Best Bets for the Classroom 2010
Compiled by Joan Kindig, Ed.D. and presented by Caroline Goddard, M.Ed.
Picture Books
April and Esme: Tooth Fairies by Bob Graham (Candlewick)
Art & Max by David Wiesner (Clarion)
Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh (Beach Lane)
Boss Baby by Marla Frazee (S&S)
Chester’s Masterpiece by Melanie Watt (Kids Can)
City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems, illustrated by Jon J. Muth (Hyperion)
Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown (Little, Brown)
Disappearing Desmond by Anna Alter (Knopf)
Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming, illus. by G. Brian Karas (Schwartz & Wade)
Dogs by Emily Gravett (S&S)
Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates (Knopf)
Dust Devil by Anne Isaacs, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky (Random House)
Elsie’s Bird by Jane Yolen, illustrated by David Small (Philomel)
Henry in Love by Peter McCarty (HarperCollins)
Farm by Elisha Cooper (Scholastic)
Here Comes the Garbage Barge by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Red Nose Studio (Random House)
How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills (Random House)
If You’re a Monster and You Know It by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley, (Scholastic)
It’s Christmas, David! by David Shannon (Scholastic)
It’s a Book by Lane Smith (Roaring Brook)
Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion by Mo Willems (HarperCollins)
Let’s Count Goats! by Mem Fox, illus. by Jan Thomas (S&S)
Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney (Viking)
My Garden by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow)
Of Thee I Sing by Barack Obama, illus by Loren Long (Knopf)
Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea (HarperCollins)
Olivia Goes to Venice by Ian Falconer (S&S)
One Pup’s Up by Marsha Wilson Chall, illus. by Henry Cole (S&S)
The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Renata Liwska (Houghton)
Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson, illus. by Sophie Blackall (Putnam)
A Pig Parade is a Terrible Idea by Michael Ian Black (S&S)
The Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett (S&S)
Race You to Bed by Bob Shea (HarperCollins)
Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey, illus. by Floyd Cooper (Carolrhoda)
Santa Duck and His Merry Helpers by David Milgrim (Penguin)
Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (Little, Brown)
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Stead, illus. by Erin Stead (Roaring Brook)
Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy by Denise Fleming (Henry Holt)
Stretch by Doreen Cronin, illus. by Scott Menchin (S&S)
There’s Going to be a Baby by John Burningham, illus. by Helen Oxenbury (Candlewick)
The Tooth by Avi Slodovnick (Kane Miller)
What if? by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook)
Zero by Kathryn Otoshi (KO Kids Books)
Traditional Literature
All Things Bright and Beautiful by Ashley Bryan (Atheneum)
The Red Hen retold by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley (Roaring Brook)
Beginning Readers
Buzz Boy and Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold (Scholastic)
Can I Play Too?, I Am Going! , and We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems (Hyperion)
Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same by Grace Lin, (Little, Brown)
What about Bear? by Suzanne Bloom (Boyds Mill)
Transitional Novels (Reading Level 2-3)
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Birthday Parties….and Other Man-Made Catastrophes by Lenore Look, illus. by LeUyen Pham (Random House)
Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illus. by Tony Fucile (Candlewick)
Clementine, Friend of the Week by Sara Pennypacker, illus. by Marla Frazee (Hyperion)
Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst, illus. by Lane Smith (S&S)
Melonhead and the Big Stink by Katy Kelly (Random House)
Spaceheadz by Jon Scieszka and Francesco Sedita, illus. by Shane Prigmore (S&S)
Stink: Solar System Superhero by Megan McDonald, illus. by Peter Reynolds (Candlewick)
Super Chicken Nugget Boy by Josh Lewis, illus. by Douglas Holgate (Hyperion)
Word after Word after Word by Patricia MacLachlan (HarperCollins)
Novels
Big Nate and Big Nate Strikes Again by Lincoln Pierce (Harper)
Countdown by Deborah wiles (Scholastic)
Crunch by Leslie Connor (Harper Collins)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney (Abrams)
The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan, illus. by Peter Sis (Scholastic)
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine (Philomel)
A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home by Henry Cole (HarperCollins)
The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Angela Barrett (Candlewick)
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (HarperCollins)
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (S&S)
Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson (Penguin)
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (Hyperion)
The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi (S&S)
Spaceheadz Book #1 and Spaceheadz Book #2 by Jon Scieszka (S&S)
The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone (Random House)
The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger (Abrams)
A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz (Dutton)
Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord (Scholastic)
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm (Random House)
Vordak the Incomprehensible by Scott Seegert (Egmont)
Non-Fiction
Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, illus. by Brian Floca (Roaring Brook)
The Bat Scientists by Mary Kay Carson, illus. by Tom Uhlman (HMCo.)
Bones by Steve Jenkins (Scholastic)
Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill, illus. by Bryan Collier (Little, Brown)
The Good, The Bad, and The Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone (Viking)
The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe (Houghton)
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot by Sy Montgomery, illustrated by Nic Bishop (Houghton)
Lincoln Tells a Joke by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer, illus. by Stacy Innerst (Harcourt)
Lost Boy: The Story of the Man Who Created Peter Pan by Jane Yolen, illus. by Steve Adams (Dutton)
Mama Miti by Donna Jo Napoli, illus. by Kadir Nelson (S&S)
Muddy as a Duck Puddle and Other American Similes by Laurie Lawlor, illus. by Ethan Long (Holiday House)
Nic Bishop Lizards by Nic Bishop, photographs by author (Scholastic)
Sit-In by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illus. by Brian Pinkney (Little, Brown)
Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle, illus. by Julie Paschkis (Holt)
They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (Houghton)
Poetry
Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Linda Glaser, illus. by Claire Nivola (Houghton)
Guyku by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds (Houghton Harcourt)
In the Wild by David Elliott, illustrated by Holly Meade (Candlewick)
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer, illus. by Josee Masse (Dutton)
Poetrees by Douglas Florian (Beach Lane)
Ubiquitous by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beckie Prange (Houghton)
Graphic Novels
Binky to the Rescue by Ashley Spires (Kids Can)
Lunch Lady and the Bake Sale Bandit by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Knopf)
Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Knopf)
Yummy by G. Neri (Lee & Low) Young Adult
Young Adult
Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan (Scholastic)
Annexed by Sharon Dogar (Harcourt)
Blank Confession by Pete Hautman (S&S)
The Knife That Killed Me by Anthony McGowan (Delacorte Press)
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Numbers by Rachel Ward (Scholastic)
The Replacements by Brenna Yovanoff (RazorBill)
Split by Swati Avashti (Knopf)
Stolen by Lucy Christopher (Scholastic)
Pop-Up Books
10 Little Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental (Abrams)
Beauty and the Beast by Robert Sabuda (Litte Simon)
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