CCBC Choices 2012 || Cooperative Children's Book Center
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CCBC Choices 2012 CCBC Choices 2012 Kathleen T. Horning Merri V. Lindgren Megan Schliesman with Carling Febry Cooperative Children’s Book Center School of Education University of Wisconsin–Madison Copyright ©2012, Friends of the CCBC, Inc. ISBN–10: 0–931641–22–5 ISBN–13: 978–0–931641–22–0 CCBC Choices 2012 was produced by the office of University Communications, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Cover design: Lois Ehlert This publication was created by librarians at the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Funding for the production and printing was provided by the Friends of the CCBC, Inc. For information, see the Appendices, or go to www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/. Contents Acknowledgments .............................................4 Introduction ..................................................5 Organization of CCBC Choices 2012 ..............................6 The Charlotte Zolotow Award ....................................8 Observations on Publishing in 2011 .............................10 The Choices The Natural World ........................................14 Seasons and Celebrations ....................................18 Folklore, Mythology, and Traditional Literature. 20 Historical People, Places, and Events ...........................23 Biography and Autobiography ................................30 Contemporary People, Places, and Events .......................34 Issues in Today’s World .....................................35 Understanding Oneself and Others ............................36 The Arts ................................................38 Poetry ..................................................42 Concept Books ...........................................46 Picture Books for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers ...............48 Picture Books for School-Age Children .........................62 Books for Beginning Readers .................................71 Books for Newly Independent Readers .........................72 Fiction for Children ........................................74 Fiction for Young Adults ....................................90 Appendices Appendix I: Checklist of Books in CCBC Choices 2012 ............112 Appendix II: About the CCBC ..............................118 Appendix III: About the Compilers ...........................119 Appendix IV: The Friends of the CCBC, Inc. ...................121 Friends Membership Form .................................122 Author/Illustrator/Title Index ..................................124 Subject Index ...............................................131 4 CCBC Choices 2012 Acknowledgments The Friends of the CCBC underwrites the publication of CCBC Choices each year, making Choices available free of charge to Wisconsin librarians, teachers, and others in the state. Thank you to the current Friends board of directors and Friends members in Wisconsin and beyond. (For more information about the Friends of the CCBC, and a Friends membership form, see Appendix IV.) Friends member, librarian, and former book editor Darcie Conner Johnston was our volunteer copy editor for the fourth year running. We greatly appreciate the hours she put in clarifying our prose when it was muddled. We value the comments and insights from participants in CCBC monthly book discussions, and on CCBC-Net, our online book discussion community. Thanks to the staff in the Creative Services Office of University Communications who work on Choices: Nancy Brower, Barry Roal Carlsen, and Kent Hamele. We also thank our student staff during 2011 and early 2012: Erin Augspurger, Katie Behrens, Maria Dietrich, Katlin Greene (2011), Wendy Hellwig (2011), Kristine Klopp (2011), Tina Ngo (2011), Mary Parsons, Eve Stano (2011), and Emily Townsend. They help keep the CCBC going! Finally, thanks to our families, who not only tolerate the many hours we must spend reading books at home, but are willing listeners when we come upon a title we just can’t wait to talk about. Kathleen T. Horning, Merri V. Lindgren, and Megan Schliesman CCBC Choices 2012 5 Introduction CCBC Choices is created by librarians at the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), a library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin– Madison (see Appendix II for more about the CCBC). The CCBC receives review copies of roughly 3,400 new books for children and young adults annually, including most of the trade books published in English by corporate publishers in the United States. Our goal in creating CCBC Choices is to highlight some of the outstanding titles published for children and young adults among the thousands we receive. Reading everything that comes into the library would be impossible, especially as most of the reading we do is after the work day ends. But every book is examined by a librarian, and many of them are subsequently read by one or more of us. Throughout the year we maintain a log where we note the titles we think are worthy of inclusion in our next best-of-the-year list. Sometimes, we’re all equally excited about a book. Sometimes, one of us needs convincing. Often, we have questions. We talk about those questions, along with our concerns, and differences of opinion. Ultimately, the books we agree on are the books that make it into CCBC Choices. We are often asked about our criteria for including a book in Choices. We don’t have a bulleted list of criteria we consider. But there are things each of us responds to as readers that inform our opinions and ultimately the selection of books that become Choices. We want to recommend books we are excited about. But what excites us? First and foremost, it’s literary and artistic quality: broad concepts that are not only somewhat subjective, but can mean different things in different types of books. A terrific picture book may feature a well-written, well-paced narrative and understated art that is perfectly matched to the story. A wonderful work of non- fiction is not only well-written, but well-organized, sharing information and, ideally, inspiring fascination. A notable novel may be quiet or raucous, funny or funereal. We are also looking for books that are accurate and authentic. Sometimes we find ourselves lamenting a stereotypical character, or a missing but essential piece of information in a book that we otherwise greatly appreciate. We often discuss questions of credibility, especially in works of fiction. If we have questions that we can’t answer but someone else can, we may seek out content reviews, especially with regard to the depiction of race, culture, and other dimensions of experience. We weigh other things as well. We may include a book because it offers unique or unusual content, especially when we know there is a need and interest in books on that topic based on our discussions with teachers, librarians, and others who work directly with children and teens. We also consider what we know about children and teens as readers. We can’t guarantee every book in this edition of Choices will be a hit with every child or every teen. But we can guarantee there is something for everyone here among the 246 titles we have chosen, books that showcase the incredible talent and creativity among authors and illustrators, and commitment among editors and publishers, to providing children and teens books that will engage, entertain, enlighten, and inspire. 6 CCBC Choices 2012 Organization of CCBC Choices 2012 The organization of the books in CCBC Choices into thematic and format categories has been developed over the years to help teachers, school and public librarians, and others who work with children quickly find books that meet their needs. We often make refinements from year to year in the organization, in part due to our ever-growing understanding of what our colleagues who work directly with children want and need, and in part to reflect the books we have chosen in a particular year. Books have been placed into one of the following thematic categories when appropriate: • The Natural World • Seasons and Celebrations • Historical People, Places, and Events • Contemporary People, Places, and Events • Issues in Today’s World • Understanding Oneself and Others • The Arts The remaining books have been placed into one of the following genre or format categories: • Folklore, Mythology, and Traditional Literature • Biography and Autobiography • Poetry • Concept Books • Picture Books for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers • Picture Books for School-Age Children • Books for Beginning Readers • Books for Newly Independent Readers • Fiction for Children • Fiction for Young Adults Picture books about people who actually lived have been placed in the Historical People, Places, and Events section or the Biography and Autobiography section. Novels set in the past have been placed in one of the Fiction categories. Graphic novels are assessed individually based on content and placed in the category that best suits each individual title. The subject index can be used to find books across all of the categories about specific topics and in specific genres and formats (“Graphic Novels,” “Historical Fiction,” “Fantasy,” etc.). Age Recommendations We provide suggested age ranges for each title. These are meant to be general guidelines based on appeal and age-appropriateness of the content. We know that some children and teens are ready for and will enjoy books recommended CCBC Choices 2012 Organization of CCBC Choices 2012 7 for older readers. Our suggested age recommendations cannot substitute for professional judgment and