Best Reads of T2 2023-2024

I tend to not read as many children's book during T2, since Mock Newbery and Mock Caldecott are over. I did, however, still need to choose books for Mock Sibert. All images and summaries from Goodreads.

 

Picture Books

Awed by the endless possibilities, a young girl begins asking meaningful questions about creating art. Her questions are answered by a diverse group of artists throughout time and from the earliest cave painters to the most recent digital illustrators. Rethinking the familiar Western European timeline of art history, this book introduces readers to diverse works from every era and continent in a playful and inspiring way.

It’s snowing outside! Liam rushes out into the squall, determined to catch one perfect snowflake. He tries any number of tricks to complete his mission, but each time he is thwarted. He sticks out his tongue and looks up . . . nope. He builds a snowman, climbing up to get a little closer to the snow . . . still nope. He runs around the yard—tongue still out—because faster is better, right? Wrong! Nothing seems to work. Until, in a final leap of faith, he catches that one flake . . . in a way he never expected. (This made it to our Mock Caldecott finals.)

Nonfiction

During World War II, a social worker named Jacqueline bicycled through the streets of Paris, passing Nazi soldiers and carrying a toy duck to share with the children she visited. What the Nazis didn’t know, however, was that Jacqueline wasn’t a social worker at all, but a Jewish member of the French Resistance. She risked her life in secret workshops, where forgers created false identity papers. But how to get these life-saving papers to families in hiding? The toy duck held the answer.

Papa Stinkbird can't wait to tell readers just what makes stinkbird chicks so special, but his adorable son keeps interrupting with questions. They banter about the cool things hoatzins do to evade predators and then the chick demonstrates one--jumping into the river! (Don't worry--he can swim!) But he can't fly yet, so how is the chick going to get back up to the nest? You'll have to read to find out his real superpower.

From reeds used by ancient Sumerians to bendy straws in World War II hospitals, people have changed the straw to fit their needs for 5000 years. Today however, this useful tool is contributing to the plastic problem polluting our oceans. Once again, the simple straw needs a reinvention. (Using for Mock Sibert.)

Chester plans to have a salad for lunch, but in order to do that, he'll need vegetables. So, off he goes to the community garden, except he quickly learns that he won't be dressing a salad anytime soon. Instead, the vegetables start dressing him down. According to them, "vegetables" don't exist!

Kale is just a leaf, broccoli is a flower, potatoes are roots, and celery...well, stalks. Thanks to a lively, sassy cast of talking "veggies," Chester learns a valuable lesson about categories and how they shape our understanding of the world.

 

"Ursula Nordstrom was a grown-up who never forgot what it was to be a child." The girl who'd always loved to read would grow up to work in the Department of Books for Boys and Girls at Harper & Brothers Publishers. Soon she was editing books by Margaret Wise Brown and E. B. White, discovering new talent like John Steptoe and Maurice Sendak, and reinventing what a book for children should be. Her favorite books of all? "Good books for bad children," she'd say.

As a boy, Jerry loved playing with springs, sprockets, and gadget-y things. When he grew up, Jerry became an engineer—a professional tinkerer—and in the 1970s, he turned his technical know-how to video games. Back then, if players wanted a new video game, they had to buy an entire new console. Jerry was determined to fix this problem, and despite roadblocks along the way and having to repeat a level or two, it was never game over for his mission. (Using for Mock Sibert.)