The Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) has announced their Choices 2016 list. The CCBC’S Choices list is a selection of the best children’s books of 2015 as made by a board of librarians. Liz Zunon and Vanessa Brantley Newton both have picture books that made the list. Congratulations, Liz and Vanessa! In the Contemporary People, Places, and Events category: One Plastic Bag:Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia, written by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Liz Zunon In Poetry: Poems in the Attic, written by Nikki Grimes and illustrated by Liz Zunon In Picture Books for School Age Children My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, written by Cari Best and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton Read more about the CCBC Choices 2016 list and find a full list of winners here.
In exciting news, K.G. Campbell‘s charming 2012 picture book, Lester’s Dreadful Sweaters, has been adapted into a children’s musical! Lester’s Dreadful Sweaters tells the story of Lester, whose cousin won’t stop knitting him embarrassing sweaters. Lester was adapted for the stage by Aly Renee Amidei, who loves to knit herself and was inspired by K.G.’s illustrations. She also designed the costumes, based on the signature dreadful sweaters, and helped write the lyrics. The play is running until April 24th in the Lifeline Theatre in Chicago. You can learn more about the play at the Lifeline Theatre’s website here and find Publisher’s Weekly review here. Before checking the play out, don’t forget to check out the original!
Don’t Call Me Grandma, written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon, received high praise in a review from The School Library Journal. The SLJ praised the picture’s book sparse storytelling and portrayal of a complicated great-grandmother and writes that, “Elizabeth Zunon has been a force to reckon with.” They call the book as a whole, “Sharp and smart.” You can read the full article here and purchase a copy of Don’t Call Me Grandma here.
Beach Baby by Kate Merritt is now available for purchase. Beach Baby is part of the Indestructibles series which makes books designed so babies can chew on them, droll on them, or spill on them without the book being ruined. This latest addition tells the story of baby’s day at the beach, and is built to withstand the beach too! You can order this adorable book online here.
Fluffy Strikes Back, the first volume in Ashley Spires‘s new series, P.U.R.S.T. Adventures, is now out! This hilarious graphic novel tells the adventure of Sergeant Fluffy of P.U.R.S.T., a coalition of cats and pets working together to protect the planet from aliens, aka bugs. When Fluffy discovers that P.U.R.S.T. headquarters has been taken over by bugs, he leaps into action to protect his comrades and his planets. Fluffy Strikes Back is a spin-off of Ashley’s popular Binky Adventure Series and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “a must for Binky’s legions of faithful feline fans.” You can order a copy online here. In more exciting news for Ashley, her picture book Small Saul was chosen as this year’s pick for the TD Grade One Book Giveaway. This charitable Canadian program gives one book to every grade one student in the country to help foster literacy, and this year Ashley’s book was chosen. As part of the program, Ashley will be going on a tour to visit students in schools and libraries across Canada. You can read more about the program here. Congratulations, Ashley!
