Need a Little Christmas? Right This Very Minute?

From Leslie Patricelli's Fa La La.

Here's a sample of the fun holiday books hitting bookstores now!

Click the links below or scroll down the page!

Like a Dream -- The Nutcracker: A Magic Theater Book

Santa vs. the Digital Age -- Adventures in Cartooning: Christmas Special

Silent Joy -- The Christmas Quiet Book

Latkes for Santa -- Daddy Christmas & Hanukkah Mama

Santa's Stowaway -- Christmas Wombat

When Toys Wish for Toys -- Christmas at the Toy Museum

A Tug to Remember -- The Christmas Tugboat

All About Merry -- Fa La La

Like a Dream

The Nutcracker: A Magic Theater Book, by Geraldine McCaughrean, illustrated by Kristina Swarner, Chronicle, $19.99, 24 pages, ages 6 an up, 2012.  In this gorgeous remake of the classic ballet story, a girl curls up under a Christmas tree with her broken nutcracker and dreams of freeing a prince from a witch's curse. As readers turn pages, die-cut characters bow to each other in dances or parry in duels within wreath-like openings. A tab inserted over the page fold causes the characters to tilt inward, as if they were dancing on a curtained stage. It also eliminates the need for readers to pull tabs themselves, making this an easy book for little hands. Swarner's paintings look as wondrous as a fairyland -- they glow in rich hues, and sparkle with oversized snowflakes and floating treats, and McCaughrean's writing is as enchanting as ever. Marie (the story's Clara) is taken by her prince on "a boat of starlight and swansdown" to the Land of Sweets (reminiscent of Candyland from the game board). Then later she sails home through "soft, sheep-flocks of clouds" and "gates of sunrise" -- an image that is enticingly dreamy. This is a dazzling, imaginative journey that sweeps readers off the stage to a glistening wonderland -- a world they'll want to lay awake at night trying to imagine into their dreams. (McCaughrean is the award-winning author of Peter Pan in Scarlet and Sunshine Queen.) Best part: When Marie and her prince sail off in the night under a long, feathery wing.

Santa vs. Bits and Bytes

Adventures in Cartooning: Christmas Special, by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost, First Second, $9.99, 6 and up, 64 pages, 2012. When Santa's elves stop making gifts to write game codes for girls and boys, the jolly man in red concocts a plan to entice kids back to the printed page. In this funny cartoon for the digital age, three comic makers imagine how Santa would react if kids only wanted digital gifts, and his elves no longer packed his sleigh with books and toys. Being a traditional fellow, Santa isn't happy that children only wish for electronic games, so he calls on his Magical Cartooning Elf to save Christmas from being all about bits and bytes. He asks the Elf to summon a knight who's had great adventures and work with him to write a comic book that no child could resist. On first try, the knight writes about being captured by a yeti in a blizzard, then waking to find the yeti greeting him in a peculiar way, eating his arm like spaghetti. A curious tale -- but Santa and the elf want, "Something inspiring! Something redeeming!" So, the knight writes instead about riding a rocket to space to get a real star for a child's extra-tall tree. Sounds perfect, says Santa. But after the book has gone to print and they go to load the sleigh, they learn that Santa's reindeer have been set free. Since the elves switched to uploading gifts, they no longer needed them. How will they ever carry all those books to good girls and boys? They need a hero, a knight, to save the day! But what could a knight supply that would fly and light the way? This is a silly, delightful tale of how a comic book saves Christmas from the being overly digitalized. Best part: Santa, the elf and knight blazing across the sky on a green, fire-breathing "sleigh."

