ALA Annual 2011

Notable Children’s Books Nominees – Summer 2011

For many – myself included – a highlight of the ALA Annual Conference is sitting in on meetings of the Notable Children’s Books Committee and listening as they discuss new materials.

Seal used for all books selected by the ALSC Notable Children's Books committeeThis ALSC committee is charged with identifying the best of the best in children’s books. According to the Notables Criteria, “notable” is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children’s books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children’s interests in exemplary ways.

This year, the committee has 9 hours of meetings which are open to any registered conference attendee interested in listening to the discussions. Their open meetings are in the Morial Convention Center,  Rooms 298-299, from 1:30 to 4:30 on Saturday, June 25, Sunday, June 26, and Monday, June 27.

Midway through the year, there are 54 titles on the discussion list. Here is the complete list of books to be discussed at the Annual Conference in New Orleans, grouped in the order they will be discussed.

Fiction (including fiction graphic novels and fiction verse novels)

Bauer, Joan. Close to Famous. Viking Childrens Books

Billingsley, Franny. Chime. Dial Books for Young Readers

Burgis, Stephanie. Kat, Incorrigible. Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Engle, Margarita. Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck. Henry Holt & Co.

Holm, Jennifer L. The Trouble with May Amelia. Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Lai, Thanhha. Inside out and Back Again. HarperCollins

Magoon, Kekla. Camo Girl. Aladdin

Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan. The Secret River. Illus. by Leo and Diane Dillon. Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Reedy, Trent. Words in the Dust. Arthur A. Levine Books

Schmidt, Gary D. Okay for Now. Clarion Books

Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. Philomel Books

Shang, Wendy Wan Long. The Great Wall of Lucy Wu. Scholastic Press

Stephens, John. The Emerald Atlas. Alfred A. Knopf

Picture books

Clement, Nathan. Job Site. Illus. by Nathan Clement. Boyds Mills Press

Compestine, Ying Chang. The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale. Illus. by Sebastií  Serra. Dutton Children’s Books

Czekaj, Jef. Cat Secrets. Illus. by Jef Czekaj. Balzer + Bray

Evans, Shane. Underground. Illus. by Shane Evans. Roaring Brook Press

Goodrich, Carter. Say Hello to Zorro! Illus. by Carter Goodrich. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Hall, Michael. Perfect Square. Illus. by Michael Hall. Greenwillow Books

Henkes, Kevin. Little White Rabbit. Illus. by Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow Books

Lamb, Albert. Tell Me the Day Backwards. Illus. by David McPhail Candlewick Press

Latimer, Alex. The Boy Who Cried Ninja. Illus. by Alex Latimer. Peachtree

Maclachlan, Patricia and Emily Maclachlan Charest. Before You Came. Illus. by David Diaz. Katherine Tegen Books

Pearson, Susan. How to Teach a Slug to Read. Illus. by David Slonim. Marshall Cavendish Children’s

Savage, Stephen. Where’s Walrus? Illus. by Stephen Savage. Scholastic

Tan, Shaun. Lost & Found. Illus. by Shaun Tan. Arthur A. Levine Books

Trottier, Maxine. Migrant. Illus. by Isabelle Arsenault. Groundwood Books

Tullet, Hervé and Christopher Franceschelli. Press Here. Illus. by Hervé Tullet. Chronicle Books

Wadham, Tim. The Queen of France. Illus. by Kady MacDonald Denton. Candlewick Press

Wardlaw, Lee. Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. Illus. by Eugene Yelchin. Henry Holt

Wild, Margaret. Harry and Hopper. Illus. by Freya Blackwood. Feiwel & Friends

Informational picture books

Aston, Dianna Hutts. A Butterfly Is Patient. Illus. by Sylvia Long. Chronicle Books

Burleigh, Robert. Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic. Illus. by Wendell Minor Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Drummond, Allan. Energy Island. Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Jenkins, Martin. Can We Save the Tiger? Illus. by Vicky White. Candlewick Press

Lyon, George Ella. All the Water in the World. Illus. by Katherine Tillotson Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Macy, Sue. Basketball Belles: How Two Teams and One Scrappy Player Put Women’s Hoops on the Map. Illus. by Matt Collins. Holiday House

McDonnell, Patrick. Me– Jane. Illus. by Patrick McDonnell. Little, Brown

Stockdale, Susan. Bring on the Birds. Illus. by Susan Stockdale. Peachtree

Peña, Matt De La. A Nation’s Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis. Illus. by Kadir Nelson. Dial Books for young readers

Yezerski, Thomas. Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story. Illus. by Thomas F. Yezerski. Farrar, Straus, Giroux

Nonfiction poetry

George, Kristine O’Connell. Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems. Illus. by Nancy Carpenter. Clarion Books

Greenfield, Eloise. The Great Migration: Journey to the North. Illus. by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. HarperCollins Children’s Books

Raczka, Bob. Lemonade, and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word. Illus. by Nancy Doniger. Roaring Brook Press

Yolen, Jane. Birds of a Feather. Illus. by Jason Stemple. Wordsong

Nonfiction biography

Fleming, Candace. Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Schwartz & Wade Books

McClafferty, Carla Killough. The Many Faces of George Washington: Remaking a Presidential Icon. Carolrhoda Books

Sullivan, George. Tom Thumb: The Remarkable True Story of a Man in Miniature. Clarion Books

Nonfiction

Downer, Ann. Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication. Twenty-First Century Books

Galbraith, Kathryn Osebold. Planting the Wild Garden. Illus. by Wendy Anderson Halperin. Peachtree Publishers

Lourie, Peter. The Manatee Scientists: Saving Vulnerable Species. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Marrin, Albert. Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy. Alfred A. Knopf

Ross, Stewart. Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air. Illus. by Stephen Biesty. Candlewick Press

Thompson, Ruth. Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust. Candlewick Press

Lively discussions are almost guaranteed!

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