Nancy Van Laan, Retold by, Betsy Bowen, Illustrator, Nancy Van Laan, Author Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-395-82745-1
In the ""way-back time"" of Ojibwe legend, Shingebiss, a merganser duck, dives for fish in Great Lake Superior. But during December's Spirit Moon, Winter Maker freezes the vast lake ""solid as stone,"" and the two engage in a battle of wills. In the
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Marjorie Priceman, Illustrator Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers $8.99 (1p) ISBN 978-0-679-82078-9
Van Laan ( Possum Come a-Knockin ') dips into Scottish folklore and pulls out this plum of a tale featuring a wee lad and the cow who stubbornly resists his efforts to milk her. From sunup to sundown, the ``big, big cow kicked up her hard, hard...
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Nancy Van Laan, illus. by Stephanie Graegin. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-449-81543-4
As Alzheimer’s slowly robs Grandma of the ability to function, Julia and her parents struggle on both the emotional and practical fronts. Sometimes it seems like their strategies are spot on: after Grandma accuses her new caretaker of thievery, the...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Yumi Heo, Illustrator Atheneum Books $16 (40p) ISBN 978-0-689-81038-1
Children will find much to relate to in this whimsical tale of a wild bunch of monkeys intent on having fun and easily distracted from more practical considerations. Drawn from a Brazilian folktale, Van Laan's (Little Fish, Lost) infectious rhyming...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Beatriz Vidal, Illustrator Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers $16 (0p) ISBN 978-0-679-80136-8
Over the years, the name El Dorado has come to signify any place of fabulous wealth; the words also have a literal meaning--``the gilded man.'' This story relates the intriguing legend of a king whose wife and daughter are bewitched by a mysterious...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Beatriz Vidal, Illustrator Dragonfly Books $6.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-679-81942-4
This beguiling fable tells how the selfless crow lost his brilliant plumage when he interceded with the Great Sky Spirit on behalf of his animal friends--who were being buried in a snowstorm. Ages 3-7. (July)
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Beatriz Vidal, Illustrator, Bill Moyers, Designed by Little Brown and Company $15.95 (1p) ISBN 978-0-316-89728-0
A satisfying multicultural effort, like Van Laan and Vidal's first collaboration ( The Legend of El Dorado ), this retelling of a complex legend posits a mythical origin for the sacred buffalo dance of the Blackfoot people. Long ago, a young woman...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Marisabina Russo, Illustrator Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers $11.95 (24p) ISBN 978-0-394-88763-0
New Yorker artist Russo's graphic designs boldly illustrate this appealing circular tale of a big fat worm who almost gets eaten by the big fat bird. The bird in turn escapes from a big fat cat, who then scoots up a tall tree just steps ahead of a...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Marisabina Russo, Illustrator Random House Books for Young Readers $4.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-679-87389-1
With their characteristic swaths of solid color, Russo's bold paintings illustrate a sprightly look at a farm's food chain. Ages 3-5. (Apr.)
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, George Booth, Illustrator Dragonfly Books $6.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-679-83468-7
Booth's signature daffy cartoon art highlights this toe-tappin', down-home verse about a mighty disruptive nocturnal caller. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Nadine Bernard Westcott, Illustrator Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers $13 (1p) ISBN 978-0-679-81063-6
In bouncy verse, Van Laan ( Rainbow Crow ; Possum Come a-Knockin' ) describes a bustling urban scene, with ``People racing round the town, / Going up! / Going down!'' These city folk dash around the park, jump rope in the street and engage in a...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Nadine Bernard Westcott, Author, Nadine Bernard Westcott, Illustrator Hyperion Books $13.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7868-0009-4
One person's trash is another's treasure, as this tale of a resourceful recycler demonstrates. Yet the tart pinks, yellows and greens and the slightly askew rhymes here don't add up to an entirely pleasing whole. An unnamed girl narrates; as she...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Lisa Desimini, Illustrator Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers $22 (128p) ISBN 978-0-679-85807-2
This attractive volume gathers together 25 songs and stories from Native American tribes all over North America. Taking a spiral path through the continent, Van Laan (Rainbow Crow) begins with the Inuit peoples of the Arctic; moves to the Ojibwa,...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Laura Cornell, Illustrator Alfred A. Knopf $17 (0p) ISBN 978-0-679-84922-3
Van Laan's (People, People Everywhere!) riotous, don't-try-this-at-home tale sends a ceaselessly smiling tot zipping through town in his runaway buggy, which creates merry mayhem as it crashes into a variety of objects and individuals. ""Little baby
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Laura Cornell, Illustrator Dragonfly Books $6.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-375-80052-8
