Karel Appel, Author, Kathi Appelt, Author, Neil Waldman, Illustrator HarperCollins Publishers $16 (1p) ISBN 978-0-688-12856-2
Like the easy, winding bayou, slow Cajun rhythms swing through this night song: ""Rockabye you bayou gal,/ Cattails be a-swishin'/ Softly sigh, oh bayou gal,/ On a star be wishin'."" Appelt weaves regional details with universal images that summon...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author . Holt $15.95 (197p) ISBN 978-0-8050-7362-1
This memoir told in brief chapters, often centered on a single image or event, reveals painful moments in Appelt's (Kissing Tennessee
) growing-up years in Texas in the 1960s, before and after her parents' divorce. But like the snapshots...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author . Harcourt $5.95 (
, $5.95 ISBN ) ISBN 978-0-15-205127-3
, $5.95 ISBN ) ISBN 978-0-15-205127-3
Eight short stories revolve around a year-end dance at a junior high in Texas. "The author demonstrates a talent for scene setting and delineates some highly memorable characters," PW
wrote. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author Henry Holt & Company $17.95 (128p) ISBN 978-0-8050-6978-5
Finally, ""In the Nurse's Office,"" ""The Fat Girl"" and ""Notes Passed Back and Forth in United States History, Seventh Period"" are just three of the more than 20 original offerings included in Poems from Homeroom: A Writer's Place to Start by...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Jane Dyer, Photographer Harcourt Children's Books $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-15-200041-7
As comforting as morning sun, this sweet, tenderly illustrated rhyming poem will reassure both preschoolers and their working parents that separation is only temporary. When a baby bird's mother hugs him before dropping him off at school, she...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, illus. by Jennifer Bricking. S&S/Atheneum, $16.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-4424-2105-9
Told from the perspectives of animals and humans, Appelt’s (The Underneath) rollicking tall tale exposes the trouble brewing in Sugar Man swamp. The main concern of Bingo and J’miah, two raccoon Swamp Scouts, is the approaching brood of feral hogs,...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, read by Lyle Lovett. Simon & Schuster Audio, unabridged, five CDs, 5.75 hrs., $29.99 ISBN 978-1-4423-6612-1
Legendary country music singer Lyle Lovett lends his voice to this tale of two raccoon brothers, Bingo and J’miah, and their quest to awaken the mystical Sugar Man who rules the swamp. Lovett’s voice is smooth as silk and Southern to the core; it is
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, illus. by Rob Dunlavey. S&S/Atheneum, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4424-2327-5
Writing a fresh counting rhyme calls for the poet to hear the numbers in a new way, and that’s just what Appelt (When Otis Courted Mama) has done. She tweaks sequences, varies rhythms, and punctuates her lines with piquant sound words: “One, two,...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Melissa Sweet, Illustrator HarperCollins Publishers $15.95 (24p) ISBN 978-0-688-13882-0
Woodland and barnyard animals flock to a midsummer Bat Jamboree at an abandoned drive-in theater in this grinningly batty counting book. At the words ""the houselights went down,"" the sun sets and moonlight floods the movie screen. ""Then.../ 1 bat
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Melissa Sweet, Illustrator HarperCollins $6.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-688-16167-5
In this rhyming counting book, a crew of performing bats entertain a crowd. ""There's a nervous energy in these pictures that will almost surely disarm the reader, right off the bat,"" said PW. Ages 4-up. (Sept.)
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, LeUyen Pham, Illustrator , illus. by LeUyen Pham. Harcourt $16 (40p) ISBN 978-0-15-216483-6
It's time for the annual holler hootenanny, and these little piggies know how to party. "The drummer piggy hits a groove,/ he keeps the polka beat./ It's a hoopy-shoopy rhythm/ and the pigs all stomp their feet," writes Appelt (Oh My
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, G. Brian Karas, Illustrator, Philemon Sturges, Author , illus. by G. Brian Karas. HarperCollins $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-028622-4
A girl exhibits healthy self-esteem in Appelt's (Bats Around the Clock) celebratory ode. "Nobody whistles the way I do/ Nobody chews the way I chew/ I'm the cat's meow,/ I'm the dog's top flea/ I'm the one, the only,/...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, illus. by Marc Rosenthal. S&S/Atheneum, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4424-8054-4
This cheering story is based on a real-life Labradoodle that resides at the Ronald McDonald House in Houston. Though this “ball-chasing, tail-wagging, moon-howling pup” is too frisky to make the grade as a service, search-and-rescue, or show dog,...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Arthur Howard, Illustrator , illus. Arthur Howard. Harcourt $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-15-202060-6
When baby Bubba is born, his father, Big Bubba, "revved up Earl, his trusty pickup truck, and honked the horn as loud as he could." Likewise, when puppy Beau arrives, bloodhound Maurice "threw his head back and began to bay." The...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Arthur Howard, Illustrator Harcourt Children's Books $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-15-216630-4
The Mud Hole sees some renewed action in Bubba and Beau Meet the Relatives by Kathi Appelt, illus. by Arthur Howard. About the series' first book, Bubba and Beau: Best Friends, PW wrote, ""Appelt's fond voice and Howard's good-humored drawings...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Arthur Howard, Illustrator Harcourt Children's Books $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-15-204593-7
