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Hi Folks--
Last week, I asked you all for the best 2000 titles you've read so far. I've
been reading like a wildwoman for weeks now, and have finally come up with
titles I'll be proud to take on the road. Some recent favorites:
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (Dial)--sequel to A Long Way from Chicago
and simply smashing!
Open Wide: Tooth School Inside by Laurie Keller (Henry Holt)-- You loved what
she did with states in The Scrambled States of America? Wait'll you see THIS
one!
The Graduation of Jake Moon by Barbara Park (Atheneum)--about a boy whose
grandfather has Alzheimers. You'll laugh & cry.
So You Want to Be President by Judith St. George (Philomel)--Facts about the
presidents you might not know. David's Small's watercolors of the 44
presidents are astonishing--so funny but so on target.
The Raft by Jim LaMarche (HarperCollins)--Boy spends summer with artist
grandmother, tooling along the river on a raft. Watercolors are
breathtaking--Caldecott, maybe?
I've still got lots to go, but it's so satisfying to dig out the new
treasures. Have been so busy, haven't even had time for Harry Potter, who's
sitting on my coffeee table and looking mighty smart there, waiting for me.
Here's my original post, in case you missed it:
I'm working on my 38 (!!!) upcoming children's lit. seminars for BER (Bureau
of Education & Research) starting in the Fall, and I'm desperately trying to
catch up on my reading so I can incorporate all the best new books. If you've
read anything new and wonderful for 2000 that you think teachers &
librarians, gr. K-6, shouldn't live without , could you let me know about it?
I feel my pickins' are mighty slim so far. (I wonder how the Newb. & Cald.
committees are doing...) I'm on the prowl for spectacular read-alouds in all
genres, inc. picture books, fiction, nonfiction, biog., poetry, folklore, you
name it.
Treasures so far: Pullman's I Was a Rat (Random); Wattenburg's Henny-Penny
(Scholastic); Cronin's Click, Clack, MOO (Simon & Schuster); Henkes's
Wemberly Worried (Greenwillow); Lloyd Alexander's picture book, How the Cat
Swallowed Thunder (Dutton); Steig's CDB (Simon & Schuster); Hill's The Year
of Miss Agnes (McElderry). My fiction list is pitiful--only a handful of
goodies.
I'd love to take some time off from reading, but the books keep pouring in!
I've read through 25 boxes, with 5 more to go, but the Fall 2000 titles are
already starting to avalanche.
Thanks for your brainpower!
Judy Freeman
Children's Literature Consultant
"Book Talk" Columnist, Instructor Magazine
Highland Park, NJ
BKWSSF@aol.com
RESPONSES AS FOLLOWS:
You've got to include DePaola's first two chapter books which deal with
his life as a young boy. The first is _26 Fairmount Avenue_ (1999), and
the second is _Here We All Are_ (2000). Great read-alouds for
youngsters who love Tomie and great chapter books for beginning
readers. I can't wait for the third one to come out!
**********
The following is just a quick list of some of the books I read this summer
that I felt were wonderful: Frindle by Andrew Clements and Holes by Louis
Sacher.
I am now reading some wonderful YA books that may be appropriate for K-6.
Skellig by David Almond is wonderful--it is also a Printz 2000 Honor Book.
*************
I loved _Because of Winn-Dixie_ by Kate DiCamillio. This is a wonderful
story about 10 year old Opal Buloni who lives with her minister father. They
move to Naomi, Florida. She is feeling very alone her first summer there
and spends lots of time wondering about her mother who left when she was
three. To her surprise she is befriended by a mutt of a dog and as a result
makes lots of new unusual friends. By the end of this small-sized 182 page
book Opal and her father are accepting the loneliness caused by her missing
mother, but they are feeling enriched by the wonderful friendships that they
have made with the help of Winn-Dixie.
************
Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard,
illustrated by E.B. Lewis (S&S)
Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith, illustrated by Cornelius Van
Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu (Morrow)
Fiction
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate Dicamillo (Candlewick)
Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam)
NonFiction
River Friendly, River Wild by Jane Kurtz, illustrated by Neil Brennan
(poetry) (S&S)
The Hunter by Mary Casanova, illustrated by Ed Young (folktale)
(Hyperion)
***************
the Sendak/Marshall collaboration--Swine Princess?
*************
What about the Captain Underpants books? I'm not sure which one was released
in 2000 but the kids love all of them.
************
The new Sharon Creech book
is quite good. (Wanderer)
**********
Do the books have to have a 2000 copyright? My recent favorite read-aloud
was published in September of 1999. It is Axle Annie by Robin Pulver. It's a
great book for school. Axle Annie is a bus driver who is so good that school
is never cancelled because of snow in her district. Another disgruntled bus
driver and a ski resort owner try to make it so a snow day has to be called.
It has fun refrains to say.
River Friendly, River Wild by Jane Kurtz is a beautiful book about the
recent flood in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Lost! A Story in String by Paul Fleischman (June 2000) is interesting
because it incorporates string figures to go along with the story.
The series called A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket will
maybe not be appreciated by all but I think they're hilarious. The three
Baudelaire children become orphans and horrible things happen to them when
they're sent to live with various people. But they're all written in a
funny, ironic style. I think gifted readers will find them delightful. The
books also introduce vocabulary in a fun way.
**********
Kids of all grade levels in my school (K-5) LOVE the Junie B. Jones Series by
Barbara Park. She published at least one in 2000 (Junie B. Jones Has a Peep
in her Pocket). I would include that for sure!
***********
DBJohnson's Henry Hikes to Fitchburg. I love it and more to the point so do
the kids from k-5!
*********
Overbooked - http://www.overbooked.org/
A good site for readers advisory in libraries and for
readers themselves. This site includes recommended
booklists in genre fiction, a discussion area, "hot lists" of
forthcoming hardcover fiction releases, and lists of books
that received at least one "starred review" in a major
journal. Previously titled Book Links. - ht
Subjects: Reader guidance | Fiction genres | Books -- Reviews
************
Have you seen What Dads Can't Do by Douglas Wood, and what about
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, and Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia
Reilly Giff? Those of some of my favorites so far!!
***********
I just got "Sally Goes to the Beach" by Stephen Huneck (Abrams)
(gorgeous woodcuts, story about and by the dog Sally's trip to the
Beach. I plan to use it for creating our own stories about a day or
event in the life of our dog or cat or... whatever?
*********
Because of Winn Dixie is a great story about a girl who finds a dog at the
Winn Dixie grocery store. Both are needy and help each other. It is a
smaller version of Shiloh somewhat and should appeal to dog lovers and
others who are lucky enough to encounter the story.
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