Tales from the Rushmore Kid

2014 Favorites--Lynn Becker's Book Picks

Can you name your favorite books from 2014? I don't want to try to predict Caldecott/Newbery/Printz winners, but I thought I'd share a few of my favorites from last year:

 

Picture Books:

BLUE ON BLUE, written by Dianne White, illustrated by Beth Krommes
PEGGY: A BRAVE CHICKEN ON A BIG ADVENTURE, by Anna Walker
GASTON, written by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Christian Robinson
BAD BYE, GOOD BYE, written by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Jonathan Bean

Chapter Books/Mid-grade:

DORY FANTASMAGORY, by Abby Hanlon
EL DEAFO, by CeCe Bell
BROWN GIRL DREAMING, by Jacqueline Woodson
WEST OF THE MOON, by Margi Preus
THE CATEGORICAL UNIVERSE OF CANDICE PHEE, by Barry Jonesberg

Young Adult:

EGG & SPOON, by Gregory Maguire
GRASSHOPPER JUNGLE, by Andrew Smith
WE WERE LIARS, by E. Lockhart
I'LL GIVE YOU THE SUN, by Jandy Nelson

--Lynn

January Recommendations--Lynn Becker Book Picks

Once, again, I've been reading a lot of excellent kid's books lately!

Novels:
The wonderful EGG & SPOON, by Gregory Maguire, features a peasant girl from a remote and starving village, an aristocratic girl traveling through the country by train, the Tzar, the Tzar's godson, a Faberge egg, the Firebird's egg, a legendary ice dragon, and Baba Yaga, along with her chicken-legged hut, among many other Russian-themed elements. It all comes together in this sophisticated literary YA (and crossover) novel that is a pure pleasure to read.

In Meg Wolitzer's BELZHAR, Jam Gallahue is sent to a school for kids who have suffered through enough trauma that they don't fit in at at their traditional schools anymore. She and four of her classmates are chosen for a special English class, assigned Sylvia Plath to read, and given special journals. What Jam and her classmates discover as they write is both comfort and nightmare. BELZHAR is compelling YA.

Jennifer L. Holm (Babymouse, Turtle in Paradise) crafts a strong MG featuring eleven-year-old Ellie and her scientist grandfather, Melvin, who has turned up looking strangely like a dorky teenager (who still dresses like her grandfather). Melvin has discovered a "fountain of youth" but now that he looks like a kid, he can't get back into his lab to finish his experiments. THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH is funny and very readable.

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild--Lynn Becker's Book Picks

Happy New Year! Here's wishing you lots of books to read, write, and illustrate in 2015!

January's Book Pick is the witty and wonderful Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, by Peter Brown.

In a world where animals dress formally and act with the utmost decorum, Mr. Tiger is bored. He wants to loosen up. So he drops down on all fours, sheds his clothing, and runs off to the wilderness. But the wilderness isn't his home, and Mr. Tiger misses his friends. Happily, things have changed a bit when he returns to the city.

Petra - sketchbook art

Sketch book art is the purest form of art for art sake.  It is more about the feel of a place than the actual likeness.  The Bedouin push their wares, smelly camels saunter by and my guide waits on the side as my pencil works it's magic.  And I have my sketch.

Petra is amazing with all the buildings carved right out of red sandstone. This is one of the magnificent royal tombs, the Urn Tomb.  Sketch on the left, photo on the right.