Illinois Reading Conference
March 2008

Looking at New Books for Children
Presenter, Becky Anderson
Grades K-3

Picture Books
Apples and Oranges , Sara Pinto
The Cow That Laid an Egg , Andy Cutbill, illus. Russell Ayto
Fancy Nancy Bonjour, Butterfly , Jane O’Connor, illus. Robin Preiss Glasser
I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean, Kevin Sherry
A Kitten Tale, Eric Rohmann
LaRue for Mayor, Mark Teague
Lazily, Crazily, Just a bit Nasally, More about Adverbs , Brian Cleary, illus. Brian Gable
Maybe a Bear Ate It, Robie Harris, illus. Michael Emberly
Monkey with a Toolbelt, Chris Monroe
Never Take a Shark to the Dentist, Judi Barret, illus. John Nickle
No! That’s Wrong! Zhaohua Ji and Cui Zu
Penny and the Punctuation Bee , Moira Rose Donohue, illus. Jenny Low
Smash! Crash!, Jon Scieszka, illus. David Shannon, Loren Long, David Gordon
Vowel Family, A Tale of Lost Letters, Sally Walker, illus. Kevin Luthardt
Waking Beauty, Leah Wilcox, illus. Lydia Monks
What Pet to Get, Emma Dodd
Woolbur, Leslie Helakoski, illus. Lee Harper
Zen Ties, John J. Muth

Vote
Duck for President, Doreen Cronin, illus. Betsy Lewin
Madam President, Catherine Thimmesh, illus. Douglas B. Jones
Margaret Chase Smith, A Woman for President, Lynn Plourde, illus. David McPhail
Vote!, Eileen Christelow

Poetry
Adventures of Isabel , Ogden Nash, illus. Bridget Starr Taylor
My Dog May be a Genius , Jack Prelutsky, illus. James Stevenson
Oops!, Alan Katz, illus. Edward Koren
Oh, Brother, Nikki Grimes, illus. Mike Benny
Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry, Jack Prelutsky

People, Places, and Things
Children of the U.S. A., Maya Ajmera, Yvonne Wakim Dennis, Arlene Hirschfelder, Cynthia Pon
George Washington Carver, Tonya Bolden
Helen’s Eyes, A Photobiography of Annie Sullivan , Marfe Ferguson Delano
How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate , Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch
I, Matthew Henson, Polar Explorer , Carole Boston Weatherford, illus. Eric Velasquez
Phillis’s Big Test , Catherine Clinton, illus. Jean Qualls
Please Don’t Wake the Animals , Mary Batten, illus. Higgins Bond
Sisters and Brothers , Steve Jenkins
W is for Woof, A Dog Alphabet , Ruth Strother, illus. Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen
What to Do About Alice , Barbara Kerley, illus. Edwin Fotheringham
When Harriet Met Sojourner , Catherine Clinton, illus. Shane W. Evans
Yours for Justice Ida B. Wells , Philip Dray, illus. Stephen Alcorn

Fiction
 Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls , Meg Cabot Grades 4-6
Clementine’s Letter , Sara Pennypacker, illus. Marla Frazee Grades 2-4
Donovan’s Double Trouble , Monalisa DeGross Donovan’s Word Jar Grades 2-4
Fancy Nancy and the Boy from Paris, Fancy Nancy at the Museum, Grades K-2
Jane O’Connor, illus. Robin Preiss Glasser
The Floods , Colin Thompson, illus. Crab Scrambly Grades 4-6
The Mozart Question , Michael Foreman Grades 3 & up
Oggie Cooder , Sarah Weeks Grades 3-5
Prince of Underwhere , Bruce Hale, illus Shane Hillman Grades 3-6
Stink and the Great Guinea Pig Express , Megan McDonald Grades 2-4
The Willoughbys , Lois Lowry Grades 4-6
You’re a Bad Man, Mr. Gum , Andy Stanton Grades 3-6

