Best Children's Books '97
-- 11/3/97
Picture Books
Love Letters
Arnold Adoff, illus. by Lisa Desimini (Scholastic/Blue Sky)
The 20 p ms in this collection, ranging from secret missives denoting school crushes to shy declarations of admiration and artfully illustrated with mixed media collages, are both playful and tender.
Gabriella's Song
Candace Fleming, illus. by Giselle Potter (Simon &Schuster/Atheneum/Schwartz)
Delicate renderings of Venetian life set the stage for this heartwarming tale of a girl with a song in her heart that kindles emotion and inspiration in everyone who hears it. Potter's panoramic scenes of Venice (in tones of ochre, russet and oceany blue-green) and its characters are by turns luxuriant and whimsical.
The Etcher's Studio
Arthur Geisert (Houghton Mifflin/Lorraine)
The enduring traditions of craftsmanship are honored in this portrait of a boy and his grandfather working side-by-side in the studio. Geisert's labeling of the various elements to be found in an etcher's workroom and description of how an etching is created make the book a vivid picture of an artisan's life.
A Summertime Song
Irene Haas (Simon &Schuster)
This unabashedly romantic Victorian fantasy invites readers to a summer's eve fest. Full-page paintings and smaller vignettes on text pages are lavishly filled with velvety flowers, papery leaves and a host of fanciful characters.
A Ring of Tricksters
Virginia Hamilton, illus. by Barry Moser (Scholastic/Blue Sky)
The venerable pair have outdone themselves with this collection of tales that stars winning and cunning animal characters from Africa to the West Indies and America. Hamilton's prose infuses the dialogue with depth and dimension, while Moser's spectacular, lively watercolors nearly render the impish creatures human.
One of Each
Mary Ann Hoberman, illus. by Marjorie Priceman (Little, Brown)
Olliver Tolliver is a proud pooch happily living solo in a home exquisitely equipped for one until he realizes there's one thing he's not got one of-a friend. Artwork with a Parisian flair and skewed perspectives endows the dog's house with every bit as much charm as the witty rhyming text conjures in this clever ode to friendship.
Rikki Tikki Tavi
Rudyard Kipling, adapted and illus. by Jerry Pinkney (William Morrow)
Pinkney's spirited retelling of the heroic mongoose who saves a boy and his family from a pair of diabolical cobras sets the stage for his iridescent watercolors of lush gardens and fruit trees indigenous to India. The confrontational dance between villain and victor is gripping, as is the strong bond between Rikki Tikki and the boy.
My Life with the Wave
Octavio Paz, trans. and adapted by Catherine Cowan, illus. by Mark Mark Buehner (Lothrop)
Nobel Laureate Paz's absorbing fantasy features a boy who creates his own endless summer by bringing home a wave from his family's beach vacation, an act that challenges him to consider the consequences of harnessing nature. Buehner's bold, fluid artwork adds to the surreal perspective.
Mysterious Thelonious
Chris Raschka (Orchard Books)
Raschka d s with the 12 values of the color wheel what Thelonious Monk did for the 12 tones of the chromatic scale, in this ingenious homage to the jazz great.
The Blue Hill Meadows
Cynthia Rylant, illus. by Ellen Beier (Harcourt Brace)
The changing seasons of Blue Hill, Va., unfold through the eyes of young Willie Meadow in this episodic chapter book. Once again, Rylant's uncanny ability to create a cozy atmosphere makes readers experience an unfamiliar place as if it were home.
The Gardener
Sarah Stewart, illus. by David Small (FSG)
Lydia Grace, sent to stay with her taciturn uncle during the Depression, fails in her plans to make him smile, but succeeds in bringing him happiness. Told through the heroine's letters, the text radiates her sunny personality, while the illustrations demonstrate the hardy nature of her optimism.
McDuff and the Baby; McDuff Comes Home; McDuff Moves In
Rosemary Wells, illus. by Susan Jeffers (Hyperion)
This tender series about a plucky Westie taken in by an affectionate young couple pairs a masterfully simple text with creamy paintings that evoke 1940s America. Words and pictures augment each other, creating a blend of drama and reassurance.
Rapunzel
Paul O. Zelinsky (Dutton)
A breathtaking interpretation gives the fairy tale new art-historical roots, with illustrations that daringly-and effectively-mimic the masters of Italian Renaissance painting. The text, equally sophisticated in its explorations of Rapunzel's awakening sexuality, proves that the timeless tale belongs to adults as well as children.
Fiction
The Facts Speak for Themselves
Brock Cole (Front Street)
This brilliant psychological study begins just after the narrator, a sexually abused 13-year-old, witnesses the murder of the man with whom she's been having an affair. The author's stringent refusal to resolve disturbing questions raised by the girl's version of events, and his insistence that "the facts speak for themselves" gives his writing a devastating authenticity.
Seedfolks
Paul Fleischman (HarperCollins/Cotler)
This inspiring urban tale weaves together the stories of 13 strangers all living on the same block in Cleveland who join together to transform a vacant lot into a thriving garden and community hub. The voices range from that of a nine-year-old Vietnamese girl grieving for her father to a shopkeeper from Delhi; Fleischman's ear is just as finely tuned to each.
