......through the darkness, sometimes cursed and sometimes blessed.)

A great songwriter with a beautiful voice, I'd sure love to see her perform live someday.

49. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie

Illustrator: Ellen Forney
For: Young Adults
Published: 2007
National Book Award
230 pgs.
Rating: 5/5
Finished Sept. 22, 2008

The first time I ever heard of Sherman Alexie was when I traveled cross-country in 2002 and stopped in a cool little bookshop on the southwestern coast of Washington, just before hitting Oregon. I'll have to try to figure out where that was. I purchased a really cool Alaskan painting in that little town. That's where I picked up Alexie's The Toughest Indian in the World, and I'd never heard of him before. In May, at the BEA convention, I heard him speak. I am now a fan.

This is Sherman Alexie's first YA book, and it's a doozy. It's autobiographical, seriously funny and incredibly sad. 14-year old Arnold "Junior" Spirit, born and raised on the Spokane Indian Reservation, just outside Spokane, Washington, decides to leave the rez school and attend the all-white school over 20 miles away in Reardan. He loves to read and he's very smart, and he knows this will be the only way to make something of himself. He becomes ostracized by the entire tribe other than his immediate family. However, he perserveres, transforming from the geeky Indian kid that everyone ignores to a well-liked basketball hero and smart student. During this year, many of the people he loves and admires die...his father's best friend, Eugene, who is always good to him, his grandmother, the smartest, kindest person he's ever know, and his older sister, who hid out in the basement of their house for years until she fled to Montana to get married and live in a trailer that looked like a TV dinner. His best friend, Rowdy, totally abandons him, his father is frequently drunk, he has little to eat and sometimes no way to get to school other than walk.

Junior is a budding cartoonist, and Ellen Forney's cartoons throughouot the book compliment the text well.

There are probably a hundred or more quotes that really hit me in this book. "I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats." "I wish I were magical, but I am really just a poor-ass reservation kid living with his poor-ass family on the poor-ass Spokane Indian Reservaton." "Like the coffin was settling down for a long, long nap, for a forever nap." And "Gordy gave me this book by a Russian dude named Tolstoy, who wrote: 'Happy famiies are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Well, I hate to argue with a Russian genius, but Tolstoy didn't know Indians. And he didn't know that all Indian families are unhappy for the same exact reasons: the fricking booze. Yep, so let me pour a drink for Tolstoy and let him think hard about the true definition of unhappy families."

Sherman Alexie is now an extremely successful author, husband, and father of two. A success story. Big lump in the throat. Real big lump. Real.

Impressive.

A Kitten Tale - Eric Rohmann

For: Very young kids
Published: 2008
Rating: 4,5/5
Read: September 13, 2008
Endpapers: Happy yellow
THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING!!

If I were not reading picture books that have gotten starred reviews, anticipating the Caldecott Award in January, I would never have picked this book up. It was a pleasant surprise, but I guess it shouldn't have been.

Simple, simple, simple -- but wonderful. Three of four kittens were dreading the arrival of snow - afraid of the unknown. But the fourth kitten could't wait. Through summer rains and falling autumn leaves they wait, three dreading, one anticipating. And then, one winter morning, they awaken to snow.....and we see a wonderful, two-page wordless illustration of three of the kittens, paws to the window glass, watching the snow come down. I'd love to frame that illustration. They go outside to join the already frolicking fourth kitten, finding their months of dread have been for no reason at all.

Thick black-lined framed illustrations, with the major items outlined in the same black, the color is added using watercolors.

Simple repetition. Simple story. Simple paintings. Simply lovely.

My Adult Book Group

The first time we gathered was in September, 2003, and strong friendships have been made and/or strengthened. I look forward to the second Monday of the month wtih great anticipation. We met last Monday at Connie's (my wonderful friend-whose-roots-are-also-in-Maine, yeeha) and came up with our list for this year:

10/20/08: When You Are Engulfed in Flames, David Sedaris
11/10/08: Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
12/1/08: any Sherman Alexie title
1/12/09: Snow, Orhan Pamuk
2/9/09: People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks
3/9/09: Maus I & II, Art Spigelman (or chose your won graphic novel)
4/6/09: any John McPhee title
5/11/09: Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortensen & David Oliver Relin

Only a few non-fictions, I breathe a sigh of relief and look forward to these monthly meetings. We should really come out with a name for ourselves.

Promised Land - Dar Williams

Released Sept. 2008
Razor & Tie

I can vividly remember the first time I heard Dar Williams. Steve and I were in Portland on a Sunday, and we went into Borders to the music department. I'm not sure we even had a Borders in Bangor yet. I put the bulky earphones on and listened to some of the sample tracks on "The Honesy Room". "Alleluia" blew me away. It's still one of my favorite songs by any artist.I bought the cd, even though we couldn't really afford such frivolities as music we weren't even sure we would like. Seems like a century ago.

I now own all Dar William's cds, have seen her perform (in Petersborough, NH, another vivid memory), and am so enjoying this newest release, her first studio album in three years or so. Each song in the liner notes is on a two-page spread that is illustrated by interesting contemporary artwork.

Every song that Dar sings makes me think. I really like "Troubled Times:" Maybe one day soon/It will all come out/How you dream about each other sometimes/With the memory of/How you once gave up/But you made it though the troubled times.
And Buzzer ... I'd love to know the story behind this song.

It's exciting to have some new Dar songs to learn, to hum, to sing, and to enjoy.

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever - Marla Frazee

For: Kids-Not TOO young
Published: 2008
Rating: 5/5
Read: Sept. 13, 2008
Endpapers: Photographs of the two boys at camp all week
2009 Caldecott Honor ! ! !

Friends James and Eamon spend a week of their summer vacation with Eamon's very cool (in my opinion) grandparents, Bill and Pam. Each day Bill drives them to a nature day camp. Throughout the week they play, create, pretend, build, learn, enjoy the grandparents, and listen to Bill's yearning to go to Antarctica. There's a great ending to the story, too. The boys have seemingly been ignorning Bill's hints about Antarctica, but as a surprise for him, on the last night they build a recreation of Antarctica for him to enjoy.

The best illustration in the book - the boys, laying across sleeping bags on huge air mattresses, completely surrounded by stuffed animals and toys. I'd love to have this on my wall. It just makes you grin. But the cover...well...I think it looks too comic-booky and a book IS judged by its cover. I think I wish it were different.

Written in UPPER case text-lettering by the author. All is based on the author's family and a true week - at least that's what I'm led to think.....

Great book.

President Pennybaker - Kate Feiffer

Illustrator: Diane Goode
For: Kids
Published: 2008
Rating: OK 2.5/5
Read: Sept. 13, 2008
Endpapers: Azure

Luke Pennybaker feels that life is unfair. So he decides to run for president. He chooses his dog, Lily, as the vice presidential candidate, gains support, and begins to campaign. Gaining popularity, he and Lily win the election. After he moves into the White House he is far too busy being president to do any opf the things he'd likes. Once again, it isn't fair! So he resigns and Lily takes over as president.

(Luke would like to see an orange White House.) So an unnecessary double page spread is thrown in: "To show his support, the current president bought 40 gallons of orange paint and started to paint the Whie House. When he ran out of paint, he bought 40 more gallons and 40 more and then 40 more. By now the White House was painted orange." O.....kay. ? . ?

Cute story, but not great. Lots of ridiculous promises that he could never fulfill - reality for adults, but confusing for kids? Perhaps I'm thinking about some of the compaign promises I hear from my Student Government hopefuls?

The House in the Night - Susan Marie Swanson

Illustrator: Beth Krommes
For: Very young kids
Pub: 2008
Rating: Lovely/ 4
Read: Sept. 14, 2008
Endpapers: The same bright yellow which are the only illustration color other than black and white
2009 Caldecott WINNER ! ! !

This is a lovely bedtime book!

Black and white scratchboard, accented with a bright yellow...gorgeous.

The House in the Night is one of those cumulative books in the House that Jack Built vein. Here is the key to the house./ In the house burns a light./ In that light rests a bed./ On that bed rests a book....and onward, out throught the starry darkness to the moon ... and back, to find the child asleep in the bed. MmmmmmHmmmmm.

Old Bear - Kevin Henkes

For: Very young kids
Published: 2008
Rating: 4.5/5
Read: Sept. 13, 2008
Endpapers: Brown on brown leaves in the front and purple on lilac flowers in the back.

Thick lines frame each illustrations, which sit on pages of creamy ivory.

As an old brown bear hibernates in the winter, he dreams of his childhood in spring, summer, fall, and then winter. Each of his dreams are drawn in different color schemes. The winter dream is done mostly in blues with sparkling colors surrounding the sun in the sky. It's really pretty. And when Old Bear awakens from his sleep, he walks out of his cave into the scene from his spring dream, now real.

Born to Read - Judy Sierra

Illustrator: Marc Brown
For: Kids
Published: 2008
Rating: 4/5
Read: Sept. 13, 2008
Endpapers: Black textured letters with a few colored ones thrown in.

"Readers can do anything."

Beautifully drawn edge-to-edge happy, happy illustrations with words running across the pictures, just the way I like it. And not just words - couplets!

Baby Sam loves to read . Recognizable books like Pat the Bunny, Cat in the Hat, Hungry Caterpillar, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Through the years he finds numerous ways that reading comes in handy. He reads his way through life until the day he saves the town from a plundering giant by introducing him to books and returning him to his mommy giantess. And what will Sam do when he grows up? "Readers can go anyplace!"

48. The Last Coyote - Michael Connelly

AUDIO Read by Dick Hill (++)
For: Adults
Book Pub: 1995
Audio Pub: 1995 Brilliance Audio
13 hrs.
528 pgs.
Rating: 5/5
Finished: Sept. 15, 2008

Boy, I love Michael Connelly's plots and characters. You really get inside Harry Bosch's mind a little in this installment. It was sit-in-the-car-and -listen-until-you're-late good. I'm almost sorry it was over!