Presenter, Becky Anderson
Intermediate, Grades 4-8

Novels and Stories
100 Cupboards, N.D. Wilson Grades 5-8
Absolute Brightness, James Lecesne Grades 8-12
After Tupac and D Foster, Jacqueline Woodson Grades 6-9
Airman, Eoin Colfer Grades 5-8
Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls, Meg Cabot Grades 4-6
The Big Field, Mike Lupica Grades 5-8
The Boy Who Dared, Susan Campbell Bartoletti Grades 6-12
The Comeback Season, Jennifer E. Smith Grades 6-9
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules, Jeff Kinney Grades 4-7
Eleven, Patricia Reilly Giff Grades 5-8
Fearless, Elvira Woodruff Grades 5-8
Go Big or Go Home, Will Hobbs Grades 5-8
Gods of Manhattan, Scott Mebus Grades 5-8
Jim and Me, Dan Gutman Grades 4-7
Keeping Score, Linda Sue Park Grades 4-7
Mozart Question, Michael Foreman Grades 3-and up
My Most Excellent Year, Steve Kruger Grades 7 and up
Shooting the Moon, Frances O’Roark Dowell Grades 5-8
Strays, Rom Koertge Grades 7 and up
Tennyson, Leslie M.M. Blume Grades 5-8
Total Constant Order, Crissa-Jean Chappell Grades 7-9
Tunnels, Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams Grades 6-9
The Truth About Truman School, Dori Hillestad Butler Grades 5-8
Waiting for Normal, Leslie Connor Grades 5-8
Willoughbys, Lois Lowry Grades 4-6

Poetry
Blood-Hungry Spleen, Allan Wolf
The Brothers’ War, Civil War Voices in Verse, J. Patrick Lewis
Honeybee, Naomi Shihab Nye
Laugh Stand, Adventures in Humor, Brian Cleary
My Dog May be a Genius , Jack Prelutsky, illus. James Stevenson
Oops!, Alan Katz, illus. Edward Koren
Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry, Jack Prelutsky

Non-Fiction
Children of the U.S. A., Maya Ajmera, Yvonne Wakim Dennis, Arlene Hirschfelder, Cynthia Pon
George Washington Carver, Tonya Bolden
Groundbreaking, Chance-Taking Life of George Washington Carver and Science andInvention in America, Cheryl Harness
Helen’s Eyes, A Photobiography of Annie Sullivan , Marfe Ferguson Delano
How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate , Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch
Three Little Words , Ashley Rhodes-Courter
W is for Woof, A Dog Alphabet , Ruth Strother, illus. Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen
We are the Ship, The Story of Negro League Baseball, Kadir Nelson
What to Do About Alice , Barbara Kerley, illus. Edwin Fotheringham
Yours for Justice Ida B. Wells , Philip Dray, illus. Stephen Alcorn
Z is for Zeus, A Greek Alphabet, Helen Wilbur

Vote!
Madam President, Catherine Thimmesh, illus. Douglas B. Jones
Margaret Chase Smith, A Woman for President, Lynn Plourde, illus. David McPhail
Vote!, Eileen Christelow

Book Gossip
Presenters, Becky Anderson & Mary Yockey

Hardcover Fiction
Away - Amy Bloom
Bridge of Sighs - Richard Russo
Change of Heart - Jodi Picoult
Coal Black Horse - Robert Olmstead
The Commoner - John Schwartz
Loving Frank - Nancy Horan
The Monsters of Templeton - Lauren Groff
My Most Excellent Year - Steve Kluger
Opposite of Love - Julie Buxbaum
People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks

Paperback Fiction
The Birth House - Ami McKay
The Dead Fathers Club - Matt Haig
The Double Bind - Christopher Bohjalian
Dream When You’re Feeling Blue - Elizabeth Berg
The Faithful Spy - Alex Berenson
The Girls - Lori Lansens
Last Days of Summer - Steve Kluger
Mistress of the Art of Death - Ariana Franklin
Sixty Poems - Charles Simic
Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky
Then We Came to the End - Joshua Ferris
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
Those Who Save Us - Jenna Blum
Whistling in the Dark - Lesley Kagen

Hardcover Nonfiction
Charlatan - Pope Brock
The Geography of Bliss - Eric Weiner

Paperback Nonfiction
Kabul Beauty School - Deborah Rodriguez
Land of Lincoln - Andrew Ferguson
A Perfect Mess - Eric Abrahamson
Stealing Buddha’s Dinner - Bich Minh Nguyen
A Whole New Mind - Daniel Pink