over Burnham’s Apple Orchard.
They all glittered a moment, lingering, and then faded,
one after another, like the smoky trails of fallen snakes.”
–from Rain Is Not My Indian Name
by Cynthia Leitich Smith (HarperCollins, 2001)
Happy Independence Day weekend to my U.S. readers!
Related titles include Looking For Uncle Louie On The Fourth Of July by Kathy Whitehead, illustrated by Pablo Torrecilla (Boyds Mills Press, 2005)(recommendation).
“Best in Show” by Leda Schubert (author interview) from The Horn Book. “How is a Westminster Kennel Club judge like the Caldecott committee?”
Speaking of pooches, books in my review stack include Puppies, Puppies Everywhere by Cat Urbigkit (Boyds Mills, 2006), a poetic pre-K title illustrated with incredibly cute photos. Despite her name, the author lives on a Wyoming ranch with a flock of sheep and its guard dogs.
Celebrating 60 Strong Women from Mary E. Pearson’s Journal. I’m so incredibly suprised and honored to have been included on this list. See a recent Cynsations interview with Mary.
Congratulations to J. Patrick Lewis, author of Once Upon a Tomb: Gravely Humorous Verse, illustrated by Simon Bartram (Candlewick, 2006)(inside spread). Read a recent Cynsations interview with J. Patrick Lewis. From the catalog copy: “Peek inside Once Upon a Tomb and find twenty-two poems, each of which tells, in hilarious verse, the story of an untimely demise–from a school principal to a bully, a food critic to a cafeteria lady, an underwear salesman to a soccer player. Complemented by Simon Bartram’s deadpan illustrations, J. Patrick Lewis’s cryptic tour of headstones and epitaphs is silly, spooky–and far from grave. Clever puns and elaborately detailed, surreal artwork illuminate a collection of comically grim verses that can’t help but tickle the funny bone.”
Congratulations to Ed Young, illustrator of Tiger of the Snows: Tenzing Norgay: The boy whose dream was Everest by Robert Burleigh (Atheneum, 2006)(excerpt). Read a recent Cynsations interview with Ed Young. From the catalog copy: “Growing up at the foot of Mount Everest, a Sherpa boy named Tenzing Norgay dreamed about one day being the first to climb the giant in his backyard. But his dream never seemed possible until he met Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand beekeeper…”
King Dork by Frank Portman (Delacorte, 2006): a recommendation by Greg Leitich Smith from GregLSBlog.
The Sand in the Oyster: “The Lit of Chick Lit” by Patty Campbell from The Horn Book.