Houston Family Booklist - July 2010

Toddlers (Ages 1-3)

Lindsey Craig. Dancing Feet!
Simple shapes and bright colors enhance this book that asks children to guess which animal is dancing by the sound of their feet and the clues in the artwork.

Mem Fox. Hello Baby!
A baby encounters a variety of young animals, including a clever monkey, a hairy warthog, and a dusty lion cub, before discovering the most precious creature of all – itself.

Frances Watts. Kisses for Daddy
At bedtime, baby bear is grumbly and refuses to give Daddy a big bear kiss until his father demonstrates many other types of animal kisses.

Picture Books (Pre K-K)

Jerry Spinelli. I Can Be Anything!
A little boy ponders the many possible jobs in his future, from paper-plane folder and puppy dog holder to mixing-bowl licker and tin-can kicker.

Deborah Underwood. Granny Gomez and Jigsaw
Granny Gomez isn’t lonely after her new pet pig moves in, but soon he becomes too big for the house and Granny has to build him his own barn.

Claire Alexander. Small Florence Piggy Pop Star!
Florence, a young pig, is too shy to sing in front of her sisters but gathers her courage at a singing competition when they lose their nerve.

Early Readers (Grades 1-3)

James Howe. Houndsley and Catina Plink and Plunk
Houndsley likes canoeing and his friend, Catina, likes bicycling, but each has to help the other learn to enjoy these activities in order to do them together.

Diane deGroat. Gilbert, the Surfer Dude
Gilbert the opossum imagines himself as Surfer Dude on a fun-filled day at the beach.

Stephanie Spinner. Paddywack
Paddywack is a spunky pony who jumps, trots, and walks beautifully, as long as his rider remembers his treats.

Children's Fiction (Grades 4-6)

Catherine Bateson. Magenta McPhee
Twelve-year-old Magenta spends her time with her best friend Polly, tries to sort out the lives of her divorced parents and attempts to write a medieval fantasy trilogy.

John Crossingham. Learn to Speak Music
This conversational book helps readers understand the international language of music and encourages them to be creative and make music themselves.

Elise Broach. Masterpiece
This mystery follows two families in the same Manhattan apartment, one human and one a family of beetles. The sons from the two families find friendship through a shared love of art and come together to stop the theft of a valuable masterpiece from the Metropolitan Museum.

Teen Fiction (Ages 12 & Up)

David Klass. Stuck on Earth
Ketchvar III travels to Earth to inhabit the body of an average teenager and carry out his secret mission to evaluate whether the human race should be annihilated.

Aprilynne Pike. Wings
When a plant blooms out of fifteen-year-old Laurel’s back, it leads her to discover the fact that she is a faerie and that she has a crucial role to play in keeping the world safe from the encroaching enemy trolls.

Louis Sachar. The Cardturner: a Novel About Imperfect Partners and Infinite Possibilities
Seventeen-year-old Alton Richards thinks that his summer is going to be boring when he gets a job as a cardturner for his ailing Uncle Lester, a competitive bridge player. Instead, he finds that his life is changed by new relationships and a newfound interest in the game.