Silent Joy

The Christmas Quiet Book, by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Renata Liwska, Houghton Mifflin, $12.99, ages 4 and up, 32 pages, 2012. Animals with fur like felted wool soak up the quiet moments of the holiday, in this adorable companion to the national bestsellers The Quiet Book and The Loud Book!. On the snowy days leading up to Christmas, bunnies, bears, a mole, a hedgehog, an owl and an iguana share intimate moments when nothing is said out loud but everything is understood. They experience the quiet wonder of hanging a star on the top of a Christmas tree and making angels in the snow, and the cozy silence of being so bundled up in winter gear that they look as if they'll have to wobble around. They feel the chilly quiet of knocking on a friend's burrow with mittens, and the warm silence of sipping hot cocoa as they snuggle their paws. They share the quiet concentration of decorating a gingerbread house and the awkward silence when two friends meet under mistletoe. And together they own an embarrassing moment; when one friend forgets a line during a Christmas pageant, another saves him with a friendly whisper. Underwood's simple, spare words sparkle with humor and caring, while Liwska's animals are so soft and cuddly looking, it's hard not to reach out and try to pet them. Best part: An illustration labeled "Reading by the fire quiet." A bunny falls asleep on her tummy while reading, and as she dreams, tiny animal drawings parade off the pages into the shadows. (If you like this book, be sure to read Liwska's Little Panda.)

Latkes for Santa

Daddy Christmas & Hanukkah Mama, by Selina Alko, Alfred A. Knopf, $16.99, ages 5 and up, 32 pages, 2012. Barely pausing for a breath, a girl shares all the ways her family blends their Jewish and Christian beliefs during the holidays. Every tradition Sadie lists is a charming mix of the two faiths, and makes celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas together look whimsical, fun and easy. As the family crowns their tree with a star, they leave latkes with milk on the mantel for Santa and hang candy canes from menorah branches. Sadie then cuts out blue angels, a Star of David and Santa's reindeer from paper, and hangs them from the ceiling, and her father stuffs a turkey with cranberry kugel dressing. As their extended families arrive to celebrate, Sadie feels lucky to have so many traditions; then everyone shares the tales that link them together. When the holiday is over, Sadie looks ahead and thinks of all the Jewish and Christian holidays still to come. Behind her family, a whimsical timeline extends from their tree across a two-page spread as if a mural of holidays were painted on their wall-- and the best part, the holidays are not all Jewish and Christian. Kwanzaa is there too, even Earth Day has a dateline. Alko (Every-day Dress-Up) shows how rewarding it is to incorporate different beliefs, and she gets readers excited to explore many traditions too. To get them started, she shares recipes for cranberry kugel and turkey dressing. Best part: As an uncle and aunt tell stories of how their holidays came to be, images from each story swirl around family gathered in the living room.

Santa's Stowaway

Christmas Wombat, by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley, Clarion, $16.99, ages 3 and up, 32 pages, 2012. A wombat waddles into Christmas while on a mission to find carrots and makes a wondrous discovery that there are many carrots in the world, in this adorable companion to Diary of a Wombat. The wombat, a roly-poly fellow with stout legs, lives for napping, scratching and eating, and one day, sets off on a single-minded quest to do plenty of all three. Little does he know it's Christmas Eve -- and he's about to be part of festivities. As he shuffles along, his nose bumps into "dangly things" on a tree. Not knowing they're ornaments or even what an ornament is, he knocks them out of his way and walks on, crushing them underfoot. In no time at all, the wombat gets a whiff of earthy sweetness. Carrots! So he takes off on a gallop, scissoring his stubby legs, and in moments, skids to a stop in front of a plate where strange creatures are munching carrots. His carrots. After all, aren't all carrots his? So, he press his snout against one of the creature's muzzles and challenges him to a stare down -- and wins! (Perhaps in part because the poor reindeer are all hitched up two-by-two to Santa's sleigh.) Of course, all of that eating makes the wombat sleepy. Luckily, straight ahead is a spot to nap, the runners at the front of Santa's sleigh. As the wombat dozes inside the curled wood, he is whisked into the sky, then back down again. Soon, he's tagging along with Santa across lawns and into chimneys, having assumed they're on the trail of carrots. Just look at all those plates of carrots! But will the wombat share any of the tasty roots with Santa's reindeer? Or that rather large polar bear up north? Readers will giggle all the way through and may just wish for a wombat under their tree. Best part: When the pudgy marsupial sits on a snowbank with his back to the reader, ruminating on all the carrots that await him in the world.

