I feel sorry for the poor librarians who are serving on this year's Caldecott and Newbery committees. For different reasons, they'll both have a hard time; spectacular picture books were elusive and the number of superb novels overwhelming. And then there's the fact they get to bestow only a few measly awards. I feel lucky to once again, self-indulgently, lavish the 4th Annual Wilde Awards on the authors and illustrators who deserve them.
Two well-known authors take on two biggest battles of early childhood.
Jane Yolen & Mark Teague, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? (Scholastic, $15.95; ages 2-5)
Author and illustrator put the bedtime struggle to rest with poetic playfulness, as the dinosaurs stop throwing fits and begin to relax into slumber. A ridiculous, but effective way to lighten bedtime bedlam.
Rita Williams-Garcia, Catching the Wild Waiyuuzee (Simon and Schuster, $16.00; ages 3-6)
Sounds and symbols dazzle young ones into grooming submission in the story of a wiggling, giggling Waiyuuzee who almost evades the Shemama with clever tactics. Finally the Waiyuuzee submits and getting dressed rituals are revealed for what they are.
Lenny Hort, The Seals on the Bus (Holt, $15.95; ages 2-5)
This variation on one of children's favorite early songs fills a bus with animals, sounds, and a sense of humor. Great fun for singing and laughing aloud.
Sarah Weeks, Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash (HarperCollins, $9.95; ages 3-6)
A second silly rhyming book about the bizarre troubles of Mrs. McNosh. This time she plants a squash which threatens take over, until she tames it with her typically atypical style.
Lynn Downey, The Flea's Sneeze (Holt, $17.00; ages 2-5)
A cumulative story of a flea with a cold who wakes farm animas sleeping with a garbled plea "Does eddybody hav a tissue fo be?" There are animal sounds, rhythms, repetitions and humor, too.
Doreen Cronin, Click Clack, Moo Cows That Type (Simon and Schuster, $15.00; ages 5 and up)
A slap stick tale of cows who lead a rebellion on Farmer Brown's farm when he won't satisfy their demands. There's a repeated chorus which will be enjoyed by young children and adults will admire Duck, "a neutral party" deliver "the ultimatum" and then learns from the cows' example.
Brock Cole, Buttons (FSG, $16.00; ages 7-9)
This original tale, drawn from classic fairy and folk tale themes featuress a man who's popped his buttons and seeks help from his daughters who are willing, if not intellectually able. It takes a sophisticated audience to admire the rollicking word play, the genius of the story's structure, and a humor more satirical than overt.
Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon, The Girl Who Spun Gold (Scholastic, $16.95; ages 5 and up)
Lit'mahn Bittyun, the West Indian Rumplestitlskin, helps Quashiba spin gold. Hamilton tells the story with lilting West Indian speech patterns and vivid details. The Dillons metallic gold renderings make for a fairy tale that glows. But my favorite part comes when Quashiba gets on her greedy husband for his cruelties to her, righting a fairy tale wrong that's bothered me for years.
Jacqueline K. Ogburn, The Magic Nesting Doll, illustrated by Laurel Long (Dial, $16.99; ages 5 and up)
This original tale by Durham author Ogburn is a lovely blend of tradition and invention where fairy tale elements gain a Russian flavor as she transports readers with a melodic, repeated description of a time that is "always winter without thaw, night without moon, and dark without dawn" . The illustrations by Long are a lovely whirl of rich embroidery, Russian icons, and the elegance of royalty.
Patricia Polacco, The Butterfly (Philomel, $16.99; ages 9 and up)
Polacco tells another family story about her aunt, Monique. As a young girl in WWII occupied France, Monique discovered that her mother was in the French Resistance and was harboring a family of Jews in their basement. The cruelty of the Nazis, the shedding of a young girl's innocence, and her desire to help her young friend attain the freedom make this another moving Polacco.
The new food books genre. New counting books feature: Reese's Pieces, Cheerios, and M&M's. Taco Bell joins in with counting books, sticker books and a paper dog book. The catalog copy sometimes seems that the publicists are confused about whether they're selling books or food. The Gold Fish Fun Book promo reads "everyone loves snacking on Gold Fish and now they're for snack time, story time, anytime."
Debra Frasier's Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster (Harcourt, $16.00; ages 8-10)
Sage has an obvious love of words and learning and these characteristics make her an active participant in studying vocabulary. The author shows the same qualities in this playful romp of a story. After meeting Sage, vocabulary study will never seem the same.
Klutz Press takes the prize as usual. This summer they bailed my daughter out when she organized Camp Sunshine with a friend. The biggest kit and book hits were: The Fantastic Foam Book by Laura Torres ($14.95); Classic Cookies: The 13 Recipes That Have Shaped History ($4.95); Painted Zoo ($14.95); Beadimals ($12.95) ; Light Switches Gone Crazy ($14.95) and Painted Rocks ($14.95).
