Great Books for the Children on Your List

Every year at this time, children’s staff at the Greater Victoria Public Library compile lists of recommended books in time for holiday shopping. Here are some of our favourites for 2009:

Children’s Picture Books

• The Bears We Know by Brenda Silsbe, illus. by Vlasta van Kampen (2009) CDN/BC
• The Big Elephant in the Room by Lane Smith (2009)
• Bradley McGogg: The Very Fine Frog by Time Beiser, illus. by Rachel Berman (2008) CDN/BC
• Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy, illus. by Polly Dunbar (2008)
• Chicken Little by Rebecca Emberley & Ed Emberley (2009)
• The Christmas Magic by Lauren Thompson, illus. by Jon J Muth (2009)
• Dogs Don’t Brush Their Teeth by Diane deGroat & Shelley Rotner (2009)
• Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld (2009)
• The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Irene Luxbacher (2009) CDN
• It’s a Secret! by John Burningham (2009)
• The King’s Taster by Kennth Oppel, illus. by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher (2009) CDN
• Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes by Margie Palatini, illus. by Barry Moser (2009)
• Molly and the Night Monster by Chris Wormell (2008)
• Mouse Was Mad by Linda Urban, illus. by Henry Cole (2009)
• Violet and Winston by Sonya Sones & Bennett Tramer, illus. by Chris Raschka (2009)
• Wombat Walkabout by Carol Diggory Shields, illus. by Sophie Blackall (2009)

Children’s Non Fiction

• Amelia Earhart: the Legend of the Lost Aviator by Shelley Tanaka (2008) CDN
• Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face And Other Poems: Some of the Best of Jack Prelutsky (2008)
• A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes & Harry Endrulat, illus. Brian Deines (2008) CDN
• Beverlie Manson's Fairies: a Celebration of the Seasons by Beverlie Manson (2008)
• The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry edited by Bill Martin Jr. (2008)
• Button Up! : Wrinkled Rhymes by Alice Schertle (2009)
• Dr Frankenstein's Human Body Book: the Monstrous Truth About How Your Body Works by Richard Walker (2008)
• Eat it up!: Lip-Smacking Recipes for Kids by Elisabeth de Mariaffi (2009)
• FamilyFun Birthday Cakes: 50 Cute & Easy Party Treats edited by Deanna F. Cook and the experts at FamilyFun magazine (2003)
• FamilyFun Cookies for Christmas: 50 Cute & Quick Holiday Treats edited by Deanna F. Cook and the experts at FamilyFun magazine (2009)
• Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar! by Bob Barner (2009)
• Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian (2009)
• Face to Face with Gorillas by Michael Nichols with Elizabeth Carney(2009)
• Hansel and Gretel retold by Michael Morpurgo, illus. by Emma Chichester Clark (2008)
• Knucklehead : Tall Tales & Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka (2008)
• Sleight of Hand by Joe Fullman (2008)
• Super-Duper Cupcakes: Kids Creations From the Cupcake Caboose by Elaine Cohen (2006)
• Robots by the editors of YES Mag (2008) CDN
• You are the First Kid on Mars by Patrick O’Brien (2009)

Children’s Fiction

For Younger Readers (5-8):

• Bad to the Bone (Down Girl and Sit series) by Lucy Nolan (2008)
• Dunderheads by Paul Fleischman ; illus. by David Roberts (2009)
• Horse Crazy (Silver Horse Switch series) by Alison Lester (2007)
• Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas by Cary Fagan (2009) CDN
• The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt by Megan McDonald (2009)
• Melonhead by Katy Kelly (2009)
• Mercy Watson: Something Wonky This Way Comes by Kate DiCamillo (2009)
• Piper Reed: the Great Gypsy by Kimberly Willis Holt (2008)
• Uh oh, Cleo by Jessica Harper (2008)

For Intermediate Readers (9-12):

• A Christmas to Remember: Tales of Comfort and Joy (Dear Canada series) CDN
• Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko (2009)
• Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress (2007) CDN
• Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson (2008) CDN
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney (2009)
• Everything For a Dog by Ann Martin (2009)
• Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (2009)
• Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (2009)
• Graveyard of the Sea by Penny Draper (2008) CDN
• Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick (2007)
• Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman (2009)
• Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarita Engle (2009)
• Where the River Takes Me: The HBC Diary of Jenna Sinclair (Dear Canada series) by Julie Lawson (2009) Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff (2009)
• Word Nerd by Susin Nielsen (2008) CDN

Teen Fiction

• Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen (2009)
• Another Kind of Cowboy by Susan Juby (2007) CDN
• Emily the Strange: the Lost Days by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner (2009)
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008) (followed by Catching Fire)
• If I Stay by Gayle Foreman (2009)
• King of the Screwups by E.L. Going (2009)
• Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (2006) (followed by Dead and Gone)
• The Lit Report by Sarah Harvey (2008) CDN
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (2008)
• Q&A by Vikas Swarup (2005)
• Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (2008)
• A Thousand Shades of Blue by Robin Stevenson (2008) CDN
• Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (2007) (followed by Fragile Eternity)
• Wounded by Eric Walters (2009) CDN

December Roundtable Meeting

Please join us for our next Roundtable Meeting on Monday, December 7, 2009 at 7:30pm. Our presenter will be Penny Draper.

