From: Robert A Reid <reidra>
Date: Mon, 18 Mar 1996 14:42:49 -0600 (CST)

Every year I cross reference several "Best" lists to determine which children's and young adult titles appear over and over (I know, I know, I have no social life). I'm always amazed how differently each list is and how few titles carry over from list to list. This year, only 16 books appeared on at least four of the seven lists that I checked. Thoses seven were ALA Notables, Booklinks, Book List, the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, CCBC Choices, Publisher's Weekly, and School Library Journal.

Please note that only one book, The Great Fire, by Jim Murphy, appeared on all seven lists.

Here are the 16 "Best of the Bests" for 1995.

Easy Picture Book/ Easy Readers

Griffith, Helen. Grandaddy's Stars. (Appeared on 4 lists) McBratney, Sam. Guess How Much I Love You. (5) Rathmann, Peggy. Officer Buckle and Gloria. (5)


Juvenile Fiction/ Young Adult

Coman, Carolyn. What Jamie Saw. (4) Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham63. (4) Cushman, Karen. The Midwife's Apprentice. (6) Fox, Paula. Eagle Kite. (4) Lynch, Chris. SLot Machine. (4) McKay, Hilary. Dog Friday. (4) Williams-Garcia, Rita. Like Sisters on the Homefront. (6)


Nonfiction

Bober, Natalie. Abigail Adams: WItness to a Revolution. (4) Giblin, James Cross. When Plague Strikes. (4) Hamilton, Virginia. Her Stories. (6) McMillan, Bruce. Nights of the Pufflings. (4) Murphy, Jim. The Great Fire. (7)


And in a category by itself, because it appeared as an easy, a fiction AND a nonfiction work on various lists:

The Math Curse by Jon Scieszka (6)


There were several other titles that appeared on two or three lists, but I arbitrarily chose 4 as the cutoff point to give a good picture of the cream of the crop.

Rob Reid Eau Claire, WI
Received on Mon 18 Mar 1996 02:42:49 PM CST