With 5,000 new books published a year, how can you choose? Let the Wilde Awards help you with recommendations for 2002 books!
Benedicte Guettier, In the Jungle (Kane/Miller, $11.95; ages 1-4) A face-sized hole in each page lets toddlers enter the story and the pleasures of making dramatic animal sounds.
Philippe Dupasquier, 123 Follow Me! (Candlewick, $6.99; ages 2-5) This board book's numbers and animals inspire drama, counting, and enjoyment of a humorous wordless story.
Kate and Jim McMullan, I Stink (HarperCollins, $15.95; ages 3-6) You gotta love a hero who's a smelly, mean, garbage-eating machine with no manners, especially in a book filled with drama, word play, and incredible voice!
Kate Banks, Close Your Eyes (FSG, $16.00; ages 2-4) This story for wakeful sleepyheads stars a tired, bedtime-resistant tiger baby who finally rests after many reassurances from his mother.
Rachel Vail, Sometimes I'm Bombaloo (Scholastic, $15.95; ages 3-6) When frustrated, Katie Honors becomes Bombaloo. She shows her "teeth and makes fierce noises", and models anger-management for the preschool set!
Stephen T. Johnson, My Little Blue Robot (Harcourt, $21.95; ages 3-6) Heavy cardboard pieces, cleverly packaged with clear instructions, provide everything you need to build a robot with your young child.
Denys Cazet, Minnie and Moo: The Night Before Christmas (HarperCollins, $15.99; ages 4-8) The wacky cows from Cazet's I-Can-Read series become Clauses. They deliver gifts with the help of a fork-antlered reindeer-posing rooster who has a major attitude problem.
George Mc Clements, Jake Gander, Storyville Detective (Hyperion, $15.99; ages 5-9) A satirical, spirited Red Riding Hood skillfully retold in the detective voice of a cop with a Storyville beat "a fairy-tale town where endings aren't always happy".
Lisa Wheeler, Turk and Runt: A Thanksgiving Comedy (Atheneum, $15.95; ages 5-9) Prideful Turk is a big, strong prime turkey. His little brother, Runt, has the brains and saves his brother's bacon...er, giblets.
Jennifer Donnelly, Humble Pie (Atheneum, $16.95; ages 5-8) Theo is "bumptious, rude, lazy, obnoxious, obstreperous..." until his magical grandma bakes him into a pie. This tale of transformation is filled with whimsical words and illustrations.
Katrin Tchana, Sense Pass King: A Story from Cameroon (Holiday House, $16.95; ages 5-8) A king, who hates a baby girl born with more sense he, is defeated by this plucky heroine and his own greed. Beautiful illustrations by the author's mother, celebrated illustrator, Trina Schart Hyman.
Sleeping Beauty is romantically detailed by K.Y. Craft (SeaStar Books, $15.95) The Tale of the Firebird (Philomel, $16.99) gleams with gold in Gennady Spirin's retelling of the tale of a Tsar's son who wins a princess, steed and kingdom with the help of a magical bird.
There are two beautiful versions of Hans Christian Andersen's The Nightingale. Bagram Ibatoulline uses a delicate Asian miniatures in Stephen Mitchell's readable retelling (Candlewick, $17.99). Jerry Pinkney moves the setting to lush Northwest Africa adding riches of nature and diversity. (Penguin Putnam, $16.99)
Reteller Judy Sierra finds humor everywhere in her Silly and Sillier: Read-aloud Tales from Around the World (Knopf, $19.95; ages 5-9).
Also notable are volumes by three beloved authors:
Keats's Neighborhood: An E.J. Keats Treasury (Viking, $25.00);
Leo Lionni's Frederick and His Friends: Four Favorite Fables (Knopf, $24.95; ages 3-7) and Virginia Lee Burton's Mike Mulligan and More (Houghton, $20.00; ages 4-7)
David Adler, A Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children (Holiday House, $16.95; ages prepared 9 and up) Dramatic story of Korczak who "always felt best among children". He cared for children in the Warsaw Ghetto and accompanied them to the concentration camps.
Laurie Halse Anderson, Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving (Simon and Schuster, $16.95; ages 5-10) A sassy biography of Sarah Hale, the "super hero" who saved Thanksgiving, politicked against spanking and slavery and used persistence and pen power to make a difference.
Ntozake Shange, Float Like a Butterfly (Hyperion, $15.99; ages 5-9) The rhythmic telling is a good match for the poetic fighter Muhammad Ali.
Pam Munoz Ryan, When Marian Sang (Scholastic, $16.95; ages 6 - 10) illustrated by Brian Selznick Monochromes and a sensitive text describe the passions and struggles of singer Marian Anderson.
Chris Van Allsburg's Zathura (Houghton Mifflin, $18.00) is a follow up to Jumanji which won a well-deserved Caldecott award in 1981 . This new outer space adventure doesn't live up to the prequel.
In contrast, readers will be delighted with Kay Thompson's Eloise Takes a Bawth (Atheneum, $17.95 )! Thompson pulled the plug on this book forty years ago. Now her friend Mart Crowley has rawther captured the essence of Eloise as she makes Plaza employees frantic with the overflow from her "sweet old tub tub tub". A surprise ending is magnificently rendered by illustrator Hillary Knight, for Lord's sake!
Susan Boase, Lucky Boy (Houghton Mifflin, $15.00; ages 5-8) In this happy-ending dog story, a neglected canine finds a new home with an old man grieving his wife's death!
Amy Littlesugar, Lisette's Angel (Dial, $15.99; ages 9 and up) Sensory descriptions bring you into the world of young Lisette, confused at the havoc Nazi soldiers are creating in her once peaceful French village. Her innocence, hope and belief in miracles save her from despair.
Pamela Pease, Macy's on Parade! (Paintbox Press, $36.00) An elegant coffee table book for all ages. Histories, mysteries, and trivia are revealed with exquisite pop-up constructions that show familiar icons of the 75 year old parade.
Clement Moore's The Night Before Christmas (Little Simon, $24.95) is recreated by the master of paper engineer, Robert Sabuda.
Haute couture and flights of fancy meet in Fairie-ality: The Fashion Collection from the House of Ellwand (Candlewick, $40.00; all ages). Fairy-lovers of all ages will appreciate the style of these well-dressed fey folk.
Jack Pigza in Gantos' What Would Joey Do?, (FSG, $16.00, ages 10 and up) Joey's struggled against ADD and his abusive father. Now he takes on dueling parents, a dying grandmother, a zealot neighbor, a cruel friend, and his own sense of self. Series continuity comes humor, zany characters and Joey's determination to improve himself and the world around him.
Judy Blume's Fudge in Double Fudge (Dutton, $15.00, ages 7-10). Fudge is finally back! The eccentric character still plaguing his older brother, Peter, the book's viewpoint character. Peter, now in seventh grade, has to deal with Fudge's newest stage, "mising" money and wacky relatives who take over his already crowded home. Blume's humor of word and situation equal her past successes.
Celia Rees' Mary in Sorceress (Candlewick, $15.99, ages 10 and up) In the prequel, Witch Child, Mary escaped power-hungry white settlers who wanted to kill her for being a witch. In the sequel, Mary's rescued by the Indians and lives a peaceful and happy life as a healer until the white man's greed again destroys her life. Told as a story within a story, the centerpiece is much stronger than its frame.
Dallas , Florida, Tiller and Sairy share top-billing in Sharon Creech's Ruby Holler(HarperCollins, $16.99; ages 8-12) Dallas and Florida have spent their lives in foster families and have been dubbed "the trouble twins". Tiller and Sairy, a quirky, elderly artist couple, import the twins for a summer adventure. They see the twins' strong spirits as a plus and the eccentric four become a family. Creech's unique characters lead her excellent writing and add a touch of humor.
