Children's Notes

Divided by seasons, Doodle All Year is Taro Gomi's (Scribbles, Doodles) latest hefty collection of cartoons for avid sketchers to add to, color or otherwise use to stretch their imaginations. (Chronicle, $16.95 paper all ages ISBN 978-0-8118-6019-2; Jan.)

Activities and thought-provoking questions pair with introductions to Picasso, Calder, O'Keeffe and other artists in What's the Big Idea? Activites and Adventures in Abstract Art by Joyce Raimondo, the latest in the Art Explorers series. For example, after viewing Matisse's The Codomas, readers are shown how to use cutouts and foam printing to create their own bright, patterned works. (Watson-Guptill, $13.95 48p ages 5-12 ISBN 978-0-8230-9998-6; Jan.)

With hundreds of reproductions of artwork and exhaustive text, A History of Western Art: From Prehistory to the 20th Century by Antony Mason, ed. by John T. Spike, offers a broad overview that takes readers from the earliest cave drawings and sculptures through the Renaissance and realism to the new media creations of the 21st century. (Abrams, $22.50 128p ages 8-14 ISBN 978-0-8109-9421-8; Dec.)

Popigami: When Everyday Paper Pops, paper engineering by James Diaz, illus. by Francesca Diaz, merges the art of origami with that of the pop-up. Each of the pop-ups emerges from everyday materials, from doves formed from newspapers to ducks made from office notepaper, swimming on a lake of spilled coffee. The accompanying rhymes often seem oddly adult in terms of vocabulary and content (“Bills, schedules, receipts./ This office worker has one simple wish—/ Escape his tiny cubicle and get to the lake to fish”). (Dalmatian/Intervisual, $24.95 16p 3-up ISBN 978-1-58117-641-4; Jan.)

A Dr. Seuss classic returns in a new pop-up edition, Horton Hears a Who Pop-Up!, with paper engineering by David A. Carter. Pop-ups include elaborate Whoville cityscapes that stretch across two-page spreads, as well as smaller ones, hidden behind flaps, that create miniature tableaux. Pull-tabs and movable characters (readers can guide Horton along a winding path through a clover patch) provide additional interactive entertainment. (Random/Robin Corey, $25.99 22p ages 4-up ISBN 978-0-375-84194-1; Jan.)

Five vivid dragons (each representing a different breed) leap from the pages of Dragon World: A Pop-Up Guide to These Scaled Beasts by Skip Skwarek, illus. by Milivoj Ceran, paper engineering by Keith Moseley, which explores myths and legends about the creatures from around the world (“The Chinese dragon's lifespan was at least 4,000 years.... They controlled the weather, the seasons and all bodies of water on Earth”). (Abrams, $15.95 12p ages 4-up ISBN 978-0-8109-9456-0; Jan.)

Reissued classics get new looks for a new audience. Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, illus. by Betsy Lewin, returns for the upcoming 2008 election with updated cover art. As Duck spreads his wings at the podium, the donkey in the blue tie to Duck's right (how's that again?) stands in front of a placard reading “Duck Is Great” and the elephant in the red necktie, to Duck's left, crosses his arms in front of the “For 2008!” sign. (S&S/Atheneum, $16.99 40p all ages ISBN 978-1-4169-5800-0; Jan.)

Ollie loves playing his big bass horn, but his town can't stand the noise in Jack Bechdolt's 1950 Little Boy with a Big Horn, newly reillustrated by Dan Yaccarino in his signature style. Yaccarino pays tribute to the '50s by decking out Ollie in a bow tie and a pompadour. (Random/Golden Books, $14.99 48p ages 2-5 ISBN 978-0-375-83903-0; Jan.)

Originally published in 1992, three perennial Rosemary Wells favorites—First Tomato, Moss Pillows and The Island Light—are now available in the paperover-board volume Voyage to the Bunny Planet. An envelope-style flap extending from the back cover closes the book magnetically. (Viking, $17.99 88p ages 3-up ISBN 978-0-670-01103-2; Jan.)

New sequels arrive for devoted series fans. Willa feels overwhelmed by a new sibling on the way, her new “official” boyfriend and the new girl who seems like she wants to steal him in Willa by Heart, the latest addition to Coleen Murtagh Paratore's Wedding Planner's Daughter series. (S&S, $15.99 228p ages 8-12 ISBN 978-1-4169-4076-0; Jan.)

