Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
By: William Steig
Medal Winner
NOT REVIEWED
Sylvester Duncan lived with his father and mother at Acorn Road in Oatsdale. One of his hobbies was collecting pebbles of unusual shape and color. One rainy day during vacation he found a magic pebble that had the power to grant all wishes.
Starting home to amaze his father and mother, he was frightened by a lion, and the wish that he wished led to a year of sorrow and separation for the Duncan family. The lost son and his parents faced their problems with bravery and determination, until the happy conclusion reunited the endearing donkey with his loving and steadfast father and mother.
In this beautiful story, William Steig blends humor and tenderness as only he can.
From the dust jacket
Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse
By: Leo Lionni
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
"Alexander may look like Frederick," says Leo Lionni, "but he is definitely not the same mouse: Frederick is a country mouse—Alexander is a city mouse; Frederick is a poet—Alexander is a very practical mouse."
In view of the above, and other noteworthy distinctions, we are happy to present to you the one and only ALEXANDER, his friend THE WIND-UP MOUSE, and THE MAGIC LIZARD—all involved in the inimitable Lionni combination of delicate fantasy and visual beauty.
From the dust jacket
Goggles!
By: Ezra Jack Keats
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Two boys must outsmart the neighborhood bullies before they can enjoy their new treasure, a pair of lensless motorcycle goggles.
From the Library of Congress
The Judge: An Untrue Tale
By: Harve Zemach
Illustrated by: Margot Zemach
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
A horrible thing coming this way,
Creeping closer day by day.
Its eyes are scary
Its tail is hairy
I tell you, Judge, we all better pray!
Anxious prisoner after anxious prisoner echoes and embellishes this cry, but each time in vain. The fiery old Judge, impatient with their foolish nonsense, calls the prisoners scoundrels, ninnyhammers, and throws them all in jail. In the end, though, justice is done . . .
The Judge is a rowdy and most satisfying comdey. Harve Zemach's verse tale is so infectious that children won't be able to avoid memorizing it; and Margot Zemach has elaborated it in pictures that are as handsome as they are hilarious.
From the dust jacket
Pop Corn & Ma Goodness
By: Edna Mitchell Preston
Illustrated by: Robert Andrew Parker
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Ma Goodness she's coming a-skippity
skoppetty
All doon the hill.
Pop Corn he's a-coming a-hippity
hoppetty
All doon the hill.
And what happens when these two engaging characters meet? Why, just what you would expect, for this alliterative nonsense sage sums up the human story.
They cotch them a horse, go a-clippitty
cloppetty
The preacher he weds them a-lippitty
loppetty
They build them a house all a-chippetty
choppetty
They make them a farm all a-tippitty
toppetty.
Rhythmical nonsense? Yes, but also love and marriage, birth and death, summer and winter, tears and laughter. Exquisitely illustrated in water color and filled with tongue-tripping words that demand to be read aloud, this is a book that celebrates life.
From the dust jacket
Thy Friend, Obadiah
By: Brinton Turkle
Honor
Reviewed by: Sara Masarik
Also read and recommended by: Sherry Early
