Truly, one of the most extraordinary pop-up books ever! In fact, pop-up is too ordinary a word to describe the artistry in each spectacular scene Robert Sabuda has designed in his Chanukah Lights. Like his Twelve Days of Christmas, here are eight distinctive locales where the flame of the shamash candle lights up the many places where Jews have lit their menorahs and celebrated the miracle of the lights-from a desert tent, a refugee ship, a tenement building, and other remarkable sites. In each location a menorah is shining through. This is one of those beautiful books that you will want to share, but stay in control of, so that it will not be destroyed. It's a treasure that is sure to bring on ooohs! and aaahs! from all ages. It is certainly more for older children than little ones, those who have begun to learn about the history of the Jews. Properly cared for it can become a traditional keepsake to be shared each night of the Festival of Lights.  All Ages.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Five truly remarkable pop-up trucks spring from the pages of this amazing new book. A garbage truck, monster truck, concrete transport, car transporter, and truck train lift up as you read about the work they do and how they do it. Like most elaborate pop-ups, this is one you will want to keep on a high shelf to share when you can supervise, unless you are not going to be very upset when little hands do what little hands do. That said, this is also a good opportunity for teaching kids about gentle ways with delicate things.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Everyone knows the song Jingle Bells, but did you know it was written by a minister in Savannah, Georgia. Based on a true story, John Pierpont was an abolitionist from Boston and was seriously missing the cool days of New England when November rolled around. He realized that his daughter had never seen snow or been in a sled. Although his Unitarian Church is under attack by pro-slavery brickthrowers, he writes his annual Christmas song for the children's chorus and the rest is history. Adam Gustavson's illustrations capture the 1850's setting and John Harris has spun a good yarn that kids will remember when they sing about that one horse open sleigh.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

If you have a budding perfectionist in your house, this is a book to share!  Beatrice Bottomwell NEVER makes mistakes...until she does -  and it happens in a very, very public space. The concept of perfection is address with humor that will touch a chord with many kids (and their parents).  The resolution is, of course, that no one can be perfect--and that a well-rounded life includes some mistakes and an even bigger dose of laughter. We hope that Beatrice is a new storybook character that will take on other childhood issues. 

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

There is just the right amount of page turning suspense in this sweet story of a little bird that does not want to leave his nest and thinks he cannot fly. Winter is coming and it is time to fly south. Then nature takes a hand and lifts the nest out of the tree and off to an adventure that is at once exciting and reassuring, since Mama bird manages to follow her baby and urge him on. It is no so much about separation as it is about the scariness of trying new things and the joy of succeeding. It speaks volumes.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Nonna wears a special charm bracelet. Her grand daughter has always wondered about it and one day she asks why she always wears that bracelet. One by one Nonna uses the charms to tell her grand daughter what it was like to be a Jewish child in Italy during WWII. Tenderly told, each of the charms reveal another link to Nonna's past when her father and then her mother had to go into hiding. As always, Marisabina Russo uses her unique painterly style and weaves a story that captures the images of wartime Italy from a child's eye view. It is a moving story. They say 4-8. We'd say more like 7 & up.

Age: Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Clear, straightforward information with simple pictures make this an excellent way to answer questions of preschoolers about their bodies. The lively child centered illustrations are full of action and not at all textbookish. The language neither speaks down nor over the heads of young children. Without overloading the text with more than they want to know, this book gives you a chance to convey information that kids are curious to know. Some children are reluctant to ask and some parents are reluctant to tell. Robie Harris' Who Has What? Can solve both sides of the conundrum without discomfort.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

As always, Jon Agee comes through with a laugh-out-loud story about a boy and his Rhinoceros. Agee's wry humor comes through even on the title page with a shopkeeper's sign on the counter that says, "ALL SALES FINAL." On the next page we see a small boy holding the leash of an enormous grey rhinoceros. Early on, the boy is let down by what his rhino cannot do. But in time, his wonderful pet takes off, so to speak. The closing page recalls the classic easy to read book of Danny and the Dinosaur. This is not written as a beginner book, but there is not a lot of text and it's just the kind of story that first and second graders will want to hear and then try to read. My Rhinoceros is a tall tale, totally zany, slightly contrived, but refreshing good fun for the sake of pure fun.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Using her comic strip style, Marcia Williams make these ancient tales of Egypt totally accessible to young Egyptologists. She retells nine tales that introduce readers to Ra rising from the waters of the Nile, the curse of Tut's tomb, and Cleopatra's story along with many others. Like her collection of Greek Myths for Children, this is a good starting place before a visit to one of the many great museum collections or a traveling Tut show. Putting some of the stories in place gives the art and history a fuller dimension. They say 6 & up--we'd say more like 8 & up.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Set in the segregated South, this handsome picture book takes young readers into the world of Jim Crow as Michael, an African American boy and his grandmother wait for a bus and sit on bench until a white boy and his mother arrive and Michael and Grandma must get up and give them the seats. When the bus finally arrives they must go to the back of a bus and when they get off both boys race for the water fountains-one marked colored and one marked white. For Michael, the idea that the white water must be better becomes a gnawing obsession that leads him to dare to taste the forbidden 'white water' and discover that the water from both come from the same pipe. It is a discovery that changes the way he thinks about himself and the segregated world that treated him as a second-class person. In telling and showing the conditions of that time and place, White Water may shock young readers of today, but it manages to capture so many of the affronts that were part of life in the south.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.