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Books
to Ring in the New Year
By Holly E. Newton
The
New Year brings books of past reflections and future aspirations.
I have compiled a list of books to celebrate the New Year as well
as some outstanding and unusual picture books from 2007.
These
next few books are great for all ages.
Click to
Buy
 The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming, by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon, is an informative book,
full of pertinent information that is also easy to understand.
It begins by explaining what global warming means and clarifies
what greenhouse gases are and how we can help. This may be
the book to help your child better understand and appreciate our
beautiful planet.
Click to
Buy
 Scholastic
annually publishes books at the close of each year about different
interesting subject matters that kids enjoy reading. They
include Book of World Records 2008, Sports Illustrated Kids:
Year in Sports, Book of Lists 2, Ripley Believe
it or Not: Special Edition 2008 and the latest
edition Every Minute on Earth: Fun Facts that Happen
Every 60 Seconds.
The
rest of the books are picture books to be enjoyed
by all. Here's my favorite of the
bunch — The Arrival, by Shaun Tan. This is a
most unusual picture book that is rich in imagination. The
fact that there are no words transcends
the pictorials into a mind-moving image that forces you to create
the story as if you are watching it on a screen.
This
story requires an active imagination as you place the events in
their sequence. It reminds me of Brian Selznick’s The Invention
of Hugo Cabret — only Selznick has a blend of words and wordless
pictures in his large book of fiction. The story of the journey
of an immigrant is well worth the view in its entire splendor.
Click to
Buy
 Living Color, written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins, is
an exploration of the animal world. Jenkins is a genius when
it comes to creating books about other species. In this book,
he’s color-coded the many different types
of animals so as you turn each page, a splash of brilliant color
covers the page. The animals represented in each color are
a variety of types. There’s more
information about each animal found in the back pages. This
book is a living wonder!
Click to
Buy
 The Crocodile Blues, written and illustrated
by Coleman Polhemus, is an extraordinary wordless picture book.
You see a man walking with his pet bird when he purchases an egg.
He takes the egg home and places it in his fridge. But he is awakened in the middle of the night by a cracking
sound that turns out to be the egg. This imaginative book,
with pages that open to extend the page will surprise you when you
discover what the egg becomes and how the story ends.
The Little Red Fish, written and illustrated
by Taeeun Yoo, is almost a wordless book. Many pages are without
text. But the words, at the beginning and end guide the reader through
an adventure in a red book at the library as a young boy searches
for his small red fish. All of the colors throughout are
muted in browns and grays except for the red fish and book.
Brilliant!
Click to
Buy
 Phooey!, written and illustrated by Marc Rosenthal,
is a clever story with only a few words about a boy who goes through
the entire book exclaiming how “nothing ever happens.”
But this funny story is full of action,
directly or indirectly, because of him and he is completely unaware
of it.
Me, All Alone at the End of the World, by M.T. Anderson, and
beautifully illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, has a young boy sitting
blissfully on a high cliff enjoying the solitary life amongst nature.
But it’s all about to change when a visionary professor begins
building an enormous amusement park and soliciting crowds.
Here’s a book that celebrates the beauty of quiet nature.
The Little Flower King, written and illustrated
by Kveta Pacovsky, is a most unique book
with Pacovskly’s flair of distinctive modern art. The
king has a passion for tulips and is planting bulbs wherever he
can. Suddenly decides he needs a
princess. The dazzling art fills each page with extraordinary
lines and shapes that will surely amaze you.
Castle on Hester Street, by Linda Heller, and
illustrated by Boris Kulikov, has Grandfather telling his young
granddaughter about the magical way his good friend, Moishe, arrived
to America from Russia. He rode on a golden wagon that flew
across the ocean. But when her grandmother tells the story, she corrects her
husband and tells of the hardships that they shared coming to America.
The beauty of the story is in the telling of the glory of freedom
even though it was very difficult to achieve. The illustrations
are glorious as well.
Scoop! An Exclusive by Monty Molenski, written and illustrated
by John Kelly and Cathy Tincknell, is a hilarious inside look at
the workings of a reporter. Monty is a mole and an ace reporter
wannabe that feels certain there are stories out there to be
told about monsters and aliens. When his editor tells
him to “bring me a proper story,” he reluctantly follows
his fellow reporters to a hotel where he isn’t
permitted. As he tries incessantly to enter, his camera inadvertently
flashes continually. At the end of the day, he feels like
a failure, but is completely surprised at the pictures as they become
developed. The layout of the text is unique and befitting
an office, and the observance to detail
in the painted illustrations is brilliant! So, read all about
it: uproarious, engaging and a terrific read-aloud!
The
next two books are perfect for younger children between ages three
and eight. 123: A Child’s First Counting Book, written
and illustrated by Alison Jay, is a book that can be fun for both
parent and child as they locate all of the amount of each item signified
by each number. The pictures are as bright and happy as the
smiling sun on the cover!
Meerkat Mail, written and illustrated by Emily Gravett, is
a delightful and inventive story about the wanderings in the desert
as Sunny the Meerkat visits his mongoose relatives. The snippets
of information and detail that surround the story are delightful.
And, there are flappable postcards found
throughout.
Click to
Buy
 And finally, anyone who adores
picture books will love Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators
Talk to Children About Their Art, edited by David Briggs,
Courtenay Palmer and Kiffin Steurer, and introduced by Eric Carle!
This incredible anthology of some of the best illustrators features
Robert Sabuda, Jerry Pinkney and Chris Van Allsburg as well as many
more. Foldout pages of the art of these outstanding illustrators
are beautifully displayed and are full
of rich variety.
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© 2007
Meridian Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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