Winter. It’s a family time of year. Time for families curling up inside with good books. Time for celebrations, and family read alouds. Time for bringing home armloads of books – wrapped as presents or borrowed from the library. Luckily, it’s also time for Best Books lists.
Do an Internet search for “Best Children’s Books” and find, to give just one example — 2012 Best Books of the Year from the Bankstreet College of Education http://bankstreet.edu/center-childrens-literature/childrens-book-committee/best-books-year/best-books-year-2012/
Here are just a few appearing on “Best Books” lists – and available from the library.
Mouse & Lion by Rand Burkert, Illus. by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. A retelling of the Aesop fable with vibrant new illustrations. Preschool to grade 2.
Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner, Illus. by Christopher Silas Neal. Chronicle Books. While cross-country skiing, a young girl envisions the “secret kingdom” under the snow, where small forest animals shelter in winter. Preschool to grade 2.
Toys Come Home: Being the Early Experiences of an Intelligent StingRay, a Brave Buffalo, and a Brand-New Someone Called Plastic by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky A prequel to the wonderful Toys Go Out and a great read aloud. Grades 2-3. Younger for reading aloud.
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsberg gave us intriguing teasers – pictures, titles, and captions – but the actual stories were left to the reader’s imagination. In The Chronicles of Harris Burdick Fourteen Amazing Authors, (among them, Sherman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, and Kate DiCamillo) Tell the Tales. Grade 4 and up. (Available in several eFormats)
Sidekicks by Dan Santat. Captain Amazing attempts to enlist a new sidekick. His pets do not approve. Grades 4-6.
Small Persons with Wings: (They Hate to Be Called Fairies) by Ellen Booraem Thirteen-year-old Mellie has spent her life so far pretending she never saw fairies and they’re not real. But she did and they are. They’re just not the sweet things everyone thinks. Grades 4-6.
For more, the WCLS Kids Page features Books, Books, and Books, http://www.wcls.org/books-books-and-books a gateway to lists of award winning and notable books, good for borrowing, good for giving, good for reading together. Happy winter reading!
Many thanks to Catherine Sarette, Children’s Services Coordinator at Whatcom County Library System for this guest post.
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