PlanetEsme.com's
DON'T MISS LIST
2002
Dear Children's Booklover,
As I look over all of the titles reviewed on PlanetEsme.com over the past year, I see more than a collection of delightful reads; I see a year's worth of great education. Truly, what child wouldn't significantly benefit from being exposed to each and every title in this assortment? What a schooling! What incredible conversations about art, war, nature, work, culture, history, geography, friendship, tolerance, self-actualization, imagination and celebration can take place using these books as catalysts! What qualities of humor, empathy and critical thinking can be fostered in children of all ages, abilities and temperments! Listening to these creative voices bound in book form singing out to their young audiences, it is easy to see the potential to learn shining forth in spite of whatever gloom beaurocrats, politicians and curmudgeons might ascribe to future generations. Whether shared in the classroom or the home, I believe wholeheartedly that these books will elevate all who receive them.
This list is simplified in order to be printer-friendly. To find reviews, covers, age recommendations and additional links please visit the annotated lists at www.planetesme.com/dontmiss.html and www.planetesme.com/archiveindex.html.
Thank you so much to those who join in this endeavor to connect great children with great books. Happy reading always!
--Esmé Raji Codell, Site Director
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Picture Books
Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story by Tomie DePaola (Penguin Putnam)
All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle,illustrated by Barbara Lavallee (Harcourt)
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman (McElderberry)
Benny and the Binky by Barbro Lindgren, illustrated by Olof Landstrom (R&S)
Beverly Billingsley Borrows a Book by Alexander Stadler (Harcourt) (
The Big Meow by Elizabeth Spires, illustrated by Cynthia Jabar (Candlewick)
The Broken Cat by Lynne Rae Perkins (Greenwillow)
Chanukah Bugs by David A. Carter (Simon & Schuster)
Clarence the Copy Cat by Patricia Lakin, illustrated by John Manders (Doubleday)
Dahlia by Barbara McClintock (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
Dog Eared by Amanda Harvey (Doubleday)
Epossumondas by Coleen Salley, illustrated by Janet Stevens (Harcourt)
Hare and Tortoise Race to the Moon by Oliver J. Corwin (Abrams)
Haeaven's All-Star Jazz Band by Don Carter (Knopf)
Hooper Has Lost His Owner! by Marsha White (Little, Brown)
How Kind! by Mary Murphy (Candlewick)
I.Q. Goes to School by Mary Ann Fraser (Walker)
I Want To Be a Cowgirl by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Tony Ross (Henry Holt)
If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond (HarperCollins)
Joe Cinders by Marianne Mitchell, illustrated by Bryan Langdon (Henry Holt)
The Kettles Get New Clothes by Dayle Ann Dodds, illustrated by Jill McElmurry (Candlewick)
Little Buggyby Kevin O'Malley (Harcourt)
Little Red Riding Hood retold and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman (Simon & Schuster)
Loretta, Ace Pinky Scout by Keith Graves (Scholastic)
Madlenka's Dog by Peter Sis
The Magic Hat by Mem Fox, illustrated by Tricia Tusa (Harcourt)
Mannekin Pis: A Simple Story of a Boy Who Peed on a War by Vladimir Radunsky (Atheneum)
Merry Christmas, Princess Dinosaur! by Jill Kastner
Milly and the Macy's Parade by Shana Corey, illustrated by Brett Helquist (Scholastic)
Mrs. Biddlebox by Linda Smith, illustrated by Marla Frazee (HarperCollins)
Mud is Cake by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by David McPhail (Hyperion)
Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Atheneum)
The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore, illustrated by Robert Sabuda (Simon & Schuster)
Night Dancer by Marcia Vaughan, illustrated by Lisa Desimini (Orchard)
Once Upon a Farm by Marie Bradby, illustrated by Ted Rand (Orchard)
Once Upon a Time by Nick Sharratt (Candlewick)
One Beautiful Baby by Martine Oborne, illustrated by Ingrid Godon (Little, Brown)
Party Animals by Katie Davis (Harcourt)
Platypus by Chris Riddell (Harcourt)
That Pesky Rat by Lauren Child (Candlewick)
The Real, True Dulcie Campbell by CynthiaDeFelice, illustrated by R.W. Alley (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Chronicle)
The Saturday Escape by Daniel J. Mahoney (Clarion)
Snow Bears by Martin Waddell, illustrated by Sarah Fox-Davies (Candlewick)
Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner, illustrated by Mark Buehner
The Story of Noodles by Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by YongSheng Xuan (Holiday House)
The Teddy Bear by David McPhail (Henry Holt)
Ten by Vladimir Radunsky (Viking)
That Pesky Rat by Lauren Child (Candlewick)
The Ticky-Tacky Doll by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Harvey Stevenson (Harcourt)
Twelve Hats for Lena by Karen Katz (McElderberry Books)
Turk and Runt by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Frank Ansley (Atheneum)
Wake Up, Big Barn! by Suzanne Tanner Chitwood (Scholastic)
Welcome Baby: Baby Rhymes for Baby Times by Stephanie Calmenson, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (HarperCollins)
What Shall We Play?by Sue Heap (Candlewick)
Whatever Wanda Wanted by Jude Wisdom (Penguin Putnam)
