Children's Notes

Board books continue to offer diversions aplenty for youngest readers. Baby Days consists of nine miniature board books (e.g., “Baby Counts,” “Baby Loves” and “Baby Eats”), which pair photographs of babies with spare text to teach about numbers, emotions, food and more. (Little Scholastic, $9.99 ages 6mos.-3 yrs. ISBN 978-0-545-00070-3; Oct.)

Revamped versions of two 1988 concept books by Sara Anderson include Colors. Upon opening it, kids will see a rainbow of board tabs, each lifting to depict a scene appropriate to the particular hue (a red fire truck, an orange pumpkin). Numbers employs the same format and bold palette to count to 10 with eye-catching imagery, from a bright blue hen to 10 cars careening down a road. (Handprint, $10.95 each ages 1-3 ISBN 978-1-59354-184-2; ISBN 978-1-59354-185-9; Sept.)

Night Night, Baby by David McPhail matches classic lullabies (“Skidamarink,” “Hush, Little Baby” and “Rock-a-bye, Baby” are perhaps the best known) with subdued ink-and-watercolor illustrations. The muted palette and calming content—mostly depicting babies sound asleep in various settings—are excellent complements to the text. (Little Simon, $7.99 24p ages 1-4 ISBN 978-0-689-85028-8; Oct.)

Marking the 15th anniversary of its publication, The Escape of Marvin the Ape by Caralyn and Mark Buehner, about an amiable ape's romp through N.Y.C., is now available in board book format. Of the original, PW wrote that the book's “vocabulary choices and turns of phrase imbue this romp with an appealing sense of wonder while Mark Buehner's oil and acrylic paintings brim with kinetic energy.” (Dial, $7.99 24p ages 2-up ISBN 978-0-8037-3244-5; Oct.)

Kids looking for adventure series now have even more options. The Escape of the Deadly Dinosaur by Elizabeth Singer Hunt, heralds the action-heavy Secret Agent Jack Stalwart series, which stars nine-year old Jack, a member of the top secret Global Protection Force. In this opening installment, he travels to the Big Apple to put the brakes on a dinosaur running loose in the city. Jack travels to Australia in The Search for the Sunken Treasure, where he attempts to locate a diver who disappeared from the Great Barrier Reef while exploring a sunken ship full of treasure. (Weinstein, each $4.99 paper 110p ages 4-8 ISBN 978-1-60286-004-9; ISBN 978-1-60286-002-5; Oct.)

From Catherine Jinks of Evil Genius renown, the Australian series Allie's Ghost Hunters series follows young Allie Gebhardt, who moves to a new town and finds herself inundated with ghostly visitors. In the first title, Eglantine, Allie attempts to rid her home of the ghost of a girl who used to live there. Eustace takes Jinks's heroine to Hill End on a school trip, where she meets two ghosts, and two classmates vanish. In Eloise, Allie helps a friend's aunt communicate with a dead relative; Elysium takes Allie on her most dangerous adventure yet, when she finds herself hunted by something otherworldly. (Allen & Unwin [IPG, dist.], each $7.95 paper ages 9-12, Eglantine 144p ISBN 978-174114-658-5; Eustace 168p ISBN 978-174114-660-8; Eloise 180p ISBN 978-174114-659-2; Elysium 180p ISBN 978-174114-081-1; Oct.)

Dinosaur fans seeking exhaustive information about the behemoths of the Mesozoic need look no farther than Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages by Thomas R. Holtz Jr., illus. by Luis V. Rey. Holtz's scientifically oriented but accessible account expounds on the numerous categories of dinosaurs, their behavior, the history of human paleontological studies and much more, including a “genus list” that catalogues all 800-plus species of Mesozoic dinosaurs named by scientists. Sidebars by 33 paleontologists offer a broad range of expertise and opinion (on topics ranging from “Sauropod Evolution” to “Will Jurassic Park Ever Happen?”) and, along with Rey's engrossing illustrations that imagine the creatures in a panoply of hues, add up to an outstanding resource. (Random, $34.99, 432p ages 12-up ISBN 978-0-375-82419-7; Oct.)

