Best of 2010

Selected by:
Mary Slamin, Sandra Hile & Gail Fell

JP Juvenile Picture Books

(Read Aloud Stories)

JP Agee, Jon. Mr. Putney's Quacking Dog. Michael Di Capua Books. Mr. Putney has all sorts of unusual friends. An overweight orangutan, an octopus with cold feet, and an elephant that's very hard to see. Can you guess what they're called?

JP Alley, Zoe B. There's a Princess in the Palace. Roaring Brook Press. Cinderella, Snow White, and three other well-known princesses share a surprising connection in these fairy tale retellings.

JP Baker, Keith. LMO Peas. Beach Lane Books. Busy little peas introduce their favorite occupations, from astronaut to zoologist.

JP Barner, Bob. Bears! Bears! Bears! Chronicle Books. Everyone's favorite bears (and some you may have never met before) fish, munch, dive, cuddle, and climb their way through this playful romp.

JB Becker, Bonny. A Bedtime for Bear. Candlewick Press. A small but effervescent overnight guest tries the patience of a curmudgeonly bear who needs absolute quiet to fall asleep.

JP Birdsall, Jeanne. Flora's Very Windy Day. Clarion Books. When a big wind blows her annoying little brother away, Flora decides to save him despite the many tempting offers she gets for him from, among others, a cloud, an eagle, the man in the moon, and the wind itself.

JP Black, Michael Ian. A Pig Parade Is a Terrible Idea. Simon & Schuster Books. Although it may sound like a good idea, gathering hundreds of pigs to march in a parade through one's hometown is not a good idea.

JP Bottner, Barbara. Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I don't). Alfred A. Knopf. A first-grade girl who does not like to read stubbornly resists her school librarian's efforts to convince her to love books until she finds one that might change her mind.

JP Parenting "G" Braun, Sebastian. Back to Bed, Ed! Peachtree Publishers. Ed the mouse will not sleep in his own bed, until eventually his exasperated and tired parents find a way to keep him from joining them in the middle of the night.

JP Brown, Peter. Children Make Terrible Pets. Little, Brown and Company. When Lucy, a young bear, discovers a boy lost in the woods, she asks her mother if she can have him as a pet, only to find him impossible to train.

JP B. Brush, Brush, Brush. Scholastic. Are your teeth clean and white? Do you brush them day and night? Do you brush them up and down? Making faces like a clown? Sing along while you brush.

JP Craig, Lindsey. Dancing Feet! Alfred A. Knopf. Lindsey Craig's rollicking text features funny sound words (Tippity! Creepity! Stompity! Thumpity!), dancing animals, a singsong beat, and a guessing element just easy enough for preschoolers to anticipate.

JP Emberley, Rebecca and Ed. The Red Hen. Neal Porter Book. Filled with jaunty humor and eye-popping images, this Little Red Hen is sure to have young readers (and their parents) clucking with delight. Includes a recipe for Red Hen's Simply Splendid Cake.

JP Falconer, Ian. Olivia goes to Venice. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Olivia is in beautiful Venice on a family vacation that involves dodging pigeons in the Piazza San Marco, gorging on gelato, and barely staying afloat in a gondola.

JP Parenting "B" Feiffer, Kate. But I Wanted A Baby Brother! A Paula Wiseman Book. Oliver Keaton wants a baby brother more than anything but when he gets a baby sister instead, he sets out with his dog Chaplin to trade his sister for the perfect baby brother.

JP Fleming, Candace. Clever Jack takes the cake. Schwartz & Wade. A deliciously funny original fairy tale. While girls are sure to love a story about a princess's birthday party, Jack's adventures with trolls, bears, and gypsies make this an ideal read for boys, too.

JP Parenting "B" Feiffer, Kate. But I Wanted A Baby Brother! A Paula Wiseman Book. Oliver Keaton wants a baby brother more than anything but when he gets a baby sister instead, he sets out with his dog Chaplin to trade his sister for the perfect baby brother.

JP Frasier, Debra. A Fabulous Fair Alphabet. Beach Lane Books. Bursting with bright, bold illustrations of favorite fair elements like dill pickles and Ferris wheels and midway games, here is an alphabet-exploring adventure like no other!

JP French, Jackie. Diary of a Baby Wombat. Clarion Books. Through a week of diary entries, a wombat describes his life of sleeping, playing, and helping his mother look for a bigger hole in which to make their home.

JP Gilani-Williams, Fawzia. Nabeel's New Pants: an Eid tale. Marshall Cavendish. While buying gifts for his family to wear to the mosque on Eid a shoemaker buys+ new pants for himself, but the only pair available is too long and no one seems to have time to shorten them.