The Year I Didn't Go to School by Giselle Potter (Atheneum)
Yo, Vikings! by Judith Byron Schachner (Dutton)
Fiction
Coraline by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean (HarperCollins)
A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin (Scholastic)
Dear Papa by Anne Ylvisaker (Candlewick)
The Dream Stealer by Gregory Maguire, illustrated by Diana Bryan (Clarion)
Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry, illustrated by Middy Thomas (Houghton Mifflin)
Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich Smith (HarperCollins)
Judy Moody Saves the World by Megan McDonald, illustrated by Peter Reynolds (Candlewick)
Lenny and Mel : Holidazed!by Erik P. Kraft (Simon and Schuster)
Loser by Jerry Spinelli (HarperCollins)
Lucy the Giant by Sherri L. Smith (Delacorte)
Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech (HarperCollins)
Sea-Cat and the Dragon King by Angela Carter, illustrated by Eva Tatcheva (Bloomsbury)
Stuart's Cape by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Martin Matje (Orchard)
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke (Scholastic)
Trouble Don't Last by Shelley Pearsall (Knopf)
The Voyage of the Arctic Tern by Hugh Montgomery, illustrated by Nick Poullis (Candlewick)
Waiting to Disappear by April Young Fritz (Hyperion)
The World Before This One: A Novel Told in Legend by Rafe Martin (Scholastic)
Non-Fiction
Across a Dark and Wild Sea by Don Brown (Roaring Brook)
The Adventurous Chef Alexis Soyer by Ann Arnold (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
All the Way to Lhasa: A Tale from Tibet by Barbara Helen Berger (Philomel)
Ancient Egypt: Ms. Frizzle's Adventures by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Bruce Degen (Scholastic)
The American West: An Illustrated History by Liz Sonneborn (Scholastic)
Arithme-tickle: An Even Number of Odd Poems by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz (Harcourt)
Backyard Detective: Critters Up Close by Nic Bishop (Scholastic)
Confucius: The Golden Rule by Russell Freedman, illustrated by Frederic Clement (Scholastic)
The Declaration of Independence illustrated by Sam Fink (Scholastic)
Far Beyond the Garden Gate: Alexandra David-Neel's Journey to Lhasa
by Don Brown (Houghton Mifflin)
Fairie-ality: The Fashion Collection from the House of Ellwand illustrated by David Downton (Candlewick)
Field Trips: Bug Hunting, Animal Tracking, Bird-Watching, Shore Walking with Jim Arnosky by Jim Arnosky (HarperCollins)
Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey by Maira Kalman (Penguin Putnam)
The 5,000 Year-Old Puzzle: Solving a Mystery of Ancient Egypt by Claudia Logan, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Frida by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Ana Juan (Scholastic)
Getting to Know You by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein, illustrated by Rosemary Wells (HarperCollins)
Hello, Hello! by Miriam Schlien, illustrated by Daniel Kirk (Simon & Schuster)
Hello, World! Greetings in 42 Languages Around the Globe by Maja Stojic (Scholastic)
A Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children by David A. Adler, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth (Holiday House)
If I Were in Charge The Rules Would Be Different by James Proimos (Scholastic)
If The World Were a Village: A Book About the World's People by David J. Smith (Kids Can Press)
Liberty! by Allan Drummond (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution by Steve Jenkins (Houghton Mifflin)
Little Dog and Duncan by Kristine O'Connell George, illustrated by June Otani (Clarion)
Love to Langston by Tony Medina, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Lee & Low)
Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities and Recipes by Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz and the Children's Museum, Boston, illustrated by Meilo So (Harcourt)
Museum ABC by The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Little, Brown)
Nonsense! He Yelled by Roger Eschebacher, illustrated by Adrian Johnson (Dial)
This Place I Know: Poems of Comfort selected by Georgia Heard, illustrated by Eighteen Renowned Picture Book Artists (Candlewick)
Rats! The Good, The Bad and the Ugly by Richard Conniff (Crown)
Remembering Manzanar: Life in a Japanese Relocation Camp
by Michael L. Cooper (Clarion)
Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929 by Karen Blumenthal (Atheneum)
Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems by Kristine O'Connell George, illustrated by Debbie Tilley (Clarion)
Talkin' About Bessie by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by E.B. Lewis (Orchard)
Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids by Gail Gibbons (Little, Brown)
Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrated by Matt Faulkner
What Charlie Heard by Mordicai Gerstein (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
We Are the Many: A Picture Book of American Indians by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu (HarperCollins)
Weird Friends: Unlikely Allies in the Animal Kingdom by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey (Harcourt)
When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)
Chapman Awards for Best Classroom Read-Alouds
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