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Looking Closely Around the Pond by Frank Serafini
Looking Closely Around the Pond is the fifth book in the “Looking Closely” series from Frank Serafina, associate professor of children’s literature and literacy education at Arizona State University.
F2M: The Boy Within by Hazel Edwards and Ryan Kennedy
How do you tell your family and friends and the members of your feminist rock band that you’re going to undergo female-to-male treatment and surgery?
Best Children’s Books of 2009
Of the many books are reviewers read and reviewed throughout 2009, here is the select few that they liked best.
The Dread Crew by Kate Inglis
The Dread Crew is a tale of imagination and friendship. It’s a spirited tale, gorgeously rendered. A debut work from a confident writer I feel sure will delight us again in the future.
Great Teacher Projects: K-8 by Laura Mayne
Though clearly intended as a classroom aid for working educators, Great Teacher Projects: K-8 should not be overlooked by home schoolers or parents with even a small group of active kids on their hands.
The Genius by Catherine Jinks
This has been a fascinating series. The original premise sounded humorous -- and there are certainly some over-the-top ideas, such as Cadel’s friend Gazo, a human stink-bomb who produces a smell that can literally knock people out when he is stressed. And what about brother-sister computer hackers Dorothy and Compton, mostly known as Dot and Com?
Creature by Andrew Zuckerman and Alphabeasties by Sharon Werner and Sarah Forss
Alphabet books would seem to be one of the most popular categories of children’s picture books. There appears to be an endless supply of “A is for this” and “B is for that.”
Born to Write by Charis Cotter
There’s a lot to love about award-winning children’s author Charis Cotter’s Born to Write: The Remarkable Life of Six Authors. Here Cotter delivers very good mini-biographies of half a dozen children’s authors: Lucy Maud Montgomery, C.S. Lewis, E.B. White, Madeleine L’Engle, Philip Pullman and Christopher Paul Curtis.
Death on the River by John Wilson
In Death on the River veteran children’s author John Wilson weaves a compelling tale with his first person, present tense account of the final days of the American Civil War.
Shadow of the Leopard by Henning Mankell
Internationally bestselling author Henning Mankell talks about the first time he met Sofia. He was in Mozambique in the early 1990s. Passing a hospital, he spied a small girl in a wheelchair and he stopped to talk with her. “I still don’t know why,” he says on his blog. Her story was not far behind.
Guinevere’s Gamble by Nancy McKenzie
The Arthurian legends have inspired countless tellings and retellings though few of those have been for children. Nancy McKenzie corrected that a couple of years ago with Guinevere’s Gift, intended to be the first book in the series she is calling the Chrysalis Quartet. Guinevere’s Gamble is the second book in that series.
Smudge’s Mark by Claudia Osmond
From the outset, Smudge’s Mark is dense and meandering and at first seems quite incomprehensible. And I couldn’t put it down.
Time of Trial: Volume 4, The Laws of Magic by Michael Pryor
Time of Trial is the fourth of Michael Pryor’s delightful Laws of Magic series, set in an alternative Edwardian England.
Wow! Animal and Wow! Earth
Wow! Animal and Wow! Earth, like all Dorling Kindersley books, are beautifully presented and gorgeous to flip through. And, like most books in this imprint, they are full of snippets of information, the kind that like to call, “Hey, Dad, did you know that starfish push their stomachs out through their mouths to absorb food?”
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Micah Wilkins lies automatically. She not only lies to family, classmates and police, she lies to the reader. Over and over. Right until the last page, you don’t know what’s true and what isn’t. Not even then.
By the Light of the Harvest Moon by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Mark Jones
It’s difficult to imagine a prettier fall book than By the Light of the Harvest Moon by veteran children’s author Harriet Ziefert. Mark Jones’ illustrations hold a luminous, full-bodied quality.
Vulture’s Gate by Kristy Murray
Some time in the future, much of Australia is Mad Max territory. The outback is filled with folk killing each other, wiping out settlements and running freak shows. Sydney is in ruins with gangs fighting each other and the authorities, from the anti-elder Festers to the nut-case Sons of Gaia who want to wipe out everybody.
