2003 Notable Children's Books announced

Contact: Laura Schulte-Cooper


312-280-2165






For Immediate Release


February 10, 2003

2003 Notable Children's Books announced

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has selected its 2003 list of Notable Children's Books.

The list of titles includes fiction and nonfiction, poetry and picture books of special interest, quality, creativity and value to children from preschool through age 14.

The books are:


Younger Readers

  • Carle, Eric. "'Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,' said the Sloth." Illus. Putnam/ Philomel.
  • Dillon, Leo and Dillon, Diane. "Rap a Tap Tap: Here's Bojangles - Think of That!" Illus. Scholastic/Blue Sky.
  • Dunrea, Olivier. "Gossie & Gertie" Illus. Houghton Mifflin.
  • Fleming, Candace. "Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!" Illus. by G. Brian Karas. Simon & Schuster/Atheneum.
  • Fleming, Denise. "Alphabet Under Construction" Illus. Henry Holt & Company, LLC.
  • Gerstein, Mordicai. "What Charlie Heard" Illus. Farrar/Frances Foster.
  • Johansen, Hanna. "Henrietta and the Golden Eggs" Illus. by Käthi Bhend. Translated by John Barrett. David R. Godine.
  • Lowry, Lois. "Gooney Bird Greene" Illus. by Middy Thomas. Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine.
  • McCarty, Peter. "Hondo & Fabian" Illus. Henry Holt & Company, LLC.
  • McMullan, Kate. "I Stink!" Illus. by Jim McMullan. HarperCollins/Joanna Cotler.
  • Mills, Claudia. "7 X 9 = Trouble!" Illus. by G. Brian Karas. Farrar.
  • Paye, Won-Ldy and Lippert, Margaret H. "Head, Body, Legs: A Story from Liberia" Illus. by Julie Paschkis. Henry Holt & Company, LLC.
  • Rohmann, Eric. "My Friend Rabbit" Illus. The Millbrook Press/Roaring Brook Press.
  • Shannon, David. "Duck on a Bike" Illus. Scholastic/Blue Sky.
  • Sis, Peter. "Madlenka's Dog" Illus. Farrar/Frances Foster.
  • Thomas, Shelley Moore. "Get Well, Good Knight" Illus. by Jennifer Plecas. Penguin Putnam/Dutton.
  • Wilson, Karma. "Bear Snores On" Illus. by Jane Chapman. Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry.
  • Winter, Jonah. "Frida" Illus. by Ana Juan. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine.

Middle Readers

  • Andrews-Goebel, Nancy. "The Pot that Juan Built" Illus. by David Diaz. Lee & Low.
  • Bauer, Joan. "Stand Tall" Putnam.
  • Blake, Robert J. "Togo" Illus. Putnam/ Philomel.
  • Creech, Sharon. "Ruby Holler" HarperCollins/Joanna Cotler.
  • Delano, Marfe Ferguson. "Inventing the Future: A Photobiography of Thomas Alva Edison" National Geographic.
  • Denslow, Sharon Phillips. "Georgie Lee" Illus. by Lynne Rae Perkins. Greenwillow.
  • Ferris, Jean. "Once Upon a Marigold" Harcourt.
  • Fine, Anne. "Up On Cloud Nine" Random House/Delacorte.
  • Fradin, Dennis Brindell. "The Signers: The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence" Illus. by Michael McCurdy. Walker.
  • Freedman, Russell. "Confucius: The Golden Rule" Illus. by Frederic Clement. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine.
  • Funke, Cornelia. "The Thief Lord" Translated by Oliver Latsch. The Chicken House/ Scholastic Inc.
  • Gaiman, Neil. "Coraline" Illus. by Dave McKean. HarperCollins.
  • Giff, Patricia Reilly. "Pictures of Hollis Woods" Random House/Wendy Lamb.
  • Grimes, Nikki. "Talkin' about Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman" Illus. by E.B. Lewis. Scholastic/Orchard.
  • Ibbotson, Eva. "Journey to the River Sea" Illus. by Kevin Hawkes. Penguin Putnam/Dutton.
  • Mak, Kam. "My Chinatown: One Year in Poems" Illus. HarperCollins.
  • Martin, Ann. "A Corner of the Universe" Scholastic.
  • McKay, Hilary. "Saffy's Angel" Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry.
  • Old, Wendie. "To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers" Illus. by Robert Andrew Parker. Clarion.
  • Pinkney, Andrea Davis. "Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa" Illus. by Brian Pinkney. Hyperion/Jump at the Sun.
  • Rubin, Susan Goldman. "Degas and the Dance: The Painter and the Petits Rats, Perfecting their Art" Harry N. Abrams.
  • Ryan, Pam Muñoz. "When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson, The Voice of a Century" Illus. by Brian Selznick. Scholastic.
  • Stanley, Diane. "Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam" Illus. HarperCollins.
  • Testa, Maria. "Becoming Joe DiMaggio" Illus. by Scott Hunt. Candlewick.
  • Tolan, Stephanie S. "Surviving the Applewhites" HarperCollins.
  • Walker, Sally M. "Fossil Fish Found Alive: Discovering the Coelacanth" Carolrhoda.