Tracing the further adventures of the duo introduced in Bubba and Beau Best Friends, Bubba and Beau Go Night-Night by Kathi Appelt, illus. by Arthur Howard, finds the two cavorting all around the town with cowboy-hatted Big Bubba in his big red...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Nancy Carpenter, Illustrator Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company $16 (24p) ISBN 978-0-8028-5144-4
An unseen narrator practically sings the verses of this celebratory book, which begins with an announcement and an invitation: ""Someone's come to our house./ Yes, yes, bless-a-my-soul!/ Bright new start,/ Brand new heart--/ Come and see at our...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Raul Colon, Illustrator , illus. by Raúl Colón. Viking $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-670-03669-1
With the Bible verse John 14:2 as inspiration (“In my Father's house are many mansions”) and a tip of the hat to Al Gore on the dedication page (“in gratitude for his service and commitment on behalf of our beautiful blue...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Gabra Zackman, Read by , read by Gabra Zackman. Simon & Schuster Audio $29.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-7435-7208-8
On the page, Appelt's first novel, about abused animals and set in a Deep South swamp, reads like it might be spoken with a pronounced twang. Zackman's interpretation, however, is so mellifluous that it sounds like a lullaby. That smooth...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Keith Baker, Illustrator Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) $6 (36p) ISBN 978-0-15-201556-5
The text of this minimalist tale, in which two elephants travel to Africa by balloon, consists almost entirely of prepositions; brilliant acrylic illustrations provide the context. Ages 3-8. (Aug.)
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Debra Reid Jenkins, Illustrator Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company $15 (24p) ISBN 978-0-8028-5118-5
A favorite nursery rhyme becomes a testament of God's love in this picture-book adaptation. While imagining she is adrift at sea, a girl recognizes the presence of God in the stars that show her a path, the wind that fills her sail and the dove who...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Jon Goodell, Illustrator , illus. by Jon Goodell. Harcourt $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-15-202651-6
Someone else's trash is a crow's Christmas treasure, as proven by one industrious bird with a surplus of holiday spirit. As a crow flits about the snowy city on what seems like an urgent scavenger hunt, no one knows his mission. That is,...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Megan Halsey, Illustrator , illus. by Megan Halsey. HarperCollins $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-688-17102-5
On a fishing trip with his Granpere through the swamp, a young Cajun named Pierre ponders the life of the elusive (and now endangered) Louisiana black bear. Pierre's grandfather can explain just about everything about this mysterious, lush world,
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Jane Dyer, Illustrator , illus. by Jane Dyer. Harcourt/Voyager $6 (32p) ISBN 978-0-15-205242-3
In a starred review, PW
wrote, "As comforting as morning sun, this sweet, tenderly illustrated rhyming poem will reassure both preschoolers and their working parents that separation is only temporary." Ages 2-5. (Apr.)
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee. S&S/Atheneum/Dlouhy, $16.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-4424-8242-5
Appelt (The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp) and McGhee (Firefly Hollow) create an intoxicating blend of realism and myth in a novel involving a grieving child, ancient legends, and a mysterious fox. When Sylvie, whose burning wish is to run...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, illus. by Jill McElmurry. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-15-216688-5
Though the anthropomorphic coyotes in this well-matched collaboration are anything but wily, Appelt (The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp) takes a canny approach to the topic of accepting a stepparent. With tactical repetition, the narrator...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Kelly Murphy, Illustrator , illus. by Kelly Murphy. Harper $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-053233-8
If Lisa Simpson can sing the blues, why can't a highly reluctant sibling of a new baby brother? Appelt (the Bubba and Beau series) has hold of a great idea here, and her “lyrics” have the requisite driving rhythm. Readers can almost
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, Author, Barry Root, Illustrator HarperCollins Publishers $14.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-027763-5
To the soothing accompaniment of Root's (Someplace Else) moonlit prairie scenery, Appelt composes a lullaby for young buckaroos. As a soft sundown casts grassy hills in glowing orange, a blond boy in western attire ambles home to his mother's calls.
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt. S&S/Dlouhy, $18.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-4424-2109-7
The Texas Buffalo Bayou is both an evocative character and setting in this atmospheric novel about an angel thief searching for redemption. Cade doesn’t enjoy helping his father steal stone angels from graveyards, but it helps to ease financial...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, illus. by Penelope Dullaghan. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4814-5146-8
Max the cat lurks under the couch, head to the ground, tail lashing. “This is Max. He attacks.” Everything is fair game. He side-eyes the family hound, then leaps for the goldfish bowl. “Max’s paws are made for pounces./ Max’s legs are built for...
READ FULL REVIEW
Kathi Appelt, illus. by Eric Rohmann. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-5344-0643-8
Newbery Honoree Appelt’s storytelling-interested novel, set in 1910, features an unlikely friendship between an aging camel and a family of American kestrels in the West Texas desert. Zada’s joints are achy, but when a massive sandstorm threatens...
READ FULL REVIEW
ARTICLES
