“We can consider it a public service toward next summer\u2019s reading lists, and school librarians\u2019 fall ordering, and just plain reading choices for people everywhere. If you want to join in, post your ‘Best Books of 2007 (So Far)’ in any or all of the categories: Picture Books, Early Elementary, Elementary, Middle School, High School. Mix in your nonfiction or graphic novels by the age categories. Narrow it down to five choices per category (I know it will be tough) . . . My ultimate plan is to pull together the posts into one big list by the middle(ish) of September . . .”<\/em><\/p>\n And I want to add my usual disclaimer: I have not read everything. I mean, it truly is some kind of crime that I haven’t yet read Jon Scieszka<\/a><\/strong> and Lane Smith’s<\/a><\/strong> Cowboy & Octopus<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. Can I just say that a) I don’t get review copies from Viking Juvenile<\/a><\/strong>, and b) I don’t understand for the life of me<\/em> why the OPACs of both library systems I use do not even register the title. Hubba hubba<\/em> wha? This is also some kind of crime, but I digress. <\/p>\n *2. Jonathan-Bean-Tie (sorry): The Apple Pie That Papa Baked<\/em> and At Night<\/em> — the first by Lauren Thompson and illustrated by Jonathan Bean and reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>; the latter both written and illustrated by Jonathan Bean (and pictured above), and the review is here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *3. The End <\/em> by David LaRochelle and illustrated by Richard Egielski (pictured above) — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n *4. Pssst!<\/em> by Adam Rex — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *5. Grumpy Bird<\/em> by Jeremy Tankard (oh that lovely psychadelic art like none I’ve seen this year!) — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> . . .<\/p>\n *6. The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County<\/em> by Janice N. Harrington and illustrated by Shelley Jackson (and pictured at the top of this post. Just look<\/em> at that cover!) — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *7. A Good Day<\/em> by Kevin Henkes — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> . . . <\/p>\n and, Holy Exclamation Marks, it’s too hard to narrow, so . . . <\/p>\n *7\u00bd. The Wall<\/em> by Peter Sis — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> with Eisha’s help. <\/p>\n *2. What Happens on Wednesdays<\/em> by Emily Jenkins — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *3. Red Red Red<\/em> by Valeri Gorbachev — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *4. Penguin<\/em> by Polly Dunbar — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *5. Fred Stays With Me<\/em> by Nancy Coffelt and illustrated by Tricia Tusa — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *6. Very Hairy Bear<\/em> by Alice Schertle and illustrated by Matt Phelan — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>, in which I think I might<\/em> have maybe mentioned a few times that I want to crawl into these illustrations and curl up and live a while. <\/p>\n *8. Knuffle Bunny Too<\/em> by Mo Willems — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> with Eisha’s help.<\/p>\n *9. Mary and the Mouse, The Mouse and Mary<\/em> by Beverly Donofrio and illustrated by Barbara McClintock — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *10. Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories<\/em> by Laura Vaccaro Seeger — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *2. The Little Red Fish<\/em> by Taeeun Yoo — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *3. Who’s Hiding?<\/em> by Satoru Onishi — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> (a perfect pre-school gem). <\/p>\n *4. The Bunnies Are Not in Their Beds<\/em> by Marisabina Russo — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *5. Little Donkey and the Birthday Present<\/em> by Rindert Kromhout and illustrated by Annemarie van Haeringen — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *7. That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown<\/em> by Cressida Cowell and illustrated by Neal Layton — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> (a brand new, unforgettable heroine of children’s lit, this Emily Brown is).<\/p>\n *8. New Clothes for a New Year’s Day<\/em> by Hyum-Joo Bae — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> (oh the sartorial bliss and the detailed, elegant illustrations!).<\/p>\n *9. I’d like to add 17 Things I’m Not Allowed to Do Anymore<\/em> by Jenny Offill *10. I’m half-way adding Little Night<\/em> here (reviewed<\/a><\/strong> here), which has drop-dead gorgeous illustrations, but the abrupt ending (which shouldn’t stop you from seeing it anyway) gives me an excuse to say I could possibly perhaps add instead: <\/p>\n — Every Season<\/em><\/strong><\/a> by Shelley Rotner<\/a><\/strong> and Anne Love Woodhull with photographs by Ms. Rotner (Roaring Brook Press<\/a><\/strong>; March 2007; pictured above) — I also haven’t gotten around to reviewing this one yet, but it’s excellent all around . . . <\/p>\n or . . . <\/p>\n or . . .