When Toys Wish for Toys

Christmas at the Toy Museum, by David Lucas, Candlewick, $15.99, ages 3 and up, 32 pages, 2012. When the last visitor leaves the Museum of Childhood on Christmas Eve, the toy exhibits come to life and gather around the museum tree, only to find there's nothing under the tree for them. So, at the suggestion of Bunting, a thoughtful old toy cat, they wrap each other up in paper and bows, and give each other as gifts. The problem is, there's an uneven number of toys and come morning, Bunting is the odd present out  and has no gift to open. But kindness always comes back to those who give, and soon an angel glides down from the tree with a tiny golden box. The air sparkles and out pops a wishing star. Bunting has one wish to make -- so, what does he want more than anything? Lucas's sweet, simple followup to Lost in the Toy Museum shows that generosity repays itself and it gently teaches readers to be giving too. Flipping through the book is like stepping into a childhood dream. Like his other picture books, the premises are quirky and spirit-lifting, his perspectives grand and wondrous, and his artwork, lively and fantastical. Lucas works richly colored, whimsical shapes, such as harlequin diamonds and checkerboards, into playful drawings, in which characters appear so energetic they look as if Lucas drew them on the spot.  Once I read Lucas' books Whale and The Robot and the Bluebird, I craved to read everything he made. To see excerpts of his work, visit Lucas' website here. Best part: A comical two-page spread of stuffed toys, puppets and dolls taking turns wrapping each other.

A Tug to Remember

The Christmas Tugboat: How the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Came to New York City, by George Matteson and Adele Ursone, paintings by James E. Ransome, Clarion, $17.99, 2012. A young girl recalls the magical day her family hauled a tree the height of a mid-rise into New York Harbor, in this cozy picture book. The story begins at dawn as the girl's father, a boat captain, steers the tug up the Hudson River, past a sleeping New York City, while she and her mother ride along. The three are awed by the immensity of the city: Manhattans' skyscrapers glisten on their right and the Statue of Liberty towers to their left, her flaming torch making her look wide awake. The story unfolds slowly, beautifully echoing the pace of the tug. The family breakfasts on steaming bowls of oatmeal as Dad tells of tug adventures, and later the daughter paints what she sees from the tug, takes a turn steering the boat and learns how to navigate by chart. As day slips into night, the tug arrives at Stony Point, where the giant tree is waiting on a barge. The tree is on its side, bundled up on a tractor trailer, and red ornaments the height of the trailer's cab are piled around it. As the father connects the towline, the tug sluggishly pulls the barge away from shore. The tug chugs along for a few hours, then the father ties up for the night, before making the final leg to the Manhattan Bridge at dawn. Matteson and Ursone's writing is perfectly paced and makes the tug's arrival feel climactic. Readers imagine they're passengers, and share the magic of the journey, as well as the tingling sensation of being greeted by an enormous crowd. Best part: As the tug leaves at dawn on it's final leg, frost glistens on the tree like tiny diamonds, and readers feel their anticipation grow.

All About Merry

Fa La La, by Leslie Patricelli, Candlewick, $6.99, ages 1-3, 26 pages, 2012. He's been happy, sad, big, fast, loud, and now the adorable baby in diapers from Patricelli's board book series is jumping for joy over Christmas -- and making readers giddy too. In this cheerful companion book, Baby races around helping his parent prepare for the holiday and puts himself in the center of everything.  "I love Christmas!" he squeals with a half-moon grin and hands in the air. Baby's perfect tree is just his height and has a twirly crown that matches his curl of hair. When it's time to decorate the tree, Baby swirls up in Christmas lights and a popcorn-cranberry garland, and attaches a star to the tip of his curl. "Look at Me! I'm a Christmas tree!"  Everything Baby does explodes into happy chaos. While decorating a gingerbread house, he glues candy to his head and smears a frosting smile around his mouth. Soon, he's being swung between his parents on his way to see Santa. The line is long and snaky, and Baby has to be patient. But finally it's his turn. In Santa's lap, Baby is eye-to-eye with Santa's beard. Look at how fluffy it is! Wouldn't it be fun to pull? Yank. Uh oh, Santa said, "Ouch!" which makes Baby sad. But it's okay, and with a "Ho, Ho, Ho!" Santa makes baby forget all of his tears. Best part: Seeing baby run loop-de-loops toward the tree on Christmas morning -- he can't help but twirl as he runs, even though it takes him longer to get there. (Baby's tree is so tiny that nothing will fit under it, so Santa has piled his presents over it into a bridge.)