JP Graves, Keith. Chicken BIG. Chronicle Books. A giant chicken hatches from an enormous egg, but the other chickens cannot accept that he is one of them.

JP Gravett, Emily. Dogs. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Big dogs, small dogs, stripy dogs, spotty dogs. There are so many different kinds of dogs. How can anyone pick one type of dog to love the most?

JP Hall, Michael. My Heart is Like a Zoo. Greenwillow Books. Twenty animals are waiting for young readers. Hall's menagerie invites parents and their children to talk about feelings and emotions explore colors and shapes, count the hearts, and meet the animals.

JP Hardin, Melinda. Hero Dad. Pinwheel Books. A child demonstrates that while Dad differs from a traditional superhero, as an American soldier he is a superhero of a different kind.

JP Henkes, Kevin. My Garden. Greenwillow Books. A young girl imagines her dream garden complete with jellybean bushes, chocolate rabbits, and tomatoes the size of beach balls.

JP Hills, Tad. How Rocket Learned to Read. Schwartz & Wade. A little yellow bird teaches Rocket the dog how to read by first introducing him to the "wondrous, mighty, gorgeous alphabet."

JP Howe, James. Brontorina. Candlewick Press. Despite her size and not having the proper footwear, a determined dinosaur pursues her dream of becoming a ballerina.

JP Huneck, Stephen. Sally's Great Balloon Adventure. Abrams Books for Young Readers. Lured into a hot air balloon by the smell of fried chicken, Sally the black Labrador retriever inadvertently goes for a ride all by herself.

JP Isadora, Rachel. 12 days of Christmas. G. P. Putnam's Sons. Set in Africa: colorful icons illustrate the various gifts repeated in each verse of this cumulative song, creating a rebus-style text that gives young children a fun way to follow along and chime in with the lyrics.

JP Juster, Norton. The Odious Ogre. Scholastic. An ogre terrorizes villages until he meets a friendly villager.

JP Karas, G. Brian. The Village Garage. Christy Ottaviano Books. Throughout the seasons the workers at the Village Garage are busy taking care of the town and its residents.

JP Kemp, Anna. Dogs Don't Do Ballet. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Meet Biff, an adorable little puppy who will stop at nothing to become a ballet dancer.

JP Kerby, Johanna. Little Pink Pup. G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pink, a piglet who is the runt of the litter, is adopted by Tink, a dachshund who is nursing a litter of her own, and Pink is raised in the house along with the puppies.

JP Kimmelman, Leslie. The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah. Holiday House. No one will help the Little Red Hen make the Passover matzah, but they all want to help her eat it. Includes information about Passover, a recipe for matzah, and a glossary of Yiddish words used in the story.

JP Toddler Lionni, Leo. Colors, Numbers, Letters: 3 Books in 1. Alfred A. Knofp. Leo Lionni's playful mice invite the youngest children to identify colors, count to 10 and learn their ABCs.

JP Littlewood, Karin. Immi's Gift. Peachtree. A young Inuit girl catches brightly-colored objects while ice fishing and uses them to decorate her igloo, until the ice begins to melt and she drops in a gift of her own before leaving for the season.

JP London, Jonathan. I'm a Truck Driver. Henry Holt. Readers will love watching the little boy and girl in the story as they sit in the driver's seat of twelve great machines that rumble and tumble and go clinka-vroom vroom!

JP Maccarone, Grace. Miss Lina's Ballerinas. Feiwel and Friends. Ballet instructor Miss Lina has a solution when her eight students, who always dance in pairs, are distraught when a ninth girl joins the class.

JP Maclear, Kyo Iona. Spork. Kids Can Press. Young Spork, the offspring of a spoon and fork, searches for his place in the cutlery drawer, in this charming story about individuality and tolerance.

JP Mccully, Emily Arnold. Wonder Horse: The True Story of the World's Smartest Horse. Henry Holt and Co. Bill "Doc" Key, a veterinarian, trained his horse, Jim Key, to recognize letters and numbers and to perform in skits around the country, and moved the nation toward a belief in treating animals humanely.

JP McQuinn, Anna. Lola Loves Stories. Charlesbridge. Join Lola as she goes to the library with her daddy. She has fun reading the books she finds there, and even more fun imagining adventures inspired by the books.

JP SPA Mora, Pat. Gracias Thanks. Lee & Low Books. A young boy celebrates family, friendship, and fun by telling about some of the everyday things for which he is thankful.

