What I've Been Reading--January 2008

It's been a great month of reading. I think I may have set an all-time record for number of books checked out of the library. Everytime I walk in people watch me with eyes bugged out and mouths dropping. I'm sure it will slow down in February though. I'm taking a graduate class in postmodernism in children's literature for my MFA and I'm teaching an undergraduate children's literature class. So most of my reading will be focusing on those two classes from now until May. I'm hoping I'll still get to post, but perhaps not as frequently.

Projects in the works:
As you can see by my lengthy picture book list, I have been overdosing on picture books. I am currently working on some illustrator series to feature an illustrator's work with a book a day. I've got several I'm working on and there will be more to come soon. Also, I'm working on an annotated list of folktale and tall tale retellings. I know there are thousands of books, but I'm reading what I can get my hands on and writing short summaries on each.

Picture Books
The Kiss that Missed by David Melling
Move by Steven Jenkins and Robin Page (my review here)
Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett (illustrator series forthcoming)
Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman (my review here)
Punk Farm on Tour by Jarrett Krosoczka
The Princess and the Pea written and illustrated by Lauren Child (my review here)
Dog Blue by Polly Dunbar (illustrator series forthcoming)
Not Just Tutus by Rachel Isadora
Very Hairy Bear by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Matt Phelan
Lili at Ballet by Rachel Isadora
On Your Toes: A Ballet ABC by Rachel Isadora
Cowboy Ned and Andy by David Ezra Stein
How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers (illustrator series forthcoming)
Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems
Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers (illustrator series forthcoming)
Do Not Open this Book by Michaela Munteam, illustrated by Pascal Lamaitre
Billy's Bucket by Kes Gray and Gary Parsons
Flyaway Katie by Polly Dunbar (illustrator series forthcoming)
Sunshine by Jan Ormerod
The Secret in the Dungeon by Fernando Krahn
The Red Book by Barbara Lehman (my review here)
Museum Trip by Barbara Lehman (my review here)
Anno's Journey by Mitsumasa Anno
First Snow by Emily Arnold McCully
Imagine a Day by Sarah Thomsen, illustrated by Ron Gonsalves
Time Flies by Eric Rohmann (illustrator series forthcoming)
The Cinder-Eyed Cats by Eric Rohmann (illustrator series forthcoming)
Clara and Asha by Eric Rohmann (illustrator series forthcoming)
My Book Box by Will Hillenbrand
Jitterbug Jam by Barbara Jean Hicks and Alexis Deacon
Dear Fish by Chris Gall (my review here)
Heat Wave by Eileen Spinelli (my review here)
Workshop by Andrew Clements (my review here)
The Princess and the Pea by Rachel Isadora (my review here)
The Dumpster Diver by Janet Wong
Strong Man: The Story of Charles Atlas by Megan McCarthy
Jack and the Beanstalk by Steven Kellogg
Rumplestiltskin by Paul O. Zelinsky
The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Smoky Mountain Rose: An Appalachian Cinderella by Alan Schroeder, illustrated by Brad Sneed
John Henry by Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Once I Ate a Pie by Patricia Maclachlan and Emily Maclachlan Charest, illustrated by Katy Schneider
The Ugly Duckling by Jerry Pinkney
Mike Fink by Steven Kellogg
Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
The Jack Tales by Ray Hicks, as told to Lynn Salsi, illustrated by Owen Smith
The House in the Sky by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Will Clay
Brave Margaret: An Irish Adventure by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Sally Wren Comport
The Hired Hand by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Tree Ring Circus by Adam Rex (illustrator series forthcoming)
Walter was Worried by Laura Vaccarro Seeger (illustrator series forthcoming)
Jack and the Beanstalk retold by Ann Keay Benduce, illustrated by Gennady Spirin
Beauty and the Beasty retold and illustrated by Jan Brett
Paul Bunyan by Steven Kellogg
Town Mouse, Country Mouse by Jan Brett
I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago by Steven Kellogg
The Mitten adapted and illustrated by Jan Brett
Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett by Steven Kellogg
The Three Little Pigs by Steven Kellogg
Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella by Tomie dePaola
The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Steven Johnson
The Book that Jack Wrote by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Daniel Adel
Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg
I Miss You Everyday by Simms Taback
Sleepover Larry by Daniel Pinkwater, illustrated by Jill Pinkwater
No Laughing, No Smiling, No Giggling by James Stevenson
City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male by Meghan McCarthy
The All-I'll-Ever-Want-For Christmas Doll by Patricia McKissack, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Hewitt Anderson's Great Big Life by Jeradine Nolen, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Straight to the Pole by Kevin O'Malley
Buzzy's Balloon by Harriett Ziefert, illustrated by Emily Bolam
Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle
Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg
The Very Smart Pea and the Princess to Be by Mini Grey (my review here)
Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco
The Cowboy and the Black-Eyed Pea by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Warren Ludwig (my review here)
The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson (my review here)



Middle Grade
(I swear I'm going to start reviewing more middle grade. There are so many I love).
Me and the Pumpkin Queen by Marlane Kennedy (my review here)
How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor
Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex (my review here)
The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levine (my review here)
The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman



Young Adult
A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd
Taken by Edward Bloor
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
My Mother the Cheerleader by Robert Sharenow (my review here)
Click by Linda Sue Park, and many others
Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements

Poetry
Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Beppe Giacobbe
Peacock and other Poems by Valerie Worth, illustrated by Natalie Babbitt (my Poetry Friday entry here)
How Beastly! A Menagerie of Nonsense Poems by Jane Yolen, illustrated by James Marshall (my Poetry Friday entry here)


Nonfiction
The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Andersen by Jane Yolen (my review here)
Lightship by Brian Floca

Audio
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson