Lisa’s July & Aug Picks
Welcome to the fall publishing session, which officially begins this month. In the next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting my month-by-month picks of the season, but first some not-to-be-missed July titles, followed by my picks for August.
JULY
How Rocket Learned to Read Balzar and Bray Ages 5+
A tiny yellow bird teaches a sweet fuzzy-faced doggy to read. Meet some new characters from the creative genius who brought us the developmentally perfect Duck and Goose. We hear it will be on the upcoming 8/15 NYT Picture Book best seller list at #4. No surprise.
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Clementine, Friend of the Week, Sara Pennypacker illustrated by Marla Frazee Hyperion, Ages 7+
This is the one that we have been waiting for, Clementine, the most irrepressible character since Ramona, is back. Will Clementine’s friend, Margaret come through for her or will we find out what friendship is really about?
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Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? My First Reader, Bill Jr Martin illustrated by Eric Carle Holt, Ages 5+
Did you know that this read-aloud classic was originally published as a beginning reader? Neither did I. Restored to the smaller trim size, with dramatic page turns, emergent readers will be amazed how quickly their reading skills pick up with this old favorite.
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Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Alvin Schwartz, illustrated by Brett Helquist Ages 8+
This is a reprint of short spooky tales just right for the re-telling. Newly refreshed covers by the artist who did Lemony Snicket will have these jumping off the shelf.
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School!: Adventures at the Harvey N. Trouble Elementary School, Kate McMullan and George Booth.Feiwell and Friends. Ages 8 and up
McMullan captures the humorous trials and tribulations of school aged children’s in this richly illustrated volume packed with puns.
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AUGUST — Picture Books and Young Readers
Bones: Skeletons and How They Work, written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins, Scholastic Ages 7 and up
Packed with facts and elegant cut paper illustrations, Jenkins lets us peer into the skeletal structure of a array of beings. He compares the human foot to the horse, the tiger, and the eagle. Turning the page of a human ribcage, we find a stunning gatefold of a six-foot-long python’s 200 pairs of ribs.
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Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy, Denise Fleming Holt, Ages 2 and up
Fleming’s dyed paper pulp painting glow in what is sure to be a bedtime classic.
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Brontorina, James Howe, illustrated by Randy Cecil, Candlewick
A dinosaur wants to dance, needs to dance, but is there a ballet studio big enough for her?
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The team that created On The Farm, an exquisitely illustrated volume of short poetry about domesticated animals, turn to their talents to animals from diverse wild habitats, including the savannah, the dense jungle and the snows of the arctic.
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AUGUST — Middle Grade
Ninth Ward, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Little Brown, Ages 10 and up
Twelve-year-old Lanesha survives the devastation of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Her mother died in childbirth and she was raised by aging Mama Ya-Ya. Not to be missed. It will be a Today Show “Al’s Book Club” pick.
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Three Black Swans, Caroline B. Cooney, RH Ages 12 and up
Cooney is a favorite of Bank Street’s middle school children since they discovered The Face on the Milk Carton. They are going to eat this one up, a suspenseful mystery of twins separated at birth. Or, are they more than twins?
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AUGUST — Young Adult
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins – Aug. 24, 2010
No one needs to be told to buy the final volume in the Hunger Games trilogy. The real question is “How many will be enough?” It’s a one-day laydown, so get those orders in, sign the paperwork so the library can circ the books on publication date.
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Glee: The Beginning: An Original Novel, Sophie Lowell, Poppy/Little Brown.
I read it the moment I got my hands on it; just right for a fangirl like me. We can look forward to five more, published twice a year (the next one, Glee: Foreign Exchange is coming in February).
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August 9th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Happy to find your post and signed up for newsletter. It’s interesting that you listed Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I believe that author was targeted as subversive by our embarrassing Texas School Board. That attitude inspired me to write a book for middle readers (still seeking publication, fingers crossed) about a group of children who reclaim the right to learn by confronting the community’s “blunt thinkers.” Wish it were not so true to life.