Harry Bosch is on temporary suspension from the LAPD because he threw Harvey Pounds, his lieutenant and boss, into a window head first. He WAS a snide, stupid son-of-a-gun. Part of the telling of this story comes as he sits and talks to his appointed police psychiatrist, a thoughtful, compassionate Hispanic woman named Carmen Hinojos. During his forced hiatus, he decides to look into the 1961 murder of his mother, an LA prostitute named Marjorie Lowe. Clues take him to a past DA Arno Conklin, Conklin's largest backer, Martel, a pimp named Johnny Fox, two homicide cops that had been on the case....and to Florida and Las Vegas. Also causing a dilemma is the ruination of his hillside home from earthquakes. Bosch just can't win. And even at the end of the book, Harry is contemplating leaving the police force as penance for getting at least one innocent person killed. Oh - and it looks like he might have even fallen in love!

Harry Bosch loses a little of his tougher-than-nails exterior in this novel. Hill's reading includes Harry's attitude and trepidation and heartbreak. Wow, he was good. And so was the storytelling. This guy has to be my all-time favorite mystery writer. I can't wait to read Trunk Music, Connelly's next Bosch creation.

MOVIE: The House Bunny

Rating: Extremely silly
Viewed: Sept. 14, 2008
Foothills Mall
Rotten Tomato Rating: 40 (Splat)
My Rating: A bit less (25?)
EW: C+ cag: C
People Rating: 2/4
Genre: Comedy
PG-13 (1 hr. 37 min.)
Director: Fred Wolf

It wasn't an hour and 37 minutes of misery, as I half expected. The lead, Anna Faris savid us from that. She did a wonderful job, She carried the whole movie, I think. I went knowing it would be stupid, stereotypical, etc, and I wasn't wrong in that respect. But I was entertained, often chuckling out-loud.

Shelley is a favored playboy bunny living in the Playboy Mansion with all its amenities. The morning after her over-the-top 27th birthday party, she is asked to leave because of her age. She is now homeless, jobless, and clueless. She sees a sorority house on an unknown campus and realizes it's a mini Playboy Mansion. She then becomes the house mother to the freak and geek sorority, Zeta, which has seven members and is about to be kicked off campus because they can never get anyone to pledge them. Enter Shelley. Makeovers and crazy parties later...voila!

Shelley meets Oliver, a pleasant young man (Collin Hanks). who works at a nursing home. Their awkward relationship and Shelley's uncertainty in dealing with someone who is oblivious to her sexy come-ons were my favorite parts of the movie. I also love the way Shalley changes her voice when saying people's names whenever she's learning to remember them. She throws this in throughout the movie, adding more chuckles.

I was alarmed when the girls became clones of the opposing sorority.....but after the realization, didn't quite return enough from that state.

What dismayed me the most? I guess it's the way that several of the seven "freaks" were portrayed. I loved the pierced, aghast _________(I'm horrible at remembering names), but the change in her was horrendous. I think the farm girl from Idaho could have been an absolute riot, but when she went up to the guys at the pool table, her talk with them was really stupid and, if it had had different subject matter, could have been great. There was so much stereotyping that it was nauseating. Come on, the world is not entirely filled with such stereotypical guys. And the opposing sorority! ? ! Oh well. That's entertainment. The movie's sure making money and I went to see it, myself, right?

Stella, Unleashed - Linda Ashman

POETRY
Notes from the Doghouse
Illustrator: Paul Meisel
For: Kids of all ages
Pub: 2008
Rating: 5 ***A New Favorite
Read (and purchased!): Sept. 13, 2008
Endpapers: Full double-page illustration of a hole in a garden with a bone sticking out! A

I stumbled upon this in the kid's poetry section at Barnes and Noble last night - it must be new - and I read it twice. I wish I knew some little kids with a dog, because the poems are wonderful. They're full of clever rhyme and great rhythm, from Stella the dog's point-of-view. 29 poems like "Don't Blame Me," "Hollywood Dog," "Dispatch from the Front Lawns" and :

WATER!

I swim in the ocean,
no matter how rough.
In rivers and lakes --
I can't get enough!

When I see a pool,
I dive like a sub.
I LOVE the water --
but not in the tub.

THE (almost) PERFECT HOST

I welcome guests with friendliness
(unlike the snooty cat).
Trouble is, I greet so well,
I sometimes knock them flat.

Colorful, edge-to-edge illustrations are delightful, truly enhancing the poetry. My favorite picture book so far this year! ! !

I found an interesting review and interview with the author at http://wildrosereader.blogspot.com/2008/04/stella-unleashed-poetry-book-review.html

Linda Ashman's website includes teacher lesson plan ideas! http://www.lindaashman.com/work2.htm

A Taste of Colored Water - Matt Faulkner

Perfect for: Kids, Particularly Older Ones
Pub: 2008
Rating: Loved it
Read: Sept. 13, 2008
Endpapers: Both different - the front is an illustration of entering Eden and the back is an illustration of leaving Eden (quite impressive) A+

"Daddy, what color does a person have to be to get a taste of colored water?" Jelly questions at the end of this book.

Welcome to the "Heart of Dixie" in the early 60s. Jelly and LuLu have never been to the "big city" before, but after they hear from Abbey Finch that there's a fountain there with "colored" water, they know they have to go see for themselves. They do. They find it, up on the hill by City Hall with a big sign over it proclaiming COLORED WATER. Meanwhile, as we can see from the illustrations, there's lots goin' on in town. Protesters are marching and singing "We Shall Overcome." Policemen and firemen face off with the marchers as newsmen take photos. Lulu and Jelly watch from the bubbler, where they get nothing but clear water. No lovely fruity-tasting greens or pinks or yellows. And then the fire hoses are turned on and people are knocked over by its force!

Whenever I open a picture book and see illustrated endpapers I already know I'm going to like the book. This was a good one. There are no explanations in the text, just the story. Wonderful vocabulary, a southerny drawl that helps establish the setting, and illustrations that complete enhance the storytelling, becoming part of the story itself. I really want to read this to my middle-schoolers to get their reaction.

I also personally enjoyed Matt Faulkner's AFTERWORD which ends: "It's my wish that we take strength from the courageous ones who came before us and learn to question oppression, racism, segregation - all forms of intolerance - and begin to promote compassion for all."

My Family

I can't resist adding this photo. I did NOT want to stand in front, but I love it that Brendan is playing with my earring and Ella's foot is under my arm. We're all together for the very first time, and dressed up to boot! Heather Anne's wedding , which was on the water in Bernard (on Mt. Desert Island) in Maine, was memorable and fun and very special...and practically hurricane-free! Thanks, John, for taking the picture for us!

Naming Liberty - Jane Yolen

Illustrator: Jim Burke
For: Kids
Pub: 2008
Rating: Mediocre
Read: Sept. 13, 2008

Something didn't quite work for me with this book. Two stories are told simultaneously, one of an immigrant family from Russia as they plan and implement their move to America. the other of the French sculptor Bartholdi and the steps he had to take to fund and create the Statue of Liberty. Both stories are interesting enough. The illustrations were nicely done, though didn't knock me out. Two-thirds of each page was an illustration, the other third the text - lots of white space. Gitl can't wait to change her name to an American-sounding one...so sad, really. Gitl is a beautiful name. We don't really get any feel at all for the family, though Yolen makes a small effort that seems almost superficial.

A great premise that didn't really work for me. Too bad.

The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians - Carla Morris

Illustrator: Brad Sneed
For: Kids and Library Lovers
Pub: 2007
Rating: Fun
Read: Sept. 12, 2008

Every now and then a theme, a storylilne, illustations, strike you just right....come together really well to make you sit up and say, "oh that was super." That's what this book did for me. I picked it up because I loved the cover drawing - a boy with unruly hair and glasses peeking through a shelf of books. Written by a children's librarian fom Utah, this book was a delight.

Melvin (?!?) spends every afternoon in the Livingston Public Library. He reads and reads and asks questions. Three librarians help him and teach him and guide him through the years. We watch Melvin grow up. with evolving interests and endless curiousity. We see Betty and Marge and Leeola age with him. We see them attend Melvin's graduation. And at the end, we see Melvin return to the Livingston Library - as a librarian.

I love libraries. I love books. I really enjoyed the story and thoroughly enjoyed Brad Sneed's illustrations. A winner!

Hanukkah Moon - Deborah da Costa

Illustrator: Gosia Mosz
For: Kids
Pub: 2007
Rating: 3/5
Read: Sept. 11, 2001

Isobel is visiting her Aunt Luisa, recently arrived from Mexico, for a couple of days of Hanukkah. Aunt Luisa is a university photography teacher and lover of wildlife. She gives Isobel her own camera and introduces her to the birds and animals in her backyard at night. She also teachers her about "Rosh Hodesh", the luna nueva, the new moon, when the bright side of the moon is facing AWAY from the earth. This she calls the "Hanukkah Moon." In the extreme darkness the animals feel safe and come out to enjoy the feast of nuts and berries that Aunt Luisa and Isobel have left them.

Apparently this celebration of the Hanukkah moon comes from the Sephardic Jews (originally from Spain) who settled in Latin America. Particularly important is for kids to see that there are Hispanic/Latino Jews....that, indeed, Jews live in every country and are from many, many backgrounds. This book really showed me that now matter how much I try not to stereotype, I still do. It was so cool to see Hispanic Jews celebrating Hanukkah - Jewish, not Roman Catholic.

The illustrations are not in what I consider the "traditional" Hanukkah colors of blues and silvers, nor of the "traditional" primary colors of Latin America. They are in gorgeous purples, oranges, and yellow-orange.. Different and unusual, this was a fun book to read. A glossary in the back and an author's note in the front are helpful and informative.

Young Adult Novels I've Read

I'm going to list the books I've read since I've been in Tucson, that's when I started keeping track. It's hard for me to remember...that's why I started this blog in the first place!

