2001 Blue Ribbons

Ah, Blue Ribbons time again. What you don’t see is the consideration, pleading, advocacy, rigor, and passion of the collective process that, after weeks of deliberation, produce this list. What you do see is a list of books that have withstood the process, proving themselves resistant to the passing of time, the honing of critical faculties, and the diversity of opinion among our meeting members. These are tough books. We hope you enjoy them; we certainly have.

Deborah Stevenson, Editor

(Other books we enjoyed and remain unreconciled to the exclusion thereof are discussed at the Blue Ribbon dissents here.

PICTURE BOOKS

• Ahlberg, Allan. The Adventures of Bert; illus. by Raymond Briggs. Farrar. 2-5 yrs. (September)

  Cheery Bert will charm preschoolers as he triumphs over a sequence of odd but suspenseful travails.

• Burleigh, Robert. Lookin’ for Bird in the Big City; illus. by Marek Los. Silver Whistle/Harcourt. 5-8 yrs. (July/August)

  Burleigh's rhythmic verse gives voice to young Miles Davis on a quest for Charlie Parker in New York, while Los' urban views offer their own visual urban music.

• Cooper, Elisha. Dance!; written and illus. by Elisha Cooper. Greenwillow. Gr. 3-5. (September)

  Cooper's supple brushstrokes dance across the pages in this energetic and immediate account of a dance company's preparation and performance.

• Fraustino, Lisa Rowe. The Hickory Chair; illus. by Benny Andrews. Levine/Scholastic. 4-8 yrs. (March)

  Now an adult, Louis affectionately recalls his beloved grandmother and his efforts to find the note she'd left for him to find after her death.

• Graham, Bob. "Let’s Get a Pup!" Said Kate; written and illus. by Bob Graham. Candlewick. 5-8 yrs. (September)

  Homey, detailed watercolors make individuals out of parents, kid, and dogs in this irresistible account of a family's trip--well, two trips--to an animal shelter.

• High, Linda Oatman. Under New York; illus. by Robert Rayevsky. Holiday House. 5-8 yrs. (April)

  This offbeat tour of the Big Apple focuses on the action under street-level, with Rayevsky's ingenious split perspectives emphasizing the contrast between the worlds above and below.

• Jenkins, Emily. Five Creatures; illus. by Tomek Bogacki. Foster/Farrar. 4-7 yrs. (February)

  There's a delicate yet lunatic charm in this quirky look at a family of two adults, one child, and two cats, which will cause youngsters to reexamine their own family patterns.

• Loomis, Christine. Astro Bunnies; illus. by Ora Eitan. Putnam. 3-6 yrs. (February)

  Simple but clever verse and atmospheric astronomical illustrations will make these lagomorphic space travelers a laptime and bedtime hit.

• Maggi, María Elena, ad. The Great Canoe: A Kariña Legend; tr. from the Spanish by Elisa Amado; illus. by Gloria Calderón. Groundwood/Douglas & McIntyre. 5-8 yrs. (December)

  A stringent yet lyrical text and hand-colored scratchboards with fluid lines do justice to this flood tale from Venezuela.

• Steen, Sandra. Car Wash; by Sandra and Susan Steen; illus. by G. Brian Karas. Putnam. 3-7 yrs. (January)

  A succinct text and imaginative mixed-media illustrations evoke all the fantastical, mechanical, sonorous delight of a drive-through car wash.

• Taylor, Alastair. Swollobog; written and illus. by Alastair Taylor. Houghton. 5-8 yrs. (April)

  This is a droll and affectionate paean to a dog whose relentless voracity gets her into trouble.

• Wells, Rosemary. Felix Feels Better; written and illus. by Rosemary Wells. Candlewick. 3-5 yrs. (June)

  An overdose of chocolate blimpies makes guinea-pig Felix into one of the most woebegone (and appealing) personified guinea pigs in picture-book history.

• Willey, Margaret, ad. Clever Beatrice: An Upper Peninsula Conte; illus. by Heather Solomon. Atheneum. 4-8 yrs. (October)

  Luminous and deftly textured mixed-media art enhances this pithily descriptive tale of a clever heroine.

FICTION

• Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl. Talk Miramax/Hyperion. Gr. 5-8. (July/August)

  Twelve-year-old multimillionaire genius Artemis is determined to trick the well-defended fairies out of their gold in this fantasy that's more James Bond than J. R. R. Tolkien.

• Haas, Jesse. Runaway Radish; illus. by Margot Apple. Greenwillow. Gr. 2-4. (July/August)

  Haas' smooth-gaited text and Apple's expressive pencil illustrations make this light-hearted saga of a wayward pony into a classic of the genre.

• Ibbotson, Eva. Dial-a-Ghost; illus. by Kevin Hawkes. Dutton. Gr. 4-6. (September)

  Lonely orphan Oliver is all that stands between the loathesome Snodde-Brittles and their inheritance, but he's found unexpected allies in a family of benevolent ghosts.

