Yea!!!!! Scholastic announces they are re-launching the Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate in May.

In the series, five kids are given the power to morph into animal forms by alien beings. Applegate’s gift was to take have these stock series characters fight evil while vividly capturing each animal’s attributes (what kid, or adult for that matter, wouldn’t want to fly like a condor or swim like a dolphin?)

In my library, the copies are old, yellowed and ratty (they were published between 1996 and 2001). I would have tossed them years ago if our kids weren’t still taking them out.

Back in October, the NYT ran an article that made me crazy. If you’re not familiar with it, the title alone indicates why; “Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children.”

The article asserted that picture books are in a decline and that a major factor is parents, who want to push their kids into reading chapter books. I wrote a rebuttal, explaining why picture books are still important for children; thanks to all of you who chimed in.

This week, Publishers Weekly‘s cover story carries a headline we can all toast, “Don’t Write the Obit For Picture Books Yet.” It also presents encouraging stats that refute that NYT‘s basic premise,

“The evidence: BookScan figures show that last year, picture books represented 10.8% of the overall children’s market—virtually the same as in 2005, when they represented 10.7%.”

The article goes on to quote publishers’ views of the market (definitely not declining) and gives an insightful look at the history of children’s book publishing and retailing. Great reading for the holidays!

We’ve just added the NYT Book Review‘s Notable Children’s Books to our spreadsheet of the children’s best books selections from the national review media.

Also, we’ve added age ranges for each title.

We will continue updating the spreadsheet as new picks arrive. You can always find the latest version, to the right, under Best Books ’10, Childrens Best, Collated (Downloadable Spreadsheet). If you have any trouble downloading it, or have any suggestions for making it more useful, email me.

Thanks for you enthusiastic response — we’ve had nearly 1.300 downloads of the spreadsheet since we put it up yesterday.

We want to give books this holiday season. We want to give books because we want to share the joy of perfectly written, joyous-to-read-aloud picture books. We want to give books because childhood memories are made when we settle into the big armchair and share the adventures of a fearless mouse (The Tale of Despereaux). We want to give books because we want to be the ONE who introduced that seven-year-old to Clementine.

Specifically, I want to be the cool godmother who slipped a teen Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You. I also want to be the goddess who gave the perfect book to the kid who “doesn’t read.” I also want to give books because I want to support the “content providers.” I want my gift giving money to go to children’s book writers and artists.

Out of the thousands of new children’s books published this year, which ones will make the perfect gift?

Allow me; making the match is the most exciting moment for the children’s librarian or bookseller.

Lisa Von Drasek’s Annual Best Books to Give to Kids When You Have No Idea What to Get Them Because:

• You Don’t Know Them Very Well

• They’ve Read Everything

The following recommendations are sorted by age of recipient and topic.

Best New Baby

Perfect Piggies! Book and Plush Set Sandra Boynton Retail Price: $16.95 Hardcover: 24 pages Publisher: Workman Publishing Company – (2010-11-15) ISBN / EAN: 0761162305 / 9780761162308

(Ages 6 months and up)

From the genius who created Moo Baa La La La, a delicious bebop board book rhyming romp of buoyant pink piggies paired with a cuddly soft stuffed toy.

Best New Sibling

Pecan Pie Baby Jacqueline Woodson Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Putnam Juvenile – (2010-10-28) ISBN / EAN: 0399239871 / 9780399239878

(Ages 3 and up)
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There’s Going to Be a Baby John Burningham Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: Candlewick – (2010-09-14) ISBN / EAN: 0763649074 / 9780763649074

(Ages 4 and up)

Is there an older sibling? Time to emphasize that the older brother and/or sisters are big, smart, and fabulous. Both of these give a humorous take on the uncertainty and terror that the impending infant can instill in the first child. No sugar coating and plenty of fun.

Best Concept Book

One Blue Fish: A Colorful Counting Book Charles Reasoner Retail Price: $9.99 Hardcover: 26 pages Publisher: Little Simon – (2010-07-20) ISBN / EAN: 1416996729 / 9781416996729

(Ages 2 and up)

The biggest, fattest, bluest number one stands out sharply out from a background of solid yellow. Lift the page and underneath swims a fish with scales in tones of blue that range from sky to gray to almost purple. We count the sets of animals up to ten yellow ducks. No reason not to count right back down again.

Best Picture Books of the Year

Animal Crackers Fly the Coop Kevin O’Malley Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers – (2010-04-13) ISBN / EAN: 0802798373 / 9780802798374

(Ages 5 and up)

In this punny retelling of the Brementown Musicians, the chicken (a pint-sized Henny Youngman…get it?) leaves the farm to become a comedian and avoid getting cooked on “Fry-day.” Along the road she picks up the usual suspects; an unwanted dog, a cat who would rather sing than catch mice, and a cow with jokes on the brain, all done in detailed pen-and-ink illustrations with color wash.

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The Quiet Book Deborah Underwood Retail Price: $12.95 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children – (2010-04-12) ISBN / EAN: 0547215673 / 9780547215679

(Ages 4 and up)

A cohort of cuddly critters, softly rendered in pencil sketches demonstrate the various forms of quiet,  from “First one awake” to “Don’t scare the robin” quiet. As we read between the lines with hints from the illustrations, big feelings of embarrassment, sadness and joy emerge in the telling.

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My Garden Kevin Henkes Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Greenwillow Books – (2010-02-23) ISBN / EAN: 0061715174 / 9780061715174

(Ages 4 and up)

It may seem strange to recommend a summery garden book in the dead of winter but I would be remiss not to recommend one of the best books of the year in a gift-giving round-up. Caldecott-winning picture book creator, Henkes begins the story subtly with a little girl helping her mother in the garden then takes off in a flight of fancy as the child imagines if this was her garden, the flowers would re-appear instantly after being picked… there would be no rabbits eating the crops because the rabbits would be chocolate and she would eat them!

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The Rabbit Problem Emily Gravett Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing – (2010-11-02) ISBN / EAN: 1442412550 / 9781442412552

(Ages 6 and up)

Is there a really smart six-year old in your life? One who takes joy in teasing out puzzles or figuring out logic problems? This is THE book. Gravett in the form of a monthly calendar graphically renders the Fibonacci problem “If a pair of baby rabbits are put in a field, how many pairs will there be: a) at the end of each month? b) After one year?“ We follow the progress of January’s one lonely rabbit through the humorous interactive lift-the-flap, pop-up pages, containing February’s knitting pattern for a lovely striped hoodie to a very crowded December that explodes rabbits off the page.

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A Pig Parade Is a Terrible Idea Michael Ian Black Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing – (2010-09-07) ISBN / EAN: 1416979220 / 9781416979227

(Ages 6 and up)

Do you know a family with a snarky sense of humor? One with a fine appreciation of the absurd?  The deadpan narrator assures us that although we may think a parade made up of a lot of pigs would be a lot of fun; it is assuredly a bad idea. Perhaps we were not aware that pigs do not want to wear snappy uniforms, tend to shuffle rather than march and do not appreciate rousing marching tunes, preferring sad country ballads. Oh, and the only floats pigs would enjoy are the ones with root beer and ice cream. Artist Hawkes conjures up cute cartoony pigs as well as realistically rendered decidedly sticky ones for our enlightenment.

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How Rocket Learned to Read Tad Hills Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Schwartz & Wade – (2010-07-27) ISBN / EAN: 0375858997 / 9780375858994

(Ages 5 and up)

Rocket, a spotted fuzzy dog had no interest in reading until a tiny yellow bird flew into his life. She read aloud to him, taught him the glories of the “wondrous, mighty, gorgeous alphabet” and how to spell words like grrrr and whoosh. The passage of time as fall turns to winter is exquisitely portrayed as the bird leaves for the winter and Rocket practices what he had learned.

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Clever Jack Takes the Cake Candace Fleming Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Schwartz & Wade – (2010-08-24) ISBN / EAN: 0375849793 / 9780375849794

(Ages 5 and up)

Jack has been invited to the Princess’s birthday party. Although he is poor, he uses his wits to gather the resources to make her present, a two-layer cake with candles and a ripe succulent strawberry. On the way to the festivities he encounters aggressive blackbirds, an ogre at a toll bridge and a greedy bear, all who whittle away the cake. What will the princess think if he arrives empty-handed?