A runaway baby buggy starts this madcap tale rolling; the text is ""finger-snapping"" and the art ""ebullient,"" said PW. Ages 5-8. (May)
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Susan Gaber, Illustrator Atheneum Books $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-689-81778-6
Winter's first snowflakes have arrived, and as they dance to earth with the lingering autumn leaves, a bundled-up family and their pet Scottie head outdoors to celebrate the world being transformed. ""Where oh where do the leaves all go/ when winter
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Holly Meade, Illustrator Joy Street Books $14.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-316-89727-3
This jaunty, singsong title, written with an irresistible momentum that calls to mind Margaret Mahy's 17 Kings and 42 Elephants , begs to be read and chanted aloud. Based on a familiar cumulative theme, the story concerns an old man who loses his...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Victoria Chess, Illustrator , illus. by Victoria Chess. Atheneum/Schwartz $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-689-81875-2
The three rhymed stories in this semi-scary collection vary in their effectiveness, but Chess's quirky illustrations will delight her many fans. Van Laan (When Winter Comes) fills the first two stories with clever wordplay and characters, but...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Jane Conteh-Morgan, Illustrator Atheneum Books $15 (32p) ISBN 978-0-689-81331-3
When an orange and yellow polka-dotted fish gets separated from his mother, his search for her takes him on a tour of underwater flora and fauna. He spies fellow fish of every stripe, a scarlet crawfish whose claws go ""snappa-snappa,"" and other...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Scott Cook, Illustrator , illus. by Scott Cook. S&S/ Aladdin $10 (112p) ISBN 978-0-689-84474-4
PW's starred review of this collection of Southern folktales said, "Pull up a chair and set a spell—this book's as inviting as a sip of lemonade on a lazy summer afternoon." All ages. (May)
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, George Booth, Author, George Booth, Illustrator Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers $14 (24p) ISBN 978-0-394-82206-8
Outside, there's a full moon in the sky and a grinning possum in a top hat with mischief on his mind. Inside, Granny's knitting, Pappy's whittling and other members of a slightly eccentric family are trying to get some chores done. Possum knocks at...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Amy Rusch, Illustrator Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) $15 (48p) ISBN 978-0-395-90863-1
A companionable band of woodland friends welcomes readers in this endearing early chapter book. The most winning of Van Laan's (Little Fish Lost) three tales may be the last, in which Moose and Beaver, after relishing the feeling of snow falling (the
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Bernadette Pons, Illustrator Atheneum Books $14.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-689-83143-0
Here's a rhythmic rap for toddlers at mealtime. ""Uppa uppa/ time for suppa!"" begins Van Laan (So Say the Little Monkeys), as Pons's (Mouse Cleaning) sunny watercolor and pastel illustration shows a rabbit mother swooping her baby bunny into the...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Bernadette Pons, Illustrator , illus. by Bernadette Pons. S&S/Aladdin $6.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-689-86674-6
This rhyming rap for toddlers at mealtime stars an energetic bunny ("Uppa uppa/ time for suppa!" he proclaims). PW
said, "Parents may be worn down by the relentless good cheer, but youngsters will cotton to the percussiveness of the...
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Nancy Van Laan, Author, Bernadette Pons, Illustrator, Nancy Laan, Author , illus. by Bernadette Pons. Atheneum/Schwartz $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-689-84459-1
This tale does for bathtime what these collaborators' previous Tickle Tum!
did for mealtime. The bunny baby has grown rather messy—or, as Van Laan so eloquently phrases it, "Ewww yuck/ sticka stuck!" The situation calls for a...
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Hyperion Books, Author, Nancy Van Laan, Author, Holly Meade, Author Hyperion Books $16.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-7868-1051-2
Reading made easier is the goal of Hyperion's practical Book Packs, three boxes each containing eight paperback picture books and each graduated in difficulty--texts become longer and more involved, pictures less integral to the plots--from Level...
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Hyperion Books, Author, Nancy Van Laan, Author, Holly Meade, Author Hyperion Books $16.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-7868-1052-9
Reading made easier is the goal of Hyperion's practical Book Packs, three boxes each containing eight paperback picture books and each graduated in difficulty--texts become longer and more involved, pictures less integral to the plots--from Level...
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Hyperion Books, Author, Nancy Van Laan, Author, Holly Meade, Author Hyperion Books $16.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-7868-1053-6
Reading made easier is the goal of Hyperion's practical Book Packs, three boxes each containing eight paperback picture books and each graduated in difficulty-texts become longer and more involved, pictures less integral to the plots-from Level One...
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