M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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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