The Perfect Teacher Present

Miss Brooks Loves Books (And I Don’t) Barbara Bottner Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers – (2010-03-09) ISBN / EAN: 0375846824 / 9780375846823

(Ages 5 and up)

An overly enthusiastic school librarian oppresses our droll narrator. To make matters worse the student must select a book to present for Book Week. “I ask my mother if we can move to a new town. My mother says there’s a librarian in every town. I ask if she wants to do my assignment for me. ‘I’ve already been to first grade,’ says my mother.” It’s a pitch perfect read aloud.

Best Information Books

Bones Steve Jenkins Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: Scholastic Reference – (2010-08-01) ISBN / EAN: 0545046513 / 9780545046510

(Ages 5 and up)

Jenkins cut-paper collage art never ceases to amaze. Here he looks at bones… animal bones, mammal bones, bird bones and frog bones. Fact-filled and endlessly fascinating; did you know that there are 206 bones in the adult human body? That a stork has thin, hollow bones to make to light enough to fly? That bugs have their skeletons on the outside, an exoskeleton?

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Animal Pop!: With 5 Incredible, Life Size Fold-outs (In Your Face) National Geographic Retail Price: $14.95 Hardcover: 20 pages Publisher: National Geographic Children’s Books – (2010-10-26) ISBN / EAN: 1426307160 / 9781426307164

(Ages 4 and up)

This is the book for the kid that is crazy about animals. Here is a perfect compendium of facts and photographs about tigers, dolphins, turtles woves and pandas to peruse. The animal profiles contain thumbnail sketches that show where they live, what they eat as well as some snapshots of typical development or how they communicate. AND……a stunning pop-up life-size photograph of the animal.

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The Sounds of Star Wars J.W. Rinzler Retail Price: $60.00 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Chronicle Books – (2010-09-01) ISBN / EAN: 0811875466 / 9780811875462

(All Ages)

Yes this is the most unexpected pick of the list.  Rinzler was the sound engineer for the Star Wars movies. In this oversized encyclopedic volume, he describes how the movie’s sounds were crated. Press 003 on the digital audio box to hear the robot’s voice, the sound of the light sabers, and the “growls” of baby Emma that became the basis for sound of the Sando aqua monster.  Over three hundred pages of movie stills and archival photos, 256 sound bites; the perfect gift for the geek in all of us.

Best Easy Readers

Bink and Gollie (Junior Library Guild Selection (Candlewick Press)) Kate DiCamillo, Alison McGhee Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 96 pages Publisher: Candlewick – (2010-09-14) ISBN / EAN: 076363266X / 9780763632663

(Ages 6 and up)

Two best friends, one short, one tall, one impulsive, one deliberate are introduced in this limited language chapter book. I could try but nobody says it better than Sarah Ellis in the New York Times Book Review.

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Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! Grace Lin Retail Price: $14.99 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2010-07-01) ISBN / EAN: 031602452X / 9780316024525

(Ages 6 and up)

These identical twin sisters are not so identical since Ling sneezed during a haircut. Newbery Honor author, Lin, presents two distinct girls with different strengths, likes and dislikes in a brightly colored early chapter book.

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Cat the Cat, Who Is That? Mo Willems Retail Price: $10.99 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Balzer + Bray – (2010-02-16) ISBN / EAN: 0061728403 / 9780061728402

(Ages 4 and up)

From the author of the award-winning Elephant and Piggie and the Knuffle Bunny series, a new cast of characters is introduced in the simplest of language for our brand new reader buddies. The repetitious language, quiet humor and plots that turn on early childhood issues make these instant classics. Give the whole set.

Best Early Chapter Book

Lulu and the Brontosaurus (Junior Library Guild Selection (Atheneum)) Judith Viorst Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 128 pages Publisher: Atheneum – (2010-09-14) ISBN / EAN: 1416999612 / 9781416999614

(Ages 5 and up)

“There once was a girl named Lulu, and she was a pain. She wasn’t a pain in the elbow. She wasn’t a pain in the knee. She was a pain – a very big pain – in the b u t t.”

Viorst’s entertaining storyteller voice paired with Smith’s humorous pencil sketches, packaged in an old-fashioned cloth bound irregularly shaped vertical volume, give us a story that begs to be read aloud. Every child will recognize Lulu who gets what she wants, when she wants or throws a fit and then gets what she wants. We heave a sigh of relief when she gets her comeuppance in a most unexpected way.

