Breathtaking art fills the pages of this oversized picture book that follows the migration of creatures heading north on their annual journey to the Arctic. They start with a whale leaving Mexico and then follow as it passes L.A., San Francisco, Vancover Island, Anchorage and onto the Arctic Circle. Nick Dawson writes lyrically as well as informatively. An ideal choice for young listeners who are hungry for real facts. They will be hypnotized by the combined beauty of the text and illustrations. 5 & up.

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

Newest in the perennial favorite series that started with a now classic picture book, If You Give a Mouse and a Cookie. This one takes off quickly into a lively series of 'if-then' moments that take a boy and his dog full circle back to a donut. Fun...but don't miss the original and still best. 

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

Marching with Aunt Susan, is an excellent introduction to the fight for women's rights. It's a story so full of hope and determination, as told through the voice of a young girl, Bessie, who resents not being allowed to do all the active things her brothers do. When Miss Susan B. Anthony comes to town, Bessie discovers the cause with her mother's blessing. Unlike typical happy-ever-after picture books, the story here does not end with a win. The vote that year fails, but the book goes on to give young people a fuller sense of the history of the suffrage movement and how the vote for women came to be. The design of the book is right on the mark and the endpapers with newspaper clippings and photographs are most attractive. Too bad the art in this beautifully written story makes everyone look especially unattractive caricatures. 7-10

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

Though most of us know a verse or two of this old song, this oversized picture book includes many more stanzas than you probably ever heard. Best of all, the glorious illustrations follow a 19th Century family in their horse and sled on the way to Grandfather's house. The sights and scenes capture a sense of another time and place that takes the song back to its roots and gives young children a bit of visual history.

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

Little Bunny thinks it's not fair that he is the smallest bunny in the family. On Christmas Eve he falls asleep under the Christmas tree. When the ornaments come alive, as they do every Christmas Eve, they invite Bunny up into the tree. They tell him how to shrink to their size and together they share a magical adventure until Bunny's sisters and brothers come down to open their stockings.  The illustrations are full of action and the story has a not too surprising but satisfying ending with Bunny finding happiness being the size that he is. 4 & up.

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

Children of the Greatest Generation are likely to be drawn to this handsome picturebook, wanting to bring their grandchildren a story of two of the most famous leaders of WWII. Barry Moser's watercolor images of that time are full of vitality and capture the relationship that bloomed as the two iconic figures to plan how they would join forces and win the war that would go on for three and a half more years. It begins soon after America was attacked by Japan and Winston Churchill finds a way to cross the war torn Atlantic to reach the man who would be his staunchest ally in the trials ahead. There is not really much story here for typical kids of picturebook age and slightly older kids who may be learning about WWII for the first time will not generally want to do so in a picture book. So it remains, who is this book for anyway? If you are a WWII buff, it will be for you. Why not?

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

Those five mischievous little monkeys are at it again, only this time, they are so excited about being able to read they cannot stop. Of course, it is bedtime and Mama says it is time to put the books away and go to sleep. When Mama takes away the books though, the story gets even sillier. Now it is Mama who cannot stop reading!

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

Here's an easy to read chapter of American history. It's the story of Betsy Ross told in very few words with a repetitive pattern that will help beginning readers in decoding this short by sweet tale of how the flag was made. When they are finished admiring the applique art illustrations they can try their hands at the task of making folding paper and making cut out stars. 

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

A mysterious French Canadian folktale about six fur traders far from home on Christmas Eve. A stranger comes to their camp and offers them a chance to go home for the holiday if they can travel there in silence. The images of the six men in a flying canoe give this holiday tale a very different look from the usual Santa and his sleigh. In the end the men get the better of the bargain they have made. It's a bit strange--though oddly haunting.

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

Our family experienced this kind of magic just once, a very long ago, so this book resonates with a tender memory our family shared. Our house is gone now, the children are grown, and though we always hoped the monarchs would return again, it was, as the author writes in this lovely book, a treasured memory that does last. It's hard to know if the book will replace the experience for those who have never seen a flock of Monarchs filling several trees. One can only hope that you will have such an experience at least once!

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011.