Congratulations, Judy!

Judy of Minnesota is the winner of the Make Magic Giveaway!

Candlewick Press will be sending Judy a copy of Dallas Clayton's Make Magic! Do Good!, which hit book stores this week.

And thank you everyone for entering!

To read more about Clayton's book, read my review here!

Happy holidays!

Make Magic Giveaway

Win a copy of Make Magic! Do Good! from Candlewick Press. Enter here today!

Leave a comment at the end of this post (or the next!) to be included in a random drawing Friday, Nov. 16.

Make Magic! Do Good! hits bookstores this week and is the latest book by self-publishing sensation Dallas Clayton.

Clayton's first book, An Awesome Book!, was about dreaming big -- this one celebrates being happy and helping others be happy too.

One commenter on my blog is guaranteed to be a winner. Enter by midnight Nov. 15 and be sure to include an email address so that I can contact you.

To win, you must live within the United States or have a mailing address here. Thanks so much for entering. Good luck!

A review of Make Magic! Do Good! follows this post.

Make Magic! Do Good!

Poems & pictures by Dallas Clayton

Candlewick, 2012

$17.99, ages 7 and up, 112 pages

Make spirits fly with this joyful collection of poems by a guy who's as excited about life as anyone could hope to be.

Dallas Clayton, the creator of An Awesome Book!, delivers another heart-swelling book about giving life your all and helping others do so too.

"Make magic / do good. / Be who you are. / Be what you should," Clayton writes in a poem that share's the book's title. "See what you can / Live like you could."

Meet Dallas Clayton:

365 Days of Picture Books

Discover what it's like to pull ideas out of the air and make them dance on the page, in this yearlong exploration of picture books.

In celebration of its 20th year, Candlewick Press is posting short videos every day that celebrate the art of the picture book.

These include interviews with authors and illustrators, and read-alouds and animated shorts about the magic of picture books.

Hearts out to Enchanted Lion

Sending well wishes to Enchanted Lion Books as it recovers from Hurricane Sandy!

The Brooklyn-based publisher experienced flood damage in the storm and lost electricity. But it will be back in full operation next week.

Stop by the Enchanted Lion website to see all the fantastic books it offers and read the publisher's bio here!

Enchanted Lion, a small jewel in children's publishing, was started by two sisters in 2003.

Otter and Odder: A Love Story

By James Howe

Pictures by Chris Raschka

Candlewick, 2012

$14, ages 6 and up, 40 pages.

Just as Otter snatches a fish from the river, he realizes the fish is quite a catch -- and he'd rather love her than eat her.

But can an otter date his food source? And if he does, can he still eat her family?

In this perfect little picture book, an otter known simply as Otter and fish called Myrtle try to figure out how to love each other in a world where straying from the food chain just isn't done.

Books that Go Boo!

HALLoWeEn 2012. Ten books to scare in the holiday!

Click the titles below or scroll down to see them all!

from The Boo! Book

1. Monster Mash

2. Black Dog

3. Splendors and Glooms

4. Pigmares

5. Raven Boys

6. The Monsters' Monster

7. Nightsong

8. The Boo! Book

9. The Baby That Roared

10. Just Say Boo

1. Monster Mash

Pictures by David Catrow

Orchard Books, 2012

$16.99, ages 4 and up, 40 pages

A laboratory monster rises off its slab and does a herky-jerky dance, in this hysterical rendition of the 1962 novelty song, Monster Mash.

Illustrator David Catrow brings his splashy, frenetic art to the classic song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi, and gets readers dancing in their seats.

Late one night, as the song goes, a begoggled scientist flips the switch to his monster's electrodes and his monster begins a wild, stomping dance.

As the monster lifts a giant brick foot, he nearly squishes the scientist, then lurches ahead, swishing his bottom this way and that, as he gets down with a spiky-furred hepcat.

On bended knees with arms swaying like they're doing the Watusi, the two dip and swivel across a two-page spread, sending ghouls racing down from their castle abodes to get into the rhythm too.

2. Black Dog

Story & pictures by Levi Pinfold

Templar, 2012

$15.99, ages 4-7, 32 pages.