Best Graphic Novels

The Little Prince Graphic Novel Antoine de Saint-Exupery Retail Price: $19.99 Hardcover: 112 pages Publisher: HMH Books – (2010-10-18) ISBN / EAN: 0547338023 / 9780547338026

(Ages 9 and up)

Better known to kids for his Little Vampire series, Joann Sfar tackles adapting this beloved classic of the downed pilot and his mysterious friend, a small boy from another planet who tells tales of his travels. This illustrated edition perfectly captures the tone of the original as well as illuminating the characters such as the dashing pilot, the selfish rose and the geographer with no interest in exploration.

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Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword Barry Deutsch Retail Price: $15.95 Hardcover: 144 pages Publisher: Amulet Books – (2010-11-01) ISBN / EAN: 0810984229 / 9780810984226

(Ages 10 and up)

“Yet another Troll-Fighting 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish Girl” says the tag line and basically that’s all you need to know. Part fairytale, part fantasy/quest tale unusually set in an observant family, we know immediately that Mirka is not like all the other girls at school. Due to a complicated set of mishaps, our protagonist finds herself stalked by a pig, hounded by a bully and enthralled by the prospect of fulfilling a greater destiny. Nothing is as it seems in this compelling volume, the first of the series.

Best Books for the Kids who love Diary of a Wimpy Kid

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda Tom Angleberger Retail Price: $12.95 Hardcover: 160 pages Publisher: Amulet Books – (2010-03-01) ISBN / EAN: 0810984253 / 9780810984257

(Ages 10 and up)

The story unfolds as individual students in alternating chapters relate the mysterious ability of a folded paper finger puppet named Yoda to give sage advice to a class of sixth graders. Not the usual school story of friendship, bullies, and first girlfriends told in journal entries, cartoons, and doodles.

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Finn Reeder, Flu Fighter: How I Survived a Worldwide Pandemic, the School Bully, and the Craziest Game of Dodge Ball Ever Eric Stevens Retail Price: $9.99 Hardcover: 80 pages Publisher: Stone Arch Books – (2010-01-15) ISBN / EAN: 1434225623 / 9781434225627

(Ages 9 and up)

The non-event of the swine flu epidemic seems long ago, but this extremely funny story of a kid whose teachers, friends and family begin dropping like flies is perfect for the kid who has run out of Wimpy Kid books and refuses to touch anything else. Gross humor abounds as Finn becomes the last kid standing.

Best Novels for the Kid Who Reads Everything

Out of My Mind Sharon M. Draper Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Atheneum – (2010-03-09) ISBN / EAN: 141697170X / 9781416971702

(Ages 10 and up)

Imagine if you had no control of your body, that although you had plenty to say about almost everything, all anyone heard is grunts and groans. We hear Melody’s voice in her head as she navigates the world of typical students and finds a way to let everyone know what is inside her mind.

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One Crazy Summer Rita Williams-garcia Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Amistad – (2010-02-01) ISBN / EAN: 0060760885 / 9780060760885

(Ages 10 and up)

It was the summer of the Black Panthers, when three sisters are shipped west to spend time with the mother who abandoned them when the youngest was still an infant. Delphine, only eleven, is charged with being responsible for the younger two as their mother continues to neglect their care. Should she call her dad? Will her mother ever BE a mother?

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The Search for WondLa Tony DiTerlizzi Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 496 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing – (2010-09-21) ISBN / EAN: 1416983104 / 9781416983101

(Ages 10 and up)

For the kids who loved Harry Potter and the The Lightning Thief, comes this excitingly original fantasy quest tale of a little girl, Eva Nine who was raised in an underground residence with only the company of a many-armed robot caretaker named Muthr. Abundantly illustrated with obvious references to Baum’s Wizard of Oz, readers can delight in sinking into a whole new world filled with magical creatures, heart stopping adventure scenes and sly embedded humor.

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A Tale Dark and Grimm Adam Gidwitz Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 192 pages Publisher: Dutton Juvenile – (2010-10-28) ISBN / EAN: 0525423346 / 9780525423348

(Ages 10 and up)

This would be the under-the-radar book. Who is this book for? For the kid ready to graduate from Goose Bumps, for the kid who wants a really scary book, for the kid looking for action but also for the thoughtful kid. This book is a well-crafted retelling of classic (read bloody, gory, not-cleaned-up, not Disney) Grimm’s Tales with the construct that Hansel and Gretel were actually the main characters of all the stories. Gidwitz knows his tales and provides pitch perfect pacing. We can imagine him as the charming narrator reminding us again and again to take the little ones out of the room. Follow that advice.

