Best of 2006

Selected by:
Mary Slamin, Kate Colquitt & Gail Fell

JP Juvenile Picture Books

(Read Aloud Stories)

JP Ashman, Linda. Mama's Day. Simon. "Somewhere there's a mama lifting a baby from a crib." A toddler book that goes through the day with mothers, grandmothers and even fathers in this multicultural, gentle display tale.

JP Banks, Kate. Max's Words. Farrar. Max wants to be a collector like his siblings, so he chooses words cut from newspapers and magazines. The words combine to make their own unique, captivating story.

JP Beaumont, Karen. Move Over, Rover! Harcourt. Another twist to a familiar tale of too many animals finding shelter, this time in a dog house with an unexpected visitor.

JP Bradley, Kimberly B. Ballerino Nate. Dial. Nate wonders why he is the only boy in his ballet class. He goes to a performance and soon discovers that there are many male dancers.

JP Browne, Anthony. Silly Billy. Candlewick. Billy is a worrier until his grandmother gives him a worry doll from Guatemala to soothe his fears. A warm funny story about a young boy who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer despite being told that he can't because he is a boy.

JP Carter, David A. Woof! Woof! Simon. Die-cut pieces on each page assemble to make a special surprise at the end of this charming story about two dogs.

JP Cronin, Dorren. Dooby Dooby Moo. Atheneum. Farmer Brown knows something is up with his barnyard group but he never suspects them of being a singing musical act that wants to win the talent show at the fair!

JP Daly, Niki. Happy Birthday, Jamela! Farrar. Mom and grandma do not appreciate it when Jamela decorates her new school shoes with sparklers until they become a popular item.

JP DeFelice, Cynthia. One Potato, Two Potato. Farrar. An Irish twist on a familiar Chinese folktale (see Lily Toy Hong's version, Two of Everything) where an old pot is found and magically doubles anything put into the pot.

JP Egan, Tim. Roasted Peanuts. Houghton. Sam, the horse, and his best friend Jackson, the cat, love baseball and try out for the local team. A fabulous moral tale of the importance of personal strengths.

JP Elya, Susan M. Bebe Goes Shopping. Harcourt. Spanish words are used to bring flair to this story about a mama and baby's lively trip to the supermarket (supermercado). The baby brings exciting distractions to a routine trip to buy groceries.

JP Fleming, Denise. The Cow Who Clucked. Henry Holt. After a dream, cow wakes up to find she has lost her moo and can only cluck. Can cow find it again or is she stuck clucking? Inspirational and stunning.

JP Gravett. Emily. Wolves. Simon. A rather unconventional tale of a rabbit who selects a library book on wolves only to discover they like to eat rabbit and do... but don't worry; the story has an alternate ending.

JP Grey, Mini. The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon. Knopf. A proverbial tale of two classic nursery rhyme characters who get rich quick, fall into a life of crime and learn that riches do not bring happiness.

JP Harper, Jessica. A Place Called Kindergarten. Putnam. A young farm boy is missed by his barnyard pals. When he returns from school he has special treats to share with his farm friends.

JP Henkes, Kevin. Lilly's Big Day. Greenwillow. Mr. Slinger, Lilly's teacher, is getting married and Lilly can't wait to be a flower girl.

JP Isaacs, Anne. Pancakes For Supper! Scholastic. Toby is thrown into the wild and diligently survives by giving away pieces of her fine clothes to hungry animals. A twist on the tale of Little Black Sambo.

JP Johnson, David A. Snow Sounds: An Onomatopoeic Story. Houghton. A snowy morning and all is not quiet while a snowplow clears the road for another school day. A visual tour de force.

JP Polacco, Patricia. Something About Hensley's. Philomel. Another slice from Polacco's personal memories of a general store owner who brings customers together in a special and meaningful way.

JP Root, Phyllis. Looking For A Moose. Candlewick. Instead of going on a bear hunt, try searching for more than one moose! Rhyming and charming.

JP Sakai, Komako. Emily's Balloon. Chronicle. A young toddler gets a yellow balloon that becomes caught in a tree. Her disappointment, waiting and reconciliation are every small child's experience.

JP Sierra, Judy. The Secret Science Project that Almost Ate the School. Simon. A school project that hilariously goes berserk and slimes everything it touches. Told in compelling rhyme, this will bolster any desire to dabble in science.