Three beautifully illustrated collections are must haves. Trina Schart Hyman collaborates with her daughter on The Serpent Slayer and Other Stories of Strong Women (Little Brown, $21.95; ages 8 and up); Marie Heaney's (Seamus' wife) The Names Upon the Harp: Irish Myth and Legend is illustrated by PJ Lynch (Scholastic, $19.95); and Jerry Pinkney illustrates an Aesop's Fables (North-South Books, $19.95) And there's also a gorgeous new Cinderella illustrated by KY Craft (North-South Books, $15.95)
Random House brought back a slew of classic books from my childhood. Back in print are Dr. Suess' Gerald McBoing Boing ($12.95) ; Jean de Brunhoff's Bonjour Babar: Six Unabridged Classics (Random House, $29.95)and four resdesigned books by Lois Lenski including my favorites the Mr. Small books, The Little Train and The Little Red Fire Engine (both $9.95)
The non-fiction genre in children's books thrives largely because of those who contribute annual to its collective wealth. This year's authors are: -Sandra Markle, Outside and Inside Dinosaurs (Simon and Schuster, $16.00; ages 5-10)
Diane Stanley, Michelangelo (HarperCollins, $15.95; ages 8 and up)
Seymour Simon: Gorillas HarperCollins, $15.95) Bones ( HarperCollins, $6.95); Muscles ( HarperCollins, $6.95; )
This year's consistency in series award goes to: -Trevor Day, Youch! Real Life Monsters Up Close (Simon and Schuster, $16.00; ages 6-9).
And the publisher with the most consistently excellent non-fiction offerings is Dorling Kindersley. Some of my new favorites are:
DK Guide to Weather ($19.95)
DK Big Book of Bugs ($14.95)
Amazing Pop-up, Pull-Out Mummy Book ($19.95)
Shana Corey, You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer! (Scholastic, $16.95; ages 5-9)
Whimsical illustrations and unusual presentation tell the story of feminist Amelia Bloomer the person who put women in pants!
Hudson Talbott, Forging Freedom (Putnam, $15.99; ages 9 and up)
A chapter biography with pictures tells the story of Jaap Penraat, an architect who, in WW II, turned his talents to forgery to save 406 Jews from the Nazis.
These books are either visually, or thought intriguing and in some cases they are both! -Glorious photographic splendors and succinct interesting texts come in new books from National Geographic Society. Marine biologist and ocean explorer Sylvia Earle and underwater photographer Wolcott Henry team up on Sea Critters (NGS, $16.95; ages 4-8) Jonathan Grupper, who has written for two children's television series goes to the depths in Deep Sea (NGS, $16.95; ages 4-9)
Andrew Donkin's The Truly Tasteless Scratch & Sniff Book (FunFax, $9.95) lives up to its title. Actually the science facts are pretty surprising ("Flies can only eat their food if they vomit on it first."), but I didn't stop to scratch and sniff the farts, dog poo, vomit, etc.
Frances O'Roark Dowell, Dovey Coe (Atheneum, $16.00; ages 10 and up) Raleigh author, O'Roark Dowell uses such a dynamic voice that it immediately immerses readers in her heroine's world. Dovey Coe is an bright and insightful twelve year old living in a 1928 small mountain town. She takes no-nonsense, talks straight, and quickly will wins the attention and admiration of readers.
Sequels are loaded with reader expectation, especially if the character is loved. These artists have created satisfying follow-ups.
Jack Gantos, Joey Pigza Loses Control (FSG, $16.00; ages 10 and up).
In Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award Finalist, Gantos introduced a young boy learning to cope with ADHD. Now Joey's off to live with his heavy-drinking, egocentric father for the first time. Readers will sympathize with Joey as his father rationalizes drinking, throws out Joey's medicine, and continually disappoints him. But none of these situations take away Joey's original retorts and comical, unique solutions to problems .
Richard Peck, A Year Down Yonder (Dial Books, $16.99; Ages 10 and up) A Year Down Yonder seems more a companion than a sequel to Peck's 1999 Newbery Honor winner, A Long Way from Chicago. In the first book, Joey tells the story of how he and his younger sister, Mary Alice spend a series of summers with their cantankerous, eccentric grandmother. The second book takes place in 1927 when Mary Alice narrates adventures from the year she lives with her grandmother. Mary Alice has deeper perceptions and more understanding of how her grandmother serves generous slices of pie, whether it's pecan to the hungry, or humble to the overproud.
Stephanie Greene, Owen Foote, Money Man (Clarion, $14.00; ages 6-8)
This is the Chapel Hill author's fourth book about Owen. Once again she shows her talents for writing short novels which blend her knowledge of children and gift for humor. In this volume, witty, inventive Owen is determined to acquire enough money to afford products from the "Junk You Never Knew About "catalog. Greene's got dialogue that is real and funny, a hysterical passage about why men call their lures and race cars "baby", and a satisfying resolution children this age need.