JP Niemann, Christoph. Subway. Greenwillow Books. Simple, rhyming text follows two boys and their father as they spend a rainy day riding the various lines of the New York City subway system.

JP O'Connor, Jane. Fancy Nancy Poet Extraordinaire! Harper Collins. Fancy Nancy and her class learn about poetry and write their own poems to read on Family Day at school.

JP Toddler. Patricelli, Leslie. Potty. Candlewick Press. There comes a point in a toddler's life when going in one's diaper is only one possible option, and the question must be raised: Should I go in my potty?

JP Peet, Mal. Cloud Tea Monkeys. Candlewick Press. When her mother becomes too ill to harvest tea on the nearby plantation, Shenaz is too small to fill in, but when she tells the monkeys she has befriended why she is sad, they bring her a basket filled with rare and valuable wild tea.

JP Piven, Hanoch. My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil. Schwartz & Wade Books. When her grandma asks her about school, a girl draws a class portrait, adding details that show what makes each person special.

JP Portis, Antoinette. Kindergarten Diary. Harper Collins. Starting kindergarten can be a little scary. But Annalina shows us there are lots of new and exciting things to look forward to-meeting your teacher, playing on the monkey bars, feeding the pet tortoise, and making new friends.

JP Ransome, James E. Gunner, Football Hero. Holiday House. When short, round Gunner, the third-string quarterback, finally gets to play in a big game, everyone treats him like a hero.

JP Rash, Andy. Are You a Horse? Arthur A. Levine Books. When Roy gets a saddle for his birthday, he goes in search of a horse. The problem is he doesn't know what a horse is.

JP Rayner, Catherine. Ernest, the Moose Who Doesn't Fit. Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. A rather large moose who cannot fit on the page teams up with his little chipmunk friend to find a solution. Final pages form a gatefold.

JP Robertson, Fiona. Wanted: the Perfect Pet. G. P. Putnam's Sons. A heartwarming tale about a little boy who wants a dog more than anything else in the world.

JP Rodriguez, Beatrice. The Chicken Thief. Enchanted Lion Books. The chase is on! This charming, funny wordless picture book is a road movie for toddlers.

JP Rosen, Michael. Tiny Little Fly. Candlewick Press. With a tramp and a roll and a swat, Great Big Elephant, Great Big Hippo, and Great Big Tiger try to capture Tiny Little Fly as he teases each one in turn.

JP Samuels, Barbara. The Trucker. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Leo wants a fire truck, but instead Mama gives him a kitten. Mischievous Lola just about takes over all of Leo's favorite things. But right when Leo's had enough, Lola surprises him and saves the day.

JP Sattler, Jennifer. Chick 'n' Pug. Bloomsbury. Chick leaves the boring coop in order to find his hero, Wonder Pug, and a little bit of excitement.

JP Smith, Lane. It's a Book. Roaring Brook Press. Monkey teaches his friend about reading in the digital age. Features the best last line ever written in the history of children's literature.

JP Stein, David E. Interrupting Chicken. Candlewick Press. Little Red Chicken wants Papa to read her a bedtime story, but interrupts him almost as soon as he begins each tale.

JP Underwood, Deborah. The Quiet Book. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. Quiet can be sweet, and cozy, and can most definitely help you fall asleep. With kid-centric descriptions and irresistible artwork, this gentle picture book explores all the different quiets that can fill a child's days.

JP Velasquez, Eric. Grandma's Gift. Walker & Company. The author describes Christmas at his grandmother's apartment in Spanish Harlem the year she introduced him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Diego Velazquez's portrait of Juan de Pareja, which has had a profound and lasting effect on him.

JP Toddler Walker, David. Hello, New York City! Sterling. Say hello to wide-awake pigeons and sleepy carriage horses, graceful ballerinas and clumsy circus clowns and much more from the Big Apple.

JP Walton, Rick. Mr. President Goes to School. Peachtree Books. When the President finds the many pressures of his job to be overwhelming, he disguises himself and returns to kindergarten, where he is reminded of the important lessons he learned there.

JP Willems, Mo. City Dog, Country Frog. Hyperion Books for Children. In spring, when City Dog runs free in the country for the first time, he spots Country Frog sitting on a rock. They become friends through all seasons.

JP Willems, Mo. Knuffle Bunny Free. Balzer & Bray. While traveling with her family to Holland to visit her grandparents, Trixie once again loses her beloved Knuffle Bunny.

JP Wiviott, Meg. Benno and the Night of Broken Glass. Kar-Ben Publishing. A neighborhood cat observes the changes in German and Jewish families in its town during the period leading up to Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass that becomes the true beginning of the Holocaust. This cats-eye view introduces the Holocaust to children in a gentle way.

