{"id":15075,"date":"2017-02-07T00:01:21","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T05:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=15075"},"modified":"2017-02-07T06:49:12","modified_gmt":"2017-02-07T11:49:12","slug":"the-underdogs-10-great-picture-books-you-may-have-missed-in-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2017\/02\/the-underdogs-10-great-picture-books-you-may-have-missed-in-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"The Underdogs: 10 Great Picture Books You May Have Missed In 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Award season is upon us, as librarians across the country comb through the many wonderful picture books published in 2016 to choose the one most worthy of the coveted Caldecott medal.\u00a0 Just as some books are published with much fanfare and excitement, others quietly appear on library shelves. Without high publicity or recognition, they fend for themselves.\u00a0 Here are ten of these \u201cquietly\u201d published books that I read last year that surprised me in the best way possible.\u00a0\u00a0 They may not be making award lists or getting medals, but they have that little something special that makes a great book.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>Once Upon a Cloud by Claire Keane<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Celeste is a young girl searching for a gift worthy of her mother. With the help of a little magic and imagination, she takes a trip throughout the night sky.\u00a0 Claire Keane is an illustrator who worked on Tangled<\/em> and Frozen<\/em>, and her art is filled with that special Disney touch that children love.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a><\/p>\n

Together by Emma Dodd<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Emma Dodd is a prolific children\u2019s author with a special ability to capture parent-child relationships.\u00a0 In 2016, she released her best book yet, Together<\/em>. She celebrates the importance of quality time and the bond that grows when we spend time with those we love.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>The Best Part of Daddy\u2019s Day<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Bertie is the proud son of a builder. He spends his day at school practicing his own building skills with his teacher and classmates.\u00a0 After a long day, he returns home to his father and they both reflect on the challenges they faced.\u00a0 They agree that the best part of their day is being together.\u00a0 A touching story about father-son relationships, and the importance of nurturing family relationships.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>Some Birds by Matt Spink.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

In his first picture book, Spink presents a variety of birds through rhyme and retro illustrations.\u00a0 He cleverly introduces concepts and vocabulary words making it a great early literacy tool.\u00a0 It\u2019s perfect for the child learning about opposites, or simply wanting to look at cool art work.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>Painting Pepette by Linda Ravin Lodding and illustrated by Claire Fletcher<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A book in rhyme, set in Paris, about art? Could you ask for more? This clever story follows young Josette as she meets various artists and invites them to paint her stuffed rabbit, Pepette.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>Bringing the Outside In by Mary McKenna Siddals and illustrated by Patrice Barton.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Four joyful children accompanied by their adorable dog set out to play outside, and witness the changing seasons.\u00a0 The beautiful rhyme encourages children to explore their world and enjoy the gift of friendship.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>My New Mom and Me by Renata Galindo. <\/strong><\/p>\n

A young puppy learns to adapt to a new home, and a new mom who happens to be a cat.\u00a0 Through honesty and communication, the puppy learns love, trust, and how to be true to oneself in stressful situations.\u00a0 Galindo has written a powerful story that will be a great resource for any caregiver or child looking for a book on adoption or welcoming a new person into a family.
\n”
\n\"Cover<\/a>How to Find a Fox by Nilah Magruder.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Equipped with her camera, a young girl sets out to photograph a fox.\u00a0 Her adventure through the forest is filled with trial and error until she\u2019s finally able to get the perfect shot.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>Secret Tree Fort by Brianne Farley<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A young girl tries to convince her sister to play with her in a magical tree fort, to no avail.\u00a0 No amount of persuading will convince her to put down her book and play in the fort, until she has an idea of her own.\u00a0 Farley celebrates the power of imagination in this sweet story about siblings.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>Next to You: A Book of Adorableness by Lori Haskins Houran and illustrated by Sydney Hanson. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Interesting baby books are hard to find, and this one is a gem that I hope receives more traction.\u00a0 It lives up to its title as being a \u201cbook of adorableness,\u201d with gentle and cute pictures of baby animals. It\u2019s the perfect prompt to snuggle with little ones and introduce animal vocabulary.<\/p>\n

***************************************************************************************<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Photo courtesy guest blogger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today\u2019s guest post was written by Katherine Hickey<\/span>. Katherine is a <\/span>children\u2019s librarian at the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Library System, and is a recent graduate from the University of Oklahoma\u2019s School of Library and Information Studies.<\/em><\/p>\n

Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to write a guest post for the ALSC Blog, please contact Mary Voors, ALSC Blog manager, at\u00a0alscblog@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Award season is upon us, as librarians across the country comb through the many wonderful picture books published in 2016 to choose the one most worthy of the coveted Caldecott medal.\u00a0 Just as some books are published with much fanfare and excitement, others quietly appear on library shelves. Without high publicity or recognition, they fend for themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[210,22,134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books-2","category-childrens-literature","category-guest-blogger"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15075\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}