Penny is an author, a bookseller, and a storyteller who lives in Victoria, BC. Originally from Toronto, she received a degree in Literature from Trinity College, University of Toronto and on the side, attended the Storytellers’ School of Toronto. For many years, Penny shared tales as a professional storyteller at schools, libraries, conferences, festivals, and on radio and television. She has told stories in an Arabian harem and from inside a bear’s belly – but that is a story in itself.

Penny Draper’s first juvenile fiction novel,Terror at Turtle Mountain was a finalist for the Silver Birch Young Reader’s Choice Award in Ontario, as well as the Diamond Willow Award, the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People and Book of the Year for the ForeWord Magazine Awards in the USA. It is part of Coteau Books for Kids Disaster Strikes! Series. The series also includes Penny’s second book, Peril at Pier Nine, and her latest, Graveyard of the Sea.

Penny will show slides and tell us about her research for the Disaster Strikes! series. She is also going to treat us to some storytelling.

In the Spirit of the Holidays...

There will be Christmas goodies to enjoy and please don't forget to bring gently used children's books to donate to a literacy project of our choice.

November 16, 2009 Roundtable Meeting: Adrienne Kress

Our next Roundtable Meeting is taking place on Monday, November 16, 2009 at 7:30pm and will feature Adrienne Kress.

Adrienne Kress is a writer and actress born and raised in Toronto, Canada. It was only natural that Adrienne, the daughter of two high school English teachers, should fall in love with both creating and performing the written word. Adrienne wrote her first novel, Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, while living in the UK.

Although Alex is Adrienne’s first book, it was snapped up almost immediately by publishers around the world. It earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, and Adrienne was featured in the New York Post’s “Post Potter Picks” column (August 18, 2007) as one of six authors who have a chance to fill the void left by J.K. Rowling.

Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate was released in January 2009. It is both a sequel to Alex and the Ironic Gentleman and a stand-alone novel. The protagonist, Timothy, has his adventure at the same tome as the Alex has hers, meeting up with her halfway through the novel. It is being published by 5 publishers in 4 languages (so far) and has garnered rave reviews from Quill and Quire and Publisher’s Weekly.

Her short story “The Portal” is a part of the Wow! 365 anthology published by Scholastic, UK.

2009-2010 Red Cedar Book Award Nominees

Red Cedar Information Nominees 2009-2010

Arctic Adventures: Tales from the Lives of Inuit Artists by Raquel Rivera, ill.by Jirina Marton

Breakout Dinosaurs: Canada’s Coolest, Scariest Ancient Creatures—Return! by Hugh Brewster and the curators of the Royal Ontario Museum, ill.by Alan Barnard

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: the Story of a Painting by Hugh Brewster

Cowboys and Coffin Makers: One Hundred 19^th Century Jobs You Might Have Feared or Fancied by Laurie Coulter, ill.by Martha Newbigging

Factory Girl by Barbara Greenwood

How Soccer Works by Keltie Thomas, ill. by Stephen MacEachern

The Kids Book of Canada at War by Elizabeth MacLeod, ill. by John Mantha

Kids Who Rule: the Remarkable Lives of Five Child Monarchs by Charis Cotter

Mirror with a Memory : a Nation’s Story in Photographs by Janice Weaver

The Siege: Under Attack in Renaissance Europe by Stephen Shapiro, ill.by John Mantha

The Strongest Man in the World: Louis Cyr by Nicolas Debon

Sweet!: the Delicious Story of Candy by Ann Love and Jane Drake, ill. by Claudia Davila

This is My Planet: the Kids Guide to Global Warming by Jan Thornhill

Red Cedar Fiction Nominees 2009-2010

Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress

A Perfect, Gentle Knight by Kit Pearson

The Castaways by Iain Lawrence

Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel

Dear Jo by Christina Kilbourne

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock

Hamish X and the Hollow Mountain by- Seán Cullen

Honey Cake by Joan Betty Stuchner and illustrated by Cynthia Nugent

If I Die Before I Wake by Jean Little

Sacred Leaf by Deborah Ellis

Safe as Houses by Eric Walters

Schooled by Gordon Korman

The Secret of Grim Hill by Linda DeMeulemeester

Thora and the Green Sea-Unicorn by Gillian Johnson

Our thanks to the Red Cedar Fiction selection committee:

Pam McLeod, Victoria Miles, Joy Gugeler, Randi Robin and Tammy Fielden.

For more information, check out the Red Cedar Website