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The Adventures (Reading and Otherwise) of Book Reps on the Road

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Lahring Tribe's Spring 2011 Children's Book picks.

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Picture Books

Here is the perfect book for children who feel like their outgoing friend is oh-so-talented . . . and they're not. Our shy narrator lists all the things that her best friend, Evelyn, is good at—from jumping on the bed to roller skating really fast. Luckily, Evelyn points out what makes her so special: she's a one-of-a-kind true blue best friend. Heather Hartt-Sussman's Noni Says No (February) also explores the dynamics of an introvert/extrovert friendship.

What do animals do when the snow falls to the ground and all the trees are bare? Some fly long distances, while some swim to warmer waters. Some take a long, warm sleep where they live, while others have a thick, cozy coat and can stay in the snow! Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit is filled with rich illustrations, charming animals, and a simple, lyrical text, introducing the ideas of adaptation, hibernation, and migration, and seasonal change. Ruth Brown’s Monkey’s Friends is another simple, predictive animal tale, while young animal lovers can pore over the stunning illustrations in Margriet Ruurs’ Amazing Animals (both March).

Duck and his barnyard friends are up to something. One by one we meet them, and then hear their familiar sounds. But Duck always has the last QUACK! Young readers will delight in making the animal sounds (or listening to an adult’s expressive attempts), noticing the funny expressions, and picking out surprising details in the illustrations. Senior toddlers will also enjoy the bouncy rhythms and textured illustrations of Lindsey Craig’s Farmyard Beat (June) and the imaginative play of Anna Grossnickle Hines’ I Am a Tyrannosaurus (July).

Children love the idea of growing up and doing things on their own. But it’s a little scary, too. Scampering along a stone wall just out of reach, a young boy asks his mother, "Will you still take care of me when I’m big?" Ann Stott and Matt Phelan, creators of Always, celebrate a child’s first steps toward independence, while offering the reassurance that Mom will always be there. Another cosy book with a high aaw! factor: Albert Lamb’s Tell Me the Day Backwards (March).

Mitchell was four years, one month, and five days old when he got his license. He may need a little boost getting into the driver’s seat, but once he’s behind the wheel, his car (aka“Dad”) sure goes fast! Left turn, right turn, slow down for speed bumps - Mitchell is a pro. And he loves the way that horn sounds! A perfect portrayal of the well-tuned bond between an obliging father and a high-octane child. For more parent-child interactions with an automotive theme, look at Kate Feiffer’s My Side of the Car (April).

National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why by Amy Shields

National Geographic Children's Books | Nonfiction Picture Book | 128 pages | May 2011 | 9781426307935 | $17.95HC | Ages 3-6

Using an interactive question-and-answer format and content reflecting a child's experience, the Big Book of Why delivers lively information, simple recipes, and crafts. What makes a car go? How does mushy dough become a crispy cookie? What does the doctor see in my throat? Do people really live in the TV? An essential parent reference (what parent hasn’t been stumped by a kid’s question?), The Big Book of Why invites children to ask big questions, think big thoughts, and get answers that are accurate, engaging, level-appropriate, and basedon sound educational findings. Another vision-stretcher: Leslie McGuirk’s unusual alphabet book, If Rocks Could Sing (May).

No One But You by Douglas Wood, illustrated by P. J. Lynch

Candlewick | Picture Book | 32 pages | May 2011 | 9780763638481 | $19.00HC | Ages 3-8

Some books can simply take your breath away. This is one of them. It celebrates individuality not through accomplishments but through the uniqueness of one’s own experiences, primarily in nature: no one but you can feel the rain kiss your skin or the wind ruffle your hair; hear the hum of a bumblebee; watch a water strider march across a pond; taste a red, ripe strawberry; or whistle with a blade of grass in the way that you can. To say that P.J. Lynch’s illustrations are superb would be an understatement.

When I Woke Up I Was a Hippopotamus by Tom Macrae, illustrated by Ross Collins

Andersen Press | Picture Book | 32 pages | May 2011 | 9781849390736 | $22.95HC | Ages 3-7

A small boy imagines that he is a series of creatures – none of them especially well-behaved – and creates havoc all day long until at bedtime his mother suggests that he pretend to be the best creature of all – himself! Jeanne Willis' I'm Sure I Saw a Dinosaur (May) also celebrates the resourceful imagination of a young boy.

Easy and Middle Grade Fiction and Non-Fiction

An entertaining and lively look at women's history from aboard a bicycle, which granted females freedom of mobility and helped empower women's liberation. Through vintage photographs, advertisements, cartoons, and songs, the book wittily covers early (and comical) objections, influence on fashion, and impact on social change inspired by the emancipating bicycle. More outstanding middle-grade nonfiction: Marjorie Gann’s comprehensive Five Thousand Years of Slavery.

Andi wishes she could play on the school basketball team, she wishes for her own bedroom, but most of all she wishes that her long-lost half-brother, Bernardo, could come from the Philippines and live in London where he belongs. When he finally arrives, she is stunned to discover that he’s eight feet tall, plagued by condition called Gigantism and troubled by secrets that he believes led to his phenomenal growth. Kids who enjoy this offbeat, slightly challenging story might also like Jennifer Jacobson’s Small as an Elephant or Trilby Kent’s Stones for My Father (both March).

