May 2002

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Upcoming Events for Children's Librarians

• May 18 & 19, 2002 Bay Area Storytelling Festival, 650-952-3397
• Thurs., June 13, 2002 ACL Meeting, 9:00am, Oakland Public Library
• June 13-19, 2002 ALA Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, www.ala.org
• Thurs., July 11, 2002 ACL Meeting, 9:00am, Oakland Public Library
• Thurs., Aug. 8, 2002 ACL Meeting, 9:00am, Oakland Public Library

NEWS AND NOTES

Medal of Arts/Humanities Medal: Two children's book authors were named by President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush as recipients of Medals from the Committee on Arts and the Humanities. Fourteen people were named in all, including Rudolfo Anaya, author of My Land Sings, and Richard Peck, author of A Long Way From Chicago and many other novels. Other medalists include Kirk Douglas, Johnny Cash, Yoyo Ma, and William Manchester.

Harry Potter "Hunted": The journal of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State features the article, "Witch Hunt: The Religious Right's Censorship Crusade Against Harry Potter" in its March 2002 issue. Check their website www.au.org.

Authors Guild boycotts Amazon.com: The Authors Guild is asking its members not to link their websites to the online bookseller Amazon, due to their practice of offering used books for sale when a customer looks up a new book. The Guild would prefer that Amazon would share the Barnes and Noble custom of only listing used books when the book is out of print or when the customer asks specifically for used books.

Author Judy Delton dies: Judy Delton, author of many children's novels including the "Backyard Angel" series, died in December from a blood disease at age 70.

Little Brown relocates: Publisher Little Brown is relocating from its longtime Boston headquarters to New York City.

Wendy Lichtman's work reissued: Local author Wendy Lichtman's 1975 novel in poetry form, Blew and the Death of the Mag, has been reissued by Gestalt Journal Press. For ordering information, email tgjournal@gestalt.org.

Americas & Golden Kite Awards Named

The Americas Award winners were announced in April, for U.S. works for young readers that "authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States." The winners for children's books published in 2001 are:

Picture book category:

Movie in My Pillow by Jorge Argueta, illustrated by Elizabeth Gomez. Children's Book Press. $15.95. ISBN 0-89239-165-0.

Fiction Category:

Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez, Houghton Mifflin. $15. ISBN 0-618-01173-0.

Honorable Mention:

In the Days of the Vaqueros: America's First True Cowboys by Russell Freedman. Clarion Books. $18. ISBN 0-395-96788-0.

Commended List:

Harvest by George Ancona. Marshall Cavendish. $15.95. ISBN 0-7614-5086-6.

Iguanas in the Snow and Other Winter Poems by Francisco X. Alarcon, illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez. Children's Book Press. $15.95. ISBN 0-89239-168-5.

The Jumping Tree by Rene Saldana, Jr. Delacorte Press. $14.95. ISBN 0-385-32725-0.

Mama Does the Mambo by Katherine Leiner, illustrated by Edel Rodriguez. Hyperion. $15.99. ISBN 0-7868-0646-X.

Uncle Rain Cloud by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Fabricio Vanden Broeck. Charlesbridge. $15.95. ISBN 0-88106-371-1.

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators also announced its annual Golden Kite Awards in April. The books chosen as "the most outstanding work in children's literature published in 2001:"

Fiction Award:

True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff. Atheneum.

Fiction Honor:

The Life History of a Star by Kelly Easton. Margaret K. McElderry Books.

Nonfiction Award:

Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. Houghton Mifflin.

Nonfiction Honor:

John & Abigail Adams: An American Love Story by Judith St. George. Holiday House.

Picture Book Text Award:

The Shoe Tree of Chagrin by J. Patrick Lewis, illus. by Chris Sheban. Creative Editions.

Picture Book Text Honor:

Bluebird Summer by Deborah Hopkinson, illus. by Bethanne Andersen. Greenwillow.

Picture Illustration Award:

The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Beth Krommes. Houghton Mifflin.

Picture Illustration Honor:

Castles, Caves, and Honeycombs by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Laura Stringer. Harcourt.

Board Book Round-up, With Pop-up Books

Just a few months ago, BayNews brought you an overview of the latest board books. In this issue, we will update you on a few more board book series, and review the latest pop-up and movable books. In the past, few libraries carried pop-up books, but more librarians are buying copies to use at storytime, and even to circulate, even though the bindings, pull-tabs, and other elements prevent pop-up books from lasting very long in a library setting. Here's the latest in board books and pop-ups:

Hanna Andersson books
New from HarperFestival is a series of board books from the children's clothing company Hanna Andersson. These are small, square, bound books with plastic-coated pages, illustrated with color photographs of children of all ethnicities. Each book has a rhyming text celebrating an "everyday" topic. These are sure to be popular with parents and little ones, but they are not really memorable. The books I reviewed in this series will all written by Marcia Leonard, with photos by Dorothy Handelman, Harper, 2001, $7.95:

Babies Help Out. ISBN 0-694-01369-2.
Favorite Colors. ISBN 0-694-01370-6.
Guess Who? ISBN 0-694-01374-9.
Peekaboo, Baby! ISBN 0-694-01373-0.

Harper Growing Tree
There are several additions to the Harper Growing Tree series of board books and inexpensive bound books, each with the age designation on the cover. I think this series is successful because it draws from Harpers' great authors and illustrators, who contribute a book every now and then, rather than be forced to write a series of books.
For example, Thacher Hurd's board books in this series are outstanding. His newest, Cat's Pajamas, features his signature humor, found in both the rhyming text and the collage illustrations. Some music-playing city cats howl and make noise and music until it is bedtime.