Grace Lin's plucky heroine from The Year of the Dog returns in The Year of the Rat. Here Pacy deals with a friend's move and works to improve her writing and artwork. (Little, Brown, $14.99 192p ages 8-12 ISBN 978-0-316-11426-4; Jan.)

The Fall of the Templar, the third book in Derek Benz and J.S. Lewis's Grey Griffins series, finds Max, Harley and Natalia trying to thwart the evil plans of Morgan La Fey and Max's father and save their friend Ernie. (Scholastic/Orchard, $12.99 304p ages 9-12 ISBN 978-0-439-83776-7; Jan.)

Eve, who dreams of mega-stardom, narrates In the Cards: Fame, second in Mariah Fredericks's planned trilogy. She tries out for the school musical, following the Tarot cards, and finds drama aplenty off-stage. (Atheneum/Jackson, $15.99 288p ages 10-14 ISBN 978-0-689-87656-1; Jan.)

Girl, Barely 15: Flirting for England by Sue Limb, the fourth book starring Jess Jordan, is a prequel that backtracks to the heroine's life before the events of Girl, 15, Charming but Insane. In this installment, the arrival of a French exchange student throws Jess's life into disarray. (Delacorte, $15.99 256p ages 10-up ISBN 978-0-385-73538-4; Jan.)

James A. Owen's Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series picks up nine years after the first novel with The Search for the Red Dragon, which brings back C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams for an adventure that incorporates other literary and historical figures and worlds. (S&S, $17.99 384p ages 12-up ISBN 978-1-4169-4850-6; Jan.)

Sisters Madison, Park and Lexington Hamilton return in In the Club, the second installment in Antonio Pagliarulo's Celebutantes series, in which the trio must solve a murder that takes place in their family's new Manhattan nightclub. (Delacorte, $12.99 336p ages 14-up ISBN 978-0-385-73473-8; Jan.)

Move over, Jessica Seinfeld. The Toddler Cookbook by children's nutritionist and cooking expert Annabel Karmel employs abundant photographs and illustrated instructions to bring children and their parents together to create healthy food. While many recipes are familiar (pita pizzas, ice pops), the photos showing how to include toddlers in cooking are helpful (as the adult dices the shallot, the child operates the garlic press). (DK, $10.99 48p ages 3-up ISBN 978-0-7566-3505-3; Jan.)

Sam Stern's Real Food, Real Fast, the British teen's second cookbook outing (after Cooking Up a Storm), focuses on a healthier kind of fast food—no recipe takes more than 30 minutes to cook. Recipes range from a quick plate of prosciutto and melon to a more ambitious mushroom risotto. (Candlewick, $16.99 paper 128p ages 10-up ISBN 978-0-7636-3533-6; Jan.)

Teens on the lookout for their next book can turn to The Ultimate Teen Book Guide, ed. by Daniel Hahn and Leonie Flynn, which lists more than 700 books recommended by teens, librarians, editors, teachers and authors (Meg Cabot, Eoin Colfer, E. Lockhart, Jerry Spinelli among many more). Top 10 lists, opinion polls and suggestions based on books teens might have already enjoyed, round out this resource. (Walker, $15.95 432p ages 12-up ISBN 978-0-8027-9731-5; Jan.)

Kids interested in getting physical can look to these titles. CosmoGIRL! Total Body Workout: Fun Moves to Look and Feel Your Best introduces girls to basic yoga and Pilates movements, cardio (including dance moves inspired by Chicago, Hairspray and other movies) and weightlifting routines, all accompanied by photographs of teen girls demonstrating each activity. (Sterling, $9.95 paper 128p ages 13-19 ISBN 978-1-58816-663-0; Feb.)

Based on the author's 2007 Yoga for Teens, Yoga for Teens Card Deck by Mary Kaye Chryssicas consists of 50 laminated cards. Each of 40 cards provides photographic and written instructions for a different yoga pose, explains its benefits and offers an inspirational quote. The other 10 cards offer yoga routines and breathing exercises. (DK, $15.99 ages 12-17 ISBN 978-0-7566-3523-7; Jan.)