I'm Bored

Author: Michael Ian Black
Illustrator:   Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Publisher's Weekly starred review, NYT Notable

Summary:  A girl dramatically proclaims her boredom until a potato shows up. The potato is bored too. The girl tries all kind of scenarios to prove to the potato that she's fun, but the potato continues to claim boredom.The illustrations are fun drawings on a wide expanse of white background, and the playfulness of the font adds to the story. As the girl uses her imagination, the illustrations become more detailed until finally the girl loses her patience with the cranky potato.

Classroom Ideas: This is a great treatise on the power of imagination and would pair well with HELLO! hello!

Over and Under the Snow

Author: Kate Messner
Illustrator:   Christopher Silas Neal
Publisher:  Chronicle Books
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   NYT Notable, Horn Books & Publisher's Weekly starred reviews

Summary:  On top of the snow, things are white and quiet, but under the snow the animals are burrowed. The illustrations are simple in line and palette, but they perfectly depict the movement underneath the snow. They follow the tracks as they imagine voles, hares, bullfrogs, and beavers under the snow. As they stand quietly, they see a red fox leap onto the snow and scratch after a mouse. As a black bear snores under the snow, the girl and her father head home to dream of the animals.

Classroom Ideas: A classroom study of hibernating animals or the seasons.

Extras: Author's note about predators and a paragraph about each animal that's mentioned in the book. A bibliography where a reader can get more information about animals in winter.

Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-brother Baseball Team

Author: Audrey Vernick
Illustrator:   Steven Salerno
Publisher:  Clarion
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   NYT Notable, Booklist Editor's Choice

A NewYork Times Notable Book for 2012
A 2012 Booklist Editor's Choice
- See more at: http://www.hmhco.com/shop/books/brothers-at-bat/9780547385570#sthash.KdGqYFCX.dpuf

Summary:  "It sounds like a fairy tale: twelve baseball-playing brothers." But the Acerro family was real and they had 16 children- 12 boys who formed their own semi-pro team in 1938. In the 1940s, six of the brothers joined the armed forces during World War II. After the war, they continued playing together even while starting careers and families of their own. In 1997, the family was put into the Baseball Hall of Fame and the seven brothers still living made the trip to the ceremony. Beautiful colorful, realistic drawings fill the spreads with details of the times in which the Acerro brothers lived.

Classroom Ideas: Classroom studies of the 1940s/1950s, with a mention of World War II. I can see boys in particular being very interested in this story, and there is a lovely lesson here about love of activity and family.

Extras: Author's note with a photograph of the family. Artist's note about his own family story.

Black Dog

Author & Illustrator:   Levi Pinfold
Publisher:  Candlewick
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Kate Greenway Medal,ALSC Notable, NYT Notable, CYBIL Award finalist

Summary:  A black dog appears outside the Hope family's house, and as each family member encounters it, the dog seems to get larger and larger. Then the smallest Hope (nicknamed Small) laughs at her frightened family and goes outside to meet the dog. She calls the huge beast "guffin" and it "snuffs" at her. The big dog chases her around the town until it shrinks and follows her in through the cat flap. The family realizes that Small has been quite brave and they welcome Black Dog into the family. The paintings in this book are rich in both color and detail, and the text is accompanied by gorgeous sepia thumbnails that perfectly imitate the old-fashioned feel of the story.

Classroom Connections: Despite the realistic characters and setting, this story is a fantasy and would do well in a classroom discussion of what makes fantasy. The characters show their personalities through their actions as well. 

Me...Jane

Author & Illustrator:   Patrick McDonnell
Publisher:  Little, Brown, and Company
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Caldecott Honor Book, Charlotte Zolotow Award Winner,  Horn Book Fanfare Book, NYT Best Illustrated, NYT Notable A New York Times Notable Children's Book,  Kirkus Reviews Best Book, CCBC 2012 Children's Choices Book, Parents' Choice Silver Honor Book

Summary:  Jane Goodall wanders around outside with her stuffed chimpanzee Jubilee. She loved to be outside being part of the natural world. She especially loved the story of Tarzan and Jane and dreamed of Africa. When she grew up, her dream came true. The illustrations in this book are magical and include childhood drawings, diagrams, and photographs of Jane Goodall.  The focus on Jane's childhood welcomes children to imagine that they, too, could make their dreams come true.

Classroom Ideas: A study of Africa, chimpanzees, or of course biography.

Extras: a biography, letter from Jane Goodall, and one of her original drawings

Along a Long Road

Author & Illustrator:   Frank Viva
Publisher:  Little Brown
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   NYT Best, School Library Journal Best Books, American Institute of Graphic Arts Best, Seven Impossible Books Best Books

Summary:  The graphic style and five color palette (blue, white, black, red, and the yellow of the road) of this book brings to mind the 1960s. The shiny yellow road folows through the entire book, sometimes widening, but never ends. (I love the tunnel!) In fact, the book was created as "a single, continuous thirty-five-foot-long piece of art using Adobe Illustrator." It's a meditative book that invites the reader to stare at the journey. 