When a stray dog shows up outside, a family panics and assumes the worst: The dog is big and black, so he must be after them.

Soon the family's fear of the dog has become so overblown that the dog has ballooned to size of their house.

So why then is the smallest member of the family running outside to play with him?

In this quirky picture book, family members feed off each other's fear of a stray -- until the youngest member shows them all how ridiculous they're being.

Author-illustrator Levi Pinfold shows how fear is learned (by watching others act afraid), and how it can also be unlearned (if someone has the gumption to face it).

3. Splendors and Glooms

By Laura Amy Schlitz

Candlewick, 2012

$17.99, ages 9-13, 400 pages

A girl trapped by an evil spell helps two orphans fend off a ruthless master, as a witch tries to use them all to rid herself of a curse, in this spooky novel.

Newbery Medal winner Schlitz tells the story of Clara, a lonely girl who's haunted by reminders of her siblings' deaths and is desperate to feel happy again.

One day she sees a street magician Gaspare Grisini manipulate puppets as if they were alive and she's so entranced that she convinces her father to invite Grisini to entertain for her 12th birthday.

But after her party, Clara disappears, and Grisini's apprentices, two orphans, discover that their master has a criminal past and suspect that he's kidnapped Clara.

Before police can catch Grisini, the magician disappears and the orphans, Lizzie and Parsefall, fearing they're under suspicion too, flee London and fall into an evil trap.

4. Pigmares

Pictures and poems by Doug Cushman

Charlesbridge, 2012

$12.95, ages 7-12, 44 pages

Pigs with fangs and stitched-up snouts groan poetic in Cushman's hilarious homage to monster movies.

This clever collection of poems begins with a pig in bed gasping at the TV screen as he realizes he should never have watched horror films before going to sleep.

Creepy images from the movies seep into his head (from "a thousand-foot pig breathing nuclear fire" to "gurgling gasps from a swamp's murky mire").

Then as sleep overtakes him, he has a series of pigmares described over the next 16 poems, in which famous monsters are re-imagined as pigs.

Pigzilla is a green-snouted Godzilla who wakes up with a radioactive roar and Werehog is a furry pig who shakes windowsills with his mournful tune.

5. Raven Boys (Book 1, Raven Cycle)

By Maggie Stiefvater

Scholastic Press, 2012

$18.99, ages 13 and up, 416 pages

A 16-year-old girl is drawn into a boy's quest to awaken a dead medieval king after she learns the boy is doomed to die and she may be the cause of it.

In this spellbinding first book in the Raven Cycle series, author Maggie Stiefvater tells the story of Blue Sargent, a non-seer in a family of psychics, who one night sees more than she should.

Outside the ruins of church on St. Mark's Eve, she sees the spirit of a prep school boy named Gansey walking down the corpse road, the spiritual path of the future dead. She's told by her clairvoyant half-aunt that the only reason a non-seer would see a spirit is if the boy is her true love or she's the one who kills him.

Blue has always been told by psychics that if she kisses her true love, he will die, and now that seems all too possible. But why Gansey?

6. The Monsters' Monster

Words & pictures by Patrick McDonnell

Little, Brown Books, 2012

$16.99, ages 3-6, 40 pages

When three bitty monsters try to create the biggest, meanest monster ever, their plan goes awry and they're left with a monster who giggles instead.

In this adorable picture book by Mutts creator Patrick McDonnell, Grouch, Grump and Gloom 'n' Doom live for being bad, but is that all there is to life?

They think so and work at it with a passion. The trio lives in a dark monster castle on a dark monster mountain that sits above a monster-fearing village, and they have big monster thoughts.

They smash things, huff and puff about nothing, and say, "No!" as much as they can.

They also argue about who complains the loudest and who is the most miserable. And they always seal their arguments with a brawl.

The only problem is that it's never clear in the end who is worse.

So one day they decide to create a giant, hideous monster that they can all agree is the scariest of them all.

7. Nightsong

By Ari Berk

Pictures by Loren Long

Simon & Schuster, 2012

$17.99, ages 4 and up, 48 pages

A baby bat braves the deep, dark night by singing out to the world and listening to the world echo back, in this poetic picture book.

As Chiro sends out streams of sounds from his mouth, the branches of trees that he cannot see call back to him.