The Fat Man
Maurice Gee (Simon &Schuster)
This flawless psychological novel explores the consequences of youthful cruelty, when Herbert Muskie, victimized as a child for his obesity, returns to hold his New Zealand home town hostage in the 1930s. Through the eyes of young Colin Potter (son of the fat man's chief tormentor), readers learn there are two sides to every story.
Sun &Spoon
Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow)
Sharply and imaginatively evoked characters bring to life this exceptionally moving drama about a 10-year-old boy's attempts to come to terms with the death of his grandmother. Sensitively placed metaphors enrich the narrative, embuing its perceptive depictions of grief with a powerful message of affirmation.
Out of the Dust
Karen Hesse (Scholastic)
As she did with her heroines Rifka (Letters from Rifka) and Mila ( The Music Of Dolphins), Hesse creates another unforgettable character in this poignant Depression-era novel written in stanza form: Billy Jo must give up her dream of becoming a professional pianist when a tragic fire burns her hands and takes her mother's life. Hesse conveys the beauty of the land and skillfully leads readers toward a quiet acceptance and hope.
The Robber and Me
Josef Holub, trans. by Elizabeth D. Crawford (Henry Holt)
After having his life saved by a robber lurking on the outskirts of a German village in 1867, young Boniface becomes determined to clear the alleged villain's name. Holub expertly envisions the inner workings of a small town still under royal rule, and inspires readers with his tale of how one boy has the power to change a seemingly unalterable chain of events.
Ella Enchanted
Gail Carson Levine (HarperCollins)
Mean stepsisters, a magical tome, a handsome prince-many of the hallmarks of a classic fairy tale-appear in Levine's refreshing twist on the Cinderella story. Main character Ella has a winning way of facing life's ups and downs with good cheer and humor.
Stones in Water
Donna Jo Napoli (Dutton)
Loosely based on an actual incident, this compelling novel tells the story of a Venetian boy who is taken captive by German soldiers during WWII and escapes from a work camp in Russia.
The Subtle Knife
Philip Pullman (Knopf)
Picking up where The Golden Compass left off, this sequel juggles Arctic settings, parallel universes, Judeo-Christian theology and more in the creation of a strikingly original fantasy. A heart-thumping pace propels a vast cast of characters through an intricate plot, making for exuberant storytelling.
Mean Margaret
Tor Seidler, illus. by Jon Agee (HarperCollins/di Capua)
Seidler fashions a world in which woodland creatures are more humane than humans, as he chronicles with sensitivity, acumen and humor the adventures of a bratty toddler who eats her two adopted woodchuck parents out of house and home before finally returning to her own. Along the way are plenty of guffaws and memorable characters, captured in Agee's droll, sprightly pen-and-inks.
Nonfiction
Corpses, Coffins and Crypts: A History of Burial
Penny Colman (Henry Holt)
Colman weaves details of how diverse cultures, geographic regions and religions honor their dead into her personal experience with death in a daring and satisfying approach to a difficult subject.
Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero
James Cross Giblin (Clarion)
In this lucid, even-handed study of Lindbergh's controversial career, Giblin zer s in on three major issues-his trans-Atlantic flight, the kidnapping of his son as well as Lindbergh's isolationist politics-while filling in the broad strokes of the social context. In the process, the author raises searching questions about what society demands of its her s.
Kennedy Assassinated! The World Mourns
Wilborn Hampton (Candlewick Press)
Hampton writes an engrossing blow-by-blow account of November 22, 1963, when, as a cub reporter for UPI in Dallas, he was drafted to cover JFK's assassination. His personal response to the tragedy is fluidly juxtaposed with the nuts and bolts of scooping the story in this insider's view of one of the most pivotal events of our nation's recent history.
Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution
Ji-li Jiang (HarperCollins)
Set in Shanghai in 1966, this absorbing account tells of a 12-year-old Chinese girl's adolescent zeal for and loyalty to Mao-until the slow poison overtaking her country begins to destroy her bourgeois family. Jiang views the devastating developments with the wide-eyed innocence of youth and lets readers draw their own conclusions about wars of political ideologies.
Rome Antics
David Macaulay (Houghton Mifflin)
Macaulay examines the architectural sites of Rome, literally providing a bird's-eye view. The author's use of a homing pigeon's meandering flight pattern injects a sense of motion into his exquisite series of sketches and yields a fascinating look at one of the world's great cities.
The Beautiful Days Of My Youth: My Six Months in Auschwitz and Plaszow
Ana Novac, trans. by George L. Newman (Henry Holt/Edge)
This memoir is remarkable on at least two counts: its piercingly acute prose, and its extraordinary provenance as a document originally drafted in Auschwitz and other concentration camps. Novac, not quite 15 when she was deported from Hungary, writes with merciless clarity and a shrewd, practiced eye for detail; she provides a definitive view of life, death and survival in Hitler's camps.
Leon's Story
Leon Walter Tillage, illus. by Susan L. Roth (FSG)
Tillage's uplifting you-are-there narrative recounts both the joys and sorrows of growing up in a small Jim Crow town in North Carolina half a century ago.
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