By means of his characteristic woodcut illustrations, Christopher Wormell introduces 28 dinosaurs, from smallest to largest, in Wings, Horns, & Claws: A Dinosaur Book of Epic Proportions. Starting with chicken-size Compsognathus and ending with Argentinosaurus (believed to have reached lengths of 130 feet), Wormell provides his readers with pronunciation guides and facts about the creatures, while also introducing the concept of relative size. (Running Press, $18.95 64p ages 3-8 ISBN 978-0-7624-2419-1; Nov.)

Extreme Dinosaurs by Robert Mash, illus. by Stuart Martin, employs tabs, flaps, posters, booklets to introduce several types of dinos, which are lumped into categories such as “tough guys” for those with armor, “micro-monsters” and others. Clawmarks, sometimes gruesome illustrations and a booklet that predicts the outcomes of dino vs. dino battles should appeal to diehard enthusiasts. (S&S/Atheneum, $21.99 32p ages 6-12 ISBN 978-1-4169-3952-8; Oct.)

Designed to look like a paleontologist's workbook, Dinosaurs by Dylan M. Nash, illus. by Bryn Barnard, also uses interactive elements to give kids a close look at these bygone behemoths. Brimming with dozens of dinosaur factoids (aka “dinoids”) and boasting flaps, tabs, pop-ups and pamphlets, this book conducts readers on a trivia-filled tour leading up to dinosaurs' eventual extinction. (Intervisual, $19.95 24p ages 6-up ISBN 978-1-58117-580-6; Oct.)

Eyewitness Expert: Dinosaur expands upon DK's earlier Dinosaur title in its Eyewitness series, which is packaged here along with a map a poster, CD of clip art, “profile cards” with dino stats, a cardboard model and more in a new deluxe edition. A new Expert Files hardcover is also included, which explores the lives of the researchers and scientists who study dinosaurs and their times. (DK, $29.99 72p ages 9-12 ISBN 978-0-7566-3135-2; Oct.)

As adolescents venture out on job interviews and to formal dinners, Teen Manners: From Malls to Meals to Messaging and Beyond by Cindy Post Senning and Peggy Post, illus. by Sharon Watts, advises them on appropriate behavior. Much of the time common sense is all it takes: “Keep [cell phone] calls to a minimum on public transportation, in line at the bank or movies, and in busy areas like airports.” (Collins, $15.99 144p ages 12-up ISBN 978-0-06-088198-6; Oct.)

Baby Brains Simon James. Candlewick, $6.99 ISBN 978-0-7636-3682-1. In a starred review, PW wrote, “James offers a sly send-up of parents who hype their children as la crème de la crème of cleverness.” Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

Hannah Is My Name: A Young Immigrant's Story Belle Yang. Candlewick, $6.99 ISBN 978-0-7636-3521-3. A girl describes her family's journey from Taiwan to San Francisco as they anxiously await green cards, look for work and adapt to their new environment. Ages 5-9. (Oct.)

A Room With a Zoo Jules Feiffer. Hyperion/di Capua, $7.99 ISBN 978-0-7868-3703-8. “Young animal lovers should have no trouble identifying with this spunky heroine's intense range of emotions, brought on by her menagerie,” as she experiences the ups and downs of pet ownership, wrote PW. Ages 7-up. (Oct.)

The Pinhoe Egg Diana Wynne Jones. Greenwillow/Eos, $7.99 ISBN 978-0-06-113126-4. “Witty, wise and wonderfully imaginative—this novel ranks among the author's best,” PW said in a starred review of this addition to the Chrestomanci books. Ages 10-up. (Oct.)

The Telling Pool David Clement-Davies. Abrams/Amulet, $7.95 ISBN 978-0-8109-9257-3. Set against the backdrop of Richard the Lionheart's Third Crusade to Jerusalem, this novel follows young Rhodri Falcon as he attempts to save his father's heart from the evil sorceress Homeira. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)

Burned Ellen Hopkins. Simon Pulse, $9.99 ISBN 978-1-4169-0355-0. In verse, the author of Crank and Impulse explores one girl's struggle as she tries to free herself from the religious dogmatism of her abusive family and develop her own beliefs about God, love and identity. Ages 14-up. (Oct.)