QUICK LIST OF BOOKS I RATED *5*
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The  - Alexie
Alt Ed - Atkins
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea - Zenatti
A Northern Light - Donnelly
A Room on Lorelei Street - Pearson
Boy Proof - Castelucci
Cardturner, The - Sachar
Catalyst - Anderson
Court of Fives - Kate Elliott
Cuba 15- Osa
Cress  - Meyer
Cycler - McLaughlin
Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Taylor
Dunk - Lubar
Finding Miracles - Alvarez
First Part Last - Johnson
Forever - Stiefvater
Forever in Blue, Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood - Brashares
Geography Club - Hartinger
Girl in Pants, Third Summer of the Sisterhood - Brashares
Hard Love - Wittlinger
Hunger Games, The   - Collins
If I Stay - Foreman
Into the Dim - Taylor
Ironman - Crutcher
Jellicoe Road - Marchetta
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side - Fantaskey
Keeper of the Night - Holt
Keesha's House - Frost
Last Little Blue Envelope, The- Johnson
Looking for Alaska - Green
Loud Silence of Francine Green, The - Cushman
Luna - Peters
Marcelo in the Real World - Stork
Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf - Holm
Misfits, The - Howe
Notes from the Midnight Driver - Sonnenblick
Nothing to Lose - Flinn
Off Season - Murdock
Paladin Prophecy, The (#1) - Frost
Red Queen - Aveyard
Rewinder  (#1) - Battles
Rule of  One, The - Petrucha
Rules of Survival - Werlin
Rules of the Road - Bauer
Serpent King, The - Zentner
Shadows of Ghadames - Stolz
Six Impossible Things - Wood
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie - Lubar
Spanking Shakespeare  - Wizner
Stained - Jacobsen
Stargirl - Spinelli
Storky - Garfinkle
Stuck in the 70s - Garfinkle
Sweet-blood - Hautman
Thirteen Reasons Why  - Asher
True Confessions of a Heartless Girl - Brooks

What My Mother Doesn't Know - Sones
Whirligig - Fleischman
Will Grayson, Will Grayson - Green & Levithan
Year of Secret Assignments - Moriarty

           * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Addison, Katherine - The Goblin Emperor (3)
Ahdieh, Renee - The Wrath & the Dawn (4)
Alexie, Sherman- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (5)
Alvarez - Finding Miracles (5)
Anderson - The Impossible Knife of Memory (4)
..........Prom (3)
......... - Catalyst (5)
Antani, Jay - The Leaving of Things (4) considered adult, I disagree
Asher - Thirteen Reasons Why (5)
Atkins - Alt Ed (5)
Aveyard - Red Queen (5)
.......... - Glass Sword (4) hard to get into, but got better
Bardugo - Six of Crows (1/DNF)
Barnes - The Naturals (3)
Barr - Outage (Powerless Nation #1)  (3.5)
Battles - Rewinder (Rewinder #1) (5)
Bauer - Rules of the Road (5)
....... - Stand Tall (4.5)
Beam, Cris - I Am J (4)
Bowman - Taken (4.5)
.......... - Frozen (3)
Bowsher - My Lost and Found Life (4)
Bracken, Alexandra - Passenger (2.5)
Bradley - 24 Girls in 7 Days (4)
Brande - Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature (4.5)
.......... - Fat Cat (4)
Brant - Zenn Diagram  (3.5)
Brashares, Anne - Forever in Blue, 4th Summer of the Sisterhood (5)
............ - Girls in Pants, 3rd Summer of the Sisterhood (5)
........... -  Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (4)
............ - 3 Willows (3.5)
............ - Sisterhood Everlasting (1.5)
Brody, Jennifer - The 13th Continuum (4)
Brooks - True Confessions of a Heartless Girl (5)
Bryant - Pieces of Georgia (4)
Buxbaum, Julie - Tell Me Three Things (4.5)
Cameron, Sharon - The Forgetting (The Forgetting #1) (4.5)
Carleson - The Tyrant's Daughter (3)
Cart - Necessary Noise (short stories) (4)
Cashore, Kristin - Graceling (4)
Cass, Kiera - The One (2)
Cast & Cast - Marked (4)
.....Betrayed (2)
Castellucci - Boy Proof (5)
............ - Beige (4)
Chapman, Elise - Dualed (2)
Charbonneau, Joelle - The Testing (3)
Chayill, Eishes - Hush (4)
Chima, Cinda Williams - The Warrior Heir (4)
Clare, Cassandra - Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy (novella) (4)
.......... - City of Glass (3)
.......... - City of Bones (4.5)
.......... - City of Ashes (3)
Cohn - Gingerbread (4)
Cohn & Levithan - Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (4)
Colasanti - When It Happens (4)
Collins - The Hunger Games (5)
Coman, Carolyn - Many Stones
Condie - Matched (4)
..........Crossed (2)
Cook - What Would Emma Do? (4)
.....Unraveling Isobel (2.5)
Cooney - Goddess of Yesterday (3.5)
Cornwell, Autumn - Carpe Diem (4)
Crane, Rebekah - The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland (4.5)
Crutcher - Ironman (5)
Culbertson, Kim - Songs for a Teenage Nomad (3)
Cushman - The Loud Silence of Francine Green (5)
Dahlquist, Gordon - The Different Girl (1.5)
Deem - 3 NB's of Julian Drew (1) Just too depressing!
De La Cruz - Blue Bloods (2.5)
..... Masquerade (4)
.....Revelations (3)
Doctorow - Little Brother (3.5)
Donnelly - A Northern Light (5)
Elliott, Kate - Court of Fives  (5)
Ellis - The Heaven Shop (4)
Etting & Schwartz - The Lost Causes (1)
Eulberg - Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality (3)
Farmer - Houshttp://muddypuddlemusings.blogspot.com/2014/05/28-revenge-of-girl-with-great.htmle of the Scorpion (5)
Fantaskey - Jekel Loves Hyde (3)
.....Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (5)
Fine, Sarah
.....Sanctum (2)
Flinn - Breathing Underwater (4)
..... - Nothing to Lose (5)
..... - Beastly (4)
Fleischman - Whirligig (5)
Forman - If I Stay (5)
Forrest, Bella - A Shade of Vampire (A Shade of Vampire #1) (2)
Frost - Keesha's House (5)
Frost - The Paladin Prophecy (5)
..... - Alliance (#2 Paladin Prophecy) DNF
Gallagher, Liz - The Opposite of Invisible (3.5)
Garfinkle - Stuck in the 70's (5)
.......... - Storky (5)
Gier - Ruby Red (4)
.......... - Sapphire Blue (4)
Giles - Dead Girls Don't Write Letters (3)
.......... - What Happened to Cass McBride (4)
.......... - Right Behind You (4.5)
Going - St. Iggy (2) Deeply depressing
...... - Fat Kid Rules the World (4)
Green - Will Grayson, Will Grayson (5)
.......... - Looking for Alaska (5)
Gregorio - None of the Above  (4.5)
Haddon - Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime (4)
Hartinger - Grand & Humble (3)
........... - Geography Club (5)
Hautman - Blank Confession (4)
.......... -Sweet-blood (5)
........... - Godless (3)
Hinds - Merchant of Venice (Graphic) (2.5)
Hodge, Rosamund - Cruel Beauty (1)
Holm - Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf (5)
Holt - Keeper of the Night (5)
Hopkins - Burned (3)
Howe, J. - The Misfits (5)
Howe, K. - Conversion (4)
Hurwitz - The Summer I Saved the World in 65 Days (4)
Jacobsen - Stained (5)
Johnson, A - Looking for Red (4)
............ - First Part Last (5)
Johnson, M - 13 Little Blue Envelopes (4.5)
............ - The Last Little Blue Envelope (5)
Johnston, Julie - In Spite of Killer Bees
Jones, Carrie - After Obsession  (with Steven E. Wedel) (4)
.......... - Captivate (4.5)
.......... - Need (3.5 or 4)
Kantor, Melissa - Invisible I (4)
Kate, Lauren - Fallen (Fallen #1) (1)
Keaton, Kelly - Darkness Becomes Her (4.5)
Kerr, M. E. - Someone Like Summer (3)
....... - What Became of Her (3.5)
King, Emily R. - The Hundredth Queen (4)
Koertge - Boy Girl Boy (4)
......... - Strays (4)
......... - Shakespeare Bats Clean Up (3)
Koja - Talk (4)
.... - Buddha Boy (4)
Laybourne, Emmy - Monument 14 (4.5)
Leavitt, Linsdey - The Chapel Wars (3.5)
Lennon, Stella - Invisible I (4)
Levithan, David - Will Grayson, Will Grayson (5)
.......... - Boy Meets Boy (4.5)
.......... - Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (4)
Lockhart, E.  - The Boyfriend List (3.5)
.......... - The Boy Book (4)
.......... - Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (4)
.......... - Fly on the Wall (3.5)
.......... - We Were Liars  (3)
Lore, Pittacus (actually James Frey) - I Am Number Four (4)
.......... - The Power of Six (2)
Lowry, Lois - Son (4)
.......... - Messenger (3)
.......... - Gathering Blue (3.5)
Lubar - Dunk (5)
....... - Sleeping Freshman Never Lie (5)
Maas, Sarah J. - Throne of Glass (3.5)
Marchetta, Melina - Jellicoe Road (5)
Matson, Morgan - Since You've Been Gone (4.5)
McLaughlin - Cycler (5)
McCormick - Cut (3)
Meyer, M - Cinder (4)
.....Scarlet (4.5)
.....Cress (5)
Meyer, S - Twilight (5)
......New Moon (2)
.....Eclipse (2)
.....Breaking Dawn (3.5)
Michaels, Alicia - Bellamy and the Brute (2)
Mikaelson - Touching Spirit Bear (2 and 4)
Monir - Suspicion (3.5)
Moriarty - Year of Secret Assignments (5)
Murdock, Catherine Gilbert - Dairy Queen (4.5)
.....Off Season (5)
.....Front and Center (4)
Murdoch, Emily - If You Find Me (4.5)
Myracle - Shine (4)
Ness, Patrick - The Knife of Never Letting Go (1)
Niven, Jennifer - Holding Up the Universe  (3)
Noel - Evermore (3)
North, Julian - Age of Order (3.5)
Oliver - Pandemonium (4.5)
.......... - Delirium (4)
Ordover - Grounded (1)
Osa - Cuba 15 (5)
Pearson - A Room on Lorelei Street (5)
.......... - The Kiss of Deception
Peters - Luna (5)
Petrucha - The Rule of Won (5)
Raasch, Sara - Snow Like Ashes (3)
Rallison, Janette - How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-boyfriend (2.5)
Rees - Pirates (4)
Reinhardt, Dana - A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life (4.5)
Rennison, Louise - Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging
Riggs, Ransom - Miss Peregine's Home for Peculiar Children (DNF)
Roth, Veronica - Divergent (4)
.......... - Insurgent (4)
Rowell - Eleanor & Park (4)
Rowling - Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows (4)
......... - Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince (5)
......... - Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (4)
Runyon - Maybe (3.5)
Sachar - The Cardturner (5)
Salerni, Dianne K. - The Eighth Day (4)
.......... - The Inquisitor's Mark DNF - not in the mood - will finish someday
Schlitz, Laura Amy - The Hired Girl (4.5)
Schroeder - The Day Before (4)
Schwab, Victoria - This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1) (3)
Scott - Living Dead Girl (unrateable)
Simmons - Pool Boy (2)
Simmons, Kristen - Article 5 (2)
Simner - Bones of Faerie (3.5)
Sitomer, Alan Lawrence - Homeboyz (4.5)
Slade, Arthur - Dust (1)
Smith, Andrew - Grasshopper Jungle (4.5)
Smith, Cynthia Leitich- Tantalize (2 and 4)
..... - Rain is Not My Indian Name (2)
Smith, Jennifer E. - This is What HAPPY Looks Like (4)
Sones - What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know (5)
...... - What My Mother Doesn't Know (5)
...... - One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies (5)
Sonnenblick, Jordan - Notes from the Midnight Driver (5)
Spinelli, Jerry - Stargirl (5)
St. James - Freak Show (2)
Stevens, Courtney C. - Faking Normal (4)
Stiefvater, Maggie - Shiver (4.5)
..... - Linger (4)
..... - Forever (5)
Stolz - Shadows of Ghadames (5)
Stone - A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl (4)
Stork - Marcelo in the Real World (5)
..... - Irises (2.5)
Storrie - Beowulf, Monster Slayer (Graphic) (1.5)
Stradling - Colorless (3.5)
Tan - The Arrival (graphic) (2)
.....Tales from Outer Suburbia (4)
Taylor - Daughter of Smoke and Bone (5)
Taylor - Into the Dim (5)
Thompson, Holly - The Language Inside (4)
Trembath - Tuesday Cafe (3)
Urrea - Mr. Mendoza's Paintbrush (4.5)
Volponi - Hurricane Song (4)
Walker - The Age of Miracles (2)
Ward - Numbers (2)
Wasserman - The Book of Blood and Shadow (3)
Wedel, Steven E. - After Obsession (4) (with Carrie Jones)
Werlin - Rules of Survival (5)
....... - Are You Alone On Purpose? (4)
....... - Black Mirror (4)
....... - Double Helix (4)
Westerfeld - Uglies (4)
............. - Pretties (4)
Weyn - Bar Code Tattoo (2)
Wilkinson - Pink (4)
Wittlinger - Hard Love (5)
Wizner - Spanking Shakespeare (5)
Wood, Fiona - Six Impossible Things (5)
Wynne-Jones, Tim - Boy in the Burning House
Yancey, Rick - The Fifth Wave (4.5)
Young, Suzanne - The Program (4)
Zarr - Sweethearts (3.5)
Zenatti - A Bottle in the Gaza Sea (5)
Zentner, Jeff - The Serpent King (5)
Zevin - Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (4.5)
Zoboi, Ibi - American Street (2 and 4)