Then electrical lines echo back and soon all the tiny, flying tasty things he wants to eat call too.

But when Chiro wanders beyond the places he knows, will he still be able to hear the song of his home and find his way back to Mother?

8. The Boo! Book

By Nathaniel Lachenmeyer

Pictures by Nicoletta Ceccoli

Atheneum, 2012

$17.99, ages 4 and up, 46 pages

In this delightful story, a boy's curiosity takes flight as he imagines what a book ghost would do if he ran into a reader like you.

While reading in a comfy chair with his legs dangling over an arm, the boy gets the notion that his book is haunted, then comes up with all the ways in which book ghosts spook about.

Illustrator Nicoletta Ceccoli gives ghosts a wondrous, mischevious look: their bodies are like swirls of Marshmallow Topping and have fangs as tiny as the tips of toothpicks.

9. The Baby That Roared

By Simon Puttock

Pictures by Nadia Shireen

Nosy Crow, 2012

$15.99, ages 3 and up, 32 pages

Yearning for a fawn of their own, a deer couple takes in a furry, abandoned baby, then can't figure out why their baby's caretakers keep disappearing.

In this adorable picture book by Scottish author Simon Puttock, Mr. and Mrs. Deer are so delighted to find a baby at their door that they miss all of the warning signs that the baby's a monster.

His fur is shaggy and blue, his antlers are sewn from knit cloth and he has a toothy under bite, yet all they see is a dear, defenseless little orphan.

10. Just Say Boo

By Susan Hood

Pictures by Jed Henry

HarperCollins, 2012

$12.99, ages 4 and up, 32 pages

Three trick-or-treaters learn to scare away their fears by yelling "Boo!" at every spooky thing they see, in this empowering, rhyming read-aloud.

A girl and two boys see everyday things become dark and gloomy on Halloween night, then take charge of their fears and recognize what's really there.

Each time something shifts or rattles along the sidewalk, the girl, in witch apparel, and the boys, dressed as bat and a shark, wither and tremble.

But only for a page, as author Susan Hood reminds them what to say to chase their fright away.

Spooky Book Giveaway

Send Toon Books a short description of how you used one of these graphic books with kids and get a free copy in return!

The Secret of the Stone Frog by David Nytra

Benny and Penny in Lights Out by Geoffrey Hayes

Stinky by Eleanor Davis

Jack and the Box by Art Spiegelman

Chick and Chickie by Claude Ponti

Participants must also do one of the following:

*Follow Toon Books on Tumblr and re-blog its Halloween post.

*Follow Toon Books on Twitter and re-tweet its Halloween post.

*Follow Toon Books on Facebook and Like its Halloween post.

Click the tabs above to download the books and to follow Toon Books.

Email your description by midnight Oct. 31 to amylee.toon@gmail.com.

Teachers and parents are eligible!

Keeping Up With Brandon Mull

If you haven't had enough Mull lately, hang in there! Here are three exciting dates:

Tuesday, Oct. 23: Shadow Mountain Publishing releases the long-awaited sequel to The Candy Shop War: Arcade Catastrophe. Here's a synopsis from the publisher:

"In The Candy Shop War, friends Nate, Summer, Trevor, and Pigeon met the evil magician Belinda White, whose magical confections enabled the kids to do incredible feats of strength and magic. In the sequel, Nate and his friends meet Mrs. White's brother -- Mr. White -- who owns Arcadeland, a local amusement center.

At Arcadeland, kids can play games and earn thousands of tickets, which are redeemable for one of four kinds of stamps -- jets, tanks, subs, and race cars. Could it be true that these stamps allow kids to fly through the air? Or breathe underwater? Or run faster than a car? But Mr. White is hiding a secret: when all four clubs are filled, he will be able to retrieve perhaps the most powerful talisman ever. For Nate and his friends, it will take more than candy to fight and win this war."

