Look What's Coming Out in the Publishing World - Part Two

     Publishers Weekly has put out their Fall 2011 preview. There are several books highlighted which peek my interests from favorite authors! Here are some additional details about these upcoming books:


     Esme Raji Codell is a smart and humorous author that has written such texts as Fairly Fairy Tales (Alladin, 2011) and Sahara Special (Hyperion, 2004).  On September 1st, Codell's newest book will be published entitled Basket Ball (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2011). In this picture book, a young girl playfully named Lulu is disappointed to not be a part of the playground basketball team made up of boys. So, Lulu puts the ball in her own court and creates the Basket Ball, an event that marries both sports loving girls with girly ways, including sequined jerseys and dress shoe sneakers. Included in the book is an extensive glossary of basketball terms to keep any reader shooting 3 pointers when it comes to understanding the game. :) Explore Codell's abundance of wisdom as a "readologist" on current children's literature as The Planet Esme Plan blog. You can also learn more about this knowledgeable lady in one of my previous posts.


     Speaking of dogs, a new installment in the "If You Give..." series will be coming out, too! Author Laura Numeroff and illustrator Felicia Bond team up once again to please fans of the series with a book entitled If You Give a Dog a Donut (Blazer + Bray, 2011). I'm certain that if I gave my Yorkie a donut, it would not last long enough to pose for a picture like the one on the front cover! :) This is a great series for K and 1st graders to talk about cause and effect as a comprehension focus. Little ones will surely clamor around read aloud time for another addition to this humorous series. Bond and Numeroff make a great duo together. Be sure to check out the Mouse Cookie Books site by Felicia Bond as well. I also have an autobiography that is small in size but can be perfect under the document camera entitled If You Give an Author a Pencil (Richard C Owen Publishers, 2003) which is great extension of an author study to provide encouragement for young authors.


     Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2011) is written by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Beth Krommes. I previously posted about Sidman's book Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night which you can visit again by clicking here.) I am a fan of her work with blending nonfiction subject matter and the descriptive observations in a poem format. In this particular book, Sidman's focus is with how spirals are present or occur in nature. I'm certain that her eloquent language brings a whole other level of appreciation to an aspect of life that is easily taken for granted. As you will see in my previous post on Dark Emperor, I highlighted the poem on a snail. What a perfect text to text connection during an author study that would make!


A few more titles from favorite picture book authors and crowd pleasing series are:

• Two Little Monkeys by Mem Fox and illustrated by Jill Barton (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, release date uncertain at this time)
• Frog and Friends and Frog and Friends: Party at the Pond by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Josee Masse - easy reader format (both from Sleeping Bear Press, 2011)
• Happy Birthday, Hamster by Cynthia Lord and illustrated by Derek Anderson (Scholastic Press, 2011)
• How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Birthday? by Jane Yolen and illustrate by Mark Teague (Blue Sky Press, 2011)
• Llama Llama Home with Mama by Anna Dewdney (Viking, 2011)
• Zoozical by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown (Knopf, 2011) This is the follow up to this author/illustrator's text Wild About Books (Knopf, 2004)