Kids New Title Radar, Week of Feb. 25
Coming next week, Geisel Honoree Pete the Cat gets a new life in two easy-to-read titles … move over Wimpy, Timmy the Failure is coming to town … and, surprise, a new entry in the YA dystopian genre, Dualed, debuts. The titles below and other highlights from next week are also available on our downloadable spreadsheet, Kids New Title Radar, Wk. of FEB 25
Picture Books
Rosie’s Magic Horse, Russell Hoban, illus. by Quentin Blake, (Candlewick)
Any title from the late Russell Hoban (Bedtime for Frances) is cause for celebration. This one is illustrated by the first British Children’s Laureate, Quentin Blake, best known for his drawings in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. It is featured in the NYT Children’s Books column this week, which notes that “The story is inventive from the very first pages, when it becomes apparent that the narrator is in fact a Popsicle stick.”
The Princess and the Peas, Caryl Hart, illus by Sarah Warburton, Candlewick/Nosy Crow
In a Suessian rhyme, Caryl Hart tells the tale of Lily-Rose May whose father is determined to find a way to get her to eat peas (a sampler is available here). It comes from the independent UK press, Nosy Crow, which began publishing in 2011 and formed a partnership with Candlewick shortly after.
Easy Readers
Pete the Cat: Pete’s Big Lunch
Pete the Cat: PlayBall!
both written and illus. by James Dean, (HarperCollins)
The Geisel committee nailed it this year by naming Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin, created and illustrated by James Dean, an Honor Book. Now the series is newly published in an easy-to-read format for beginning readers. Yea!
Middle Grade
Timmy Failure, written and illus by Stephan Pastis, (Candlewick)
Pastis (Pearls before Swine) brings his absurdist humor to the middle grade set in this first of the Timmy Failure series, Mistakes Were Made, a Wimpy Kid read-alike that gets a not-so-wimpy launch (the cover even sports a blurb by Jeff Kinney, “Timmy Failure is a winner!”)
The Runaway King, Jennifer A. Nielsen, (Scholastic; Scholastic Audio)
The first book in this series, The False Prince, was named a NYT Book Review and PW best book and is one of many YA and middle-grade series that has been optioned for a film.
Young Adult
Dualed, Elsie Chapman, (Random House Books for Young Readers; BOT Audio)
A new entry into the dystopian genre, which Kirkus says “kicks it up a notch.”PW calls it the “textual equivalent of a Quentin Tarantino movie,” but VOYA says, “Fans of the latest crop of speculative fiction, such as the Divergent trilogy, will want to read this imaginative tale.” Check out a sample of the BOT Audio.
Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Griffin)
YA debut by author of Attachments comes with 4 pre-pub starred reviews (Booklist, SLJ, Kirkus and PW, plus a 5 for quality and 4 for potential popluarity from VOYA). It’s a bitter-sweet story of the love between two misfits which clearly has charm, and strong crossover appeal, but some librarians on GalleyChat feared it would take selling to teens who might be put off by the ’80s’ setting and pop-culture references.
The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door, Karen Finneyfrock, (Penguin/Viking)
A debut about bullying that SLJ says, because of its “articulate, funny, and brave” main character, 14-year-old Celia Door, becomes “much more than a “problem novel.”
Also Known As, Robin Benway, (Walker Childrens; Brilliance Audio)
The author of the stunning debut YA novel, Audrey, Wait! (Penguin/Razorbill, 2008) returns with an over-the-top teen adventure.
The Goddess Inheritance, Aimée Carter, (Harlequin Teen)
For the girls who have aged out of Rick Riordan’s Gods of Olympus series, here is a supernatural romance series featuring the Greek gods and goddesses.
TV Tie-in
A Story of God and All of Us Young Readers Edition Mark Burnett, Roma Downey, (Hachette/Little, Brown YR)
This tie-in to The Bible, a ten-hour mini-series which begins airing on the History Channel on Sunday, March 3, is for children 10 and up. It retells Bible stories in a simple manner from creation, to the story of Noah to God’s covenant with Abraham continuing on to the life of Jesus. Contains a full-color insert with stills from the miniseries.