JP Yates, Louise. Dog Loves Books. Alfred A. Knopf. Dog loves books SO much he opens his very own bookstore.

JP Yolen, Jane. My Father knows the Names of Things. Simon & Schuster. From each bird that sings to every kind of cloud, the father in this story knows the names of them all--and takes the time to impart his knowledge to his child.

JE Juvenile Easy Readers

(Beginning Reader)

JE Chaconas, Dori. Cork & Fuzz: the babysitters. Viking. Best friends Cork and Fuzz are babysitting a little porcupine, but one of them is doing all the work.

JE Kvasnosky, Laura McGee. Zelda and Ivy: the Big Picture. Candlewick Press. After fox sisters Zelda and Ivy and their best friend Eugene watch the new Secret Agent Fox movie, they are inspired to do some detective work.

JE Lin, Grace. Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! Little Brown and Company. Ling and Ting are identical twins that people think are exactly the same, but time and again they prove to be different.

JE McMullan, Kate. Pearl and Wagner: four eyes. Dial Books for Young Readers. Wagner "hates" his new glasses - - and a mean old bully calls him Four Eyes. He vows never to wear his glasses again - - until Pearl and all his friends come to the rescue.

JE O'Connor, Jane. Fancy Nancy: Spectacular Spectacles. Harper. When Nancy's friend Bree gets some glittery glasses to help her see better, Nancy, who likes to be fancy, wants to wear glasses too.

JE Ries, Lori. Aggie the Brave. Charlesbridge. Ben's dog Aggie is at the vet to get spayed. Find out who needs more courage, Aggie or Ben, as this loveable duo deal with loneliness and healing.

JE Rylant, Cynthia. Mr. Putter & Tabby Clear the Decks. Harcourt Children's Books. Mr. Putter and his cat Tabby join their fun-loving neighbor, Mrs. Teaberry, and her mischievous dog Zeke on an adventurous sightseeing boat cruise.

JE Weeks, Sarah. Mac and Cheese. Laura Geringer Books. Two cats that are as different as night and day are nevertheless best friends.

JE Willems, Mo. I am going!: an Elephant and Piggie book. Hyperion Books for Children; Piggie ruins a perfectly good day by telling Gerald he is going. But if Piggie goes, who will Gerald play ping-pong and wear silly hats with?

JE Willems, Mo. Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly. Balzer & Bray. An exuberant cat cheers on her friends as they demonstrate whether or not they can fly.

JE Yee, Wong Herbert. Mouse and Mole: A Winter Wonderland. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Best friends Mouse and Mole enjoy playing in the snow with Sno-Mouse and Sno-Mole, two more best friends.

JYR Juvenile Young Readers

(1st & 2nd Grade Reader)

JYR Butler, Dori. The Buddy Files: the case of the lost boy. Albert Whitman & Company. While searching for his mysteriously lost human family, Buddy the dog is adopted by another family and helps solve the mystery of their missing boy.

JYR Byars, Betsy. Cat Diaries. Henry Holt. On one night every year, cats in the MEOW Society, which stands for "Memories Expressed In Our Writing," gather to read from their diaries, hearing stories of a gypsy cat, a Caribbean pirate cat, a library cat, and many others.

JYR Graff, Lisa. Sophie Simon Solves Them All. Farrar Straus Giroux. Sophie Simon is one smart cookie. But she's no genius when it comes to calculating the value of friendship, until she must use her incredible IQ to help out some classmates with parental troubles.

JYR Hurwitz, Johanna. Amazing Monty. Candlewick Press. First-grader Montgomery Gerald Morris enjoys an exciting year as his class acquires a pair of parakeets as pets, he loses his first tooth, and he becomes a big brother.

JYR Nelson, Marilyn. Snook Alone. Candlewick Press. A faithful little dog must survive on his own in the wild.

JYR Nolan, Lucy. Home on the Range. Marshall Cavendish. Dogs Down Girl and Sit accompany their masters to a dude ranch, where they encounter scary "squirrels" that live in holes in the ground, stampedes, and enemies even worse than their nemesis, the cat that lives next door.

JYR Seabrooke, Brenda. Wolf Pie. Clarion Books. Can a wolf and three pigs ever be friends. Please note that no wolves were harmed in the creation of this book.

J Juvenile Fiction

(Novels / Stories 3rd Grade & Higher)

J Anderson, Laurie Halse. Forge. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Separated from his friend Isabel after their daring escape from slavery, fifteen-year-old Curzon serves as a free man in the Continental Army at Valley Forge until he and Isabel are thrown together again, as slaves once more.