Kate, Michael, and Emma have been in one orphanage after another for the last ten years, passed along like lost baggage. Yet these unwanted children are more remarkable than they ever imagined. Ripped from their parents as babies, they are being protected from a horrible evil of devastating power that they know nothing about. Until now. Now, they are on a journey to dangerous and secret corners of the world, with the power to change history. Jim Dale (Grammy Award-winning narrator of the Harry Potter series) will be doing the audio. More fantasy awaits in Bryan Perro’s Amos Daragon: The Mask Wearer (February)

Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

Doubleday Canada | Fiction | 240 pages | May 2011 | 9780385675970 | $19.95HC | 9780307916488 | $34.00UABCD | Ages 8-12

Eight-year-old Noah’s problems seem easier to deal with if he doesn’t think about them, so he runs away, taking an untrodden path through the forest. Before long, he comes across a toyshop, full of the most amazing toys and brimming with the most wonderful magic, run by a very unusual toymaker who tells Noah a story of adventure, wonder and broken promises. Different from Boy in the Striped Pajamas, but possessing the same shimmer that made Boyne’s earlier book so remarkable.

Young Adult And Teen Fiction

An audacious re-imagining of the Romantic poets – as contemporary students. High school junior John Keats only tiptoed near the edges of the vortex that was schoolmate and literary prodigy Gordon Byron until their mutual friend, Shelly, drowned in a sailing accident. After stealing Shelly's ashes from her wake, the boys sail for the island where her body washed ashore -- one last "so Shelly" romantic quest – and attempt to make sense of her tragic end. Worth a try for anyone who liked Mal Peet’s Exposure, which echoes Othello.

Sixteen-year-old Liz is a photographer – and confident that she and Kate will be best friends forever. But everything changes in one blurry night: Kate starts avoiding her, people look the other way when she walks by, and everything she thought she knew about photography, family, friendship and herself shifts out of focus. An excellent jumping-off point for discussions about truth and justice. Fans of emotionally-intense stories written in free verse may also like Micol Ostow’s Family (May), loosely based on the Manson murders.

All Blink wanted was to steal some breakfast. Instead, he stumbled upon a fake kidnapping and a cell phone dropped by an "abducted" CEO, giving Blink a link to his perfect blonde daughter. Now he is on the run. Enter a girl named Caution. As in "Caution: Toxic." As in "Caution: Watch Your Step." She’s also on the run, from a sleazy drug-dealer boyfriend and from a nightmare in her past that won’t let her go. Can two street kids in over their heads survive - and maybe even find redemption? Three starred reviews and counting….

Vertically-challenged “minor niner” Larkin Pace desperately wants a new camcorder so he can become the next great filmmaker. But his parents aren’t forthcoming with the cash, his sister specializes in making his life miserable, and his best friend, who happens to be a girl and for whom he is starting to have romantic feelings, seems to prefer his archrival, Dalton Cooke. This illustrated journal of woe will appeal to fans, mostly male, of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Big Nate and Vordak the Incomprehensible. How do girls handle the no-longer-a-kid stage? Check out Dana Reinhardt’s The Summer I Learned to Fly (July).

Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly

Candlewick | Fiction | 464 pages | May 2011 | 9780763656522 | $20.00HC | Ages 14-up

Imagine that angels are not the benevolent guardians we assume, but parasitic killers invading our world to prey on us -- except that we don’t realize it yet. Willow has always felt a bit awkward: she loves fixing cars, and she can look into a person’s future and know their hopes and dreams. Where does the power come from? Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows; he’s one of the few humans who understands the threat angels pose, and this knowledge makes Willow his enemy, until he finds himself falling in love with her. Looking for romance, action, adventure, betrayal, and suspense in a well-written paranormal? You’ll find everything you’re seeking here! Other superior paranormals: Tammar Stein’s Kindred (February), Myra McEntire’s Hourglass and Tessa Gratton’s Blood Magic (both May).

In this sequel to Stones, Garnet Havelock has finished his apprenticeship in furniture-making, and found a workshop on the isolated estate of the recently deceased Professor Eduardo Corbizzi. Garnet signs a contract, promising to repair the library's fire damage and keep all details about the estate confidential -- then he learns that the professor died under mysterious circumstances in the library, and past and present move toward a horrifying collision. Melina Marchetta’s Piper’s Son (March) is another satisfying sequel to a much-admired first novel (Saving Francesca).

Notes from the Blender by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin

EgmontUSA | Fiction | 240 pages | May 2011 | 9781606841402 | $18.99HC | Ages 14-up

Declan loves death metal, violent video games, and doesn’t-even-know-he-exists Neilly Foster -- accomplished gymnast, naturally beautiful, and the queen of cool -- until today, when she's dumped by her boyfriend, betrayed by her former BFF Lulu, then informed she's getting a new brother. Yes, Declan's dad is marrying Neilly's mom. Soon. Which means they'll be moving in together. This is one of the funniest teen books I have read, irreverent and intermittently rude, in a class with Swim the Fly and Spanking Shakespeare. Female readers with a taste for the sardonic will appreciate Abby McDonald’s Anti-Prom (April).

Welcome to Bordertown edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner

Random House Books for Young Readers | Fiction/Fantasy | 544 pages | May 2011 | 9780375867057 | $22.99HC | Ages 14-up

Bordertown: a city on the border between our human world and the elfin realm. Runaway teens come from both sides of the border to find adventure and to find themselves. Terri Windling's original Bordertown series was the forerunner of today's urban fantasy. In this volume, the original writers are joined by the generation that grew up dreaming of Bordertown: Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Catherynne M. Valente, and many more, offering more than twenty new interconnected songs, poems, and stories.

Looking for action, adventure and romance in a dystopian setting? Blood Red Road has it in spades! In a wild and lawless future, where life is cheap and survival is hard, Saba lives with her father, her adored twin brother Lugh, her despised younger sister Emmi and her pet crow Nero. Saba is enraged and devastated when a group of armed riders kill their father and snatch Lugh away days after their eighteenth birthday, and resolves that she will not give up until she finds him again. Readers who like a dash of magic and steampunk in their quest fantasy could find Caitlyn Kittredge’s Iron Thorn (February) appealing.

View more picks from our Dewey Divas and Dudes.