2014 Favorites

Each December, I’m asked by kids and parents for a list of my favorite books published in that year. Putting together such a list is both fun and challenging. I read so many good books for kids and teens that it can be hard to keep the list a manageable size! But here are my final choices for this year’s list. Enjoy!

BOARD BOOKS:

Leslie Patricelli is the go-to author/illustrator these days when it comes to the youngest readers. This year, she published two more gems: Tickle and Toot.

PICTURE BOOKS:

Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, illustrated by 2013 Caldecott Medalist Jon Klassen and written by Mac Barnett, who wrote Klassen’s 2013 Caldecott Honor book, Extra Yarn (ages 3-7)
Watch the book trailer.

The Baby Tree, written and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, noted for her work with the Measles-Rubella Initiative (ages 3-6)

My Teacher Is a Monster, written and illustrated by Peter Brown (ages 4-7)
Watch Peter Brown at the National Book Festival.

Where’s Mommy?, written by Beverly Donofrio and illustrated by Barbara McClintock (ages 3-6)

The Farmer and the Clown, written and illustrated by Marla Frazee (ages 4-7)

Time for Bed, Fred, written and illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail (ages 3-6); it was selected as one of the New York Times Best Illustrated books this year.
A young fan.

Once Upon the Alphabet, written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (ages 4-8)
A peek inside.

The Iridescence of Birds, a book about artist Henri Matisse written by Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Hadley Hooper (ages 4-7)

Gaston, written by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Christian Robinson
The illustrator talks about the book.

Mix It Up!, written and illustrated by Hervé Tullet, of Press Here fame (ages 3-7)
Tullet talks about his book.

Bad Bye, Good Bye, written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Jonathan Bean (ages 4-7)

EARLY CHAPTER BOOKS:

LeRoy Ninker Saddles Up, written by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
DiCamillo at the National Book Festival.
Visiting Takoma Park.

Digby O’Day in the Fast Lane, written and illustrated by Shirley Hughes and Clara Vuillamy

Dory Fantasmagory, written by Abby Hanlon

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION (ages 8-12)

The Madman of Piney Woods, written by Newbery Medalist Christopher Paul Curtis

Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

Rain Reign by Ann Martin

The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel
The book trailer.

Nuts To You, written and illustrated by Newbery Medalist Lynne Rae Perkins

Revolution, written by Deborah Wiles
Wiles reads at the National Book Awards finalists reading.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION (ages 12 up)

We Were Liars, written by E. Lockhart

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

Eliot Schrefer's Threatened
Schrefer reads at the National Book Awards finalists reading.

Noggin, written by Printz Award winner John Cory Whaley
Book trailer.
Whaley reads at the National Book Awards finalists reading.

GRAPHIC NOVELS/MEMOIRS:

El Deafo, written and illustrated by Cece Bell (ages 8-12)
Bell and Telgemeier together.

The Dumbest Idea Ever, written and illustrated by Jimmy Gownley (ages 8-12)
The book trailer.

The Return of Zita the Space Girl, written and illustrated by Ben Hatke
The book trailer.

Benny and Penny in Lost and Found, written and illustrated by Geoffrey Hayes (comics-style beginning reader, ages 4-7)
Hayes reads from another Benny Penny book.

Aphrodite, written and illustrated by George O’Connor
A visit to the author's studio.

This One Summer, written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki (ages 12 up)
The illustrator discusses the book.

Sisters, written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier (ages 8-12)
The author discusses the book.

NON-FICTION:

Ashley Bryan’s Puppets, written by Ashley Bryan (ages 7 up)
The puppets in Ashley Bryan's home.

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet (ages 7-10)
Book trailer.

Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines, written by Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman (ages 10 up)
An interview with the author.

The Family Romanov, written by Candace Fleming (ages 10 up)
Book trailer.

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, written by Susan Kuklin (ages 12 up)
A noisy interview with the author.

Chasing Cheetahs, written by Sibert Medalist Sy Montgomery, with photographs by Nic Bishop
The author at home.

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker, written by Patricia Hruby Powell and illustrated by Christian Robinson
Book trailer.

Port Chicago 50, written by Steve Sheinkin (ages 10 up)
Sheinkin reads at the National Book Awards finalists reading.

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation, written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh
(ages 7-10)
Sylvia Mendez herself.

Brown Girl Dreaming, written by Jacqueline Woodson (this book won the 2014 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature)
Woodson reads at the National Book Awards finalists reading.