J Cole, Henry. A Nest for Celeste: A story about Art, Inspiration and the Meaning of Home. Katherine Tegen Books. Celeste, a mouse longing for a real home, becomes a source of inspiration to teenaged Joseph, assistant to the artist and naturalist John James Audubon, at a New Orleans, Louisiana, plantation in 1821.

J Crum, Shutta. Thomas and the Dragon Queen. Alfred A. Knopf. When the princess is kidnapped by a dragon queen, thirteen-year-old Thomas, a new--and very small--squire-in-training boldly sets out on a quest to rescue her.

J Dowell, Frances O'Roark. Falling in. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Like Alice through the looking glass, Isabelle Bean finds herself in a parallel universe, where she's mistaken for a witch, then finds out her grandmother is a witch.

J Draper, Sharon M. Out of my Mind. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Fifth-grader Melody has cerebral palsy, a condition that affects her body but not her mind. Although she is unable to walk, talk, or feed or care for herself, she can read, think, and feel. A brilliant person is trapped inside her body, determined to make her mark in the world in spite of her physical limitations.

J Gardner, Lyn. Out of the Woods. David Ficklin Books. The Eden sisters are lured to the fair by Belladonna, a witch who wants Aurora's heart and Stormy's powerful musical pipe.

J Gidwitz, Adam. A Tale Dark & Grimm. Dutton Children's Books. In this mischievous and original debut, Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales.

J Gutman, Dan. Roberto & Me: a baseball card adventure. Harper Collins. Stosh travels back to 1969 to try to prevent the untimely death of Roberto Clemente, a legendary baseball player and humanitarian, but upon his return to the present, he meets his own great-grandson who takes him into the future, and what he finds there is more shocking than anything he has encountered in his travels to the past.

J Hobbs, Valerie. The Last Best Days of Summer. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. An engaging story about a tween girl who, during one memorable summer, notices changes in her beloved Grams.

J Ignatow, Amy. The Popularity Papers: research for the social improvement and general betterment of Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang. Amulet Books. Two best friends embark on a project to study the behavior and taste of the popular girls at their elementary school so that by the time they get to middle school they too will be in the right crowd.

J Klise, Kate. Grounded. Feiwel and Friends. After her father, brother, and sister are killed in a plane crash, twelve-year-old Daralynn's life in tiny Digginsville, Missouri, proceeds as her mother turns angry and embittered, her grandmother becomes senile, and her flamboyant aunt is courted by the owner of the town's new crematorium.

J MacLachlan, Patricia. Word After Word After Word. Harper Collins. A visiting author teaches five friends about the power of words and writing.

J Park, Linda Sue. A Long Walk to Water. Clarion Books. When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, eleven-year-old Salva becomes separated from his family and must walk through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life of Salva Dut, who, after emigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water wells in Sudan.

J Paulsen, Gary. Lawn Boy Returns. Wendy Lamb Books. Having expanded his summer lawn mowing job into an ever-growing business conglomerate, a twelve-year-old boy gets involved in high finance thanks to his hippie stockbroker, takes on sponsorship of a boxer, and becomes a media sensation.

J Paulsen, Gary. Woods Runner. Wendy Lamb Books. From his 1776 Pennsylvania homestead, thirteen-year-old Samuel, who is a highly-skilled woodsman, sets out toward New York City to rescue his parents from the band of British soldiers and Indians who kidnapped them after slaughtering most of their community.

J Philbrick, W. R. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. Blue Sky Press. Twelve-year-old Homer, a poor but clever orphan, has extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle to rescue his brother, who has been sold into service in the Civil War.

J Preus, Margi. Heart of a Samurai: based on the true story of Nakahama Manjiro. Amulet Books. Full of adventure, this fascinating, true story is based on a real incident that occurred in 1841, and follows a young Japanese boy as he travels from Japan to America and back to Japan.

J Rhodes, Jewell Parker. Ninth Ward. Little Brown & Company. In New Orleans' Ninth Ward, twelve-year-old Lanesha, who can see spirits, and her adopted grandmother have no choice but to stay and weather the storm as Hurricane Katrina bears down upon them.

J Riordan, Rick. The Red Pyramid. Hyperion Books. After their father's research experiment at the British Museum unleashes the Egyptian god Set, Carter and Sadie Kane embark on a dangerous journey across the globe. The first book in Rick Riordan's exciting new series, The Kane Chronicles.