Best Novels for 12 and Up

Fever Crumb Philip Reeve Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Scholastic Press – (2010-04-01) ISBN / EAN: 0545207193 / 9780545207195

For the young adults who have already gobbled up the Hunger Games series, a new fantasy adventure set in an alternative London. Reeve, a pioneer of the Steam Punk genre presents Fever Crumb, who is the only female member of the Order of Engineers. Fever’s past is a mystery and her future is in jeopardy as she tries to survive in the dangerous streets. e are pleasantly surprised when at the very end this fast-paced tale is revealed as a prequel to the Hungry City Quartet (HarperCollins).

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Revolution Jennifer Donnelly Retail Price: $18.99 Hardcover: 496 pages Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers – (2010-10-12) ISBN / EAN: 0385737637 / 9780385737630

For those supernatural romantics, here is one just for them.

Donnelly, whose previous novel was the critically acclaimed and award winning A Northern Light, weaves the popular culture of present day Brooklyn Heights with the terror of Paris during the French Revolution.  Part mystery, part romance and part fantasy, we witness Andy Alpers is a high school senior as she is breaking down, not just because of her mother’s erratic behavior but also in response to her younger brother’s death. She is going to be kicked out of her competitive private school if she doesn’t complete her senior project (which she hasn’t even started). Can it get worse? Her father arrives to intervene and forces her to relocate to Paris. Can she make her escape? Does she really want to?

YA — Contemporary Angst/Humor

Will Grayson, Will Grayson John Green, David Levithan Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Dutton Juvenile – (2010-04-06) ISBN / EAN: 0525421580 / 9780525421580

The co-authors have written a coming of age novel in the voices of two high-school students who meet accidently and coincidentally have the same name. This is as much a book about friendship as it is about finding one’s place in the world. What does it mean to acknowledge and support a friend who is gay? And of course there is a musical.

Final Next Installment of a Series

A Conspiracy of Kings Megan Whalen Turner Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Greenwillow Books – (2010-03-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061870935 / 9780061870934

(Ages 12 and up)

While every one was going crazy over Mockingjay, I was relishing the final (UPDATE: Good news! It’s been pointed out that is is NOT the final installment. The author herself said in an interview that  she’s planning two more books in the series. Thanks for the link, Susan Cassidy) in The Queen’s Thief series, set in a fantasy kingdom built of palace intrigue, mistaken identities and romance. The first, The Thief, was a Newbery Honor. This volume is just as satisfying as the previous three.

Following the opening of HP and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 this Friday, two major children’s movies arrive to help fill family holiday time.

Tangled, based on Rapunzel, opens next week, 11/24. Several clips are available on the official Web site. Disney Books for Young Readers is doing several tie-ins.

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A new trailer for the next movie in the Chronicles of Narnia just appeared on the Web (official web site, Narnia.com). The movie arrives on 12/10.

HarperCollins Childrens is releasing the tie-ins.

The discussion about the price of picture books rages on. In response to my defense of current prices on a cost-per-use basis, one person replied,

Yes, books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar may get read over and over again to a child, providing hours of entertainment for a reasonable price. But a parent might just as easily spend the $20 on a book that their child has no interest in whatsoever. Perhaps they’ll sit through one read if you’re lucky, but still you’ve just spent that $20.

Yes, librarians and other knowledgeable advisers can steer a parent towards more likely contenders, but even in those cases the book may not appeal to your child. There are probably some kids out there in the world who won’t like that Caterpillar (though I find it hard to believe!) and thus each purchase becomes a riskier proposition for a parent.

Playing picture book roulette when buying for a kid is asking for heartache. Fortunately, you don’t have to resort to that. Good children’s librarians know what to recommend because they actually read the books.

A grown-up who wants a book on spiders can just be directed to the spider book section to pick for himself, but a children’s librarian needs to conduct an interview. First we judge development; “What is the child reading right now?” Then, we probe a little further…

• “Do you want a story about spiders?” (The Very Busy Spider, by Eric Carle, or Charlie and Lola, I’m Just Not Keen on Spiders, by Lauren Child).

• “An Information book about spiders?” (Nic Bishop’s Spiders).

• “How well can the child read, or will a grown-up be sharing the book with her?”  (Tarantula Scientist in the The Scientists in the Field series).

My go-to for recommendations that I trust (and that that parents and teachers can access) is The Cooperative Children’s Book Center, (CCBC). It offers well thought-out, current, diverse, developmentally appropriate recommendations. My favorite list is Ten Author’s Every Childcare Provider Should Know.

In addition, I also regularly refer to these resources:

• The Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street, is now in its 100th year of selecting the Best Books of the Year (PDF’s by age group are available free online. It is also available at the same site in book form).

• ALA/ALSC Notable Books for Children

• Best Science Books of the Year

What are your recommended children’s book lists or awards that I should be looking at?

Picture books were dissed by the daily NYT recently (“Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children“), but the NYT Book Review clearly still believes in their importance. The 48th annual “Best Illustrated Children’s Book of 2010” is featured in the current issue. Many other picture books get attention in the special Children’s Books section (including a piece by EarlyWord Kid’s writer, Lisa Von Drasek on “Absurd Picture Books“).

Commenting on the Best Illustrated selections, Lisa says,

I am pleased, delighted and surprised that Bink And Golly by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee is on the list. I can’t remember an easy-to-read book making the list before. By definition, these books usually have very literal illustrations that do not reach “best illustrated” heights. I have adored that book since I first read it standing in a booth at ALA. The art, by Tony Fucile, is sweet, stunning and as the kids say…”the pictures go with the words” It is this kind of easy-to-read book all publishers should strive for…a limited language book that respects kids. It presents big ideas about friendship with art that not only illuminates the story but goes further (check out the one that shows Fred, the goldfish, in a barely visible in a frozen pond).

The book is also reviewed in the issue.

Bink and Gollie (Junior Library Guild Selection) Kate DiCamillo, Alison McGhee Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 96 pages Publisher: Candlewick – (2010-09-14) ISBN / EAN: 076363266X / 9780763632663

After my rebuttal on the merits of picture books, I received this comment from a famous best-selling author by email,

Our publisher pals need to re-think ….the high prices they are charging…$18 for a book when you are struggling to keep/find a job is impossible.

The esteemed young adult author, Marc Aronson stated recently on CCBC_Net listserv (available only to subscribers), that these “books are so slim they disappear, a parent faces a relatively high cost (say $16) for a relatively short immersion experience (32, 40, 48 pages plus the effort the parent puts into engaging the child spread by spread).”

WHAT?!!!!!

Consider the Return on Investment

Rounding up, let’s say a hardcover picture book is twenty dollars. Let’s consider The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In many households, it is read every night for four months, or 120 hours. This experience is seventeen cents a reading.

“Plus the effort the parent puts in engaging the child spread by spread.” Is Marc Aronson looking for a fight? That “effort” is bonding with a young child, that “effort” is building early literacy skills, that “effort” will pay off in untold dividends in a stronger vocabulary, ability to track cause and effect, and create the beginning of the understanding that one can derive enormous enjoyment from the words on a page. Let’s add to this – shared meaning and fun.

A child who is having a whiny moment can be reminded of Llama, llama Red Pajama. A child inappropriately seeking attention can be distracted with a story on a bus or a train. Whether in hard copy, on a Nook or an iPad, a picture book can save a restaurant meal from a too hungry, too tired child meltdown.

Need a study?

“Children’s Access to Print Material and Education-Related Outcomes,”  says that not having access to print materials  (i.e., books) in the home is detrimental to a child’s ability to succeed in the elementary school years.

Want to talk money?

Let’s compare to other monetary wants of childhood…

• The DVD of a new movie, $30.
• New cool electronic hamsters, $15 dollars a piece, collect them all! Accessories, $20 a set.
• A dancing Micky Mouse $93
• PlayScool Alphie, $45.
• Can a parent leave a movie theater or museum less than $40 lighter in the wallet?
• One dinner at McDonalds for a family of four?

Where is your $16 to $18 going? We can agree that the artist and the writer should get paid. How about the art director who created the object? The editor who discovered, nurtured the writer and championed the book? The publisher who produced the books, balanced the books, and kept things on schedule? The marketing people who had to shine a light on THIS book in a crowded market, let librarians, booksellers, and parents know about this fabulous new illustrator?