Friday Oct. 26: Arcade Catastrophe Launch Party. Join Mull in a marshmallow war from 5 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. at Thanksgiving Point Gardens in Lehi, Utah. Also on the schedule, booth activities from 4p.m. to 6 p.m., and a book signing from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 12: Simon & Schuster releases the final book in Mull's Beyonders trilogy, Chasing the Prophesy. Here's a synopsis from the publisher:

"Jason and Rachel were not born in Lyrian. They did not grow up in Lyrian. But after all of the battles and losses, the triumphs and adventures, and most of all, the friendships forged in this fantastical world, Lyrian has become home to them in a way they never could have imagined.

And so, armed now with the prophecy of a dying oracle, they have gone on their separate quests—each surrounded by brave and powerful allies—knowing that the chance for success is slim. But Jason and Rachel are ready at last to become the heroes Lyrian needs, no matter the cost."

Seeds of Rebellion

Beyonders, Book 2
By Brandon Mull
Aladdin, 2012
$19.99, ages 8-12, 512 pages

Teens Jason and Rachel brave a deadly swamp and swarm of zombies as they continue an epic quest to save a parallel world, in Brandon Mull's exciting second book in the Beyonders trilogy.

At the end of the first book A World Without Heroes, Jason discovered that a magical word he'd spoken to destroy an evil wizard was a sham. But before he could tell Rachel or their allies, he was forced into a portal that took him home.

Now as Jason finds a way to get back to the imperiled world of Lyrian, he, Rachel and their band of heroes realize that the only way to defeat Lyrian's maniacal ruler, the wizard Maldor, is to take him on in battle.

But to have a chance at winning, they must convince the last remaining free people of Lyrian to join their army. And to do that, they'll have to prove to them that a rebellion could succeed -- in spite of mounting odds against it.

How can a ragtag group of rebels topple a wizard who already has the resources of twenty kingdoms at his disposal -- not to mention an army of displacers, manglers and torivors? And what other treachery might await these fearless heroes?

In this captivating second novel, Jason once more dives down the throat of a hippopotamus on a quest to save Lyrian -- this time more prepared for danger, yet unaware of just how treacherous his quest will become.

Beyonders Book 1 Trailer

For a limited time, you can read the first 100 pages of Beyonders: A World Without Heroes for free at brandonmull.com.

Peg + Cat Get a Book!

Each Kindness

By  Jacqueline Woodson

Illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Nancy Paulsen Books, 2012

$16.99, ages 5-8, 32 pages

A school girl is overcome by regret when she loses her chance to apologize to a classmate she was mean to, in this extraordinary picture book.

Told from the perspective of a child who bullies, the story reveals how painful it can be to hurt someone and how paralyzing it is when you can no longer say you're sorry.

Acclaimed author Jacqueline Woodson draws from a time when she was unkind and also shows that at some point everyone behaves badly and must face the ugliness inside of them.

Trailer for N.D. Wilson's The Drowned Vault Has Feel of a Movie Preview

Endangered

By Eliot Shrefer

Scholastic, 2012

$17.99, ages 12 and up, 272 pages

Sophie's decision to rescue a baby bonobo from the black market leads her to a dark truth as she journeys across war-torn Congo to bring him to safety.

Along the way, the Congolese-American girl realizes that she would doing anything -- even risk her life walking into a militia camp -- just to protect the endangered ape.

In this powerful, beautifully written novel, Shrefer tells of 17-year-old Sophie who, in the midst of a coup, carries a bonobo named Otto across a jungle to a remote animal release site.

As the story opens, Sophie has just flown into the Congo from Florida and is in a car heading to her mother's bonobo sanctuary, when she sees a man selling a baby bonobo.

Though her driver insists she ignore the trader, Sophie sees how frail and terrified the little ape is and goes against all that her mother has taught her and pays off the man to save him.

"I lifted him easily and he hugged himself to me, his fragile arms as light as a necklace," she says. "I could make out his individual ribs under my fingers, could feel his heart flutter against my throat. He pressed his lips against my cheek...only then did I hear his faint cries."

Little does Sophie know, this emotion-driven act will put the lives of other infant bonobos at risk and will lead her to make choices that put her in the cross hairs of a revolution.

Eenie Meenie Miney Mo,

So many titles still to go! Fifteen fall novels I can't wait to read.




Body Snatchers and Trickery, Oh My!