J Senzai, N. H. Shooting Kabul. Simon & Schuster. Escaping from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the summer of 2001, eleven-year-old Fadi and his family immigrate to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Fadi schemes to return to the Pakistani refugee camp where his little sister was accidentally left behind.

J Shimko, Bonnie. The Private Thoughts of Amelia E. Rye. Farrar Straus Giroux. Living in upstate New York in the 1960s, Amelia E. Rye really needs one true friend. That friend finally arrives when Fancy Nelson walks into Amelia's fourth-grade classroom.

J Silberberg, Alan. Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze. Aladdin. Milo is the funny and poignant story, told through text and cartoons, of a 13-year-old boy's struggle to come to terms with the loss that hit the reset button on his life.

J Spinelli, Eileen. The Dancing Pancake. Alfred A. Knopf. Eleven-year-old Belinda "Bindi" Winkler and her family find their way through tough times with the love and support of the community that grows around their newly opened restaurant, "The Dancing Pancake."

J Tooke. Wes. Lucky, Maris, Mantle, and my Best Summer Ever. Simon & Schuster. Louis, who loves baseball despite being the worst stickball player in White Plains, New York, sees his opportunity to be bat boy for the 1961 Yankees team as the perfect way to escape the problems of his father's remarriage and moving to the suburbs.

J Vail, Rachel. Justin Case: School, Drool, and other Daily Disasters. Feiwel and Friends. Justin K. (for Krzeszewski), nicknamed Justin Case, has fairly standard third-grade worries (former best friends, rope climbing in gym) and pretty typical joys (current best friends, making it to the top of the rope). He expresses all of these in diary form throughout a school year.

J Vanderpool, Clare. Moon over Manifest. Delacorte Press. Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.

J Walsh, Pat. The Crowfield Curse. Chicken House. In 1347, orphan William Paynel, a servant at Crowfield Abbey, goes into the forest to gather wood and finds a magical creature caught in a trap. He discovers he has the ability to see fays and becomes embroiled in a strange mystery involving Old Magic, a bitter feud, and ancient secrets.

J Wood, Maryrose. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place. Balzer and Bray. Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children. Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess.

J Zahler, Diane. The Thirteenth Princess. Harper. Zita, raised as a kitchen maid, learns when she is nearly twelve that she is a princess and that her twelve sisters love her, and so when she discovers they are victims of an evil enchantment, she desperately tries to save them.

J Graphc Novel

J Graphic Kim. Kim, Susan. City of Spies. First Second Books. Mystery, and intrigue abound in this World War II spy tale. Evelyn typically satisfies her longing for adventure with the help of a pencil and a sheet of paper. But when she makes a new friend, Tony, she's happy to abandon her art for a real-life search for spies.

J Graphic Pien, Lark. Long Tail Kitty. Blue Apple Books. Meet Long Tail Kitty and his friends and neighbors: a bee who's friends with the flowers (at least the nice ones), Good Tall Mouse, who likes ice skating, and a family of aliens who drop in for one night of fun.

J Graphic Spires. Spires, Ashley. Binky to the rescue. Kids Can Press. While in hot pursuit of an alien invader (a bug), Binky accidentally falls out the space station porthole (bathroom window) and finds himself in outer space (outside) for the very first time.

J Graphic S Superman: The Story of the Many of Steel. Cosentino, Ralph. Viking Children's Books. Told in simple, child-friendly language and illustrated with bright, bold artwork inspired by the originals, Superman is the perfect introduction to this beloved American icon.

J Juvenile Nonfiction

(Subject Books)

J 292 K. Karas, G. Brian. Young Zeus. Scholastic Press. This is the story of how young Zeus, with a little help from six monsters, five gods, an enchanted she-goat (that's me), and his mother, became god of gods, master of lightning and thunder, and ruler over all.

J 323.11 S. Shelton, Paula Young. Child of the Civil Rights Movement. Schwartz & Wade Books. The daughter of a civil rights activist brings a child's unique perspective to an important chapter in America's history.

J 393.3 S. Sloan, Christopher. Mummies: dried, tanned, drained, frozen, embalmed, stuffed, wrapped, and smoked-- and we're dead serious. National Geographic. The title says it all.

J 398.2 France C. Cech, John. Puss in Boots. Sterling. A clever cat helps his poor master win fame, fortune, and the hand of a beautiful princess.

J 398.2 T. Tarnowska, Wafa. The Arabian Nights. Barefoot Books. Shahrazade saves herself from execution by distracting King Shahriyar with stories.

J 508 S. Schwartz, David M. What in the Wild? Mysteries of Nature Concealed...and Revealed. Tricycle Press. From the creative team that brought usWhere in the Wild come 10 new mysteries of the natural world for readers to solve. Kid-pleasing riddles paired with mystifying images give clues to guess.