47. Waiting for Normal - Leslie Connor

For: Middle Grades
Pub: 2008
290 pgs.
Rating: 5/5
Read: Sept. 3, 2008 (Happy Birthday, Gail!)
"Pollyanna for the 21st Century" OR "a modern-day survival story"

Oh. My. I just finished The Rules of Survival. Now this. So similar. Mothers who should not be mothers. What is the definition of mother? Addie would figure that out, using Websters and her great dyslexic brain, and add it to the vocabulary book that she keeps. She wishes she had the "Love of Learning" like her mother and younger sister. But because she has reading and spatial problems, she thinks this can never be.

Addie's "Mommers" (this was, for some reason, a very irritating name for me) is, I'm sure, bipolar. It's all or nothing. Totally all or absolutely nothing. She's had two husbands, three children, and before the story is over will have lost them all, but have another kid on the way. Dwight, the stepfather that has raised Addie as his own, is not able to take custody of her when he divorces her mother, although he does take the two "Littles." He takes Addie and her Mom to live in the only place he has, an old, tiny trailer on a busy street corner in the city of Schenectedy, NY. He takes the two Littles and goes to reconstruct an inn in nearby Vermont.

Mommers meets up with a man and spends more and more time with him, leaving 12-year-old Addie alone in the trailer. Addie makes close friends with the people who own the mini-mart across the street (one dying of cancer, the other gay). She learns to love to play the flute, and takes great care of her hamster, Picolo. Things get worse and worse until she unwittingly, while alone for an extended period, burns down the trailer.

This IS a very predictable book. But it's predictable in a good way, I think kids need more happy endings. Connors has included a little bit of everything in the story, major timely issues. But instead of being TOO much, everything she brings up touches all of our lives....a little cancer....friends or family members who are gay, or struggle with a mental disorder, or have very little money...sad people, happy people, neglected people, all or nothing people.....Snow storms and broken-cars and feeling helpless and alone.....

One review I read said that this book is a great example of "showing, not tellling." Exactly! Beautifuly writing. A smart, witty protagonist. A plot that keeps you hooked. A great read. If only I hadn't needed tissues!

Planting the Trees of Kenya - Claire A. Nivola

The Story of Wangari Maathai
For: Everyone!
Pub: 2008
Rating: Super
Read: Sept. 3, 2008

Wangari Maathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founded the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. Born in 1940, she went to America to college on scholarhip, returning to her native Kenya after five years to find her country much changed. Water was gone from the sreambeds, land eroded, trees cut, and the people no longer living on the food they grew for themselves. This one woman, courageously and without giving up, spent the next 30 years growing trees from seeds, teaching the women of her country how to help her, and giving away tree seedlings to all - school children, prisoners, soldiers. It was hard work.

"And so in the thirty years since Wangari began her movement, tree by tree, person by person, thirty million trees have been planted in Kenya - and the planting has not stopped."

An inspiring story. There are two books for adults - her memoir, Unbowed: A Memoir (2005), and The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience (2003) that I'd now like to read. I will read this book to THA Student Government before our Passport to Peace planning begins.

The illustrations are lovely - shade after shade of green, using white as her emphasizing color in bold, beautiful watercolors. And, oh, the African fabrics! Luscious. And inspiring.

46. The Rules of Survival - Nancy Werlin

For: Young Adult
Pub: 2006
273 pgs.
Rating: 5/5
Finished: Sept. 2, 2008
POWERFUL

Beautifully written, this heartbreaking story is in the form of a letter from 18-year old Matthew to his 9-year old sister, Emmy. Until three years previously, Matthew, Emmy, and his just-barely younger sister Callie have lived in a horrifying world with their mother. Nikki, in South Boston. She is crazy. It's never give it a name, but she's got to be some sort of schizophrenic, bi-polar, narcissitic crazy stalker woman. They never, EVER know what to expect from her: love, screams, violence, or even a knife to their neck...all in the name of "fun". The kids have coped, learning "how to survive" for years, until Matthew realizes that her demons have invaded her soul and someone's going to be hurt badly.

Supposedly these children come out emotionally unscathed. Their strength, their saviness, their instincts are all unbelievable, yet....believable. At the end of the letter, Matthew tells Emmy that he knows he'll never actually give her the letter. Perhaps it's been a catharsis for him.

Wow. Next Tuesday my Teacher Book Club will be discussing this. I'll write more then. I can't wait to hear their insights.

Picture Books I've Read

I never can remember the books I've read, so I think I'll keep a quick and easy-to-use list.

Alphabetical order by title:

14 Cows for America, 2009 (Deedy/Gonzalez) 4
3 Bears and Goldilocks, 2008 (Willey/Solomon) 3.5

3 Little Dassies, The, 2010 (Brett) 4
20 Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street, 2013 (Lee/Cyrus) 4
A

Abraham Lincoln Comes Home, 2008 (Burleigh/Minor) 4.5
A Child's Calendar, 1965/1999 (Updike/Hyman) 5
A Child of Books, 2016 (Jeffers & Winston) 3.5
A Chill in the Air, 2003 (Frank/Reed)
A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, 2008 (Frazee) 5
A Gift for Abuelita, 1998 (Luenn/Chapman) 4/5 Illust.