JP Shannon, David. Good Boy, Fergus! Blue Sky Press. An adorable little white dog gets into all kinds of mischief as he experiences the perfect doggy day.

JP Slonim, David. He Came With The Couch. Chronicle. Sophie's family acquires the perfect couch but it comes with something extra and unexpected.

JP Smith, Lane. John, Paul, George & Ben. Hyperion. Unusual truths about the American Revolutionaries such as Paul Revere and John Hancock are stretched to humorous proportions.

JP Smith, Linda. Mrs. Crump's Cat. HarperCollins. A lonely lady and a homeless cat become a family.

JP Van Allsburg, Chris. Probuditi! Houghton. Two boys try a hypnotism trick they saw at a magic show only to be the ones tricked in the end.

JP Wiesner, David. Flotsam. Clarion. A wordless, cinematic, tale of a camera washed up on a beach and the wondrous images it has filmed of fantastical sea life.

JP Winter, Jeanette. Mama: A True Story in which a Baby Hippo loses his Mama during the Tsunami, but finds a new home and a new Mama. Harcourt. A dramatic portrayal of the startling true events of the famous baby hippo tsunami survivor.

J Juvenile Fiction

(Novels / Stories 3rd Grade & Higher)

J Balliett, Blue. The Wright 3. Scholastic. In this exciting sequel to Chasing Vermeer, Calder, Petra and Tommy join forces to save Frank Lloyd Wright's landmark house from mysterious mayhem.

J Broach, Elise. Shakespeare's Secret. Henry Holt. Hero is in the sixth grade and detests her historic literary name until a neighbor; Mrs. Roth, encourages her to help find a missing diamond from a necklace that once belonged to Anne Boleyn. A mystery with connections from the past to the present.

J Carman, Patrick. The Tenth City: The Land of Elyon Book 3. Orchard. Alexa Daley and her comrades are onboard the Warwick Beacon after narrowly escaping the evil Victor Grindall who is after the last jocosta stone worn protectively around Alexa's neck. The conclusion to the highly successful: Beyond The Valley Of Thorns, and The Dark Hills Divide.

J Cooper, Susan. Victory. McElderry. Eleven-year old Molly leaves her home in America for England and is desperately lonely. She discovers a fragment of a flag from Lord Nelson's ship which enables her to tap into the courageous life of Sam, a boy her age from two hundred years ago, helping Molly with the changes occurring in her life.

J Cushman, Karen. The Loud Silence of Francine Green. Clarion. Francine is happy to daydream about movie stars until she meets Sophie Bowman in this coming-of-age story that takes place during their eighth-grade school year of 1949-1950 at All Saints
School.

J Druitt, Tobias. Corydon and the Island of Monsters. Knopf. Corydon, a young shepherd boy tells us the story of the Gorgons and their sister Medusa as he lived it.

J Grimes, Nikki. The Road To Paris. Putnam. Paris and her brother Malcolm run from their foster home, are separated and finally reunited again with their mother and a new sense of home.


J Gutman, Dan. Satch and Me: a baseball card adventure. Harper Collins. In this latest baseball adventure, Joe time travels to meet Satchel Paige and find out if he really was the fastest pitcher ever.

J Holm, Jennifer. Penny From Heaven. Random. It's the summer of 1953 and Penny is turning twelve. A time for surprises, changes and family secrets.

J Lowry, Lois. Gossamer. Houghton Mifflin. A young apprentice dream maker learns from her elders how good dreams heal, and discovers that she has a special touch as soft as a gossamer feather.

J Mass, Wendy. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life. Little Brown. Just before his thirteenth birthday, Jeremy receives a locked box that had been set aside by his father before his death five years earlier, inside the box contains the meaning of life. Jeremy searches for the key to discover what lies inside.

J McCaughrean, Geraldine. Peter Pan In Scarlet. McElderry. The first-ever authorized sequel to J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. This tale is filled with adventure, danger and derring-do.

J McKissack, Patricia. Porch Lies: Tales Of Slicksters, Tricksters, and other Wily Characters. Schwartz. Stories and memories from childhood and current African-American life.