Mr. Aronson also suggests some ways to get books in the hands of parents and children for less money (for instance, creating subscription plans). Let’s not reinvent the wheel. There is a way. Paperback. The top selling paperback picture books on Amazon are  $6.00 and $7.00. Scholastic Book Clubs distribute through classrooms and sell paperbacks at affordable prices. REading is Fundamental gives books away (www.rif.org).

Is there a place where a parent can go for expert advice on picture books for their child? A community center where professionals have selected the best of what is available and share this knowledge freely with anyone who walks through the door? A place where parents can borrow books read to their children?

Oh, right — THE LIBRARY.

How much will borrowing a pile of picture books cost? Nothing, nada (admittedly, that’s not really true. Tax dollars paid for them and for that expert). If the books for children in your local library are ratty and old, use your voice to demand a children’s librarian who is knowledgeable, to raise funds for new books.

Going without picture books is not an option. The loss to a child of not sitting with a parent or older sibling, turning those thirty-two pages, poring over the art, repeating joyfully those juicy words, cannot be replaced.

A week of Starbucks’ Lattes — $24.50

The cost of a Michael Jordan sneaker? — Seriously.

Snuggling with a five-year-old, laughing over John Scieszka’s Truckery Rhymes?

Priceless.

We had a fabulous day discussing children’s books at BookFest@Bank Street. It began with Leonard Marcus exploring the work of Margaret Wise Brown. Diane Muldrow, editor at Golden Books, focused her talk on the lyricism and preciseness of MWB’s word choices and the reasons re-illustrators are chosen for new editions of some of her titles. Wendell Minor showed his sketches and finished paintings along with the originals of Nibble Nibble. Stephen Savage took us through the journey of the manuscript of Fathers are Coming Home from its contract in 1943 to its finally being published in 2010. He showed slides of the evolution of the illustrations from simple sketches to the final linoleum block printed art.

The keynote from Laurie Halse Anderson was a thought-provoking sprint through American history focusing on the Revolution, the founding fathers and her research through secondary and primary sources, in order to anchor her book, Forge, the sequel to Chains. Below is video of her talk, shot by School Library Journal.

BookFest at Bank Street 2010: Laurie Halse Anderson from School Library Journal on Vimeo.

Lastly, the irrepressible Jon Scieszka partnered with his protege Mac Barnett and accompanied by a slyly deadpan David Yoo, implored the audience of librarians, teachers and writers to inspire boys to read by providing high interest materials. They specifically advocated humor, but they were supportive of weapons, hunting and perhaps graphic bloody imagery (mostly they were kidding, I think).

More videos from the day are available at School Library Journal‘s web site.

Featured on the front page of the Huffington Post Books section today is a stirring rebuttal of the NYT piece that claims childrens picture books are on the decline; Children’s Librarian Says Picture Books Still Thrive.

Hey, wait a minute — I think we know the author.

The buzz you heard over the weekend came from children’s librarians on the listservs, infuriated by Friday’s NYT article, “Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children.” According to the article, parents are pushing their preschoolers and early elementary children into “chapter books.” As a result, new picture books “languish on the shelves,” so publishers are releasing fewer titles.

As I read the article, I was steaming. Maybe there are other reasons for fewer titles;

• Could it be that there was a glut of picture books over the last ten years and this pulling back is a sane course correction?

• Could it be that, because of the economic downturn in the last few years, publishing has downsized?

• Could it be that public libraries have lost funding, certified school librarians across the country are being laid off and that is a large part of  the market for hardcover new picture books?

• Could it be that conservative communities don’t want books with witches or scary tales resulting in fewer fairytales and folktales?

The article only looks at bookstores. Do library circ numbers reflect a fall off in picture books? It seems not; Joann Jonas of the San Diego County Library system says that “picture books carry our circulation. We budget or funds accordingly.” Sno-Isle (WA) PL reports on their collection development staff blog,

Picture books are not dying out in Sno-Isle Libraries. Our picture book collection is allotted 32% of the overall Juvenile Book budget and circulation figures show that 777,489  picture books were checked out in the first nine months of 2010.

But what about parents snatching picture books from tiny hands and forcing “chapter books” on children barely old enough to decode the words?

