Wednesday, January 13, 2010

2009 Readers' Pick

How would you like to help pick a title for Bookie Woogie review?  Now's your chance!  Isaac, Grace, Lily, and I have taken turns picking. From time to time our mail carrier picks one for us.  We've even let Hungarians and New Zealanders have a go.  Now it's time for our first "Readers' Pick."

Our posts alternate week to week between new releases and old favorites.  Well, 2010 is now upon us.  We have two last '09 reviews all set to post on Jan 25 and Feb 8.  But you have a chance to help pick a third before we move on to highlighting 2010 titles.

Every book we've reviewed on this site is a book we think you should take a look at.  Here are nine more.  These are nine '09 books we loved and WOULD have reviewed as well if we had the ability to post more often...  or if years had twice as many weeks in them.

Leave a comment on this post telling us which of the books below you would like us to review.  Maybe it's a title you love too, and you want to see what the Z-Kids have to say.  Maybe it's a title you've never heard of, and you'd like to learn more about it.  We'll let the voting run 'til the end of January.  Whichever story gets the most comments wins a Bookie Woogie review on Feb 22!

Comments Commence!




Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy
by David Soman and Jacky Davis



The Frogs and Toads All Sang
by Arnold Lobel and Adrianne Lobel



Crazy Hair
by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean



Little Boat
by Thomas Docherty



How Robin Saved Spring
by Debbie Ouellet and Nicoletta Ceccoli



Magic Box
by Katie Cleminson



The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau
by Dan Yaccarino



Chicken Cheeks
by Michael Ian Black and Kevin Hawkes



Redwoods
by Jason Chin


Update:
  and the Readers' Pick is: "Crazy Hair" by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean...  You can check out our review here.

32 comments:

test said...

Crazy Hair please! That cover looks crazy! Oh, oh ... (doubletake) and it's by Neil Gaiman too!

Boni Ashburn said...

I'd love to hear what they think about the art in Jacques Cousteau, but I'd REALLY love to hear what they have to say about Chicken Cheeks :)

ElizT said...

I'm interested in The Frogs and Toads all Sang.
[Do you ever give a book a poor review? I can't remember reading one and understand that the choices are made from books enjoyed but there are a lot of duds around. Do you think this criticism best left to adults?]

beth said...

We read Crazy Hair (me and my kids) and found it interesting but not completely successful as a book. But the pictures were very entertaining.

Majeki said...

The Frogs and Toads All Sang should be reviewed. I've read the other Frog and Toad books and I'm interested to find out what this book is about.

Anonymous said...

I would love to see you do a review of The Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods. It was one of my favorite books of 2009, and it has some really wonderful illustrations too. You can get an idea of what it's about here:

http://www.dreadcrew.com/

Thank you for all of your great drawings and reviews, Z-Kids!

Anonymous said...

Whoops, I'm sorry... it looks like you're asking readers to choose from the books you listed above.

Perhaps you could consider my suggestion as a 2010 book, since it will be released in the US this spring. Maybe?

Z-Kids said...

Thanks for the votes coming in!

ElizT: We do focus on books we like. I come across many books I think are duds, but with only 52 reviews a year I'd rather focus on the good ones. Plus, I don't think the kids would even be able to recognize a poor book - at this age, they love all books. If I let them, we'd probably be reviewing Strawberry Shortcake 8x8's as well...

Rene: Thanks for the recommendation! We'll be sure to keep our eyes open for Dread Crew when it comes out

So Boni, is that a vote for Chicken Cheeks? Or half a vote for each?

Terry Doherty said...

I'm all in for Jacques Cousteau ... there is such a need for nonfiction PBs and it would be great to see if the Bookie Woogie crew is excited by this one!

Patricia J. Weaver said...

Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle by Brian Dennis

I'm reading this book for Second and Third graders at our local school. They all love it and the pictures and Nubs story makes them think

Bill said...

Go with Chicken Cheeks, it's full of laughs and then follow up with The Purple Kangaroo, the new one by Michael Ian Black. The kids in THE PIT love both.

Kristen said...

They are all pretty darn enticing but I love the title and cover on Chicken Cheeks.

Jennifer said...

Magic Box! The art really grabbed me and I love the fanciful, illogical story full of magic and delight! I'm using this in storytime in a few weeks and I'd love to hear your take on it!

Kimbra Kasch said...

Some of these look like a lot of fun. I'll take a look for them the next time I'm at the bookstore.

Hannah said...

Oh, dear. Just one? Really?

With ... great ... difficulty ...

Magic Box.

MotherReader said...

"The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau" because the illustrations are wonderful and I think everyone in your family will love it. It's a book worth reading and owning, for that matter.

Rebecca Gomez said...

How about Love that Dog by Sharon Creech? I love that book!

Swati said...

I think I like the look of Frogs and toads all sang, although all are equally intriguing :)

Mama to 5 said...

Ladybug girl is a cute book - we have gotten this book from the library in the past. :)

Jennie said...

Crazy Hair, just because I really want to see what the Z-kids draw for that!

Heidi Noel said...

Neil Gaiman, please. He has such an interesting sense of humor. Plus, the illustrations look compelling.

Becky said...

I'd be interested in seeing a review of The Frogs and Toads All Sang.

Sherry said...

I pick the Arnold Lobel because I love Arnold Lobel. I looked it up because Mr. Lobel had died, and sure enough this is a posthumous book that somebody "found" in his papers. It sounds neat.

Caroline said...

This is so hard - I'm curious about so many of these books! (I've only read Redwoods so far) But my vote is for The Frogs and Toads All Sang.

Lissa said...

Every Christmas, my husband gives each of our children a picture book he has chosen specifically for him or her. This year his choice for our 8yo daughter, who sports a wild and curly mop of her own, was CRAZY HAIR. :)

I'd love to hear your family's review.

Brimful Curiosities said...

Can I pick two? Chicken Cheeks or Redwoods. 1/2 a vote each.

Playing by the book said...

Magic Box (known as Box of Tricks here in the UK) is wonderful I think, but it would be great to see what you and your kids make of it. Here's our review:
http://www.playingbythebook.net/2010/01/08/magical-birthdays/

Nina Crittenden said...

Jacques Cousteau gets my vote!

Rebecca Gomez said...

I commented before, but I didn't read closely.

I vote for Chicken Cheeks because the title is intriguing.

Anonymous said...

Crazy Hair, please!

Eugenia Gina said...

woow! I love finding your blog, the books review is really useful for me, thanks! I'll be following this blog :)

rina said...

well I love crazy hair, and I'd like to know what you think about it :) but chicken cheecks has a great cover, so it would interest me as well. very cool idea for a blog. cheers