Reading Roundup June 2010

By the Numbers
Picture Books: 24

Sources
Library: all

Standouts
Writing: Superhero School by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Andy Rash
Too long for storytime, but I really cottoned to this story of a kid who goes to superhero school and is terribly disappointed to discover that it's still school. Lots of funny, clever metaphors and phrases.
Illustration: The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Yes, I just got to reading it this month. I know. I know! The dry Serengeti heat seems to blast off the page. I'm from Arizona, people. We know heat. Pinkney got the baked, bleached, and beautiful landscape just right.
Overall: I Have a Little Problem, Said the Bear by Heinz Janisch, illustrated by Silke Leffler
Works on many levels. I'll drone on about them in a review, soon.

Because I Want To Awards
Really Wanna Read This Aloud: Are You a Horse? by Andy Rash. (Side note: I gave this to a co-worker when I first read it. He fell so deeply in love with it that he's still forcing people to read it three weeks later. I regret nothing.)
Never Flinches from the Realities of Antarctic Life: The Emperor Lays an Egg by Brenda Guiberson
Got a Green Kid? This is for Them: The Curious Garden by Peter Brown