Start the Year with an Array of New Books!
by Selene Vasquez
Picture Books:
Ages 5-8
This Little Piggy's Book of Manners
by Kathryn Allen. Illustrated by Nancy Wolff (CIP, unpaged, $15.95).
Funny and positive renditions of good and poor behavior choices regarding manners as displayed by precious pink piggies. Lively and funny illustrations in bright colors like electric blue and rich red.
Kitty Princess and the Newspaper Dress by Emma Carlow and Trevor Dickinson. (Candlewick, 32 pp., $16.99)
Kitty Princess displays such rudeness that her godmother tells her to get her own gown for the ball. The need for proper behavior arises when Kitty demands shoes from a front store as well as other nonsensical occurrences. Full color collage artwork made from paper, cloth, crayons, lace and other materials.
Nonfiction:
Ages 8--10
It's Back to School We Go: First Day Stories from Around the World
by Ellen Jackson. (Millbrook, 32 pp., $23.90).
Visually eye-catching school experiences of children from 11 different countries, including Kenya, China, Kazakhstan and Canada. This educational multinational approach includes web sites for games, languages and e-pals from around the world.
I Am America by Charles Smith. (Cartwheel, 32 pp., $14.95).
Vivacious children of different ethnic and racial backgrounds are depicted in dazzling full color photographs. The poetic text accompanies the beautiful diversity rendered. "I am almond eyes. I am a proud nose. I am cheeks freckled the color of a rose."#
Selene S. Vasquez is a media specialist at Orange Brook Elementary School in Hollywood, Florida. She is formerly a children's librarian for the NYPL.