Angel Morgan stars in Katherine Paterson's The Same Stuff as Stars (Clarion, $15.00; ages 10 and up) Angel has a father in jail, a mother who's prone to leave, and a little brother that's exacting. When she and her brother are parked with her ancient great-grandmother, she caretakers everyone with hardly a whine. Paterson knows how to write a sentimental story without getting sappy.
Tenement: Immigrant Life on the Lower East Side (Houghton Mifflin, $16.00, ages 10 and up) by Raymond Bial Bial's poignant photos from the East Side Tenement Museum give a sense of period and poverty. The text is engaging, though sometimes heartbreaking.
Ansel Adams: America's Photographer (Little Brown, $19.95, ages 9 and up) by Beverly Gherman A readable biography with stunning illustrations taken by this master of natural world photography.
The Life and Death of Adolph Hitler (Clarion, $21.00, ages 11 and up) by James Giblin This well-researched, comprehensive picture of Hilter includes historical and politcal perspectives. Quotations, observations, and stories from many perspectives are blended in a compelling portrait of this enigmatic man.
There Ain't Nobody That Can Sing Like Me: The Life of Woody Gutherie (Atheneum, $17.95, ages 10 and up) by Anne Neimark Song lyrics, some period pictures and a heart-felt text tell the life of the"Shakespeare in overalls" who wrote "This Land is My Land."
Ashes of Roses (Holt, $16.95, ages 12 and up) by Mary Jane Auch Auch doesn't paint a pretty picture of immigration and this book is too real for sensitive readers. An Irish family of five is split up again and again until sixteen-year-old Rose and her sister are left alone in America. Rose, who must earn a living, only barely escapes the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
When My Name Was Keoko (Clarion, $16.00; ages 11 and up) by Linda Sue Park Park gives us two young spokespeople whose differing viewpoints deliver a powerful account of Korea's occupation by the Japanese. Tae-yul, an action-based realist, tells us harsh facts. The poetic words of his younger sister, Keoko, are a tender balance.
Bronx Masquerade (Dial, $16.99, ages 12 and up) by Nikki Grimes When eighteen kids from the Bronx take class with Mr. Ward, we see how unlocks their spirits. Their individual and unique voices combine in a harmony of moving portrayals.
America (Atheneum, $18.00, ages 12 and up) by E.R. Frank America, twice- deserted by his mother and unhappy in foster care for years, has become "lost in the system". At fifteen, he's in bad emotional shape. In telling his painful story, he becomes "found".
The Thief Lord (Scholastic, $16.95, ages 10-12) by Cornelia Funke Orphaned children flee cruel guardians and live in Venice with the help of the "Thief Lord". Suddenly, nearing the book's end, we cross genre lines into enchantment and magically, the author pulls this off successfully!
The House of the Scorpion (Atheneum, $17.95; ages 11 and up) by Nancy Farmer Farmer drops us into a complicated futuristic world where we meet Matt, the clone of the ancient El Patron. El Patron, a powerful drug lord, has a purpose that is at first unclear and later horrifying The second part of the book is less developed than the first, but the characters are unforgettable and the story is chilling.
My Heartbeat (Houghton Mifflin, $15.00; ages 12 and up) by Garret Freymann-Weyr's describes the deep love three characters have for each other. Ellen has always loved her older brother James and his best friend Link. Concerns about homosexuality take backseat to the author's depiction of three complex characters who are trying to discover their true selves and understand the complications of love.
Feed (Delacorte, $16.95; ages 12 and up) by M. T. Anderson, Incredibly, the author combines cussing and the currently overused word "like" to create one of the most unique literary voices ever! These set the perfect tone for the story of a teenage boy growing up in a frightening futuristic world. He, like most young adults, has an implanted "feed" (a combo of MTV, IM and Internet) which runs his world view. The scariest thing of all? The set up is unnerving in its plausibility.
The LightKeeper's Daughter (Delacorte, $16.95; ages 12 and up) by Iain Lawrence, Characters and plot emerge bit by bit when unmarried Squid returns to her island home with her baby daughter. Squid is there to say goodbye to her parents and her past. The complicated characters and the complex organization may be best admired by adult readers.