<\/p>\n — Lucky Jake<\/strong><\/a><\/em> by Sharon Hart Addy<\/a><\/strong> and illustrated by Wade Zahares<\/a><\/strong> (Houghton Mifflin<\/a><\/strong>; May 2007; pictured above) — This is also still sitting in the to-review pile, but you can’t miss this one this year, particularly for what Booklist<\/em> described as Zahares’ “cutting edge art.”<\/p>\n or . . . <\/p>\n — Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Pija Lindenbaum (R & S Books<\/a><\/strong>; September 2007) — This is also in my to-be-reviewed pile, but just know for now that I heart it so much . . . <\/p>\n or . . . <\/p>\n — A Second is a Hiccup<\/em> by Hazel Hutchins and illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n (MotherReader probably gave up on me a looooong<\/em> time ago) . . .<\/p>\n *2. Today at the Bluebird Cafe<\/em> by Deborah Ruddell and illustrated by Joan Rankin — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *3. Animal Poems<\/em> by Valerie Worth and illustrated by Steve Jenkins — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n *4. Here’s a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry<\/em> — Collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> (can you call this a “picture book” — it’s an illustrated anthology of children’s poetry, like a bigger, thicker picture book. So, I’m putting it into this category anyway. I think I’ve bought this for at least<\/em> four newborn gifts this year. Perfection). <\/p>\nI had to read and re-read and re-read again that narrow-it-down-to-five-choices part. I know MotherReader is a laid back, easy-going gal and will not care if I post more than five, but I’m gonna try to follow the rules here. Limiting to five will be hard — but perhaps the mental exercise will be good for me. <\/p>\n
I’m going to tackle Picture Books here, followed by a small stab at Poetry, because that is all I feel qualified to do. I read middle-grade and YA on a regular basis, but I’ve read way more picture books this year. I counted and I’ve reviewed approximately 115 picture books from ’07 (thus far) here at 7-Imp. I’ve read more than that, but most of them that are making my lists below are ones I’ve reviewed here (since I review the ones that I think are outstanding in one way or another), so I’ll link my choices to my reviews — which include why I loved it; the month of publication; the publisher; the web sites, if applicable, of the author and\/or illustrator; and all that important stuff, if you care to know it. Here goes:<\/p>\n
*1. Orange Pear Apple Bear<\/em> by Emily Gravett — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n
. . . and, yes, numbers six and seven (forgive me, MotherReader) . . . <\/p>\n
Slipped Into the List Above<\/strong><\/font><\/center><\/p>\n*1. Yo, Jo!<\/em> by Rachel Isadora — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n
*7. The Zoo<\/em> by Suzy Lee — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n
*1. The Wish<\/em> by Elle van Lieshout and illustrated by Erik van Os — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n
*6. Thank You Bear<\/em> by Greg Foley — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n
and illustrated by Nancy Carpenter (reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>), but — as I understand it — it’s a December ’06 publication. Am I wrong? So, instead I’ll make it The Dumpster Diver<\/em><\/strong><\/a> by Janet S. Wong<\/a><\/strong> and illustrated by David Roberts (Candlewick<\/a><\/strong>; February 2007; pictured above), which I loved (seven cheers for creative conservation!) but haven’t gotten around to reviewing yet (can someone add more hours to my day, please?). <\/p>\n
— Pictures from Our Vacation<\/em> by Lynne Rae Perkins — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> . . . <\/p>\n
Picture Book of 2007 Thus Far:<\/strong><\/font><\/center> <\/p>\n — The Perfect Nest<\/em><\/a><\/strong> by Catherine Friend and illustrated by John Manders (Candlewick<\/a><\/strong>; February 2007) — I have yet to cover the story of zee perfect nest here at 7-Imp, but \u00a1caramba! and sacr\u00e9 bleu! and great balls of fire! but this book is funny (it’s single-handedly responsible for my 3.5 year-old running around screaming “Great balls of fire!” repeatedly, too). And School Library Journal<\/em> and I agree; they call it “laugh-out-loud funny” in their starred review. I hope to review it here soon. <\/p>\n
Thus Far This Year And Then I’m Going to Stop Already<\/strong><\/font><\/center> <\/p>\n*1. Today and Today<\/em> — haiku by Issa and illustrated by G. Brian Karas — reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n