CCBC Choices 2011 CCBC Choices 2011 Carling Febry Kathleen T. Horning Merri V. Lindgren Megan Schliesman with Tana Elias Cooperative Children’s Book Center School of Education University of Wisconsin–Madison Copyright ©2011, Friends of the CCBC, Inc. ISBN–10: 0–931641–21–7 ISBN–13: 978–0–931641–21–3 CCBC Choices 2011 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 ofCCBC Choices 2011. 6 The Charlotte Zolotow Award. 8 Comments on Publishing in 2010 . 10 TheChoices The Natural World. 16 Seasons and Celebrations. 21 Folklore, Mythology, and Traditional Literature. 23 Historical People, Places, and Events. 25 Biography and Autobiography. 35 Contemporary People, Places, and Events. 39 Understanding Oneself and Others. 41 The Arts . 43 Poetry . 46 Concept Books . 48 Picture Books for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers. 49 Picture Books for School-Age Children. 60 Books for Beginning Readers. 69 Books for Newly Independent Readers. 71 Fiction for Children. 72 Fiction for Young Adults. 89 Appendices Appendix I: Checklist of Books in CCBC Choices 2011. 108 Appendix II: About the CCBC. 115 Appendix III: About the Compilers. 116 Appendix IV: The Friends of the CCBC, Inc./ Friends Membership Form . 119 Author/Title/Name Index. 122 Subject Index. 129 4 CCBC Choices 2011 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 and professional librarian Tana Elias has created the index for CCBC Choices as a volunteer since the 1995 edition. We thank her for her ongoing generosity in sharing her time and expertise with us and, more important, with users of Choices. Friends member and librarian Darcie Conner Johnston volunteered to copy edit much of the content of CCBC Choices 2011. She is now in her third year of bringing her sharp eye and great patience to this work. Thank you to the individuals with specialized interests and expertise who evaluated one or more books at our request: Shawn Brommer and Lilah Katcher. Participants in CCBC monthly book discussions in 2010, and in CCBC- Net, our online book discussion community, provided insight into a wide range of titles over the course of the year. Thank you to everyone who shared thoughts about books, whether in person or online. 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 terrific student staff during 2010 and early 2011: Gretchen Aiyangar (2010), Ashley Bieber (2010), Amanda Bolland (2010), Maria Dietrich, Katlin Greene, Wendy Hellwig, Darcie Conner Johnston (2010), Kristine Klopp, Katy Morgan (2010), Tina Ngo, Eve Stano (2011), Emily Townsend, Liz Tubman (2010), and Michelle Wyler (2010). Finally, we spend many hours at home reading books. We thank the adults and children with whom we live for their understanding, and also their willingness to listen when we can’t wait to talk about something we’ve read. Carling Febry, Kathleen T. Horning, Merri V. Lindgren, and Megan Schliesman CCBC Choices 2011 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 more than 3,000 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 3,000 or more we receive. In choosing titles, we look first and foremost at books that excite us because they are well-written, interesting, and engaging. We also consider the needs and reading interests of children and teenagers, drawing on our own experience and what we learn from librarians and teachers working directly with children and teens. We sometimes seek out content reviews or do additional research to determine whether a book that stands out to us for its literary qualities is also one that is accurate and authentic in its presentation of factual information or depiction of experience. Ultimately, selecting books for CCBC Choices is a highly subjective process. We often agree on titles to include. But sometimes we disagree. Choices is a reflection of the consensus we have reached. Once we finishCCBC Choices each year we always find a handful of additional titles we wish we’d included. We often learn about one or more of these books when we see them on other annual best-of-the-year lists offering perspectives on excellence in publishing. Despite these inevitable oversights, we believe the list we have compiled is a rich one. This edition of CCBC Choices features 240 books that give a sense of the depth, breadth, creativity, and insight to be found in publishing for children and teens today. We are thrilled to share them with you. Visit the CCBC’s web site at www.education.wisc.edu/books/choices.asp to find out how to obtain additional copies ofCCBC Choices 2011. 6 CCBC Choices 2011 Organization of CCBC Choices 2011 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 • 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 2011 Organization of CCBC Choices 2011 7 for older readers. Our suggested age recommendations cannot substitute for professional judgment and personal knowledge of individual readers, classrooms, and communities. There is considerable overlap of ages in the two picture book categories as well as in the fiction categories. Given the wide range of individual variation among readers, we encourage you to look through both age categories for each genre. For consistency of organization, we have divided the books as follows: • Picture Books for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers: younger age recommendation is three or younger (e.g., Ages 1–4, Ages 3–6) • Picture Books for School-Age Children: younger age recommendation is four or older (e.g., Ages 4–7, Ages 6–10) • Fiction for Children: younger age recommendation is 10 or younger (e.g., Ages 9–12, Ages 10–14) • Fiction for Young Adults: younger age recommendation is 11 or older (e.g., Ages 11–15, Age 13 and older) Publication Information All of the books in CCBC Choices have a 2010 publication date (a few may have 2009 copyright dates, but were not actually released until 2010). The citation for each book includes the current price and thirteen-digit international standard book number (ISBN) for any edition we were able to find in print in late 2010. Most of the books are available in hardcover trade editions. Some are also or only available in library editions with reinforced bindings. A few are only, or also, available in paperback. This information will be helpful when looking for the books in CCBC Choices at your public library, school library media center, or bookseller. 8 CCBC Choices 2011 The Charlotte Zolotow Award The Charlotte Zolotow Award is given annually to the author of the best picture book text published in the United States in the preceding year. Established in 1997, the award is named to honor the work of Charlotte Zolotow, a distinguished children’s literature editor for thirty-eight years with Harper Junior Books and an author of more than seventy picture stories, including such classic works as Mr.