The Devil You Know by Leonie Norrington
Damien’s father, 88, is coming back. Damien is not happy. 88 is violent. Like many other perpetrators of domestic violence, he is constantly apologizing and promising to reform. Damien doesn’t believe it, but his mother is prepared to take her ex back. His only comforts are a book called Dangerous Creatures and the drawing and cartooning with which he can express his inner feelings.
Robot Riot by Andy Griffiths
Robot Riot is the fourth book in Andy Griffith’s Schooling Around series featuring the students of Grade 5B at Northwest Southeast Central School. But like the others in this series, the book pretty much stands alone.
Parliament of Blood by Justin Richards
Parliament of Blood gleefully runs with the notion that getting bitten infects your blood and turns you into a vampire almost immediately unless you can get hold of silver and holy water right away in order to clear the infection.
Torn Pages by Sally Grindley
Lydia and her younger siblings, Joe and Kesi, are African AIDS orphans, trying to survive alone. Lydia has had to leave school to support her brother and sister. Most of the villagers are suspicious of them.
Just MacBeth by Andy Griffiths
In 2008, Australia’s Bell Shakespeare Company commissioned humorous children’s writer Andy Griffiths to write a script for the company to perform as a children’s introduction to Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Just MacBeth is the resultant work, in print, illustrated by the equally funny artist Terry Denton.
Ghost with A Message by Mary K. Pershall
Ruby Clair is a girl who sees dead people. Well, the ghost of her cousin Nicola, anyway, plus any ghosts Nicola sends her way. Because she can see ghosts, Ruby can help them adjust.
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks
Catherine Jinks is one of the most versatile writers I know of. Historical fiction, SF, fantasy, thriller, ghost stories, children’s, YA, adult -- there are very genres she hasn’t set her pen to at one time or another.
Nibbling on Einstein’s Brain by Diane Swanson
Nibbling on Einstein’s Brain is a newly revised edition of a book that was initially published in 2001. This new edition is more-ish in every way: it’s longer, brighter and better realized, intended to provide children with a gentle foundation for scientific learning.
The Puzzle Ring by Kate Forsyth
The Puzzle Ring begins in Australia, where 13-year-old Hannah is living with her mother, Roz, a science teacher, but the action quickly moves to Scotland and stays there. Roz receives a letter from her missing husband’s grandmother, Belle, who pleads with her to return. Hannah finds out that her father was a Scottish lord, although the only money the family has now comes from tourist visitors.
Auslander by Paul Dowswell
A well-written novel that has interesting characters -- some based on real people -- and shows what it might have been like to live in wartime Germany, where children denounced parents, schoolmates spied on schoolmates and a word said to the wrong person could get you executed.
Worldshaker by Richard Harland
In an alternative universe, Worldshaker is one of a number of “juggernauts” which fly around the world with permanent residents. Due to something that happened in the mid-19th century, the timeline diverged from ours into a world in which the Victorian era never really ended. In the early 21st century, Queen Victoria the Third reigns aboard the flying ship Worldshaker, with her consort who changed his name to Albert when they married.
My Extraordinary Life and Death by Doug McLeod
Although Doug McLeod is best known as a television writer, when he has written books they have usually been for children or young adults.
Cicada Summer by Kate Constable
Kate Constable, the Tamora Pierce of Australian YA fantasy, is back after two mainstream YA novels for Allen and Unwin’s Girlfriend Fiction imprint. The Girlfriend books were good enough, but fantasy is what this author does best, so her return to the fantastical is very welcome.
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Guinevere’s Gamble by Nancy McKenzie
The Arthurian legends have inspired countless tellings and retellings though few of those have been for children. Nancy McKenzie corrected that a couple of years ago with Guinevere’s Gift, intended to be the first book in the series she is calling the Chrysalis Quartet. Guinevere’s Gamble is the second book in that series.