A Mother's Song, 2010 (Lawler/Kemly) 4
A is for Asia, 1997 (Lee/Heo) 3
A Home for Mr. Emerson, 2014 (Kerley/Fotheringham) 4
A Very Improbable Story, 2008 (Einhorn/Gustavson) 4
A Walk in London, 2011 (Rubbino) 4.5
Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay (Hood/Comport) 5
Alia's Mission, 2004 (Stamaty) 5
Albert the Fix-It Man (Lord/Paschkis) 4
All Aboard!  National Parks (Meyers) BOARD BOOK 4
All Different Now, 2014 (Johnson/Lewis) 5
All God's Critters, 2009 (Staines/Nelson) 4.5
All in a Day, 2009 (Rylant/McClure) 4

All Star! Honus Wagner and the Most Famous Baseball Card Ever (Yolen/Burke) 2010

All the Places to Love (MacLachlan/Wimmer) 1994
All the World, 2009 (Scanlon/Frazee)
All the World's a Stage, 2003 (Davidson/Lobel) Cool
Alphabet Bird Collection, 2009 (Ogilvy) 4
Amelia Hits the Road, 1997 (Moss) 3.5
America the Beautiful: Together We Stand, 2013 (Bates) 5
Americans Who Tell the Truth, 2005 (Shetterly)
Ananse and the Lizard, 2002 (Cummings) 4
An Artist's America, 2008 (Albert) 5
Ancestors are Singing, The, 2003 (Johnston) 3
Animal Hedge, The, 1983/2003 (Fleischman/Ibatoulline) 3.5
Anne Frank Case, 2009, (Rubin/Farnsworth) 3.5
Anne Hutchinson's Way, 2007 (Atkins/Dooling) 4
Apples and Robins, 2013 France/2016 US (Felix) 4
Applesauce Season, 2009 (Lipson/Gerstein) 4.5
A River of Words, 2008 (Bryant/Sweet) 5

Art & Max, 2010 (Wiesner) 5
Artist and Me, The, 2016 (Peacock/Casson) 4.5
As An Oak Tree Grows, 2014 (Karas) 4.5
At Ellis Island: A History in Many Voices, 2007 (Peacock/Krudup) 3
At the Same Moment, Around the World, 2014 (Perrin)

Aunt Mary's Rose, 2010 (Wood/LeUyen) 4
Autumnblings, 2003 (Florian) 4.5
B

Bad Frogs, 2009 (Hurd) 2.5

Basil's Birds, 2010 (Reed) 4
Bats at the Library, 2008 (Lies) 4

BAXTER, the Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher, 2010 (Snyder/Goldin) 5
Beatrice's Goat, 2001 (Lohstoeter) 5

Beautiful Yetta, the Yiddish Chickien (Pinkwater/Pinkwater) 4.5
Because of You, 2005 (Hennesy/Nakata)
Bedtime at the Swamp, 2008 (Crow/Pamintuan) 4
Belle, the Last Mule at Gee's Bend, 2011 (Ramsey & Stroud/Holyfield) 4

Benno and the Night of Broken Glass, 2010 (Wiviott/Bisaillon) 5
Best Book to Read, 2008 (Bertram & Bloom/Garland) 4
Big Cat Pepper, 2009 (Partridge/Castillo) unrated
Biggest Bear, The, 1952 (Ward) 3.5
Big Jimmy's Kum Kau Chinese Take Out, 2002 (Lewin) 4
Big Little Book of Happy Sadness, 2008 (Thompson) 4
Big Snow, The, 1948 (Hader & Hader) 4.5
Bill Martin Jr.'s Big Book of Poetry, 2008 (Martin) 5
Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem, 2009 (Barnett/Rex) 5
Billy's Booger, 2015 (Joyce) 5
Birds, 2009 (Henkes/Dronzek) 5
Birthday Tree, 1979/2008 (Fleischman/Root) 4
Black Book of Colors, 2006 (Cottin/Faria) 5
Black Dog, 2011 (Pinfold) 4.5
Blueberry Girl, 2009 (Gaiman/Vess) 5
Bluebird, 2013 (Staake) 1.5
Book, A, 2009 (Gerstein) 4.5
Book Fiesta! 2009 (Mora/Lopez)  5
Bookshop Dog, The, 1996 (Rylant) 4
Book Speak! (Salas/Bisaillon) 5
Born to Read, 2008 (Sierra/Brown) 4

Boss Baby, The, 2010 (Frazee) 4.5
Boxes for Katje, 2003 (Fleming/Dressen-McQueen) 5
Boys, The, 2010 (Newman) 4

Boy on Fairfield Street, The, 2004 (Krull/Johnson & Fanchu) 4.5
Boys of Steel, 2008 (Nobleman) 4
Boy Who Cried Wolf, 2002 (Hennessy/Kulikov)
Boy Who Loved Math, 2013 (Heiligman/Pham) 5

Boy Who Loved Words, The, 2006 (Schotter/Potter) 4.5
Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians, 2007 (Morris/Sneed) 5
Brand-New Baby Blues, 2010 (Appelt/Murphy) 4
Bravest Flute, The, 1994 (Grifalconi) 3
Bravest Woman in America, The, 2011 (Moss/U'Ren)
Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Bake You a Pie, 2009 (Gourley) 4
Brother Juniper, 2006 (Gibfried/So)
Brother Sun, Sister Moon,2011 (Paterson/Dalton) 4
Brothers in Hope, 2005 (Williams/Christie) 4

Brothers Kennedy, The, 2010 (Krull/Bates) 5
Brownie & Pearl Step Out, 2010 (Rylant/Biggs) 1.5
Bubba the Cowboy Prince, 1997 (Ketteman/Warhola) 4
Bubble Trouble, 2008 (Mahy/Dunbar) 5
Building on Nature, 2009 (Rodriguez/Paschkis) 4.5

Busing Brewster, 2010 (Michelson/Roth) 5
Button Up!, 2009 (Schertle/Mathers) 4
But Who Will Bell the Cats? (von Buhler) 4
C

Calavera Abecedario, 2004 (Winter)

Call the Horse Lucky, 2010 (Havill/Lane) 4.5

Calvin Can't Fly, 2010 (Berns/Bendis) 4

Can Man, The, 2010 (Williams/Orback) 4
Can You Say Peace? 2006 (Katz) 5
Captain Cat, 2013 (Moore)

Carmen Learns English, 2010 (Cox/Dominguez) 3.5
Case for Loving, The  (Alko/Qualls) 5

Cats Night Out, 2010 (Stutson/Klassen) 4

Chalk, 2010 (Thomson) 5
Change Has Come, 2009 (Obama/Nelson) 5
Charlie and the Christmas Kitty, 2011 (Drummond/de/Groat) 5
Charlie The Ranch Dog, 2011 (Drummond/deGroat) 4.5
Chester Racoon and the Acorn Full of Memories, 2009 (Penn/Gibson) 4
Chicken and Cat Clean Up, 2009 (Varon) 3.5
Chicken in the Family, 2008 (Amato/Durand) Unimpressive
Chicken Little, 2009 (Emberley/Emberley) 4.5
Chirchir Is Singing, 2011 (Cunnane/Daly) 4.5

Christmas Kitten: Home at Last (Pulver/Johnson) 4.5
Christopher Newport, Jamestown Explorer (Solomon/Bridy) 3.5
Circus Ship, The, 2009 (VanDusen) 5

city dog, country frog, 2010 (Willems/Muth) 5
Clara and Davie, 2014 (Polacco) 4
Clever Ali, 2006 (Farmer/deMarcken) 4.5
Colorful Dreamer, The Story of Henri Matisse (Parker/Berry) 3.5
Color of Home, 2002 (Hoffman/Littlewood) 4
Colors of Us, The, 1999 (Katz) 4
Come Back Soon, 2009 (Schallau) 4
Composer is Dead, 2009 (Snicket/Stookey) 4
Compost Stew, 2010 (Siddals/Wolff)
Cool Cat, 2009 (Hagrogian) 3.5
Coretta Scott, 2009 (Shange/Nelson) 4
Cowboy Night Before Christmas, 1986 (Rice) 3
Crazy Hair, 2009 (Gaiman/McKean)
Creaky Old House, 2009 (Ashman/Chesworth) 4.5
Crow Call, 2009 (Lowry/Ibatoulline) 5 ! !
Curious Garden, The, 2009 (Brown) 4
D

Dangerous Alphabet, 2008 (Gaiman/Grimly) 2
Dare to Dream:  Change the World, 2012 (Corcoran/Jepson) 5
Dark, The, 2013 (Snicket/Klassen) 3
Day-Glo Brothers, The, 2009 (Barton?Persiani) 4.5
Day Leo Said I Hate You, The, 2008 (Harris/Bang) 4.5
Day the Stones Walked, 2007 (Barron/Low) 4
Dear Hot Dog, 2011 (Gerstein) 4
Dear Vampa, 2009 (Collins) 4.5
Desert Night, Desert Day, 2011 (Fredericks/Spengler) 3.5
Desmond and the Very Mean Word, 2013 (Tutu/Ford) 4.5
Dewey, There's a Cat in the Library, 2009 (Myron & Witter/James) 4
Dhegdheer, A Scary Somali Folktale, 2007 (Hassan/Bowen) 4

Dizzy, 2006 (Winter/Qualls) 4

Dog Loves Books, 2010 (Yates) 3.5
Dog Who Belonged to No One, The, 2008 (Hest/Bates)

Dory Story, 2000 (Pallotta/Biedrzycki) 4.5
Driving My Tractor, 2009 (Dobbins/Sims) 5
Dump Man's Treasures, The, 2008 (Plourde/Owens) 4
Dunderheads, The, 2009 (Fleischman/Roberts) 2
Dusk, 2013 (Shulevitz) 3

E

Earmuffs for Everyone 2015 (McCarthy) 4
Earth Book, The, 2010 (Parr) 3.5
Earthshake: Poems from the Ground Up (Peters) 3
Egg 2017 (Henkes) 4.5
El Barrio, 2009 (Chocolate/Diaz) 4.5
Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears, 2003 (Fisher) 4
Elsina's Clouds, 2004 (Winter) 3

Emma's Poem, 2010 (Glaser/Nivola) 4.5
Erika-San, 2009 (Say) 4.5+
Every Day Birds 2016 (5)
F

Fancy Nancy's Favorite Words (O'Conner/Glasser) 4
Fancy Nancy: Splendiforous Christmas (O'Conner/Glasser)
Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau (Dobbins/Sims) 5
Farmer and the Clown The, (Frazee) 2014
Finding Lincoln, 2009 (Malaspina/Bootman) 4.5
Finn McCool and the Great Fish, 2010 (Bunting/Pullen) 4.5
Fiona's Lace, 2014 (Polacco) 4

Fire Up With Reading, 2007 (Buzzeo/Yoshikawa) 4
First Dog, 2009 (Lewis & Zappitelol/Bowers) 4

First Dog's White House Christmas, 2010 (Lewis & Zappitello/Bowers) 5
First Family, 2010 (Hopkinson/Ford) 4
First Food Fight of the Fall (and Other School Poems) 2008 (Singer/Yoshikawa) 4

First Pup, The, 2010 (Staake) 4
First Year Letters, 2003 (Danneberg/Love)