The Mourning Emporium

By Michelle Lovric

Delacorte Press, 2012

$17.99, ages 10 and up, 448 pages

Get ready for cries of lackaday, as Venice's most reviled traitor returns from the ocean deeps and tries to crush the city once and for all, in this wildly imaginative companion to The Undrowned Child.

Once again it's up to Teodora the "Undrowned Child" of an ancient Venetian prophesy, her best friend Renzo "the Studious Son," and a band of pirate-talking mermaids to outsmart traitor Bajamonte Tiepolo, an assassinated noble. 

This time, however, Bajamonte may be too formidable to stop, as he conjures up blood-sucking sea creatures, allies with two unscrupulous exiles and an army of ghost convicts, and expands his terror to England.

Watch a Trailer to In a Glass Grimmly: Exciting Followup is Due Out in Two Days

A Poem as Big as New York City

Illustrated by Masha D'yans
Adapted by Melanie Maria Goodreaux

Edited by Teachers & Writers Collaborative

Foreward by Walter Dean Myers

Universe, 2012

$19.95, ages 5 and up, 38 pages

Winged pencils fly through a canyon of skyscrapers in New York City, as a poem rises from the streets and takes off through the pages of a picture book.

The poem, both written on the pages and personified there in art, is an exhilarating read and the result of an innovative series of writing workshops in the city's public schools.

In 2008, a group of teachers and writers asked students ages 6-18 years old to stretch their imaginations and share deep down what they see and feel when they look around their city.

The idea was to celebrate New York and as poet Walter Dean Myers writes in a foreword, inspire a "cultural reweaving of the familiar." Stale ideas of the city were to be discarded and glorious new ones, ushered in.

Then all of the poems were gathered together and poet Melanie Maria Goodreaux, who heads the project for the Teachers & Writers Collaborative, pieced words, feelings and ideas from each of them into one big poem.

"The children of New York City gave me stacks of poems on hundreds of loose leaf pages to craft this unprecedented work," Goodreaux writes in an editor's note. "They scribbled lines about how big they imagined this poem to be and wrote about their love for the city in wobbling kid-created cursive…"

The result was a melding of perspectives, descriptions, alliterative verse and sound words into a poem that feels almost as big and bold and diverse as the city itself -- a poem that when read aloud feels like it has the energy of a chorus behind it.

Cecil The Pet Glacier

By Matthea Harvey

Illustrated by Giselle Potter

Schwartz & Wade, 2012

$17.99, ages 4-8, 32 pages

Ruby can't relate to her eccentric parents and she's determined to be nothing like them -- until one day an offbeat little pet melts his way into Ruby's heart and shows her that being quirky is really okay.

In this wonderful, droll picture book, Harvey tells the story of straight-laced Ruby who gets stuck with a tiny glacier for a pet, when all she really wanted was a dog, something typical, not at all strange like all the stuff her parents like.

Ruby has always felt uptight about her parents' odd professions and unusual past times. Her dad, Mr. Small, sculpts topiaries for a living and is so into it that in the off-season, when he has nothing to do, he trims his beard to look like a crocodile. Her mother, a tiara designer, is equally passionate and can't resist wearing sparkly bands wherever she goes.

Neither one of the Smalls seems to care what anyone thinks, or perhaps they're just oblivious to outside opinion. Either way, Mr. and Mrs. Small blissfully live according to their own whims and in plain view of everyone. So why doesn't Ruby want to live this way too?

Gem

Written & illustrated by Holly Hobbie

Little, Brown and Company, 2012

$16.99, 32 pages, ages 3-7

A girl catches a toad in her hands, then lets him spring away and be free again, as she realizes there's more joy in letting him go than making him stay.

In this lovely picture book, Toot & Puddle creator Holly Hobbie chronicles the wondrous journey of a toad named Gem to her garden and a touching encounter there between him and her granddaughter Hope.

The journey through spring is told without words and is bookended by two letters: One from Hobbie to Hope, dedicating the book to her and Gem, and the other is a reply from Hope, thanking her grandmother for bringing Gem back to her through pictures.

The story begins in a field of newly sprouted dandelions. Gem is gazing at a butterfly flitting by one of the blossoms and everything seems right in the world. But then, out of nowhere, a car rolls by, spitting gravel from a tire, and Gem tumbles head-over-heels off the lane.