Ames Public Library Youth Services
Best Books ©2009
Note: An asterisk (*) denotes titles that the youth services staff feel are of special distinction among this year’s favorite picks.
Board Books
Toddlers and Infants enjoy reading these sturdy books. Look for them in the green Alligator bin.
Little Hands: Animals.(E ANI)
Baby Nose to Baby Toes.Ceelan, Vicky. (E CEE)
*Colors. (E COL)
Daddy, Do You Love Me?(E DAD)
Dig! Lift! Push! (E DEE)
Little Hands: First Words. (E FIR)
Good Habits with Coco and Lulu: Good-Bye Diaper. Geis, Patricia. (E GOO)
Good Habits with Coco and Lulu: Let’s Eat! Geis, Patricia. (E GOO)
Good Habits with Coco and Lulu: Let’s Get Dressed! Geis, Patricia. (E GOO)
Good Habits with Coco and Lulu: Let’s Get Well! Geis, Patricia. (E GOO)
*Eating the Rainbow. Grossman, Rena D. (E GRO)
Baby Colors. Hale, Rachael. (E HAL)
Baby Giggles. Hale, Rachael. (E HAL)
Mommy, Do You Love Me? (E MOM)
*Plow! Plant! Grow! (E PLO)
*On the Move: Jon Scieszka’s Trucktown. Scieszka, Jon. (E SCI)
*Touch and Count with Peter Rabbit. (E TOU)
*Baby, I Love You. Wilson, Karma (E WIL)
Easy-to-Read (ETR)
Easy-to-Read books are geared toward children learning to read independently. They may be appropriate for children in grades K-3, depending on the complexity of the words and concepts.
I Spy Fly Guy. Arnold, Tedd. (ETR E ARN)
Trucks. Krensky, Stephen. (ETR E KRE)
Poodle and Hound. Lasky, Kathryn. (ETR E LAS)
Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day. McMullen, Kate. (ETR E MCM)
Joe and Sparky Get New Wheels. Michalak, Jamie. (ETR E MIC)
Good Dog, Aggie. Ries, Lori. (ETR E RIE)
*Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Horse in the House. Silverman, Erica. (ETR E SIL)
*Elephants Cannot Dance. Willems, Mo. (ETR E WIL)
*Pigs Make Me Sneeze. Willems, Mo. (ETR E WIL)
*Watch Me Throw the Ball. Willems, Mo. (ETR E WIL)
Mouse and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends. Yee, Herbert Wong. (ETR E YEE)
Picture Books
Picture books appeal to a wide range of children (and adults!). Picture books can be read just for enjoyment. Others can be used to introduce elementary-aged children to historical events, significant people, or new concepts. Find these picture books in the blue browsing bins.
All of Baby Nose to Toes. Adler, Victoria. (E ADL)
Sometimes I’m Scared. Annunziata, Jane. (E ANN)
My Little Round House. Baasansuren, Bolormaa. (E BAA)
Panda and Polar Bear. Baek, Matthew J. (E BAE)
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. Baum, L. Frank (E BAU, holiday)
OK Go. Berger, Carin. (E BER)
Ron’s Big Mission. Blue, Rose. (E BLU)
*The Curious Garden. Brown, Peter. (E BRO)
A Child’s Good Morning Book. Brown, Margaret Wise. (E BRO)
Sleepy ABC. Brown, Margaret Wise. (E BRO)
Big Wolf & Little Wolf. Brun-Cosme, Nadine. (E BRU)
It’s a Secret. Burningham, John. (E BUR)
Just How Long Can a String Be?! Baker, Keith. (E BAK)
I Will Be Especially VERY Careful. Child, Lauren. (E CHI)
The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster. Conway, David. (E CON)
Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales. Cousins, Lucy. (E COU)
Stretch. Cronin, Doreen. (E CRO)
Thunder-Boomer! Crum, Shutta. (E CRU)
A Garden of Opposites. Davis, Nancy. (E DAV)
*Tricking the Tallyman: the Great Census Shenanigans of 1790. Davies, Jacqueline. (E DAV)
*14 Cows for America. Deedy, Carmen Agra. (E DEE)
Dark Night. de Monfried, Dorothée. (E DEM)
The Zoo I Drew. Doodler, Todd. (E DOO)
Bella and Bean. Dotlich, Rebecca Kai. (E DOT)
*Once Upon a Twice. Doyen, Denise. (E DOY)
Chicken Little. Emberley, Rebecca. (E EMB)
There Was an Old Monster. Emberley, Rebecca. (E EMB)
Billy and Milly Short and Silly. Feldman, Eve B. (E FEL)
Pippo the Fool. Fern, Tracey. (E FER)
*Hello, Baby! Fox, Mem. (E FOX)
*The Goblin and the Empty Chair. Fox, Mem. (E FOX)
Pond Circle. Franco, Betsy. (E FRA)
*Let’s Do Nothing! Fucile, Tony. (E FUC)
Dinotrux. Gall, Chris. (E GAL)
Night Lights. Gal, Susan. (E GAL)
A Book. Gerstein, Mordecai. (E GER)
Birds. Henkes, Kevin. (E HEN)
Little Chick. Hest, Amy. (E HES)
Cool Cat. Hogrogian, Nonny. (E HOG)
Me and You. Holmes, Janet A. (E HOL)
*My People. Hughes, Langston. (E HUG)
My Abuelita. Johnston, Tony. (E JOH)
Leaf. King, Stephen Michael. (E KIN)
Georgia Rises: a Day in the Life of Georgia O’Keeffe. Lasky, Kathryn. (E LAS)
Applesauce Season. Lipson, Eden Ross. (E LIP)
How to Get Married—by Me, the Bride. Lloyd-James, Sally. (E LLO)
*Otis. Long, Loren. (E LON)
Machines Go to Work. Low, William. (E LOW)
Crow Call. Lowry, Lois. (E LOW)
Flying! Luthardt, Kevin. (E LUT)
Bubble Trouble. Mahy, Margaret. (E MAH)
Hurry Up and Slow Down. Marlow, Layn (E MAR)
*Jeremy Draws a Monster. McCarty, Peter. (E MCC)
*Only a Witch Can Fly. McGhee, Alison. (E MCG)
*Call Me Gorgeous! Milton, Giles. (E MIL)
Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day. Mora, Pat. (E MOR)
*Dewey: There’s a Cat in the Library. Myron, Vicki. (E MYR)
Posy. Newbery, Linda. (E NEW)
Lousy Rotten, Stinkin’ Grapes. Palatini, Margie. (E PAL)
Higher! Higher! Patricelli, Leslie. (E PAT)
*Sparrow Girl. Pennypacker, Sara. (E PEN)
*Wink: the Ninja Who Wanted to be Noticed. Phillips, J. C. (E PHI)
*The Lion and the Mouse. Pinkney, Jerry. (E PIN)
Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride. Pinkney, Andrea Davis. (E PIN)
A Penguin Story. Portis, Antoinette. (E POR)
Louise the Big Cheese: Divine Diva. Primavera, Elise. (E PRI)
Bird, Butterfly, Eel. Prosek, James. (E PRO)
*Duck! Rabbit! Rosenthal, Amy Krouse. (E ROS)
Little Oink. Rosenthal, Amy Krouse. (E ROS)
All in a Day. Rylant, Cynthia. (E RYL)
Epossumondas Plays Possum. Salley, Coleen. (E SAL)
Honk, Honk, Goose! Canada Geese Start a Family. Sayre, April Pulley. (E SAY)
*All the World. Scanlon, Liz Garton. (E SCA)
*Little Blue Truck Leads the Way. Schertle, Alice. (E SCH)
Truckery Rhymes. Scieszka, Jon. (E SCI)
Dog and Bear: Three to Get Ready. Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. (E SEE)
*Red Sings from Treetops: a Year in Colors. Sidman, Joyce. (E SID)
BallyhooBay. Sierra, Judy. (E SIE)