Flora's Very Windy Day, 2010 (Birdsall/Phelan) 4
Flutter & Hum: Animal Poems, 2015 (Paschkis) 5
Forest Has a Song, 2013 (Vanderwater/Gourley) 4.5
Forever Young, 2008 (Dylan/Rogers) 5
Fossil, 2013 (Thomson) 4
Four Feet, Two Sandals, 2007 (Wms & Mohammed/Chayka) 4
Fox Walked Alone, 2006/2009 (Reid) 4.5
Friday My Radio Flyer Flew, 2008 (Pullen) 3.5 and 5
G

Galimoto, 1990 (Williams) 4
Gathering the Sun (Ada/Silva) 1997
Georgia Rises: A Day in the Life of Georgia O'Keeffe, 2009 (Lasky/Eitan) 3.5
Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude, 2009 (Winter/Brown)

Ghost Wings, 2001 (Joosse/Potter) 4.5
Giant Steps to Change the World, 2011 (Lee & Lee/Qualls) 3
Gift, A, 2009 (Chen) 4

Gift, The, 2010 (Duffy/Ryan) 4
Girl's Like Spaghetti, The, 2007 (Truss/Timmons) 3.5
Gifts of the Heart, 2013 (Polacco) 3
Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal, 2007 (Fleischman) 4.5
Glasswings: A Butterfly's Story, 2013 (Kleven) 5

Goal! 2010 (Javaherbin/Ford) 3.5
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs (Willems) 4
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! (Schlitz/Byrd) 5
Got Geography! 2006 (Hopkins/Stanton) 4

Grandma's Gloves, 2010 (Castellucci/Denos) 4.5
Grandpappy Snippy Snappies, 2009 (Plourde/Santoro) 4
Grandpa's Teeth, 1997 (Clement) 4
Grasshopper's Song, 2008 (Giovanni/Raschka) 4
Great Paper Caper, 2008 (Jeffers) 4.5
Great Smelly, Slobbery, Small-Tooth Dog, 2007 (MacDonald/Paschkis)4
Great Spruce, The, 2016 (Duvall/Gibbon) 4
Greetings from the 50 States, 2008 (Keenan/Alko) 4 
Groundhog Weather School, 2009 (Holub/Sorra) 5

Growing Frogs, 2000 (French/Bartlett) Excellent
Guess Again, 2009 (Barnett/Rex) 4
Gugu's House, 2001 (Stock) 4.5
H

Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher, The, 2009 (Anderson/Hoyt) 5

Hallelujah Flight, The, 2010 (Bildner/Holyfield) 5
Halloween Night, 2008 (Murray/Dorman) 5
Hallowilloween, 2010 (Brown) 3.5
Hanukkah Moon, 2007 (da Costa, Mosz) 3
Hat for Mrs. Goldman, A, 2016 (Edwards/Karas) 5
Hattie & Hudson, 2017 (VanDusen) 5
Heart and the Bottle, 2010 (Jeffers) 4+
Henry Aaron's Dream, 2010 (Tavares) 5

Henry Knox, Bookseller, Soldier, Patriot, 2010 (Silvey/Minor) 4.5
Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad,
.....2007 (Levine/Nelson) 5
Henry in Love, 2010 (McCarty) 3
Here Comes Santa Cat, 2014 (Underwood/Rueda) 4
Heroes and She-roes, 2005, (Lewis/Cooke) 5
Hilary Rodham Clinton, 2008 (Krull/Bates)
Hinky Pink, The, 2008 (McDonald/Floca) 4
Hogwood Steps Out, 2008 (Mansfield/Moser) 5
Holiday Stew, 2007 (Whitehead) 5
Homegrown House, 2009 (Wong/Lewis) 3

Hope for Haiti, 2010 (Watson) 4
Hope is a Girl Selling Fruit, 2013 (Das) 4
Horace and Morris Say Cheese (which makes Dolores sneeze!) 2009 (Howe/Walrod) 4
Hot Rod Hamster, 2010 (Lord/Anderson) 3.5
House in the Night, 2008 (Swanson/Krommes) 4
How Dalia Put a Big Yellow Comforter Inside a Tiny Blue Box, 2011 (Heller/McQueen) 4
How I Learned Geography, 2008 (Shulevitz) 3

How Rocket Learned to Read, 2010 (Hills) 4
How to Catch a Fish, 2007 (Frank/Sylvada) 4
How to Live Forever, 1995 (Thompson)
I

I am Lucille Ball, 2015 (Meltzer/Eliopoulous) 5
I am Rosa Parks, 2014 (Meltzer/Eliopoulous) 5
I Call My Grandma Nana, 2009 (Wolff) 4.5
I Can Be Anything, 2010 (Spinelli) 4.5

I Can Name 50 Trees Today! (Worth/ Ruiz & Mathieu) 2006
If... 1995 (Perry) 4.5
If America Were a Village, 2007 (Smith/Armstrong) 3.5
If I Had a Gryphon, 2016 (Vansickle/Atkinson) 4
If the Shoe Fits, 2002 (Whipple/Beingessner) pretty cool
I Heard it from Alice Zucchini, 2007 (Havill) 4
I Know an Old Teacher, 2008 (Bowen/Gammell) 3
I Like It When ... 1997 (Murphy) 4
I Love You Book, 2009 (Parr) 5
Imaginary Garden, The, 2009 (Larsen/Luxbacher) 4.5
I'm Bad, 2008 (Kate & Jim McMullan) 3
Imogene's Last Stand, 2009 (Fleming/Carpenter) 4
In a Blue Room (Averbeck/Tusa) 2008 Unimpressive
In Andal's House (Whelan/Hall) 2013 3.5
In Aunt Giraffe's Green Garden, 2007 (Prelutsky/Mathers) 3
In Our Mothers' House, 2009 (Polacco) 5
Infinity and Me, 2012 (Hosford/Swiatkowska) 4

It's Christmas, David, 2010 (Shannon) 4
It's Okay to Be Different, 2001 (Parr) 4
I Want to be Free, 2009, (Slate/Lewis) 4.5

J

Jackson and Bud's Bumpy Ride, 2009 (Koehler-Pentacoff/Hargis) 3.5
January's Sparrow, 2009(Polacco) 5
Jeremy Draws a Monster, 2009 (McCarty) 3.5
John Brown: His Fight for Freedom, 2009 (Hendrix) 4
Julio's Magic, 2005 (Dorris/Grifalconi) 3.5
June and August, 2009 (Walsh/McCauley) 4
Jungle Grapevine, The, 2009 (Beard)

Junkyard Wonders, The, 2010 (Polacco) 5
Just In Case, 2008 (Morales) 4

Just Like You, 2010 (Konrad/Wang) 4.9

K

Kami and the Yaks, 2006 (Stryer/Dodson) 4
Karl, Get Out of the Garden: Carol Linnaeus and the Naming of Everything, 2017 (Sanchez/Stock) 4
Katy and the Big Snow, 1943 (Burton) 5
Kitten Tale, 2008 (Rohmann) 4.5
Knitty Kitty, 2008 (Elliot/Denise) 4
Koala and the Flower (2001) 4.5
L

Ladybug Girl, 2008 (Davis/Soman) 5
Last Stop on Market Street, 2015 (de la Pena/Robinson) 5

Late for School, 2010 (Martin/Payne) 2/4

Lawn to Lawn, 2010 (Yaccarino) 2
Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money, 2012 (Jenkins/Karas) 4
Let's Go See Papa, 2009 (Schimel/Rivera) 4
Let the Celebrations Begin! 1991/2013 (Wild/Vivas) 5
Let There be Peace on Earth, 2009(Jackson & Miller/Diaz) 4.5
Librarian of Basra, 2005 (Winter) 5
Library Mouse, 2007 (Kirk) 4.5
Library Mouse - A Friend's Tale, 2009 (Kirk) 4.5
Library Mouse: A Museum Adventure, 2012 (Kirk) (3)
Lilla's Sunflowers, 2016 (Kosinski) 5

Lincoln Tells a Joke, 2010 (Krull & Brewer/Innerst) 4+
Lines, Bars and Circles: How William Playfair Invented Graphs, 2017 (Becker/Tremblay) 4

Ling Cho and His Three Friends, 2000 (Pacilio/Cook) 3.6

Lin Yi's Lantern, 2009 (Williams/Lacombe) 3+
Lion and the Mouse, 2009 (Pinkney) 5
Lissy's Friends, 2007 (Lin) 3.5
Listeners, The, 2009 (Whelan/Benny) 4.5
Little Blue Truck Leads the Way, 2009 (Schertle/McElmurry) 5
Little Boy, 2008 (McGhee/Reynolds) 5
Little Owl's Night, 2011 (Srinivasan) 5
Little Red Cowboy Hat, 1997 (Lowell/Cecil) 4
Little Red Writing, 2013 (Holub/Sweet) 4
Little Santa, 2013 (Agee) 4

Little White Rabbit, 2011 (Henkes) 4.5
Llama Llama Hoppity-Hop, 2012 (Dewdney) 5 Board Book
Llama Who Had No Pajama, 1998 (Hoberman/Fraser)
Longest Night: A Passover Story, The, 2013 (Snyder/Chien) 4
Looking for Jaguar and Other Rain Forest Poems, 2005 (Katz/Christiansen) 4
Lookup! Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer (Burleigh/Colon) 4
Lousy, Rotten, Stinkin' Grapes, 2009 (Palatine/Moser) 3.5
Lucky New Year! 2008 (Man-Kong/Chung)
M

M is For Mischief, 2008 (Ashman/Carpenter) 5
Ma Dear's Old Green House, 2004 (Patrick/Sadler) 4
Magic Box, 2009 (Clemenson) 4
Magic in the Margins, 2007 (Nikola-Lish/Christensen) 3.5

Mama, Is It Summer Yet? 2010 (McClure) 4

Man Gave Names to All the Animals, 2010 (Dylan/Arnosky)
Mangrove Tree, The: Planting Trees to Feed Families, 2011 (Roth & Trumbore/Roth) 4.5
Maple, 2014 (Nichols) 4
Marguerite Makes a Book, 1999 (Robertson/Hewit
Marvelous Toy, The, 2009 (Paxton/Cox) 4.5
Matchbox Diary, The, 2013 (Fleischman/Ibatoulline) 4

