Adventures in Cartooning: How to Turn Your Doodles Into Comics
by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost; Illustrated by the authors

"Uh-oh! Someone needs cartooning help," says the little green-clad Magic Cartooning Elf, showing up at the side of a young princess who is discouraged that she can't draw well enough to make a comic. He starts a "real-life comic book adventure" with her that will serve to explain everything she... Read More

United Tweets of America: 50 State Birds: Their Stories, Their Glories
by Hudson Talbott

What a hoot! A picture book about the fifty states, narrated by a bespectacled bald eagle holding a microphone and perched on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Below him is a colorful map of the U.S., surrounded by little framed portraits of each state's bird. "Good evening, everyone, and welcome... Read More

Gone Fishing: Ocean Life by the Numbers
by David McLimans

As a companion to his Caldecott Honor winner, Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet, which was illustrated in red, black, and white, McLiman's ocean counting book uses a deep blue hue. He uses pencil, brush, India ink, and computer to present ocean creatures and their habitats from one... Read More

I Lost My Tooth In Africa
by Penda Diakité, Illustrated by Baba Wagué Diakité

"My dad says if you lose a tooth in Africa and put it under a gourd, you will get a chicken from the African Tooth Fairy!" That's Amina speaking, as she and her family set out from their home in Portland, Oregon, to visit her father's family in Bamako, Mali.... Read More

Groundhog Gets a Say
by Pamela Curtis Swallow, Illustrated by Denise Brunkus

On February 3, after the crowds of humans have dispersed, Groundhog bemoans the fickleness of being a once-a-year wonder. "I don't get it. Where is everybody? Yesterday I was BIG news, a star, king of the mound! Everyone wanted my weather report. Today . . . nothing!" Listening to and... Read More

A Wizard from the Start: The Incredible Boyhood and Amazing Inventions of Thomas Edison
by Don Brown

This brief picture book biography, filled with interesting anecdotes and quotes, hits the highlights of Edison’s life, experimenting, tinkering, and reading. Growing up in Port Huron, Michigan, Tom was home-schooled by his mother after his teacher called the daydreaming boy “addled.” The full-page watercolors pull us right in to each... Read More

Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest
by Steve Jenkins

Take a tour of earth's natural wonders to find the longest river (the Nile: 4,145 miles), the highest mountain (Mount Everest: 29,028 feet); the coldest place (Vostok, Antarctica at 129 below zero), and the windiest spot (atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire, with a record wind of 231 miles per... Read More

Redwoods
by Jason Chin

On his bench in the 14th Street Station of the New York City Subway, a dark-haired young boy spots a book called Redwoods. (Intriguingly, the cover of the book he finds appears to be the same as the actual book, Redwoods, with the selfsame boy on... Read More

Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator
by Sarah C. Campbell

Years ago, when I was a new school librarian, a third grade boy came into the library. "Miss Freeman, do you have any books on the blue-footed booby?" he asked earnestly. "Very funny," I said. "No, really, do you have any books on the blue-footed booby?" "Ha, ha," I replied... Read More

Owney, the Mail-Pouch Pooch
by Mona Kerby

In October of 1888, a stray brown and white terrier wandered out of the rain into the post office in Albany, New York, and sacked out on a pile of canvas mail pouches. He stayed, hopping aboard the mail wagon each day for a ride to the train depot. One... Read More

If You Lived Here: Houses of the World
by Giles Laroche

Every page in this delightful non-fiction picture book offers a unique view into a different type of home, the reasons behind its design features, and a brief history of its people. Stunningly-beautiful collage illustrations, loads of detail, interesting facts and figures, and just the right amount of information come together... Read More

Looking at Lincoln
by Maira Kalman

Do you know all about Lincoln? This unusual profile, narrated by a curious child and illustrated with gouache paintings as colorful as a 64-count Crayola Crayon package, invites youngsters to find out. The zealous young researcher... Read More

What To Do About Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy!
by Barbara Kerley

Isn't that the most delightful subtitle for a book? It foreshadows the fun you're going to have reading this picture book biography, winner of a Sibert Honor, about the headstrong and irrepressible oldest child and only daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt. It starts, "Theodore Roosevelt had a small problem." In... Read More

Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman
by Marc Tyler Nobleman

With balloon dialogue and classic retro comic book style illustrations, heavy on the yellow, this picture book biography looks like an old time true confessions story. During the Great Depression, in 1930, two nebbishy guys, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, met in high school. Jerry's heroes were fictional characters from... Read More

