Booklist Online: Book Reviews from the American Library Association

Lynn: When PBS aired The National Parks: America’s Best Idea in September I was glued to the television. I had my popcorn and I sat for six glorious nights marveling at what I was seeing and hearing. In true librarian fashion, I had checked out a copy of the accompanying book ahead [...]

Lynn: Here in Michigan we have two glorious weeks left before the school bell rings the day after Labor Day. Many families are wedging in one more trip and we’d like to remind everyone of a terrific way to while away the miles, avoid squabbles and enjoy something together. Listen to an audio book! I [...]

Cindy: Oh, we’ve all seen the toddler in the grocery store having a melt down (usually in back of us when we are in a really long line). Or we, ourselves, have woken up and everything is just WRONG about the day. Elliott captures that drama perfectly in Finn Throws a Fit (Candlewick, 2009). Finn [...]

Cindy: Poetry and collage art combine for a colorful celebration of the seasons in Red Sings from Treetops (Houghton, 2009). What’s not to love? It’s summer, so I’ll focus there. A bright yellow sun fills half a page of a summer picnic on a dock.
 
 
In SUMMER,
White clinks in drinks.
Yellow melts
everything it touches….
smells like butter,
tastes like [...]

Cindy: Johannes Vermeer was a mysterious 17th century Dutch painter with only 34-36 existing paintings and very little known about his life and work. His painting, The Girl with the Pearl Earring, became the subject of a lauded adult novel by Tracy Chevalier. In The Vermeer Interviews (Millbrook, 2009), Bob Raczka attempts to ferret out [...]

Cindy: I’ve wanted to write about this book all spring, but kept rereading it and finding new treasures so I hadn’t handed it over to Lynn. Finally, the bright orioles feeding on my oranges on my deck rails prompted me to get moving on sharing this book. The Cuckoo’s Haiku (Candlewick, 2009) is a tribute [...]

Cindy & Lynn: Happy Mother’s Day! Mother Poems (Henry Holt, 2009) is an emotional journey through grief and healing after a young girl loses her mother too soon. To honor the extraordinary powers of mothers everywhere, we’d like to share the celebratory poem that accompanies Smith’s collage illustration seen on the [...]

Cindy: Joy exudes from Words to My Life’s Song (Atheneum, 2009). The sun shines on the front cover, the reader is embraced by Bryan’s welcoming arms, and each page is a glimpse of wonder amid splashes of color. In one storyline of this autobiography, readers are sauntering around Maine’s Cranberry Island, careful where they step [...]

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book by Eric Carle (Penguin, March 2009)
Lynn: It is more than a little soul shaking to relate that I first read the original Very Hungry Caterpillar in my college children’s lit class the year after it published. How can it be forty years ago? This book became a [...]

Lynn: Just two short weeks ago we were gleefully visiting the publisher booths at ALA Midwinter in Denver, looking hungrily at the wonderful new books on display. Many kind publishers noted our pitiful state and we eventually staggered to our hotel with armloads of galleys to ship home. The boxes arrived quickly and [...]