Mattoo, Let's Play, 2010 (Luxbacher) 4.5
Maya's Blanket / La Manta de Maya, 2015 (Brown/Diaz) 5

Me, Frida, 2010 (Novesky/Diaz) 2.5
Me...Jane, 2011 (McDonnell) 4
Mercy Watson Fights Crime, 2006 (DiCamillo/Van Dusen) 5

Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig, 2008 (DiCamillo/VanDusen) 5
Middle-Child Blues, 2009 (Crow/Catrow) 3.5
Migrant, 2011 (Trottier/Arsenault) 4

Mirror Mirror, 2010 (Singer/Masse) 5

Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I don't) 2010 (Bottner/Emberley) 4
Miss Malarkey Leaves No Reader Behind, 2006 (Finchley & O'Malley/O'Malley) 4
Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children (Pinborough) 5
Mitten, The, 2009 (Aylesworth/McClintock) 4

Mitten Tree, The, 1997/2009 (Christiansen/Greenstein) 4
Momma Loves Her Little Son, 2009 (Cash/Burckhardt) 4
Mommies Say Shhh! 2005 (Polacco) BOARD BOOK 4
Monarch's Progress, The, 2008 (Harley) 3
Moon Over Star, The, 2008 (Aston/Pinkney) 4.5
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom (Weatherford/Nelson) 4.5
Mr. Mendoza's Paintbrush, 2010 (Urrea/Cardinale) 4.5
Mr. Wayne's Masterpiece, 2014 (Polacco) 4
Mr. Wuffles, 2013 (David Wiesner) 3
Muktar and the Camels, 2009 (Graber/Mack) 3.5
Mule Train Mail, 2009 (Brown) 3
My America, 2007 (Gilchrist/Bryan) 4
My Baby, 2001 (Winter) 5
My Brother Charlie, 2010 (Peete & Peete) 5
My First Ramadan (Katz) 4
My Friend, the Starfinder, 2008 (Lyon/Gammell) 2
My Garden, 2010 (Henkes) 3.5
My Name is Bilal, 2005 (Mobin-Uddin/Kiwak) 3
My Name is James Madison Hemings, 2016 (Winter/Widener) 5
My Name is Sangoel, 2009 (Williams & Mohammed/Stock) 4

My, Oh My, A Butterfly! 2007 (Rabe/Ruiz & Mathieu)
My Pen Pal Santa, 2013 (Stanton/Bell) 3
My Senator and Me, 2006 (Kennedy/Small) 5
My Uncle Emily, 2009 (Yolen/Carpenter) 4.5
N

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, 2009 (Willems) 2
Naming Liberty, 2008 (Yolen/Burke) 2.5
Napi Goes to the Mountain, 2006 (Ramirez/Domi) 4
National Wildlife Federation's World of Birds (Kurki) 5
Negro Speaks of Rivers, 2009 (Hughes/Lewis) 5
Nelson Mandela, 2013 (Nelson) 4

Never Say Boo! 2007 (Pulver/Lucke) 2.5

New Old Shoes, 2009 (Blessing/Phillips)
Night Fairy, The, 2010 (Schlitz/Barrett) 5
Night Gardener, The, 2016 (Fan Brothers) 5
Night of the Moon, 2008 (Khan/Paschkis) 5
Nit Pickin', 2008 (Van Laan/Booth) Unimpressive
No! 2009 (McPhail)
Noah Webster & His Words, 2012 (Ferris/Kirsch) 5
Noisy Paint Box, The, 2014 (Rosenstock/Grandpre) 5

Nonna Tell Me a Story, 2010 (Bastianich/Logan) 4

Not All Princesses Dress in Pink, 2010 (Yolen & Stemple/Languetin)
Not A Stick, 2008 (Portis) Unimpressive
O

Ocean's Child, 2009 (Ford & Holland/Diaz) 4.5

Odious Ogre, The, 2010 (Juster/Feiffer) 4

Of Thee I Sing, 2010 (Obama/Long) 5
Old Bear, 2008 (Henkes) 4.5
Oliver at the Window (Shreeve/McDonald) 3.5
Olivia's Birds, 2011 (Bouler)

On a Road in Africa, 2008 (Doner) 3

One Beetle Too Many, 2009 (Lasky/Trueman) 5

One Big Family: Sharing Life in an African Village, 1996 (Onyefulu) 5
One Green Apple, 2006 (Bunting/Lewin) 5
One Hen, 2008 (Milway/Fernandes) 4.5
One Red Apple, 2009 (Ziefert/Gudeon) 5
Open This Little Book, (Klausmeier/Lee) 4
Orange for Frankie, An (Polacco) 5
Otis, 2009 (Long)

Otis & Sydney and the Best Birthday Ever, 2010 (Numeroff/Andreasen) 4/5
Our Abe Lincoln, 2009 (Aylesworth/McClintock) 5
Our Children Can Soar, 2009 (Cook/numerous illustrators) 5
Our Library, 2008 (Bunting/Smith) 4.5 or 5
Over the Green Hills, 1992 (Isadora) 3.5
Owney, the Mail-Pouch Pooch, 2008 (Kerby/Barasch) 3.5
Ox, House, Stick, The History of our Alphabet (Robb/Smith) 3.5
P

Pablo's Tree, 1994 (Mora/Lang) 3.5
Papa's Latkes, 2004 (Edwards/Schuett) 5
Party in Ramadan, A, 2009 (Mobin-Uddin/Jacobsen) 4
Passing the Music Down (Sullivan/Root) 4
Pass It Down (Marcus) 4
Passover, 2010 (Ziefert)
Patchwork Path, 2005 (Stroud/Bennett) 5
Peace Book, The, 2004 (Parr) 5
Peeny Butter Fudge, 2009 (Morrison & Morrison/Cepeda) 4
Peppe the Lamplighter, 1993 (Bartone/Lewin) 2.5/4
Perfect Gift, The, 2010 (DePalma) 4.5
Pet Dragon, The, 2008 (Niemann) 4
Peter Spit a Seed at Sue, 2008 (Koller/Manders) 4
Pied Piper's Magic, The, 2009 (Kellogg) 5
Pippo the Fool, 2009 (Fern/Estrada) 4

Pirate of Kindergarten, The, 2010 (Lyon/Avril) 5
Planting the Trees of Kenya, 2008 (Nivola)
Please Bury Me in the Library, 2005 (Lewis/Stone) 3.5
Poem-mobiles: Crazy Car Poems, 2014 (Florian & Lewis/Holmes) 4.5
Pond Full of Ink, A, 2014(US) (Schmidt/Posthuma) 2 Poetry/4 Illustrations = 3
Pop's Bridge, 2006 (Bunting/Payne) 5
President Pennybaker, 2008 (Feiffer/Goode) 2.5
Princess Gown, 2008 (Strauss/Laugesen) 4
Princess Hyancinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl who Floated), 2009 (Heide/Smith) 4
Pssst! 2007 (Rex) 4
Q
Queen of the Falls, 2011 (Van Allsburg) 4.5
Quest for Z: The True Story of Explorer Percy Fawcett and a Lost City in the Amazon, The, 2017 (Pizzoli) 5

R

Rachel, 2003 (Ehrlich/Minor) 4
Read Anything Good Lately? 2003 (Allen & Lindaman/Enright) 3.5
Reading Makes You Feel Good, 2005 (Parr)
Red Book, The, 2004 (Lehman) 4.5
Red Knit Cap Girl, 2012 (Stoop)
Redwoods, 2009 (Chin) 5
Regards to the Man in the Moon (Keats) 3.5
Return of the Library Dragon (Deede/White) 4
Right Word, The: Roget and His Thesaurus (Bryant/Sweet) 5
River of Words, A (Bryant/Sweet) 5
Roawr! 2009 (Joosse/Jutte) 3.5

Robin Makes a Laughing Sound, The (Wolf) 4.5
Rock 'N' Roll Mole (Crimi/Munsinger) 4
Rocks in His Head, 2001 (Hurst/Stevenson) 4
Ron's Big Mission, 2009 (Blue & Naden/Tate) 4
Rosie Sprout's Time to Shine, 2011 (Wortche /Barton) 4
S

Santa Claus The World's Number One Toy Expert, 2005 (Frazee) 5
Santa is Coming to Tucson (Smallman/Dunn & Brown) 1

Sanyasin's First Day, The, 1999 (Shank, Stock) 4
Say Hello Like This! 2014 (Murphy) 4.5
Scarecrow's Dance, The, 2009 (Yolen/Ibatoulline), 2/4
Scaredy Squirrel, 2006 (Watt) 4.5
School's First Day of School, 2016 (Rex/Robinson) 3
Secret Box, 2011 (Lehman) 4
Secret Seder, 2005 (Rappaport/McCully) 4
Secret Tree Fort, 2016 (Farley)
September Roses, 2004 (Winter) 4

Seven for a Secret, 2006 (Anholt/Coplestone) 4
Shabbat Puppy, The, 2012 (Kimmelman/Zollars) 3.5
Shanghai Messenger, 2005 (Cheng/Young) 3.5
Shanghai Sukkah, 2015 (Hyde/Tsong) 4
Shark vs. Train, 2010 (Barton/Lichtenheld) 5
Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Story, 2015 (Miller/McElmurry) 4
Shortest Day, The (Pfeffer/Reisch) 5
Silent Music, 2008 (Rumford) 4.5
Silver Seeds, 2001 (Paolilli & Brewer/Johnson & Fancher) 5
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down, 2010 (Pinkney/Pinkney) 4.5

Sitting Duck, 2010 (Urbanovic) 4
Sky of Afghanistan, The, 1012 (Eulate/Wimmer) 4
Sleepsong, 2009 (Lyon/Catalanotto) 4
Sleepy ABC, 2010 (Brown/Katz) 2
Sloppy Joe, 2009 (Keane/Brunkus) 4.5