J Paterson, Katherine. Bread And Roses, Too. Clarion. Based upon the famous strike of 1912 at the mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Sympathetic citizens of Barre, Vermont take in and care for the mill children. Two of them, Jake and Rosa, are survivors of the mills and much worse.

J Patron, Susan. The Higher Power Of Lucky. Simon. Lucky searches for her higher power, the power to give meaning to her life. Her search is filled with ups and downs as she finds a place to belong.

J Paulsen, Gary. The Amazing Life of Birds. Random House. The subtitle says it all: The twenty-day puberty journal of Duane Homer Leech as discovered by Gary Paulsen. A short and humorous tale of a boy dealing with the turmoil of daily pre-teen life.

J Rordan, Rick. Sea of Monsters. Miramax. Book 2 of: Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Another exciting and fast paced adventure for Percy Jackson, the reluctant son of Poseidon

J Juvenile Non-Fiction

(Subject Books)

J 328.73 K Kennedy, Senator Edward. My Senator and Me: A dog's-eye view of Washington, D.C. Scholastic. (illustrated by David Small). From the voice of Splash, Senator Kennedy's Portuguese Water Dog, comes a lively look at a day spent at work with his boss and best friend.

J 393.3 T Tanaka, Shelley. Mummies: The Newest, Coolest, and Creepiest from Around the World. Abrams. The title says it all!

J 428.2 T Truss, Lynee. Eats, Shoots And Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! Putnam. Who knew punctuation could be fun as well a useful. Learn all about the power of a comma. Check out www.savethecomma.com for more fun.

J 553.6 K Kurlansky, Mark. The Story Of Salt. Putnam. One of the most remarkable non-fiction picture books to date tracing the history and importance of salt.

J 573.79 J Jenkins, Steve. Move! Hougton Mifflin. Another incredible, unique look at the unusual ways animals get around.

J 590.7 Z Zoehfeld, Kathleen. Wild Lives: A History of the People and Animals of the Bronx Zoo. Knopf. Early zoos were like gigantic pet shops; many animals not adapting until the zoo keepers perceived behaviors and modified their care.

J 591.5 S Singer, Marilyn. What Stinks? Darby Creek. An uproarious fact-filled picture book for older children. Readers will be drawn in by the colorful photos and silly puns but they will find a wealth of fascinating information about biology.

J 599.63 H Hatkoff, Isabella. Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship. Scholastic. A look at the life of the famous hippo and turtle duo at the Haller Park Animal Sanctuary in Mombasa.

J 591.68 J Jenkins, Steve. Almost Gone: The World's Rarest Animals. Harper Collins. With his signature cut-paper collages, Jenkins deftly captures the unique characteristics of animals that will soon vanish from the planet.

J 609.2 B Barretta, Gene. Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin. Holt. From bifocals to lightning rods this picture book biography highlights significant Franklin contributions to our everyday lives.

J 614.497 B Barnard, Bryn. Outbreak: Plagues that Changed History. Crown. A tall book documenting the effects seemingly invisible germs play as they rule nations, influence science and religion and take millions of lives in their wake.

J 796 P Piven, Hanokh. What Athletes Are Made Of. Atheneum. Piven creates simple but unusual portraits of famous athletes.


J 811.5 R Rex, Adam. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. Harcourt. Did you ever think that monsters could have problems? Well, they do, like how does the invisible man get a haircut?

J 811.54 M Myers, Walter Dean. Jazz. Holiday House. Illustrated by the author's son, Christopher Myers. A true collaboration of energetic prose and pictures celebrating the different styles of jazz.


J 910.4 O O'Sullivan, Joanne. 101 Places You Gotta See Before You're 12! Lark. A travel guide to unusual places and must-see experiences.
J 973.3 C Cooper, Michael. Hero of the High Seas: John Paul Jones and the American Revolution. National Geographic. The young captain of a cargo ship, charged with murder, flees, becomes a famous revolutionary war hero and naval commander.

J B Cezanne Burleigh, Robert. Paul Cezanne: A Painter's Journey. Abrams. Using simple text, Burleigh allows readers to view the paintings of the famous French artist as a way to appreciate his life.

J B Glenn Mitchell, Don. Liftoff: A Photobiography of John Glenn. National Geographic. The astonishing life and public service Senator Glenn has given to our American way of life.

For assistance in finding these titles and others, be sure to ask the Greenburgh Public Library Children's Librarians for help.