Hurd, Thacher. Cat's Pajamas. Harper, 2001. $5.95. ISBN 0-694-01058-8.
Another sure-to-be popular entry is One Sleepy Baby, a cartoon counting book, showing mommy and daddy helping baby get ready for bed.

Levine, Pamela. One Sleepy Baby. Illus. by Stephanie Milanowski. Harper, 2001. $5.95. ISBN 0-694-01564-4.
Several of the Growing Tree books celebrate common daily occurrences. One Little Spoonful is a funny take on feeding the baby. Bubbles, Bubbles is a catchy rhyming story on taking a bath; it will work very well at storyhour. Just Think! is a little more abstract; where a girl uses her imagination to either hurry, slow down, etc. All of these are very appealing.

Aliki. One Little Spoonful. Harper, 2001. $9.95. ISBN 0-694-01502-4.

Appelt, Kathi. Bubbles, Bubbles. Illus. by Fumi Kosaka. Harper, 2001. $9.95. ISBN 0-694-01458-3.

Killion, Bette. Just Think! Illus. by Linda Bronson. Harper, 2001. $9.95. ISBN 0-694-01315-3.

Playtime Rhymes
From Dan Yaccarino is a series of side-stapled books that either move or fold out. His newest, So Big! is great fun, showing different animal babies. Unfold the flap and see how big the animal grows. This book won't work for libraries, however, because it has a growth wall-chart that tears out. It will make a nice gift book, however.

Yaccarino, Dan. So Big! Harper, 2001. $7.95. ISBN 0-694-01509-1.

First Discovery
The First Discovery books from Scholastic seem to combine advanced concepts in a board book format, so they don't always work for the intended audience. For example, the "Look It Up" entries have side tabs like a dictionary, and talk about science concepts like the seasons. All are translations by J. Elizabeth Mills from books done in France, Scholastic, 2001, $4.95 each:

Animal Homes. 0-439-29724-9.
Four Seasons. 0-439-29725-7.
Colors. 0-439-29727-3.

The pop-up books don't appear to be done in series, so I will review them individually:

Carter, David A. Old MacDonald Had A Farm. Scholastic, 2001. $14.95. ISBN 0-439-26468-5.
A cat in overalls is the farmer in this charming pop-up version of the traditional song. All the lyrics are here, and the pop-ups work quite well, so this is one I would use for storyhour. The music is printed on the back cover.

Dodd. Emma. Big, Small, Little Red Ball. Dutton, 2001. $11.99. ISBN 0-525-46744-0.
Woof the dog, Whiskers the cat, and Bunny the bunny look for a lost red ball that is Woof's favorite toy. The mechanics involve a pull tab that reveals a new part of the picture on every page. The book works because there is a plot, and the "windows" help the plot move forward. The book seems relatively well-made so it may last.

Dodd, Emma. Yellow, Blue, and Bunny, Too! Dutton, 2001. $11.99. ISBN 0-525-46745-9.
Dodd brings back the three main characters from her book mentioned above; this time, Bunny has a magic wand that changes things different colors. A fun, surprise ending helps make this more than a concept book about colors.

Faulkner, Keith. Deck the Halls: A Christmas Window Surprise Book. Illus. by Manhar Chauhan. Dutton, 2001. $10.99. ISBN 0-525-46766-1.
This book doesn't work at all. Christmas carolers see a silhouette in the window; is it Santa? A reindeer? The illustrations are very cold computer animation and the story is inconsequential.

Faulkner, Keith. The Mouse Who Ate Bananas. Illus. by Rory Tyger. Orchard, 2001. $10.95. ISBN 0-531-30312-8.
A mouse eats bananas and leaves the peels for others to slip on: an elephant, rhino, lion, and giraffe. The cartoon illustrations and broadly humorous pop-ups really serve the slight but slapstick story. A storytime brightener.

Gulbis, Stephen. I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly. Scholastic, 2001. $14.95. ISBN 0-439-24328-9.
The old lady from the song has a wheel placed onto her middle that the reader is encouraged to spin - but nothing really happens. Each opening has a new wheel - it's not like the spinning introduces any new critters for her to eat. A real letdown.

Wardlaw, Lee. The Chair Where Bear Sits. Illus. by Russell Benfanti. Winslow Press, 2001. $14.95. ISBN 1-890817-85-6.
Patterned after "The House That Jack Built," this clever story involves a high chair, and the items and characters involved in a messy breakfast. The clever story and pattern work well, the rebus element will encourage interaction, and the computer generated illustrations are similar to the work seen in films like "Monsters, Inc." A spiral-bound hit!

Wells, Rosemary. Timothy's Class Trip. Viking, 2001. $11.99. ISBN 0-670-03517-3.
Based on Wells' popular animal characters, this is linked to an upcoming PBS television series that will feature the characters. This book will only be suitable for home use because there are paper doll-like characters that punch out to place into the book, into little slots on each page.

Williams, Sam. Long Train: 101 Cars on the Track. Illus. by Ken Wilson-Max. Scholastic, 2001. $12.95. ISBN 0-439-24990-2.
There are 101 train cars running through this book, each with a flap to lift and read. The book has a rhythmic text highlighted by the repeated "Clickety-clack!" and the text under each train car also rhymes. This will be great for home use but also suitable for libraries - the board book style binding seems fairly hearty.

Williams, Sam. Wakey Wakey, Nighty Night. Scholastic, 2001. $13.95. ISBN 0-439-24989-9.
The sun and moon alternate telling the story of what he does while he faces the earth. The mechanic element is a two-sided disc, with the sun on one side, the moon on the other. The reader is supposed to move the disc onto each opening and slide it into a slot and move it across the page. It doesn't work very well; I would have liked each opening to have its own moon or sun attached to that page. This is going to wear out much too quickly and the disc is sure to get lost.

Penny Peck,
San Leandro PL