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From: Barthelmess, Thom <tbarthelmess_at_dom.edu>
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2012 03:48:09 +0000
I agree. A very good year, I think. Here are some of my favorites:
Picture Books: Animal 1 2 3 by Britta Teckentrup. This ingenious counting book features a certain number of a kind of animal with a numeral-shaped flap on every spre ad. Lifting the flap reveals one more of the animal in question and reveals the next number (and numeral) in sequence. The illustrations are warm and inviting, the pages are sturdy, the concept is beyond clever, and the whole thing is just great. Homer by Elisha Cooper. At first glance it is a charming story of a dog and his family. On closer inspection it reveals itself to be a sophisticated p iece of visual storytelling. The carefully detailed and closely tended patt ern to the story arc, the progression of color, the gentle, poignant charac ter work, all of it comes together in a very fine package.
A Strange Place to Call Home by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Ed Young. Th is collection of poems about obscure and sometimes formidable habitats and the wonderful animals who occupy them delights with obscure subject matter, arresting verse and inspired illustration. So very weird, in the best poss ible way.
Fiction: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth. This story of a girl's self-discovery and sexual identity, from first kiss all the way to pray-the -gay-away boarding school, sparkles with gloriously rendered time and place , nuanced characterization, and beautiful writing. Epic and intimate all at once.
Sadie and Ratz by Sonya Hartnett, illustrated by Ann James. This is an earl y chapter book with an edge, one that embraces the difficult emotions of ch ildhood head on. The smudgy, forbidding illustrations echo the dark sensibi lity. It's not without humor, and has a satisfyingly happy ending. But it's unapologetically dark.
Shark King by R Kikuo Johnson. A Hawaiian legend about a shape-shifting boy who becomes a king is just the thing for a picture-perfect beginning reade r, with graphic illustrations, comic book panels, word-balloon dialogue and ebullient excitement.
Summer and Bird by Katherine Catmull. This is a beautifully crafted piece o f fantasy about two sisters on parallel journeys. It is both an alluring an d atmospheric deep-woods adventure and a profound consideration of the loya lties and betrayals of family, all painted with a shimmering brush driven b y fierce imagination.
Nonfiction: Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature by Nicola Davies, illustrated b y Mark Hearld. This collection of poems, remembrances, lists, recipes and p rojects, categorized by season and illustrated with gorgeous (no really, GO RGEOUS) mixed media collage woodcut pieces offers specific, intense evocati ons of the seasons in surprising, breathtaking ways.
His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg, by Louise Borden. This documentary nonfictio n-in-verse hybrid matches moving, accessible text with primary source mater ial and photographs to tell the story of the Swedish architect-cum-diplomat who saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust.
Thom Barthelmess Curator, Butler Children's Literature Center Graduate School of Library and Information Science Dominican University 7900 W Division St River Forest, IL 60305 v: 708.524.6861 f: 708.524.6657
Received on Thu 06 Dec 2012 03:48:09 AM CST
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2012 03:48:09 +0000
I agree. A very good year, I think. Here are some of my favorites:
Picture Books: Animal 1 2 3 by Britta Teckentrup. This ingenious counting book features a certain number of a kind of animal with a numeral-shaped flap on every spre ad. Lifting the flap reveals one more of the animal in question and reveals the next number (and numeral) in sequence. The illustrations are warm and inviting, the pages are sturdy, the concept is beyond clever, and the whole thing is just great. Homer by Elisha Cooper. At first glance it is a charming story of a dog and his family. On closer inspection it reveals itself to be a sophisticated p iece of visual storytelling. The carefully detailed and closely tended patt ern to the story arc, the progression of color, the gentle, poignant charac ter work, all of it comes together in a very fine package.
A Strange Place to Call Home by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Ed Young. Th is collection of poems about obscure and sometimes formidable habitats and the wonderful animals who occupy them delights with obscure subject matter, arresting verse and inspired illustration. So very weird, in the best poss ible way.
Fiction: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth. This story of a girl's self-discovery and sexual identity, from first kiss all the way to pray-the -gay-away boarding school, sparkles with gloriously rendered time and place , nuanced characterization, and beautiful writing. Epic and intimate all at once.
Sadie and Ratz by Sonya Hartnett, illustrated by Ann James. This is an earl y chapter book with an edge, one that embraces the difficult emotions of ch ildhood head on. The smudgy, forbidding illustrations echo the dark sensibi lity. It's not without humor, and has a satisfyingly happy ending. But it's unapologetically dark.
Shark King by R Kikuo Johnson. A Hawaiian legend about a shape-shifting boy who becomes a king is just the thing for a picture-perfect beginning reade r, with graphic illustrations, comic book panels, word-balloon dialogue and ebullient excitement.
Summer and Bird by Katherine Catmull. This is a beautifully crafted piece o f fantasy about two sisters on parallel journeys. It is both an alluring an d atmospheric deep-woods adventure and a profound consideration of the loya lties and betrayals of family, all painted with a shimmering brush driven b y fierce imagination.
Nonfiction: Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature by Nicola Davies, illustrated b y Mark Hearld. This collection of poems, remembrances, lists, recipes and p rojects, categorized by season and illustrated with gorgeous (no really, GO RGEOUS) mixed media collage woodcut pieces offers specific, intense evocati ons of the seasons in surprising, breathtaking ways.
His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg, by Louise Borden. This documentary nonfictio n-in-verse hybrid matches moving, accessible text with primary source mater ial and photographs to tell the story of the Swedish architect-cum-diplomat who saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust.
Thom Barthelmess Curator, Butler Children's Literature Center Graduate School of Library and Information Science Dominican University 7900 W Division St River Forest, IL 60305 v: 708.524.6861 f: 708.524.6657
Received on Thu 06 Dec 2012 03:48:09 AM CST
