Pssst!
by Adam Rex
Harcourt Children’s Books
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Pssst! is a funny, light-hearted fantasy that uses snappy text and surreal post-modern oil-and-acrylic illustrations to tell the tale of a girl who visits a zoo with crafty animals who all want something from her. This results in a surprise ending and one of the year’s most unforgettable illustrated double-page spreads.
—Cheryl Rainfield
Go to Bed, Monster!
written by Natasha Wing; illustrated by Sylvie Kantorovitz
Harcourt Children’s Books
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A sleepless girl creates a playful monster to keep her company one evening with surprising results. Kantorovitz’s oil paint and pastel illustrations, made to look like crayon drawings, capture the immediacy and creative range of a child’s imagination.
–Annie Teich, Crazy for Kids’ Books
The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County
written by Janice N. Harrington; illustrated by Shelley Jackson
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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A sassy, young farm girl, living with her Big Mama, transforms herself from chicken-chaser extraordinaire to fender-of-the-fowl in this spirited read-aloud, whose energetic mixed-media collage illustrations provide much for observant eyes to take in.
–Julie Danielson, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Leaves
by David Ezra Stein
Putnam Juvenile
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In this engaging poem of a picture book with spare text and shimmering earth-tone paintings, David Ezra Stein captures the wonder of the changing seasons as seen through the perspective of a wide-eyed bear.
–Julie Danielson, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Four Feet, Two Sandals
written by Karen Lynn William & Khadra Mohammad; illustrated by Doug Chayka
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
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Two girls in a refugee camp in Pakistan share a pair of sandals that begins a friendship in this poignant story of courage. When hope of a better life comes for one girl, they must both find a way to still share their sandals and their hearts.
–Marcie Flinchum Atkins, World of Words
Knuffle Bunny Too
by Mo Willems
Hyperion
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In this sequel to Knuffle Bunny, the photography, the cartooning, and the drama is all kicked up a notch as Trixie and her dad have to set things right in the early morning hours. Fantastic in its capture of subtleties of expression, the dynamics of families, and the
mind of a child.
–Pamela Coughlan, MotherReader
The Incredible Book-Eating Boy
by Oliver Jeffers
Philomel
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Oliver Jeffers has crafted a visually-stunning, humorous story about a young boy who loves books so much he eats them — until he discovers that the greatest power comes from reading them. Jeffers’ innovative illustrations, cleverly superimposed on pages from various books, merge with an inviting storyline that continues right into the book’s back cover.
—Cheryl Rainfield