Those parents overlook what picture books can do for young minds. Think of Jon Scieszka’s perennial favorite The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by A. Wolf (Viking Childrens, 1989) with its sophisticated unreliable narrator. To enjoy and understand this story, kids need to know the classic Three Little Pigs, they need to comprehend the lying language of Alexander T. Wolf, and have the visual literacy to peruse Lane Smith’s collage art for contradicting evidence of the verbal story. These critical thinking skills are strengthened through reading and rereading picture books.

The hundreds of comments on the listservs lay out salient points for librarians confronted with parents who think their kids are “too old” for picture books. I have tried to distill them below;

• The text of picture books is often written at a higher reading level. Children need to hear this higher vocabulary to acquire language before they can read it.

• The pictures give children practice in visual literacy. Excellent picture books are ones that you can go back to again and again, discovering something new every time.

• Early series chapter books are great for reading practice but their vocabulary and sentence structure are simplistic and their plots formulaic.

• Picture books provide self recognition; think of the work of Ezra Jack Keats, Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems, and Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret-Chodos-Irvine

• Picture books help negotiate emotional milestones, think Robie Harris’s Mail Harry to the Moon.

• Picture books for older children give a window into history, cultures and communities  other than our own with sophisticated artistic representation. Let’s look at just one artist, Gregory Christie, Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, Only Passing Through: The Story if Sojourner Truth, and the joyful, exuberant, juicy language-filled Yesterday I had the Blues.

• Rhythm, rhyme, and repetition of early  picture books support the learning of reading skills like phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension and fluency.

• Reading picture books does not exclude reading aloud fabulous chapter books like My Father’s Dragon and Ramona the Brave.

My charge to readers — Copy the NYT article and post it along with my rebuttal. Pull the best of your picture book collection for display and label with cards or standees or bookmarks what skills children are gaining by sharing these books with their parents, caregivers and teachers. Do the same on your website or blog. School librarians, rally around the teachers who are using picture books in the classrooms. Continue to buy these books for your collection; if we don’t support these artists and writers, there may come a time when the pickings are slim.

PS. Check out this list of fabulous picture books to read aloud, selected by Bank Street College of Education’s School for Children 1st through 4th graders and almost 2,000 students from our cooperating schools

How do you appeal to kids? John Muth tells Scott Simon on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday that you don’t talk down to them; “children are as completely capable of intuiting wisdom as adults are.”

The third book in his series about Stillwater, the Zen Buddhist panda, Zen Ghosts, came out last month. All the books in the series rose on Amazon sales rankings as a result of the NPR feature.

In addition to the interview, you can hear Scott Simon read one of Stillwater’s stories on the NPR site.

Zen Ghosts Jon J. Muth Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Scholastic Press – (2010-09-01) ISBN / EAN: 043963430X / 9780439634304

When we wrote about President Obama’s new book yesterday, we did not have the cover or ordering information; it’s now available

Quickly after the title appeared on Amazon, it rose to #24 in sales rankings.

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters Barack Obama Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover Publisher: – (2010-11-16) ISBN / EAN: 037583527X / 9780375835278

Below is this year’s list of Mocks, from Bank Street School.

Mock Newbery 2011

Mock Printz 2011

A small moment of gloating if I may. Last year when I posted that our kids picked When You Reach Me, there were a few comments sent to me by e-mail, that of course our kids who live and go to school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan picked a book about their neighborhood. Hah! (if readers recall, my kids picked the real winner). My favorite kid comment was, “I loved this book because it was all the genres at once, realistic, historical fiction, fantasy and a mystery.”

I am in for marathon sessions of booktalks in the coming weeks. Wish me luck.

President Obama has written a tribute to 13 groundbreaking Americans for readers aged 3 and up. Titled Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters, it will be published  Nov. 16 by Knopf Books for Young Readers. Among the people profiled are George Washington, Jackie Robinson and Georgia O’Keeffe. According to a story by the AP, the book will have a first printing of 500,000 copies and a list price of $17.99. The President will donate  proceeds from the book to “a scholarship fund for the children of fallen and disabled soldiers serving our nation,” according to the publisher’s statement.

The book will be illustrated by Loren Long, whose work includes illustrating the 2005 re-release of The Little Engine That Could, (Philomel, 2005) and writing and illustrating Otis (Philomel, 2009).

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters Barack Obama Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (2010-11-16) ISBN / EAN: 037583527X / 9780375835278