Norma Howe, The Blue Avenger Cracks the Code (Holt, $17.00; ages 12 and up)
Further adventures of a young man who's changed his name to assume the personality of the comic book hero he once created. Blue is determined to right wrongs from hassling the salsa company whose bar code doesn't give the correct perishable date, to correcting the greatest literary wrong of all time in proving who really wrote the works attributed to Shakespeare.
In twenty years of reviewing, I have never seen so many of my favorite authors release new books! Here are some great new offerings.
E. L. Konigsburg, Silent to the Bone (Atheneum, $17.00; ages 10-14).
Thirteen year old Branwell Zamborska, calling 911 when his infant sister slips into a coma, is suddenly struck dumb. Vivian, the au pair, grabs the phone and explains that he has dropped and shaken his sister. Connor, Branwell's closest friend,visits to get Branwell talking again. Only he seems to understand that "Branwell was screaming on the inside. And no one heard." Konigsburg shows respect for words and for her reader's intellect in this suspenseful, poetic novel.
Barbara Park, The Graduation of Jake Moon (Atheneum, $15.00; ages 9-12) Jake Moon, the son of a single mother, has grown up with his supportive, nurturing Grandfather Skelly. Now Skelly has Alzheimer's disease and Jake is resentful, embarrassed and overwhelmed with responsibility. Park's work is usually funny, and this book might have been funny if the narrator wasn't hurting so much. Still Jake has intelligence, honesty, and the sardonic sense of humor so many middle schoolers understand.
Lois Lowry, Gathering Blue (Houghton Mifflin, $15.00; ages 10 and up)Like Lowry's Newbery-award winning, The Giver, her new book is set in the future and the hero is a child who discovers secrets about the society in which she lives. Gathering Blue is set in a primitive community filled with "disorder, savagery, and self-interest." Into the midst of this chaos, Lowry plunks down Kira,a young weaver with a twisted leg and artistic sensibilities. Her gifts and painful past change her world.
Ruth White, Memories of Summer (FSG, $16.00; ages 11 and up)
Lyric adores her sister Summer. Her sister helps her remember their growing up in Virginia, soulful duets, and the completeness of family. Lyric has to look harder when Summer grows odd, is diagnosed with schizophrenia, and finally has to be instituationalized there is a "wound in her heart" that Lyric will always remember. Gone is White's playfulness in this book, but images are more poignant than in any other book she has written.
ed Neil Philip, A Braid of Lives: Native American Childhood (Clarion, $20.00; ages 9 and up)
The editor collects stories recorded by Indians from many nations and blends them into an amazing narrative that describes the play, wisdom, humor and ceremonies of the lives of Indian children. The museum-quality monochromatic photographs are as vivid as the tales told.
Gary Paulsen, The Beet Fields: Memories of a Sixteenth Summer (Delacorte, $15.95; ages 12 and up) Paulsen, one of children's most popular writers, explains in his introduction, "small portions of this book appeared in softer forms, shadowed and sketched and changed into gentler fiction...But here it is now as real as I can write it, and as real as I can remember it happening." The memoir begins after Paulsen's run away from home and he faces sexual, emotional, and intellectual coming of age by himself while picking beets, fleeing police, and working in the carnies. Paulsen juxtaposes beautiful images with harsh settings and recaptures the strange mix of growing awareness and fading innocence.
Ann Turner, Learning to Swim: A Memoir (Scholastic, $14.95; ages 11 and up) Ann Turner uses her poetic strength and the courage to tell of a summer when she was sexually abused by a neighbor. This group of short poems witnesses the shift in her emotions and innocence and the support and sorrow of her parents.
Search for Harry Potter alternatives driving you crazy? Two new releases are available for older readers.
Phillip Pullman's finale to his His Dark Materials trilogy, The Amber Spyglass (Random House, $19.95; ages 10- adult) is the best guarded secret since HP #4.
David Clement-Davies Fire Bringer (Dutton, $19.95; ages 10 and up) reminiscent of Watership Down, this new novel brings children into the world of the deer to discover heroes, villans, fantasy, and suspense that pleased them in HP.
Listening Library has joined forces with Random House and is turning out amazing new tapes. Here are a few favorites.
Norma Howe, The Blue Avenger Cracks the Code, performance by John Beach (Listening Library, 4 cassettes, unabridged, $25.00)
(See above in Sequels) Beach invokes the spirit of Howe's words, Blue's character, and seems to have the best time in the world doing so. Hungry for more, I had to listen to his performance of the prequel, Howe's The Adventures of the Blue Avenger (Listening Library, 4 cassettes, unabridged, $25.00)
JK Rowlings, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, read by Jim Dale (Listening Library, $39.95 ; 12 cassettes; ages 10 to adult)
This is Jim Dale's fourth Harry Potter recording and the 12 tapes fly by because of Jim Dale's excellent narration. Dale invents a host of new character voices, and manages to keep them all separate and vibrant. I can't imagine another reader performing Rowling's books!