J 523.88 A. Aguilar, David A. Super Stars. National Geographic. The biggest, hottest, brightest, most explosive stars in the Milky Way. Plus Black Holes, Brown Dwarfs, constellations and more.

J 551.46 R. Rizzo, Johnna. Oceans: Dolphins, Sharks, Penguins, and More! National Geographic. Heartwarming photos of animal families are accompanied by fun facts and fascinating information about the animals of the ocean and the environment they live in.

J 567.9 L. Lessem, "Dino" Don. The Ultimate Dino-pedia. National Geogrpahic Kids. The most complete dinosaur reference ever.

J 567.9 W. Woodward, John. Dinosaurs Eye To Eye: Zoom in on the world's most incredible dinosaurs. DK Books. Providing a zoomed-in encounter with dozens of the most incredible creatures ever to walk, stalk, swim, or fly.

J 569.67 B. Bardoe, Cheryl. Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age. Abrams Books for Young Readers. Examines both ancient and modern clues for insights into the diets, physical development and behavior of extinct animals.

J 570.78 B. Bardham-Quallen, Sudipta. Nature Science Experiments: What's Hopping in a Dust Bunny? Sterling. Fun and accessible science activities, with complementary sidebars and extension activities, that will have kids carrying out experiments with everyday objects from the home and backyard.

J 571 L. Swerling, Lisa. The Little Brainwaves Investigate...Human Body. DK Publishers. The Little Brainwaves are little people with big ideas. Join them for an extremely informative look at how the amazing human body works.

J 573.76 J. Jenkins, Steve. Bones: Skeletons and how they work. Scholastic Press. A peek beneath the skin. A guide to human and animal skeletons provides informative comparisons while sharing such facts as the number of bones in the human body and the ways that skeletal structures work.

J 590 H. Hughes, Catherine D. First Big Book of Animals. National Geographic Kids.

J 571.1 B. Burnie, David. How Animals Work: Why and how animals do the things they do. DK. Shows how animals use their anatomy to move, communicate, hunt, and feed, and how their bodies improve their chances for survival.

J 590 H. Hughes, Catherine D. First Big Book of Animals. National Geographic Kids.

J 590.22 D. Grubman, Steve. Orangutans Are Ticklish. Schwartz and Wade Books. Fun facts from an animal photographer with exciting pictures as well.

J 591.78 J. Jenkins, Steve. How to Clean a Hippopotamus: a look at unusual animal partnerships. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Explores animal symbiosis and offers readers a close-up, step-by-step view of nature's fascinating partnerships.

J 595.7 M. Micro Monsters. Kingfisher. Enter the world of micro monsters, a miniature universe populated with bizarre and creepy creatures that can't be seen with the naked eye.

J 595.7 V. Voake, Steve. Insect Detective. Candlewick Press. Young readers will definitely catch the bug when they see this enticing, fact-filled invitation to explore the world of insects.

J 597.67 T. Turner, Pamela. Project Seahorse. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. This book presents a fish's-eye view of seahorse research and allow you to swim along. Most important of all, you'll learn what's being done--and what you can do--to help the seahorse.

J 597.95 B. Biship, Nic. Lizards. Scholastic. An amazing group of reptiles has been around just as long as the dinosaurs--and they're not extinct! Smaller than dinosaurs, and a bit less scary, lizards lead lives that are full of surprises.

J 612 W. Walker, Richard. Human Body: the incredible visual guide. DK. Full-color photographs and illustrations offer an introduction to the human body including the organs and cells that make up the body, the skeletal system, and the senses.

J 629.13 P. Provenson, Alice and Martin. The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel With Louis Bleriot. Viking Press. A biography of the man whose fascination with flying machines produced the Bleriot XI, which crossed the English Channel in thirty-seven minutes in the early 1900's.

J 638.13 B. Burns, Loree Griffin. The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastophe. Houghton Mifflin. An examination of bee wranglers and bee scientists who have been working to understand colony collapse disorder, or CCD. Readers explore the lives of the fuzzy, buzzy insects and learn what might happen if they were gone.

J 641.36 S. Sylver, Adrienne. Hot Diggity Dog: The History of the Hot Dog. Dutton Children's Books. Garnished with hilarious illustrations and amazing foodie facts, this kid-friendly, globespanning history of our favorite fast-food meal offers unique insight into America's multicultural heritage.

J 664.6 M. McCarthy, Meghan. Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum. Simon & Schuster. Sometimes the best inventions come from the most unexpected places. Full of fun historical facts, Pop is the true story of how bubble gum was invented.

