Best of the Year
2007 was a tremendous year for childrens books. New genres appeared, new voices were born, and fabulous stories were told. But every once in awhile, I feel like the only place kids find books are in their schools library. Or maybe a trip to the Big Box Bookstore to get Mommy a latte. Or the dreaded Book Fair
But still, there are thousands of books on the shelves. How does a child or an adult choose which will be a good read? The following is a list of the best books of 2007 by the esteemed childrens literature review magazine The Horn Book (HBook.com). Take this list to The Reading Reptile, a Kansas City treasure, and youll find all of these great titles on their shelves. Buy an extra one for your schools library and share the best of 2007.
Picture Books
At Night by Jonathan Bean (Farrar) Ages 4-8
The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County written by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson (Kroupa/Farrar) Ages 4-10
A Good Day written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow) Ages 2-6
Pictures from Our Vacation written and illustrated by Lynne Rae Perkins (Greenwillow) Ages 5-10
First the Egg written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Porter/Roaring Brook) Ages 2-6
The Arrival illustrated by Shaun Tan (Levine/Scholastic) Middle/High School
Fiction
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Ellen Forney (Little) High School
Becca at Sea by Deirdre Baker (Groundwood) Ages 8-12
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron (Foster/Farrar) High School
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic) Ages 8-12
Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (Knopf) High School
A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve (Eos/HarperCollins) Middle/High School
The Invention of Hugo Cabret written and illustrated by Brian Selznick (Scholastic) Ages 8-12
The New Policeman by Kate Thompson (Greenwillow) Ages 8-12
Folklore
Beowulf: A Heros Tale Retold retold and illustrated by James Rumford (Houghton) Middle School
The Bearskinner: A Tale of the Brothers Grimm retold by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Max Grafe (Candlewick) Ages 8-12
Poetry
Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings written and illustrated by Douglas Florian (Harcourt) Ages 8-12
Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems) written by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Istvan Banyai (Clarion) Ages 8-12
Non-fiction
May I Pet Your Dog? written by Stephanie Calmenson, illustrated by Jan Ormerod (Clarion) Ages 2-8
Who Was First? Discovering the Americas by Russell Freedman (Clarion) Middle School
The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain written and illustrated by Peter Ss (Foster/Farrar) Middle/High School
A chronic list maker, Julie Hubble lives in Leawood with her husband, two kids and a dog named Stella.