Wild Tracks!: A Guide to Nature's Footprints
by Jim Arnosky

Arnosky has written so many stellar nature and animal nonfiction picture books, including charmers about an old coot named Crinkleroot, no longer in print, alas. In this information-packed guide to animal tracks, with striking paintings done in pencil and acrylic, he identifies the tracks, actual size, of hoofed mammals, bears,... Read More

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Doreen Rappaport

Just look at that welcoming cover, a huge close-up portrait of a smiling Martin Luther King, Jr., done in shades of brown and black watercolors. (There's not even a title or author or illustrator listed; you have to turn to the back cover to find them.) That iconic image, along... Read More

The Man Who Walked Between The Towers
by Mordicai Gerstein

"Once there were two towers side by side.They were each a quarter of a mile high;one thousand three hundred and forty feet.The tallest buildings in New York City."A young street performer who "loved to walk and dance on a rope he tied between two trees" looked at the Twin Towers... Read More

Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman
by Kathleen Krull, Illustrated by David Diaz

Born in 1940 in Clarksville, Tennessee, the third youngest of 22 children, Wilma was a sickly child. Her mother usually nursed her through each illness; medical care was expensive and there was only one doctor in town who would treat black people. At age five, Wilma got a high fever... Read More

You Are the First Kid on Mars
by Patrick OBrien

"This book will tell you what would happen, and what you would do, if you were the first kid on Mars." The author posits that someday, scientists, engineers, astronauts, and their families might set up a colony on Mars. Follow an unnamed young male space traveler (referred to in second... Read More

Pelé, King of Soccer
by Monica Brown, Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez, Translated by Fernando Gayesky

Though it’s been three decades since Pelé dominated the professional soccer world, his fame endures and if you know a young soccer-player, this may be the perfect choice. In this electric picture book biography, written in both English and Spanish, we first watch him in action. “Pelé runs across the... Read More

Henry Aaron's Dream
by Matt Tavares

Every kid has a wish – a dream for his or her own future.  Henry Aaron was no exception.  He wanted to play baseball – professional baseball -- when he grew up.  But baseball stadiums in his hometown of Mobile, Alabama in the l940s were for “WHITES ONLY.”  After high... Read More

Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade
by Melissa Sweet

More than forty million (!) people worldwide watch the Macy’s Parade each year, enchanted by the huge balloons that travel through New York City’s canyons, nodding, smiling, and engaging the audience. Do any of us wonder who came up with the idea for those balloons?  Curious children can now have... Read More

11 Experiments That Failed
by Jenny Offill, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Attention all wannabe scientists!  Reading this book will spare you the time and effort it would take to test these 11 hypotheses. Each one of these experiments was such a spectacular and complete failure they need never be tried again.  Besides, readers will be laughing... Read More

Friends: True Stories of Extraordinary Animal Friendships
by Catherine Thimmesh

Talk about “odd couples!”  Who would imagine a friendship between a baby macaque and a pigeon? A lion cub and a piglet?  A polar bear (all 1200 pounds of him) and an Eskimo sled dog? In zoos, wildlife refuges, and animal hospitals from China to Florida, Siberia to Cincinnati, unlikely... Read More

The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder
by Mark Cassino, with Jon Nelson; Illustrated by Nora Aoyagi, Photographs by Mark Cassino

You thought you knew all about snowflakes because you read the Caldecott winning picture book biography Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated by Mary Azarian? Think again. Here's a striking nonfiction picture book that fills in a lot more of the details with a dual text... Read More

Moonshot
by Brian Floca

In an oversized nonfiction picture book, illustrated with meticulous and often awe-inspiring full-page art, done in watercolor, ink, acrylic, and gouache, follow the preparations of Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins on their historic July, 1969 mission to the moon. Large-sized print makes this look like an easy reader,... Read More

Actual Size
by Steve Jenkins

All of the eighteen animals and parts of animals are shown actual size in this spectacular oversized science picture book. Children can compare and contrast the smallest fish (dwarf goby, length: 1/3 inch) with the twelve-inch eye of the giant squid. They can examine the biggest spider (the twelve-inch Goliath... Read More

At Gleason's Gym
by Ted Lewin

Follow nine-year-old boxing champ Sugar Boy Younan as he spends a Saturday in Brooklyn training with other athletes—kids and adults, male and female—in “the most famous boxing gym in the world.” Combining a poetic descriptive text, gritty, realistic watercolors, and shaded pencil sketches, this evocative picture book envelops the reader... Read More

Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs: The Definitive Pop-Up
by Robert Sabuda, Illustrated by Matthew Reinhart

Here's the cocoa table book of the year, a treasured present for all your dinosaur-obsessed friends and relatives, ages 3 to 300, who will be bowled over and enraptured by Sabuda and Reinhart's latest feat of paper engineering genius. It's a look at all things dinosaur, packing in facts on... Read More

