ALSC announces 2012 Notable Children's Books

CHICAGO –The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), selected its 2012 list of Notable Children's Books in January during the ALA Midwinter Meeting. The list of titles includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry and picture books of special interest, quality, creativity and value to children 14 years of age and younger.

The titles include:

Younger Readers

"All the Water in the World." By George Ella Lyon, Illustrated by Katherine Tillotson, Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

"A Ball for Daisy." By Chris Raschka. Illustrated by the author. Schwartz & Wade Books,

"Blackout." By John Rocco. Illustrated by the author. Disney/Hyperion Books.

"Bring on the Birds." By Susan Stockdale. Illustrated by the author. Peachtree Publishers.

"The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred." By Samantha R. Vamos. Illustrated by Rafael López. Charlesbridge.

"Chirchir Is Singing." By Kelly Cunnane. Illustrated by Jude Daly. Schwartz & Wade Books.

"Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow?" By Susan A. Shea. Illustrated by Tom Slaughter. Blue Apple Books.

"Dot." By Patricia Intriago. Illustrated by the author. Farrar Straus Giroux.

"Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site." By Sherri Duskey Rinker. Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. Chronicle Books.

"Grandpa Green." By Lane Smith. Illustrated by the author. Roaring Brook Press.

"Harry and Hopper." By Margaret Wild. Illustrated by Freya Blackwood. Feiwel & Friends.

"I Broke My Trunk." By Mo Willems. Illustrated by the author. Hyperion Books for Children.

"I Want My Hat Back." By Jon Klassen. Illustrated by the author. Candlewick Press.

"King Jack and the Dragon." By Peter Bently. Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Dial Books for Young Readers.

"Little Treasures: Endearments from Around the World." By Jacqueline K. Ogburn. Illustrated by Chris Raschka. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

"Little White Rabbit." By Kevin Henkes. Illustrated by the author. Greenwillow Books.

"Me...Jane." By Patrick McDonnell. Illustrated by the author. Little, Brown.

"Mouse & Lion." By Rand Burkert. Illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. di Capua/Scholastic.

"Naamah and the Ark at Night." By Susan Campbell Bartoletti. Illustrated by Holly Meade. Candlewick Press.

"A New Year's Reunion: A Chinese Story." By Yu Li-Qiong. Illustrated by Zhu Cheng-Liang, Candlewick Press.

"Over and Under the Snow." By Kate Messner. Illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal. Chronicle Books.

"Prudence Wants a Pet." By Cathleen Daly. Illustrated by Stephen Michael King. Roaring Brook Press.

"See Me Run." By Paul Meisel. Illustrated by the author. Holiday House.

"Should I Share My Ice Cream?" By Mo Willems. Illustrated by the author. Hyperion Books for Children.

"Stars." By Mary Lyn Ray. Illustrated by Marla Frazee. Beach Lane Books.

"Tales for Very Picky Eaters." By Josh Schneider. Illustrated by the author. Clarion Books.

"Tell Me the Day Backwards." By Albert Lamb. Illustrated by David McPhail. Candlewick Press.

"Ten Little Caterpillars." By Bill Martin, Jr.. Illustrated by Lois Ehlert. Beach Lane Books.

"These Hands." By Margaret H. Mason. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

"Tìa Isa Wants a Car." By Meg Medina. Illustrated by Claudio Muñoz. Candlewick Press.

"Where's Walrus?" By Stephen Savage. Illustrated by the author. Scholastic.

"Who Has What?: All About Girls' Bodies and Boys' Bodies." By Robie H. Harris. Illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott. Candlewick Press.

Middle Readers

"America is Under Attack: September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell." By Don Brown. Illustrated by the author. Roaring Brook Press.

"Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade." By Melissa Sweet. Illustrated by the author. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

"Breaking Stalin's Nose." By Eugene Yelchin. Illustrated by the author. Henry Holt.

"The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale." By Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright. Illustrated by Barry Moser. Peachtree Publishers.

"Diego Rivera: His World and Ours." By Duncan Tonatiuh. Illustrated by the author. Abrams Books for Young Readers

"Dream Something Big: The Story of the Watts Towers." By Dianna Hutts Aston. Illustration by Susan L. Roth. Dial Books for Young Readers.

"E-mergency!" By Tom Lichtenheld. Illustrated by Ezra Fields-Meyer. Chronicle Books.

"Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems." By Kristine O'Connell George. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. Clarion Books.

"The Great Migration: Journey to the North". By Eloise Greenfield. Illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. HarperCollins Children's Books/Amistad.

"Inside Out and Back Again." By Thanhha Lai. HarperCollins Children's Books.

"Junonia." By Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow Books.

"Lemonade, and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word." By Bob Raczka. Illustrated by Nancy Doniger. Roaring Brook Press.

"The Lily Pond." By Annika Thor. Translated by Linda Schenck. Delacorte Press.

"The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families." By Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore. Illustrated by Susan L. Roth. Lee & Low Books.

"Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match /Marisol McDonald no combina." By Monica Brown. Illustrated by Sara Palacios. Children's Book Press, an imprint of Lee and Low Books.

"Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller." By Xavier Garza. Cinco Puntos Press.

"Migrant". By Maxine Trottier. Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. Groundwood Books.

"Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic." By Robert Burleigh. Illustrated by Wendell Minor. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

"No Ordinary Day." By Deborah Ellis. Groundwood Books.

"Nursery Rhyme Comics: 50 Timeless Rhymes from 50 Celebrated Cartoonists." Edited by Chris Duffy. Illustrated by various artists. First Second.