• Jenkins, A. M. Damage. HarperCollins. Gr. 9-12. (July/August)

  Austin is a football hero and all-around popular guy with a beautiful girlfriend--so why is life starting to seem so meaningless?

• Naidoo, Beverley. The Other Side of Truth. HarperCollins. Gr. 7-12. (September)

  When Sade and her brother flee Nigeria for Britain after their mother's shooting, that's only the beginning of their political and personal troubles.

• Salisbury, Graham. Lord of the Deep. Delacorte. Gr. 5-8. (July/August)

  When Mikey's stepfather, a deep-sea fishing guide, needs to choose between the truth about a client's catch and the needs of his family, Mikey is forced to consider his own ethics.

• Schmidt, Gary D. Straw into Gold. Clarion. Gr. 6-9. (September)

  In this expansion of Rumpelstiltskin, two boys join forces to seek the exiled queen in the hope that she can provide an answer to the king's riddle.

• Taylor, Mildred. The Land. Fogelman/Putnam. Gr. 7 up. (October)

  This prequel to Taylor's Logan family saga chronicles the early life of the family patriarch, Paul-Edward, as he struggles with his biracial identity in the post-Reconstruction South.

• Vande Velde, Vivian. The Rumpelstiltskin Problem. Houghton, 2000.

  A half-dozen short revisionings of the Rumpelstitskin tale shine with imagination and understated humor.

• Wilson, Jacqueline. Vicky Angel. Delacorte. Gr. 4-8. (October)

  In this poignant story of bereavement, Jade is haunted and ruled by the ghost of her beloved friend, Vicky—or is it just Jade's guilt?

• Wolff, Virginia Euwer. True Believer. Atheneum. Gr. 7-12. (May)

  In unforced free verse, LaVaughn details the pride and price of her academic self-betterment and her secret hopes for romance with an old friend.

• Wulffson, Don. Soldier X. Viking. Gr. 7-10. (March)

  When a Russian offensive devastates his German unit, teenaged Erich assumes the identity of a Russian solder in a charade that may destroy him or may save him.

NONFICTION

• Bober, Natalie S. Countdown to Independence: A Revolution of Ideas in England and Her American Colonies: 1760-1776. Atheneum. Gr. 9-12. (March)

  Bober's brilliantly organized chronicle brings into sharp relief the differing perceptions of England and the colonies, and she emphasizes the inseparability of the human drama from the political.

• Cunningham, Julia. The Stable Rat and Other Christmas Poems; illus. by Anita Lobel. Greenwillow. Gr. 3-6. (November)

  Lobel's lush, Blakean watercolors effectively frame Cunningham's lyrical celebrations of the Nativity from the attendant animals' points of view.

• Florian, Douglas. Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs; written and illus. by Douglas Florian. Harcourt. Gr. 3-6. (April)

  Florian's gallery of portrait-and-poem pairs is both visually and verbally inventive in the service of those oft-overlooked critters, reptiles and amphibians.

• Fradin, Dennis Brindell My Family Shall Be Free!: The Life of Peter Still. HarperCollins. Gr. 5-9. (May)

  Fradin's careful research enhances the moving story of Peter Still, who struggled for years to free himself and his wife and children from slavery and to reunite with the free Stills in the North.

• Greenberg, Jan. Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist; by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan. Delacorte. Gr. 7-12. (June)

  Greenberg and Jordan dig beneath the ubiquitous Van Gogh factoids to create a sympathetic and emotional portrait of the troubled and rebellious artist.

• Janeczko, Paul B., comp. A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems; illus. by Chris Raschka. Candlewick. Gr. 4-7. (June)

  These shapely and illustrative poems have to be seen to be believed--and appreciated.

• Kurlansky, Mark. The Cod’s Tale; illus. by S. D. Schindler. Putnam. Gr. 3-6. (October)

  This quirky but effective overview of one species' effect on global practices and economy is seasoned with Schindler's humorous yet delicate watercolors.

• Martin, Jacqueline Briggs. The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish: Based on a True Story; illus. by Beth Krommes. Houghton. Gr. 3-5. (February)

  Martin's spare yet poetic text tells of the struggles of the 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition, marooned in the ice and succored by the resourcefulness of the Inupiat expedition members.

• Nelson, Marilyn. Carver: A Life in Poems. Front Street. Gr. 7 up. (September)

  This eloquent, accessible series of poems offers a rich and compelling portrait of George Washington Carver that effectively conveys his genius and his commitment.

• Rappaport, Doreen. Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; illus. by Bryan Collier. Hyperion. 5-8 yrs. (January 2002)

  Through a focused, concrete text and compelling art, Rappaport and Collier make King an accessible and sympathetic figure to young audiences.

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