J 682.92 M. Miller, Edward. Fireboy To The Rescue!: a fire safety book. Holiday House. Fireboy gives tips on preventing fires and staying safe if a fire does start.

J 811.5 S. Switching on the Moon: A Very First Book of Bedtime Poems. Candlewick Press. This 60-poem anthology reveals the many faces of nighttime.

J 811.54 F. Florian, Douglas. Poetrees. Beach Lane Books. This book is ripe with poetrees. They're grown to educate and please.

J 811.54 S. Singer, Marilyn. Mirror Mirror: A book of reversible verse. Dutton Children's Books. An infectious new genre of poetry and a lovably modern take on classic stories. First, read the poems forward (how old-fashioned!), then reverse the lines and read again to give familiar tales, from Sleeping Beauty to that Charming Prince, a delicious new spin.

J 811.6 R. Raczka, Bob. Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys. Houghton Mifflin. A humorous haiku collection perfect for guys (big and small) that celebrates outdoor fun throughout the seasons.

J 910.45 K. Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Pirates: Swashbucklers, Scoundrels, Neighbors Beware! Harcourt Childrens Books. A look at the lives of such real-life pirates as Blackbeard, Madame Cheng, and Sir Francis Drake, along with 16 other notorious swashbucklers.

J 932.01 H. Hartland, Jessie. How the Sphinx got to the museum . Blue Apple Books. Within New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the sphinx of the Pharaoh Hatshepsut holds court. But how did this ancient artifact get to the museum?

J 936.23 A. Aronson, Marc. If Stones Could Speak: unlocking the secrets of Stonehenge. National Geographic. What are the secrets of the ancient stone circle? Award-winning author Aronson joins the research crew and records their efforts to crack Stonehenge's secrets.

J 940.53 L. Levy, Debbie. The Year of Goodbyes: A true story of friendship, family and farewells. Disney-Hyperion Books. The true story of Jutta Salzberg's family's last year in Germany.

J 941.53 C. Chrisp Peter. World War II : fighting for freedom : the story of the conflict that changed the world, 1939-1945. Scholastic. Dynamic design and full-color illustrations throughout help readers imagine what it was like for the brave men, women, and children who lived, and died, during World War II.

J B Barrie. Lost Boy: the story of the man who created Peter Pan. Dutton Children's Books.

J B Chaplin. Sir Charlie Chaplin, the Funniest Man in the World. Greenwillow Books. Sid Fleischman, a Newbery Medalist presents one of the most compelling rags-to-riches stories of modern times, in this biography of the legendary Little Tramp, Charlie Chaplin.

J B Edison. A Wizard from the Start: The Incredible Boyhood & Amazing Inventions of Thomas Edison.Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. From his humble boyhood as a farmer's son, selling newspapers on trains, reading through public libraries shelf by shelf, and dreaming of new inventions, Thomas Edison went on to create the light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera.

J B Ewing. Stand Straight, Ella Kate: the True Story of a Real Giant. Dial Books for Young Readers. A touching and inspiring true story about a strong-minded girl who keeps growing and growing and soon learns to embrace her differences.

J B Ford. Driven: A Photobiography of Henry Ford. National Geographic. Driven combines fine photography and an inviting text to depict Ford's life and his impact on the world.

Roaring Brook Press. Jack Johnson was the first black fighter to win a heavyweight championship. Art and text work powerfully together to tell his story.

J B Lincoln. Lincoln Tells a Joke: How laughter saved the president (and the country). Harcourt Children's Books. This unusual biography of Abraham Lincoln highlights his life and presidency, focusing on what made his sense of humor so distinctive--and so necessary to surviving his tough life and times.

J B Mathai. Mama Miti: Wangari Mathai and the Trees of Kenya. A Paula Wiseman Book. The story of Wangari Maathai, who in 1977 founded the Green Belt Movement, an African grassroots organization, and in 2004 was the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

J B Obama. Obama: only in America. Marshall Cavendish. From birth to getting elected as president, a biography told in lyrical prose.

J B Soriano. Biblioburro: a true story from Colombia. Beach Lane Books. Luis loves to read, but soon his house in Colombia is so full of books there's barely room for the family. Then he comes up with the perfect solution--a traveling library! He buys two donkeys--Alfa and Beto--and travels with them throughout the land, bringing books and reading to the children in faraway villages.

J B Sotomayor. Sonia Sotomayor: Supreme Court Justice. Marshall Cavendish. Sotomayor's remarkable journey told in elegant free verse.