"Soldier Bear." By Bibi Dumon Tak. Illustrated by Philip Hopman. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.

"The Third Gift." By Linda Sue Park. Illus. by Bagram Ibatoulline. Clarion Books.

"Thunder Birds: Nature's Flying Predators." By Jim Arnosky. Illustrated by the author. Sterling.

"Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters." By Donna Jo Napoli. Illustrated by Christina Balit. National Geographic Society.

"The Trouble with May Amelia." By Jennifer L. Holm. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

"Underground." By Shane Evans. Illustrated by Shane Evans. Roaring Brook Press.

"The Unforgotten Coat." By Frank Cottrell Boyce. Illustrated by Carl Hunter and Clare Heney. Candlewick Press.

"The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps." By Jeanette Winter. Illustrated by Jeanette Winter. Schwartz & Wade Books.

"Wonderstruck." By Brian Selznick. Illustrated by the author. Scholastic.

"Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku." By Lee Wardlaw. Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. Henry Holt.

"Young Fredle." By Cynthia Voigt. Illustrated by Louise Yates. Alfred A. Knopf.

"Zita the Spacegirl." By Ben Hatke. Illustrated by the author. First Second.

Older Readers

"Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart." By Candace Fleming. Schwartz & Wade Books.

"Anya's Ghost." By Vera Brosgol. First Second.

"Between Shades of Gray." By Ruta Sepetys. Philomel Books.

"Billions of Years, Amazing Changes: The Story of Evolution." By Laurence Pringle. Illustrated by Steve Jenkins. Boyds Mills Press.

"Black & White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene 'Bull' Connor." By Larry Dane Brimner. Calkins Creek.

"Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917." By Sally M. Walker. Henry Holt.

"Bluefish." By Pat Schmatz. Candlewick Press.

"Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition." By Karen Blumenthal. Roaring Brook Press.

"Dead End in Norvelt." By Jack Gantos. Farrar Straus Giroux.

"Drawing from Memory." By Allen Say. Illustrated by the author. Scholastic Press.

"The Elephant Scientist." By Caitlin O'Connell and Donna M. Jackson. Illustrated by Caitlin O'Connell and Timothy Rodwell. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

"The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman." By Meg Wolitzer. Dutton Childrens Books.

"Flyaway." By Lucy Christopher. Chicken House.

"Hidden." By Helen Frost. Farrar Straus Giroux.

"The House Baba Built: An Artist's Childhood in China." By Ed Young and Libby Koponen. Illustrated by Ed Young. Little, Brown.

"How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous." By Georgia Bragg. Illustrated by Kevin O'Malley. Walker & Co.

"Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck." By Margarita Engle. Henry Holt.

"Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air." By Stuart Ross. Illustrated by Stephen Biesty. Candlewick Press.

"Jefferson's Sons: A Founding Father's Secret Children." By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Dial Books for Young Readers.

"Lost & Found." By Shaun Tan. Illustrated by the author. Arthur A. Levine Books.

"A Monster Calls: A Novel." By Patrick Ness. Candlewick Press.

"Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein." By Susan Goldman Rubin. Charlesbridge.

"Okay for Now." By Gary D. Schmidt. Clarion Books.

"Queen of Hearts." By Martha Brooks. Farrar Straus Giroux.

"Raggin', Jazzin', Rockin': A History of American Musical Instrument Makers." By Susan VanHecke. Boyds Mills Press.

"The Scorpio Races." By Maggie Stiefvater. Scholastic Press.

"Sita's Ramayana." By Samhita Arni. Illus. by Moyna Chitrakar. Groundwood/House of Anansi.

"Space, Stars, and the Beginning of Time: What the Hubble Telescope Saw." By Elaine Scott. Clarion Books.

"Stones for My Father." By Trilby Kent. Tundra Books.

"Tall Story." By Candy Gourlay. David Fickling Books/Random House Children's Books.

"Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust." By Ruth Thomson. Candlewick Press.

"Under the Mesquite." By Guadalupe Garcia McCall. Lee & Low Books.

"Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem." By Rosalyn Schanzer. Illustrated by the author. National Geographic Society.

All Ages

"Can We Save the Tiger?" By Martin Jenkins. Illustrated by Vicky White. Candlewick Press.

"Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans." By Kadir Nelson. Illustrated by the author. Balzer + Bray.

"If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet." By Leslie McGuirk. Illustrated by the author. Tricycle Press.

"Never Forgotten". By Patricia McKissack. Illusrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. Schwartz & Wade Books.

"Press Here." By Hervé Tullet. Illustrated by the author. Translated by Christopher Franceschelli. Handprint Books/Chronicle.

"Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature". By Joyce Sidman. Illustrated by Beth Krommes. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

The annotated 2012 list and past Notable Children’s Books lists, are on the ALSC website. More information about all of ALSC’s Children’s Notable Lists (books, recordings, and videos) are also available online.

Members of the 2012 Notable Children’s Books Committee are: Kathleen T. Isaacs, chair, Pasadena, Md.; Meagan Albright, Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua (N.Y.) Library; Dana Buttler, Beaver Acres Elementary School, Beaverton, Ore.; Patricia Carleton, St. Louis (Mo.) Public Library; Rosemary S. Chance, Dept. of Library Science, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas; Barabara A. Chatton, University of Wyoming, Laramie; Edith Ching, Silver Spring, Md; Betsy Fraser, Calgary (Alberta) Public Library; Maryann H. Owen, Racine (Wis.) Public Library, and Linda A. Perkins, Berkeley (Calif.) Public Library.