Ballerina Dreams
by Lauren Thompson and Joann Ferrara, Photography by James Estrin

When you first pick up this pink book with the three little girl ballerinas on the cover, you think this will be a book your little girls will love, and that's true. But the very young dancers—Nicole, Shekinah, Veronica, Abbey, and Monica—are not your everyday dancers. While they've always wanted... Read More

Go, Go America
by Dan Yaccarino

On the first page, there is an announcement, in a dialogue balloon, from Fran, the youngest member of the Farley family: "May I have your attention, please?" Yes, Fran? Oh, she wants us to read the sign she is holding. It says, "WARNING: Many of the facts in this book... Read More

How Strong Is It? A Mighty Book About Strength
by Ben Hillman

Astonishing facts abound in this eye-popping look at 22 of the strongest animals, substances, and elements on earth, including the Komatsu D575A, the strongest bulldozer in the world, and the stickiest glue on earth, made by Caulobacter crescentus, a type of bacteria found in water pipes. For each breezy but... Read More

If You Decide To Go To The Moon
by Faith McNulty, Illustrated by Steven Kellogg

"If you decide to go to the moon in your own rocket ship, read this book before you start." So begins a resplendent you-are-there nonfiction picture book, narrated in second person, with sensational full-page paintings. We follow an eager blonde-haired boy as he blasts off in a rocket ship and... Read More

Living Color
by Steve Jenkins

In an innovative and intriguing animal book illustrated with dazzling cut paper collages, explore the animal kingdom sorted by color. There are four pages of red animals, with two or three profiles on each page, and an explanation of how the color red helps that animal stay alive. Take a... Read More

Mighty Jackie: The Strike-Out Queen
by Marissa Moss, Illustrated by C. F. Payne

On April 2, 1931, at an exhibition game between the New York Yankees and the Chattanooga Lookouts, something unheard of happened. Jackie Mitchell, the pitcher for the Tennessee team, took on the giants of the Yankees, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. First, Babe Ruth came up to the plate. She... Read More

My Senator And Me: A Dog's Eye View Of Washington, D.C.
by Edward Kennedy

"If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." Senator Ted Kennedy did just that—an effusive black Portuguese Water Dog named Splash, who narrates this breezy and informative tour of the nation's capital and guide to daily life in the Capitol. Splash attends the Senator's staff meeting, takes a... Read More

Nic Bishop Spiders
by Nic Bishop

Look closely at the cover of this book, with the glowing oversized color photo of a brown and reddish jumping spider, standing on tiptoes, gazing right at you. The details are mesmerizing, from its glossy black eyes (5 of 8 are visible; most spiders have eight, as you learn on... Read More

Owen & Mzee: The True Story Of A Remarkable Friendship
by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Dr. Paula Kahumbu, Illustrated by Peter Greste

Amidst the newspaper coverage of the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004, there was a remarkable photo of a baby hippo snuggling against a giant tortoise. Moved by the story of Owen, the orphaned baby hippo who bonded with Mzee, a 130-year-old giant tortoise, Craig Hatkoff and his... Read More

Pale Male:  Citizen Hawk of New York City
by Janet Schulman, Illustrated by Meilo So

Starting with the day in 1991 that the young red-tailed hawk arrived in Central Park, this appealing and informative nonfiction picture book chronicles the life, loves, and troubles of Pale Male in New York City. Bird watchers were in thrall when the hawk and his mate built a nest on... Read More

Strong Man: The Story of Charles Atlas
by Meghan Mccarthy

Remember the Charles Atlas ads in  the back of the comic books declaring, “Don’t be a 97-pound weakling! Don’t let bullies kick sand in your face!”? Did you know he was a real guy? An inspiration for all us flab-filled folks, this peppy picture book biography of the famed bodybuilder,... Read More

What's the Matter in Mr. Whiskers' Room?
by Michael Elsohn Ross, Illustrated by Pail Meisel

For kids who find the study of science intimidating, wait till they meet the male counterpart to Ms. Frizzle (who kids already know and love from Joanna Cole’s “The Magic School Bus” books)—Mr. Whiskers, a teacher with a beard, a blond crew cut, and a passion for “the big idea.”... Read More

What Athletes Are Made Of
by Hanoch Piven

According to portrait artist, Hanoch Piven, athletes are made of big mouths (Muhammad Ali), great minds (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), teamwork (Mia Hamm), and 20 other important attributes. Each page is a visual treat—a portrait of a famous athlete, often in motion, done as a caricature, with a big head and tiny... Read More