*The Sleepy Little Alphabet. Sierra, Judy. (E SIE)
I Want to Be Free. Slate, Joseph. (E SLA)
All God’s Critters. Staines, Bill. (E STA)
Pouch! Stein, David Ezra. (E STE)
Here Comes the Big, Mean Dust Bunny! Thomas, Jan. (E THO)
*Rhyming Dust Bunnies. Thomas, Jan. (E THO)
The Christmas Magic. Thompson, Lauren. (E THO, holiday)
The Hat That Wore Clara B. Turner-Denstaedt, Melanie. (E TUR)
The Super Hungry Dinosaur. Waddell, Martin (E WAD)
*The Grouchies. Wagenbach, Debbie. (E WAG)
Mama Says: a Book of Love for Mothers and Sons. Walker, Rob D. (E WAL)
1000 Times No. Warburton, Tom. (E WAR)
Have I Got a Book for You! Watt, Mélanie. (E WAT)
The Yankee at the Seder. Weber, Elka. (E WEB, holiday)
Alphabeasties and Other Amazing Types. Werner, Sharon. (E WER)
*Lines That Wiggle. Whitman, Candace. (E WHI)
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. Willems, Mo. (E WIL)
*Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude. Winter, Jonah. (E WIN)
Secret Circus. Wright, Johanna. (E WRI)
*Hook. Young, Ed. (E YOU)
*Creature ABC. Zuckerman, Andrew. (E ZUC)
Juvenile Fiction
Generally, these books will appeal to children in elementary school who are fluent readers. Where available, call numbers for audio books have been included. Titles marked with an Eare available in audio format as an electronic download.
*Anything But Typical. Baskin, Nora Raleigh. (J BAS)
Tumtum & Nutmeg: Adventures Beyond Nuthouse Hall. Beam, Emily. (J BEA)
The Magical Ms. Plum. Becker, Bonney. (J BEC)
The Red Blazer Girls. Beil, Michael D. (J BEI, J CD BEI)
Sylvie and the Songman. Binding, Tim. (J BIN)
*Wild Things. Carmichael, Clay. (J CAR)
Happenstance Found. Catanese, P.W. (J CAT)
Celia’s Robot. Chang, Margaret. (
Counter Clockwise. Cockroft, Jason. (J COC)
The Last Newspaper Boy in America. Corbett, Sue. (J COR)
Unfinished Angel. Creech, Sharon. (J CRE)
*Solving Zoe. Dee, Barbara. (J DEE)
The Magician’s Elephant. DiCamillo, Kate. (J DIC)
Sassy: Little Sister is Not My Name. Draper, Sharon. (J DRA)
Born to Fly. Ferrari, Michael. (J FER)
The Dunderheads.Fleischman, Paul. (J FLE)
The Dream Stealer. Fleischman, Sid. (J FLE)
Leo and the Lesser Lion. Forrester, Sandra. (J FOR)
Odd and the Frost Giants. Gaiman, Neil. (J GAI)
Wild Girl. Giff, Patricia Reilly. (J GIF)
Umbrella Summer. Graff, Lisa. (J GRA)
Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel. Grimes, Nikki. (J GRI)
Emmaline and the Bunny. Hannigan, Katherine. (J HAN)
The Amazing Trail of Seymour Snail. Hazen, Lynn E. (J HAZ)
Horrid Henry. Simon, Francesca. (J HOR 2009)
*The Beef Princess of PracticalCounty. Houts, Michelle. (J HOU)
We Can’t All Be Rattlesnakes. Jennings, Patrick. (J JEN)
*The Secret of Zoom. Jonell, Lynne. (J JON)
Melonhead. Kelly, Katy. (J KEL)
*Love, Aubrey. LaFleur, Suzanne M. (J LAF)
Also Known as Harper. Leal, Ann Haywood. (J LEA)
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Lin, Grace. (J LIN)
Dancing Through the Snow. Little, Jean. (J LIT)
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters. Look, Lenore.