POETRY:

Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems, selected by Paul Janeczko and illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Hi, Koo!: A Year of Seasons, written and illustrated by Jon Muth

END NOTES:  A HUGE Thank you to my fellow librarian Rebecca, who found and posted all of the book cover images here, as well as the links. She did an amazing amount of work, and I literally wouldn't have been able to do this post without her help. Thanks also to the publishers who provide review copies, and to the folks in the Children's & Teen department at Politics & Prose Bookstore, who always steer me towards the best books. A final disclosure note: this favorites list has appeared in two other places, the December edition of the City of Takoma Park Maryland newsletter, and my library's Children's Room blog.

Fact or Fiction?

Picture book non-fiction was in the spotlight at a recent panel moderated by children's literature expert extraordinaire Leonard Marcus. Organized by the folks at Politics & Prose Bookstore, the panel included such non-fiction luminaries as author/artist Brian Floca, winner of the 2014 Caldecott Medal for his book Locomotive (Atheneum, $17.99, ages 7-10),  Richard "Dick" Jackson, the legendary editor who brought us such authors as Judy Blume and such books as Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (as well as Flocca and his "Locomotive"), and artist Susan Roth, who won the 2014 Sibert Medal for her book, Parrots Over Puerto Rico (Lee & Low, $19.95, ages 8-12).

 Marcus, who is both a facile and knowledgeable moderator, kicked things off by noting that "non-fiction is the kind of book I always read growing up." He added: "I think that the kind of stories that appeal to us are reflective of our temperature. Some ask 'What If?' Others are more intersted in 'Is it true?'"

Children's non-fiction "has had its ups and downs," noted Marcus, who is renowned for his knowledge of children's book history and is the author of such books as Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs and the Shaping of Children's Literature. In the 1950's, worried that the Russians were beating us in the science, technology and space war, non-fiction was "a very hot thing," Marcus said.

The interest in non-fiction for kids, however, waned in the 1960's and 1970's. Fiction was king in children's literature, and that was reflected in the children's books which won the top literary awards. Milton Meltzer, a critically-acclaimed author of non-fiction for kids, decried the trend in the 1970's  in an article titled "Where Do All the Prizes Go? The Case for Non-Fiction."

Now the pendulum has swung back to non-fiction, Marcus said, pointing to the "mania" that seems to have developed around the Common Core. Meanwhile, non-fiction has become more of a "literary form," he said, adding: "It's not 'Just the facts, m'am.'" Instead, authors and illustrators are "actually shaping the facts into a story."

Awards like the Sibert Medal, given annually by the American Library Association to the most distinguished informational book for children, also have helped raise the bar, convincing publishers that kids deserve not only a good and true story but also need such things as source notes, bibliographies, etc.

  I served on the 2012 Sibert Medal committee and got to see what great non-fiction is out there for kids; I'm especially proud of our winner, Balloons Over Broadway, written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet and the first picture book winner of the Sibert Medal, which was established in 2001.

Writing and illustrating great non-fiction for kids isn't necessarily easy, as the Politics & Prose panelists noted. For example, Floca said that he had planned to construct Locomotive around the journey of one crew and one locomotive along the Transcontinental Railway, and had actually done quite a bit of work based on that idea when he found out that the engines and crew were changed along the way. That meant that Floca's structure for the book was "blown to pieces" and he had to do some major re-writing.

Roth noted: "You have to tell the truth" as an author and/or illustrator of children's non-fiction. But just how much of the truth to tell is another question that can be vexing for writers of children's non-fiction picture books. Another question is just how much information you can include in the picture book format. Author/artist Duncan Tonatiuh said he had to make some difficult decisions about what facts were most important in his newest book, Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation (Abrams, $18.94, ages 7-10).

The beautifully-illustrated book tells the compelling story of a girl whose family challenged segregated schools 10 years before the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case. It's a key moment in American civil rights, yet Tonatiuh noted that he had to decide "how much to cover when I only had 40 pages to work with." He added that he wanted to "give readers enough information without overwhelming them."

Figuring out how to shape a non-fiction story also is a challenge. Jen Bryant, author of A Splash of Red, a biography about a man named Horace Pippin who persisted in his art despite losing much of the use of his right arm in Word War I, said that each book "is a new adventure." Bryant added that she doesn't really have a method for creating her books except for "sloshing around in a person's life" until "the materials tell you where to focus." (Note: A Splash of Red is illustrated by Melissa Sweet).

While the facts are crucial to good children's non-fiction books, the illustrations also have an important role to play, Jackson said, adding: "From my point of view, non-fiction is particularly interesting because it inspires terrific art."
R. Gregory Christie has illustrated a number of children's non-fiction books, including the recently-published Sugar Hill: Harlem's Historic Neighborhood (written by Carole Boston Weatherford) (Whitman, $16.99, ages 7-10). While photographs can be important in giving an artist a "foundation," Christie said during the Politics & Prose panel discussion, "your talent as an artist and your interpretation is what brings that person to life."