Smudge’s Mark by Claudia Osmond
From the outset, Smudge’s Mark is dense and meandering and at first seems quite incomprehensible. And I couldn’t put it down.
Time of Trial: Volume 4, The Laws of Magic by Michael Pryor
Time of Trial is the fourth of Michael Pryor’s delightful Laws of Magic series, set in an alternative Edwardian England.
Wow! Animal and Wow! Earth
Wow! Animal and Wow! Earth, like all Dorling Kindersley books, are beautifully presented and gorgeous to flip through. And, like most books in this imprint, they are full of snippets of information, the kind that like to call, “Hey, Dad, did you know that starfish push their stomachs out through their mouths to absorb food?”
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Micah Wilkins lies automatically. She not only lies to family, classmates and police, she lies to the reader. Over and over. Right until the last page, you don’t know what’s true and what isn’t. Not even then.
By the Light of the Harvest Moon by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Mark Jones
It’s difficult to imagine a prettier fall book than By the Light of the Harvest Moon by veteran children’s author Harriet Ziefert. Mark Jones’ illustrations hold a luminous, full-bodied quality.
Vulture’s Gate by Kristy Murray
Some time in the future, much of Australia is Mad Max territory. The outback is filled with folk killing each other, wiping out settlements and running freak shows. Sydney is in ruins with gangs fighting each other and the authorities, from the anti-elder Festers to the nut-case Sons of Gaia who want to wipe out everybody.
The Devil You Know by Leonie Norrington
Damien’s father, 88, is coming back. Damien is not happy. 88 is violent. Like many other perpetrators of domestic violence, he is constantly apologizing and promising to reform. Damien doesn’t believe it, but his mother is prepared to take her ex back. His only comforts are a book called Dangerous Creatures and the drawing and cartooning with which he can express his inner feelings.
Robot Riot by Andy Griffiths
Robot Riot is the fourth book in Andy Griffith’s Schooling Around series featuring the students of Grade 5B at Northwest Southeast Central School. But like the others in this series, the book pretty much stands alone.
Parliament of Blood by Justin Richards
Parliament of Blood gleefully runs with the notion that getting bitten infects your blood and turns you into a vampire almost immediately unless you can get hold of silver and holy water right away in order to clear the infection.
Torn Pages by Sally Grindley
Lydia and her younger siblings, Joe and Kesi, are African AIDS orphans, trying to survive alone. Lydia has had to leave school to support her brother and sister. Most of the villagers are suspicious of them.
Just MacBeth by Andy Griffiths
In 2008, Australia’s Bell Shakespeare Company commissioned humorous children’s writer Andy Griffiths to write a script for the company to perform as a children’s introduction to Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Just MacBeth is the resultant work, in print, illustrated by the equally funny artist Terry Denton.
Ghost with A Message by Mary K. Pershall
Ruby Clair is a girl who sees dead people. Well, the ghost of her cousin Nicola, anyway, plus any ghosts Nicola sends her way. Because she can see ghosts, Ruby can help them adjust.
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks
Catherine Jinks is one of the most versatile writers I know of. Historical fiction, SF, fantasy, thriller, ghost stories, children’s, YA, adult -- there are very genres she hasn’t set her pen to at one time or another.
Nibbling on Einstein’s Brain by Diane Swanson
Nibbling on Einstein’s Brain is a newly revised edition of a book that was initially published in 2001. This new edition is more-ish in every way: it’s longer, brighter and better realized, intended to provide children with a gentle foundation for scientific learning.
The Puzzle Ring by Kate Forsyth
The Puzzle Ring begins in Australia, where 13-year-old Hannah is living with her mother, Roz, a science teacher, but the action quickly moves to Scotland and stays there. Roz receives a letter from her missing husband’s grandmother, Belle, who pleads with her to return. Hannah finds out that her father was a Scottish lord, although the only money the family has now comes from tourist visitors.