Small Medium & Large, 2010 (Donovan) 4
Smallest Gift of Christmas, The, 2013 (Reynolds) 2
Snail Mail: With Pull-Out Postcards, 2016 (King-Chai) 5
Snow! Snow! Snow! 2009 (Harper) 3.5
Snowflakes Fall, 2013 (MacLachlan/Kellogg) 4.5
Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch (Spinelli/Yalowtiz) 4.5
Someday 2007 (Spinelli/Winstead) 5
Someone for Mr. Sussman, 2008 (Polacco) 4
Some Things are Scary (No Matter How Old You Are) 2000 (Heide/Feiffer) 4
Somewhere Today, 1998 (Thomas/Futran) 4
Sona and the Wedding Game, 2015 (Sheth/Jaeggi) 4
Song of Middle C, 2009 (McGhee/Menchin) 4
Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx, 2009 (Winter/Rodriguez) 4.5
Sonya's Chickens, 2015 (Wahl) 4
Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie, 2008 (Juster/Raschka) 5 / illust: 1
South, 2008 (McDonnell) (4)

Spanish Missions of Arizona, 2010 (Lyon) 2010
Sparkle Box, The, 2012 (Hardie/Konacki) 2012
Sparrow Girl, 2009 (Pennypacker/Tanaka) 4

Spider Weaver, The, 2001 (Musgrove/Cairns) 5
Splash of Red, A, The Life and Art of Horace Pippin (Bryant/Sweet) 5
Splat the Cat, 2008 (Scotton) 5
The Stamp Collector, 2012 (Lanthier/Thisdale) (2)
Stand Up and Sing: Pete Seeger, Folk Music, and the Path to Justice, 2017 (Reich/Gustavson) (5)
Stars Above Us, 2009 (Norman/Lewis (4)
Stars! Stars! Stars! 2009 (Wallace) 4.5
Stella, Unleashed, 2008 (Ashman/Meisel) 5
Stick Man, 2008/2009US (Donaldson/Scheffler) 4.5
Stitchin' and Pullin' a Gee's Bend Quilt, 2008 (McKissack/Cabrera) 5
Stories of the Mona Lisa: An Imaginary Museum Tale About the History of Modern Art, 2012 (Barsony) 4
Stormy Weather, 2009 (Gliori) 4.5
Story of Queen Esther, 2009 (Koralek/Holderness) 4
Story of the Easter Bunny, 2005 (Tegen/Lambert) 4.5
Storytellers, The, 1998 (Lewin) 4
Strange Case of the Missing Sheep, 2009 (Catusanu) 4
Substitute Creature, 2011 (Gall)

Sunday Love, 2010 (Paul) 3.5
Surprise, The, 2007 (Van Ommen) 4.5
T

Tachlich at Turtle Rock, 2010 (Schnur & Schnur-Fishman/Steele-Morgan) 5

Tadpole Rex (Cyrus) 3/5

Tale of Two Daddies, A, 2010 (Oelschlager/Blackwood & Blanc) 3.5/4
Tale of Two Seders, A, 2010 (Portnoy/Sis) 4
Tan to Tamarind (Iyengar/Akib) 4
Tap Dancing on the Roof (Park/Banyai)
Taste of Colored Water, 2008 (Faulkner) 4
Ten Rowdy Ravens, 2005 (Ewing/Zerbetz) 4.5
Ten Things I Love About You, 2013 (Kirk) 4
Testing the Ice, 2009 (Robinson/Nelson) 5
Thanks a Lot, Emily Post! 2009 (Huget/Boiger) 4
Thank You World, 2007 (McGinty/Halperin) 5
That Book Woman, 2008 (Henson/Small) 3.5

That Cat Can't Stay, 2010 (Krasnesky/Parkins) 5

Thea's Tree, 2008 (Jackson/Pedersen) 4
Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Pie (Sierra/Koren) 3.5
There's Nothing to Do on Mars, 2008 (Gall) 3
There Was an Old Monster, 2009 (Emberley, Emberley, & Emberley)
This is Just to Say, 2007 (Sidman/Zagarenski) 5
This is Not My Hat, 2012 (Klassen) 4
This Moose Belongs to Me, 2012 (Jeffers) 4.5
This Tree Counts, 2010 (Formento/Snow) 4
Three Pigs, 2001 (Wiesner) 4
Three Swingin' Pigs, 2008 (Rubin/Montijo) fun

Thumb Love, 2010 (Primavera) 4.5
Thunder Cake, 1990 (Polacco) 5
Today at the Blue-Bird Cafe, 2007 (Ruddell?Rankin) 3.5
Too Much Kissing, 2010 (Katz/Cartrow) 3.5
Toughest Cowboy, 2004, (Frank/Pullen) 5
Trainstop, 2008, (Lehman) 4
Travel Game, The, 2009 (Grandits/Alley) 3

Tree Ring Circus, 2006 (Rex) 4.5
True Story of Little Red Riding Hood, 2007/US 2009 (Baruzzi/Natalini) 4.5
Truly Terribly Horrible Sweater...That Grandma Knit (Macomber & Carney/Nguyen) 3
Tsunami Quilt, 2007 (Fredericks/Yee) 4.5
Tucky Jo and Little Heart, 2015 (Polacco) 3.9
Tuesday, 1991, (Wiesner)5
Turn! Turn! Turn! 2003 (Seeger/Halperin) 4
'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day, 2008 (Ipcizade/Hodson) 3
Twelve Days of Springtime, The, 2009 (Rose/Armstrong-Ellis) 4
Twenty-six Princesses, 2008 (Horowitz) 4
U

Uncle Andy's Cats, 2009 (Warhola) 5
Uncorker of Ocean Bottles, The, 2016 (Cuervas/Stead) 4
Underwear Salesman, The, 2009 (Lewis/Bloch) 3.5
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt, 2015 (Messner/Neal) 5

V

Vanilla Ice Cream, 2014 (Graham) 4
Very Best Pumpkin, The, 2010 (Moulton/Good) 4
Very Inappropriate Word, The, 2013 (Tobin/Coverly) 4
Village That Vanished, The, 2002 (Grifalconi/Nelson) 4
Violet the Pilot, 2008 (Breen) 4
Visit, The, 2005 (Lindbergh/Halperin) 4
W

Walking Stick, The, 1998 (Trottier/Galouchko) 3.5
Walking to School, 2008 (Bunting/Dooling) 5
Wangari's Trees of Peace, 2008 (Winter) 5
Water Can Be... (Salas/Dabija) 4.5

Water Gift and the Pig of the Pig, The, 2003 (Martin/Wingerter) 4

Water Hole Waiting, 2002 (Kurtz & Kurtz/Christiansen) 4.5

Weaver, The, 2010 (Hurd/Kleven) 5

We Planted a Tree, 2010 (Muldrow/Staake) 4.5
We're All Wonders, 2017 (Polacio) 4.5
We Trouble the Waters, 2009 (Shange/Brown)
What are you Glad about?  What are you Mad about? 2016 (Viorst/White)
What Can You Do with a Rebozo? 2008 (Tafolla/Cordova)
What Darwin Saw, 2009 (Schanzer) 5
What Makes a Rainbow? 2000 (Schwartz)
What REALLY Happened to Humpty?: From the Files of a Hard-Boiled Detective 2009 (Ransom/Axelsen) 5
What's Cooking, Jamela? 2001 (Daly)
What Degas Saw 2016 (Friedman/Pieropan)
What to Do About Alice? 2008 (Kerley/Fotheringham) 3.5
When I Grow Up, 2011 (Yankovic/Hargis) 5
When I Wore My Sailor Suit, 2009 (Shulevitz) 4
When the Moon is Full, 2001 (Pollock/Azarian) 5
Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? 2013 (Stone/Priceman) 4
Who Stole Mona Lisa? 2010 (Knapp/McElmurry) 4
Who Will Plant a Tree? 2010 (Pallotta/Leonard) 3.5+
Why Is Art Full of Naked People and Other Vital Question about Art 2016 (Hodge/Goble) 5
Why Oh Why Are Deserts Dry? 2011 (Rabe/Ruiz & Mathieu) 3
Wiil Waal, 2007 (Moriarty/Amir) 3.5
Wild Boars Cook, 2008 (Rosoff/Blackall) 3.5
Willoughby and the Lion, 2009 (Foley) 3.5
Willow, 2008 (Brennan-Nelson & Brennan/Moore) 4.5
Will's Words:  How William Shakespeare Changed the Way You Talk, 2016 (Sutcliffe/Shelley) 5
Willy and May, A Christmas Story, 1995 (Schachner) 4.5
Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku (Janeczko & Lewis/Tusa) 3.5
Winston of Churchill, 2008 (Okimoto) 4.5
Winter In White, 2007 (Sabuda) A treat
Winter is For Snow, (Neubecker) 2013
Winter Trees, 2008 (Gerber/Evans) 4
Wish, 2008 (Thong/Kleven) 5

Wishing Tree, The, 2004 (Thong/McLennan) 5
Wolf Who Cried Boy, 2006 (Hartman/Raglin)
Wonder Bear, 2008 (Nyeu) 2.5
Wonder Book, The, 2010 (Rosenthal/Schmid) 3.5
The Wonderful Fluffy Little Squishy, 2014 (Alemagna) 5
Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku (Wardlaw/Yelchin) 4.5
World of Birds - National Wildlife Federation/Kurki) 5
Wow! America! 2006 (Neubecker)
Write On, Mercy! 2012 (Woelfle/Wallner) 5
X

Y

Yankee at the Seder, 2009 (Weber/Gustavson) 5

Yasmin's Hammer, 2010 (Malaspina/Ghayka) 4
Yatandou, 2007 (Whelan/Sylvada) 4
Year of Borrowed Men, A, 2016 (Barker/Benoit_ 4
Yellow Elephant, A Bright Bestiary, 2006 (Larios/Paschkis) 4
Yum! MmMm! Que Rico! 2007 (Mora/Lopez)
Yuvi's Candy Tree, 2011 (Simpson?Porter) 3.5

Z