(J LOO, J CD LOO)
Neil Armstrong is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me. Marino, Nan.
(J MAR)
The Doll Shop Downstairs. McDonough, Yonda. (J MCD)
Franny Parker. McKinnon, Hannah Roberts. (J MCK)
How Oliver Olson Changed the World. Mills, Claudia. (J MIL)
The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis. O’Connor, Barbara. (J OCO)
*Heart of a Shepherd. Parry, Rosanne. (J PAR, J CD PAR)
*Lucky Breaks. Patron, Susan. (J PAT, J CD PAT)
A Season of Gifts. Peck, Richard. (J PEC)
*EThe Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. Philbrick, Rodman. (J PHI, J CD PHI)
Thumb and the Bad Guys. Roberts, Ken. (J ROB)
Any Which Wall. Snyder, Laurel. (J SNY)
Tales From Outer Suburbia. Tan, Shaun. (J TAN)
A Faraway Island. Thor, Annika. (J THO)
EPeace, Locomotion. Woodson, Jacqueline. (J WOO, J CD WOO)
Juvenile Nonfiction
*Faith. Ajmera, Maya. (J 200 AJM)
If America Were a Village: a Book about the People of the United States. Smith, David J.
(J 304.6 SMI)
One World, One Day. Kerley, Barbara. (J 305.23 KER)
Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary. Partridge,
Elizabeth. (J 323.1 PAR)
Traveling the Freedom Road: From Slavery and the Civil War Through Reconstruction.
Osborne, Linda Barrett. (J 326 OSB)
Earth in the Hot Seat: Bulletins from a Warming World. Delano, Marfe Ferguson.
(J 363.7387 DEL)
Listen to the Wind: the Story of Dr. Greg & the Three Cups of Tea. Mortenson, Greg.
(J 371.822 MOR)
Three Cups of Tea: Young Readers Edition. Mortenson, Greg. (J 371.822 MOR)
Remember Little Rock: the Time, the People, the Stories. Walker, Paul Robert. (J 379.263 WAL)
*Tsunami! Kajikawa, Kimiko. (J 398.2 KAJ)
Extreme Scientists: Exploring Nature’s Mysteries from Perilous Places. Jackson, Donna M.
(J 509.2 JAC)
*The Day-Glo Brothers: the True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New
Colors. Barton, Chris. (J 535.352 BAR)
Planet Earth. Woodward, John. (J 550 WOO)
The Story of Snow: the Science of Winter’s Wonder. Cassino, Mark. (J 551.5784 CAS)
*Lucy Long Ago. Thimmesh, Catherine. (J 569.93 THI)
Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life. Bang, Molly. (J 572.46 BAN)
*Redwoods. Chin, Jason. (J 585.5 CHI)
Just the Right Size: Why Big Animals are Big and Little Animals are Little. Davies, Nicola.
(J 591.41 DAV)
*Down, Down, Down: a Journey to the Bottom of the Sea. Jenkins, Steve. (J 591.92 JEN)
*Butterflies and Moths. Bishop, Nic. (J 595.75 BIS)
*The Frog Scientist. Turner, Pamela S. (J 597.8 TUR)
*Slither and Crawl. Arnosky, Jim. (J 597.9 ARN)
*Crocodile Safari. Arnosky, Jim. (J 597.98 ARN)
What Bluebirds Do. Kirby, Pamela. (J 598.842 KIR)
*Marsupials. Bishop, Nic. (J 599.2 BIS)
How to Scratch a Wombat. French, Jackie. (J 599.2 FRE)
Panda Kindergarten. Ryder, Joanne. (J 599.789 RYD)
Your Body Battles a Skinned Knee. Cobb, Vicki. (J 617.1 COB)
Your Body Battles a Broken Bone. Cobb, Vicki. (J 617.471 COB)
*Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream. Stone, Tonya Lee. (J 629.45 STO)
*Moonshot: the Flight of Apollo 11. Floca, Brian. (J 629.454 FLO)
In the Belly of an Ox: the Unexpected Photographic Adventures of Richard and Cherry Keaton.