Auslander by Paul Dowswell
A well-written novel that has interesting characters -- some based on real people -- and shows what it might have been like to live in wartime Germany, where children denounced parents, schoolmates spied on schoolmates and a word said to the wrong person could get you executed.
Worldshaker by Richard Harland
In an alternative universe, Worldshaker is one of a number of “juggernauts” which fly around the world with permanent residents. Due to something that happened in the mid-19th century, the timeline diverged from ours into a world in which the Victorian era never really ended. In the early 21st century, Queen Victoria the Third reigns aboard the flying ship Worldshaker, with her consort who changed his name to Albert when they married.
My Extraordinary Life and Death by Doug McLeod
Although Doug McLeod is best known as a television writer, when he has written books they have usually been for children or young adults.
Cicada Summer by Kate Constable
Kate Constable, the Tamora Pierce of Australian YA fantasy, is back after two mainstream YA novels for Allen and Unwin’s Girlfriend Fiction imprint. The Girlfriend books were good enough, but fantasy is what this author does best, so her return to the fantastical is very welcome.
White Cave Escape by Jennifer McGrath Kent
Like its predecessor, 2007’s Chocolate River Rescue, White Cave Escape is high drama for young readers: junior thrillers so gripping, even reluctant readers are swept along.
The Old Woman and the Hen by P.K. Page
Fans of the poet P.K. Page -- and I imagine there to be platoons of them -- will have to get their hands on a copy of The Old Woman and the Hen, a charming chapbook that would make a lovely gift, a sweet read to a child or even a nice self-indulgence for fans of 93-year-old Page.
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
There’s an almost crazy amount of charm in every inch of Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. It’s a children’s picture book intended for people three and up and -- somehow, as if by magic -- it is more than the sum of its parts.
Fate by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Between PC Cast and Stephanie Meyers, this a deliciously well followed part of “literature” these days. Barnes’ offering is not worse than many others and, in many ways, it’s quite a bit better.
Inferno by Robin Stevenson
Aside from being a name to watch in the world of young adult publishing, Robin Stevenson’s story is the type of overnight success that really is one. While on maternity leave from her job as a social worker and counselor in 2005, Stevenson began to write seriously. Four years later, she is the author of six books.
A World Full of Ghosts by Charis Cotter
A World Full of Ghosts comes this close to being a really terrific book. Certainly, the idea is a good one: a catalog of ghost stories from around the world.
The Gimlet Eye by James Roy
In this third installment of the spin-off of the popular Quentaris shared-world series, a character from the original series is actually killed off, something that doesn’t usually happen in shared universes. As it happens in the prologue, it’s no secret.
Loose Leashes by Amy and Ron Schmidt
The art in Loose Leashes is all photo-based. The kind of charming, carefully set up and almost painfully clear photographs of dogs very popular in the 1990s. The big difference here is that each photo is paired with a little poem -- one that rhymes -- that turns the photo into a story.
How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier
If you’ve only read this writer’s wonderful but grim “Magic Or Madness” trilogy, in which the heroine could choose to die young or go insane, you’re in for a surprise from the very, very funny How to Ditch Your Fairy.
The Devil’s Paintbox by Victoria McKernan
A wonderfully crafted story rich in historical detail: you can almost smell the saddle leather; feel the pangs of hunger and the sharp bites of fear. And not a fang or a wand in sight.
The Nest by Paul Jennings
Paul Jennings is best known as the author of quirky, over-the-top and often laugh-out-loud funny books, both short stories and very short novels for reluctant readers. This isn’t one of those.
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard
A story about ordinary people in an unexpected war.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
The fourth book in the highly successful kids’ series; however, it’s the third one your kids can read, since the previous book was a do-it-yourself diary. The series is about a kid named Greg who lives in a world of mischief.
The Diary of Laura’s Twin by Kathy Kacer
In The Diary of Laura’s Twin we meet Laura, a middle class Canadian Jewish girl about to do her bat mitzvah. She has already raised money for African charities and as far as she is concerned, she has done her bat mitzvah project.
See previous reviews of books for children -->
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