Older Readers

  • Alvarez, Julia. "Before We Were Free" Knopf.
  • Avi. "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" Hyperion.
  • Blumenthal, Karen. "Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929" Illus. Simon & Schuster/Atheneum.
  • Colman, Penny. "Where the Action Was: Women War Correspondents in World War II" Illus. Crown.
  • Cooney, Caroline. "Goddess of Yesterday" Delacorte.
  • Farmer, Nancy. "The House of the Scorpion" Simon & Schuster/Atheneum/Richard Jackson.
  • Fleischman, John. "Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science" Houghton Mifflin.
  • Gantos, Jack. "Hole in My Life" Farrar.
  • Giblin, James Cross. "The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler" Clarion.
  • Hiaasen, Carl. "Hoot" Knopf.
  • McCaughrean, Geraldine. "The Kite Rider" HarperCollins.
  • Nye, Naomi Shihab. "19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East" Illus. Greenwillow.
  • Park, Linda Sue. "When My Name Was Keoko: A Novel of Korea in World War II" Clarion.
  • Partridge, Elizabeth. "This Land Was Made for You and Me: The Life and Songs of Woody Guthrie" Illus. Viking.

All Ages

  • Fink, Sam. "The Declaration of Independence" Scholastic.
  • Greenberg, Jan and Jordan, Sandra. "Action Jackson" Illus. by Robert Andrew Parker. The Millbrook Press/Roaring Brook Press.
  • Howitt, Mary. "The Spider and the Fly" Illus. by Tony DiTerlizzi. Simon & Schuster.
  • Kalman, Maira. "Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey" Illus. Putnam.
  • Karas, G. Brian. "Atlantic" Illus. Putnam.
  • Martin, Bill Jr. and Sampson, Michael. "I Pledge Allegiance: The Pledge of Allegiance with Commentary" Illus. by Chris Raschka. Candlewick.
  • Pinkney, Jerry. "Noah's Ark" Illus. North-South/SeaStar.
  • Zelinsky, Paul O. "Knick-Knack Paddywhack!" Penguin Putnam/Dutton.

For the annotated 2003 list and past Notable Children's Book lists, please visit the
ALSC Web site. More information about Notable Children's Books is available
online.

Members of the 2003 Notable Children's Books Committee are: Toni A. Bernardi, chair, San Francisco Public Library; Revital Balas, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York; Mary Fellows, Upper Hudson Library System, Albany, N.Y.; Robin L. Gibson, Perry County District Library, New Lexington, Ohio; Elizabeth Guldseth, Montgomery County Dept. of Public Libraries, Rockville, Md.; Elizabeth Long, New York Public Library; Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library, Venice Branch; Micki Nevett, Westmere School, Albany, N.Y.; Marion Rutsch, Our Lady of Lourdes School Library, Bethesda, Md.; Maria Salvadore, Washington, D.C.; and Maureen White, University of Houston at Clear Lake School Library.