Bond, Rebecca. (J 779 BON)
The Fabulous Feud of Gilbert and Sullivan. Winter, Jonah. (J 782.1 WIN)
*Lights on Broadway: a Theatrical Tour from A to Z. Ziefert, Harriet. (J 792 ZIE)
The Kids’ Guide to Pranks, Tricks, and Practical Jokes. Bell-Rehwoldt, Sheri. (J 793.8 BEL)
Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies. Andrews, Julie.
(J 808.81 JUL, J CD 808.81 JUL)
*Falling Down the Page. Heard, Georgia. (J 811 FAL)
Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems. Floca, Brian. (J 811 FLO)
A Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing, and Shout. Janescko, Paul B. (J 811 FOO)
*A Curious Collection of Cats. Franco, Betsy. (J 811 FRA)
African Acrostics: a Word in Edgeways. Harley, Avis. (J 811 HAR)
*The Negro Speaks of Rivers. Hughes, Langston. (J 811 HUG)
The Cuckoo’s Haiku. Rosen, Michael J. (J 811 ROS)
A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: a Forest of Poems. Ruddell, Deborah. (J 811 RUD)
*Button Up! Schertle, Alice. (J 811 SCH)
Mother Poems. Smith, Hope Anita. (J 811 SMI)
Cars on Mars: Roving the Red Planet. Siy, Alexandra. (J 919.9 SIY)
*The Great and Only Barnum. Fleming, Candace. (J 920 BARNUM, P.)
The Mysteries of Beethoven’s Hair. Martin, Russell. (J 920 BEETHOVEN, L.)
Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life’s Song. Bryan, Ashley. (J 920 BRYAN, A.)
*Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice. Hoose, Phillip M. (J 920 COLVIN, C.)
The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau. Yaccarino, Dan. (J 920 COUSTEAU, J.)
Darwin: With Glimpses into His Private Journal and Letters. McGinty, Alice B.
(J 920 DARWIN, C.)
*One Beetle Too Many. Lasky, Kathryn. (J 920 DARWIN, C., J CD 920 DARWIN, C.)
The Boy Who Invented TV: the Story of Philo Farnsworth. Krull, Kathleen.
(J 920 FARNSWORTH, P.)
Anne Frank: Her Life in Words and Pictures. Metselaar, Menno. (J 920 FRANK, A.)
*Mermaid Queen. Coery, Shana. (J 920 KELLERMAN, A.)
*Coretta Scott. Shange, Ntozake. (J 920 KING, C.)
*You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! Winter, Jonah. (J 920 KOUFAX, S.)
*Our Abe Lincoln. Aylesworth, Jim. (J 920 LINCOLN, A.)
*Yellowstone Moran: Painting the American West. Judge, Lita. (J 920 MORAN, Y.)
Pelé, King of Soccer / Pelé, El Rey del Fútbol. Brown, Monica. (J 920 PELE)
*Bad News for Outlaws: the Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal.
Nelson, Vaunda-Micheaux. (J 920 REEVES, B.)
Django: World’s Greatest Jazz Guitarist. Christensen, Bonnie. (J 920 REINHARDT, D.)
Diego: Bigger Than Life. Bermier-Grand, Carmen T. (J 920 RIVERA, D.)
*Eleanor, Quiet No More: the Life of Eleanor Roosevelt. Rappaport, Doreen.
(J 920 ROOSEVELT, E.)
Big George: How a Shy Boy Became George Washington. Rockwell, Anne.
(J 920 WASHINGTON, G.)
