From: Christine Hill <chill>
Date: Tue, 04 Dec 2001 18:09:41 -0500

My favorite picture book of the year is How Chipmunk Got His Stripes by Joseph and James Bruchac, illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey. I have been reading it all year to grades K-2 to their great enjoyment. The father and son storytellers have fine-tuned the narrative so that it trips off the reader's tongue. The repetitions and refrains add to the charm. The venerable Aruego and Dewey have taken their art to a new level. The animals' facial expressions, the varied perspectives and especially the richness of the color add to the delight.

My favorite novel is the 2000 Carnegie Award Winner, The Other Side of Truth by Beverly Naidoo. Her style is simple but so nuanced. The epitome of showing, not telling. And the way the narrative keeps circling back on itself, with each new layer of bullying and truth telling. But it's not at all simplistic, the answer isn't always just "stand up to bullies and tell the truth." I wish we could give it the Newbery, but is it really a Prinz candidate? I think it's truly a child's book, or at the least, at the very lower end of the Prinz range.

As to Love That Dog, I thought it was charming but very slight. And I couldn't help thinking of Gordon Korman's No More Dead Dogs.

Christine M. Hill Willingboro Public Library One Salem Road Willingboro NJ 08046 chill at willingboro.org Coming in February! Ten Hispanic American Authors, Enslow, 2002
Received on Tue 04 Dec 2001 05:09:41 PM CST