Classroom Ideas: The idea of transportation could be examined through this book. It has great verbs and prepositions and could be used to teach grammar. There is a map on the endpages with symbols on it that could be a great introduction for younger readers.
An educator's guide is available at the Hachette web site:
http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/none/along-a-long-road/9780316129251/

Drawing from Memory

Author & Illustrator:   Allen Say
Publisher:  Scholastic
Publication Year: 2011  
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Sibert Honor, ALA Notable, Booklist Best, Kirkus Best, NYT Notable

Summary:  Beautiful drawings, diagrams, paintings, and photographs illustrate this autobiography of the exclaimed author/illustrator. Say traces his birth in Japan where he learned to read at an early age and dreamed of being a cartoonist. His father did not approve, "Artists are lazy and scruffy people - they are not respectable!" After World War II, he moved to Sasebo, and his parents were divorced. He went to live with his grandmother who got him an apartment by himself at the age of 12. He became the apprentice of a famous cartoonist while going to school. In 1952, he immigrated to America with his father. His mentor called him the "treasure of his life."

Classroom Ideas: autobiography, art, The theme of this book is spoken by Say's mother "Let your dear child journey."

Extras: map of Japan, author's note with photographs of Say's reunion with his former mentor,

Blackout

Author & Illustrator:   John Rocco
Publisher:  Hyperion
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Caldecott honor, NYT Best Book, Kirkus Best Book, Publisher's Weekly Best Book, School Library Journal Best Book
 
Summary: One summer night, the city is going about its normal routine and everyone is too busy to spend time together. Until there's a city-wide blackout. When the family gets hot inside, they up to the roof and there are lots of people there star-watching. They soon discover that there's a flashlight and candle-lit party going on in the street too. When the lights come back on, the family decides to keep the candles lit and spend time together anyway. The dramatic dark illustrations really bring this story to life.

Classroom Ideas: The theme of technology and time are an important one in the story. This book would be a great companion to Cordell's Hello! Hello!

HELLO! hello!

Author & Illustrator:   Matthew Cordell
Publisher:  Hyperion
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Kirkus starred review, NYT Best Book

Summary:  Lydia is bored with tcehnology and wants to connect with her family, drawn at first in a weird grey-scale. The font is very reminiscent of a digital clock. She goes outside, where she faced with a whole different world. The font changes to a brushed script and color reappears. The two page "Hello, world!" meadow spread is an explosion of colorful flowers and the sun looks completely luminescent. When her parents call to see where she is, Lydia races to pull them back into the world and into full-color with token of nature for each of them. The way that Cordell gets his story told with very few words is pure genius.

Classroom Ideas: This book has an incredibly important theme and should be shared with all kids.

John, Paul, George, and Ben

Author & Illustrator:   Lane Smith
Publisher:  Hyperion
Publication Year:   2006
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Horn Book Fanfare Award, School Library Journal Best Books,  NYT Best Illustrated Book of the Year,  Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year,  Parenting Magazine Best Book of the Year, NYT Notable Book, 

Summary:  Despite sounding like a Beatles book, this book is about four (or five) of the founding fathers. Smith chooses adjectives for each one of them: John Hancock was bold; Paul Revere was noisy; George Washington was honest; Ben Franklin was clever; Thomas Jefferson was independent. These traits lead to the accomplishments of the founding fathers, ending with a hilarious "ye olde True or False" section. As always, Smith's illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to the text.

Classroom Ideas: This would be a great book for fourth grade to link Writing, Grammar, and Social Studies. It could be used to talk about adjectives, character traits, and US history.

Time Flies

Author & Illustrator:   Eric Rohmann
Publisher:  Crown Publishers
Publication Year:   1994
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Caldecott Honor
ALA Notable Book
New York Times Book Review Best Children’s Book

Summary:  The wordless story of a bird that flies into the Great Hall in the Field Museum in Chicago. It explores the idea that dinosaurs are the evolutionary ancestors of birds. The illustrations are gorgeous realistic oil paintings.

Classroom Ideas: This book could be used when teaching about dinosaurs or about evolution.

The Gardener

Author:  Sarah Stewart
Illustrator: David Small
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux
Publication Year:  1997
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards: Caldecott Honor, NYT Notable Children's Book of the Year 

Summary:  Lydia moves to the city to stay with her Uncle Jim and work to help her family. She brings her love of gardening with her and transforms the roof of her uncle's building. This epistolary story is told through Lydia's letters home to her family. The extraordinary illustrations use color and detail in unexpected ways to accentuate the themes of the story. I loved this book!

Classroom Ideas: The setting of this book is the depression era, and it would add to a study of that time. It could also be used to talk about the themes of bravery, determination, and generosity. Lydia's character comes through what she says and does, and the author never tells the reader anything directly which would be wonderful for teaching characterization in writing. It would also work well for teaching friendly letter form.