Officer Buckle and Gloria
By: Peggy Rathman
Medal Winner
NOT REVIEWED
Officer Buckle knows more about safety than anyone in the town of Napville. But whenever he tries to share his safety tips, nobody listens. Until, that is, the Napville Police Department buys a police dog named Gloria.
Unbeknownst to Officer Buckle, Gloria has her own way of demonstrating safety tips—one that makes Napville sit up and take notice! Suddenly, everybody wants to hear Officer Buckle's safety speech. "And please," people say, "bring along that police dog."
When Officer Buckle discovers he's been upstaged, he vows to give up safety tips once and for all. Can Gloria convince her friend to return to the job he loves, or is Napville about to have its worst accident ever?
From the dust jacket
Alphabet City
By: Stephen T. Johnson
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
You can find letters without ever looking in a book or on a sign—without even looking at a word. Take a tour of Alphabet City, and soon you'll see letters in the unlikeliest places. Look closely! There's a G in the curve of an ornate lamppost, an H in the crisscrossing walkways of a park, a U atop a fancy brick wall.
Uptown or downtown, from beltways to subways, rendering the ordinary extraordinary, Stephen T. Johnson's showstopping images invite us to explore our surroundings in a whole new way.
From the dust jacket
The Faithful Friend
By: Robert D. San Souci
Illustrated by: Brian Pinkney
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Sometime in the last century, on the lush Caribbean island of Martinique, two young men embarked on a fateful journey crossed by zoombies, ghosts, and curses...
Clement and Hippolyte are handsome, sharp-witted, and as close as brothers. When Clement falls in love with the enchanting Pauline, he bids Hippolyte to join his quest to court her, and the two friends set out toward danger and adventure.
Pauline is ward of the mysterious Monsieur Zabocat—a plantation owner reputed to be a quimboiseur, a wizard—and, defying his wishes, Pauline joins her new fiance and his friend on their trek home. But the fruited fields and forests they traverse hide dark forces plotting to destroy the couple... and one night—Tam! Tam! Tamtamtam!—the distant sound of a drum lures Hippolyte into a deadly trap that forces him to choose between his friend's safety and his own.
Robert D. San Souci and Brian Pinkney again combine their talents to bring to life a West Indian folktale that draws upon African, European, and South American traditions and imagery. The result is an extraordinary tale of romance, intrigue, and incomparable courage in which the truest of friends remain faithful to the very end.
From the dust jacket
Tops & Bottoms
By: Janet Stevens
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Bear has lots of money and lots of land—and he's lazy. Hare has nothing but a hungry family—and he's smart. Hare is sure there's a way to share Bear's wealth, so he and Mrs. Hare cook up a plan. Then Hare hops on down the road to Bear's place and proposes that Bear donate land, Hare handle labor, and they split the crop in half. All Bear has to do is choose the half he wants—tops or bottoms. Sleepy Bear takes tops but finds once the harvest is in that he's been tricked by clever Hare!
With roots in European folktales and the slave stories of the American South, Tops and Bottoms celebrates the trickster tradition of beating hardship by using one's wits. And an acre of hilarity tops it all off!
From the dust jacket
Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin
By: Lloyd Moss
Illustrated by: Marjorie Priceman
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
With mournful moan and silken tone,
Itself alone comes ONE TROMBONE.
Gliding, sliding, high notes go low;
ONE TROMBONE is playing SOLO.
When this book begins, the trombone is playing all by itself. But soon a trumpet makes a duet, a french horn a trio, and so on until the entire orchestra is assembled on stage. Written in elegant and rhythmic verse and illustrated with playful and flowing artwork, this unique counting book is the perfect introduction to musical instruments and musical groups. Readers of all ages are sure to shout "Encore!" when they reach the final page of this joyous celebration of classical music.
From the dust jacket