*Charles and Emma: the Darwins’ Leap of Faith. Heiligman, Deborah. (J 921 HEI)
The Name Game: a Look Behind the Labels. Jackson, Donna M. (J 929.4 JAC)
Truce: the Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting. Murphy, Jim. (J 940.4 MUR)
*The Anne Frank Case. Rubin, Susan Goldman. (J 940.5318 RUB)
Sacred Mountain: Everest. Taylor-Butler, Christine. (J 954.96 TAY)
*Mr. Lincoln’s High Tech War. Allen, Thomas B. (J 973.7 ALL)
A Savage Thunder: Antietam and the Bloody Road to Freedom. Murphy, Jim. (J 973.7 MUR)
Chasing Lincoln’s Killer. Swanson, James. (J 973.7 SWA)
*Under Siege!: Three Children at the Civil War Battle for Vicksburg. Warren, Andrea.
(J 973.7 WAR)
Years of Dust: the Story of the Dust Bowl. Marrin, Albert. (J 973.916 MAR)
Young Adult (Teen) Fiction
Young Adult books generally appeal to youth ages 12-18. Some of the books may be located on the second floor of the library in APL Zone, while others will be on the main floor. Please ask if you need help locating an item. All Young Adult nonfiction is located in the APL Zone. Where available, call numbers for audio books have been included. Titles marked with an Eare available in audio format as an electronic download.
*EWintergirls. Anderson, Laurie Halse. (YA AND)
*Tales of the Madman Underground: an Historical Romance 1973. Barnes, John. (YA BAR)
*Going Bovine. Bray, Libba. (YA BRA)
*Hate List. Brown, Jennifer. (YA BRO)
All the Broken Pieces. Burg, Ann E. (YA BUR)
The Secret Life of Prince Charming. Caletti, Deb. (YA CAL)
*EFire. Cashore, Kristin. (YA CAS, YA CD CAS)
The Roar. Clayton, Emma. (YA CLA)
The Girl Who Threw Butterflies. Cochrane, Mick. (YA COC)
*Catching Fire. Collins, Suzanne. (YA COL, YA CD COL)
War Games. Coloumbis, Audrey. (YA COL)
Mare’s War. Davis, Tanita S. (YA DAV)
EAlong for the Ride. Dessen, Sarah. (YA DES, YA CD DES)
EThe Siege of Macindaw: Ranger’s Apprentice #6. Flanagan, John. (YA FLA, YA CD FLA)
*EIf I Stay: a Novel. Forman, Gayle. (YA FOR)
Secrets of Truth & Beauty. Frazer, Megan. (YA FRA)
Crossing Stones. Frost, Helen. (YA FRO)
King of the Screwups. Going, K. L. (YA GOI)
*Hunger. Grant, Michael. (YA GRA)
*Brooklyn Nine. Gratz, Alan. (YA GRA)
*Forest Born. Hale, Shannon. (YA HAL)
The Lost Conspiracy. Hardinge, Frances. (YA HAR)
*North of Beautiful. Headley, Justina Chen. (YA HEA)
EScat. Hiassen, Carl. (YA HIA)
Operation Yes. Holmes, Sara Lewis. (YA HOL)
Comfort. Hostetter, Joyce Moyer. (YA HOS)
*The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. Kelly, Jacqueline. (YA KEL)
Wanting Mor. Khan, Rukhsana. (YA KHA)
Pop. Korman, Gordon. (YA KOR)
*Lips Touch: Three Times. Laini, Taylor. (YA LAI)
Love is the Higher Law. Levithan, David. (YA LEV)
*The Carbon Diaries 2015. Lloyd, Saci. (YA LLO)
*Ash. Lo, Malinda. (YA LO)
Jane in Bloom. Lyton, Deborah. (YA LYT)
Flash Burnout: a Novel. Madigan, L.K. (YA MAD)
*The Rock and the River. Magoon, Kekla. (YA MAG)
Front and Center. Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. (YA MUR)
Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks. Myracle, Lauren. (YA MYR)
*EBloodhound. Pierce, Tamora. (YA PIE, YA CD PIE)
Love You Hate You Miss You. Scott, Elizabeth. (YA SCO)