1996 Blue Ribbons

The 1996 Bulletin Blue Ribbons List spans a broad range of genres and age groups, from picture-book biography to young-adult poetry, from middle-grade fantasy to primary-grade readers. This is nothing if not an eclectic bunch of books--which basically reflects the eclectic bunch of reviewers we have here at the Bulletin. Oddly enough, without planning or forethought, we have nearly the same number of titles in each of our three categories: fourteen fiction titles, thirteen nonfiction titles, and twelve picture books. (If you count Avi's books as one two-volume title, the numbers are even closer.) The criteria for inclusion is stringent but clear--whatever is still on the table at the end of weeks of vehement discussion, debate and dissection gets a Blue Ribbon. If you buy everything on it for your collection you've pretty much covered the outstanding titles for 1996. Such hubris.

Janice Del Negro, Editor

FICTION

• Armstrong, Jennifer.The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan. Knopf. (November)
  
• Avi.Beyond the Western Sea, Book One: The Escape from Home; Beyond the Western Sea, Book Two: Lord Kirkle's Money. Jackson/Orchard. (February; December)
  
• Bawden, Nina.Granny the Pag. Clarion. (March)
  
• Cross, Gillian. Pictures in the Dark. Holiday House. (January 1997)
  
• Dickinson, Peter. Chuck and Danielle; illus. by Kees de Kiefte. Delacorte. (February)
  
• Doyle, Brian. Spud in Winter; Spud Sweetgrass. Groundwood/Douglas & McIntyre. (July)
  
• Freeman, Suzanne. The Cuckoo's Child. Greenwillow. (March)
  
• Koertge, Ron. Confess-O-Rama. Kroupa/Orchard. (November)
  
• Napoli, Donna Jo. Zel. Dutton. (July)
  
• Pausewang, Gudrun. The Final Journey. Viking. (December)
  
• Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass. Knopf. (April)
  
• Turner, Megan Whalen. The Thief. Greenwillow. (November)
  
• Voigt, Cynthia. Bad Girls. Scholastic. (April)
  

NONFICTION

• Aldana, Patricia. Jade and Iron: Latin American Tales from Two Cultures; tr. by Hugh Hazelton; illus. by Luis Garay. Groundwood/Douglas & McIntyre. (January 1997)
  
• Duffy, Carol Ann. Stopping for Death: Poems of Death and Loss; illus. by Trisha Rafferty. Holt. (September)
  
• Fleischman, Sid. The Abracadabra Kid; Greenwillow. (September)
  
• Florian, Douglas. On the Wing: Bird Poems and Paintings;written and illus. by Douglas Florian. Harcourt. (April)
  
• Freedman, Russell. The Life and Death of Crazy Horse ; illus. by Amos Bad Heart Bull. Holiday House. (July/August)
  
• Geisert, Arthur. Roman Numerals I to MM/Numerabilia Romana uno ad duo mila: Liber de difficillimo computando numerum; written and illus. by Arthur Geisert. Lorraine/Houghton. (March).
  
• Hamilton, Virginia, ad. When Birds Could Talk and Bats Could Sing: The Adventures of Bruh Sparrow, Sis Wren, and Their Friends; illus. by Barry Moser. Blue Sky/Scholastic. (June).
  
• Igus, Toyomi. Going Back Home: An Artist Returns to the South; illus. by Michele Wood. Children's Book Press. (December)
  
• Ippisch, Hanneke. Sky: A True Story of Resistance During World War II. Simon. (May).
  
• Krull, Kathleen. Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman; illus. by David Diaz. Harcourt. (April)
  
• Opie, Iona, ed. My Very First Mother Goose; illus. by Rosemary Wells. Candlewick. (December)
• Sierra, Judy, comp. and ad. Nursery Tales Around the World; illus. by Stefano Vitale. Clarion. (February)
• Stanley, Diane. Leonardo da Vinci; written and illus. by Diane Stanley. Morrow. (September)
  

PICTURE BOOKS

• Blake, Quentin. Clown; illus. by Quentin Blake. Holt. (June)
  
• Byars, Betsy. My Brother, Ant; Illus. by Marc Simont. Viking. (February)
  
• Henkes, Kevin. Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse; written and illus. by Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow. (October)
  
• Heo, Yumi, ad. The Green Frogs: A Korean Folktale; ad. and illus. by Yumi Heo. Houghton. (October)
  
• Johnston, Tony. The Ghost of Nicholas Greebe; illus. by S. D. Schindler. Dial (October)
  
• Lester, Julius. Sam and the Tigers: A New Telling of Little Black Sambo; illus. by Jerry Pinkney. Dial. (July/August)
  
• Mark, Jan, ad. The Tale of Tobias; illus. by Rachel Merriman. Candlewick. (December)
  
• Martin, Jacqueline Briggs. Grandmother Bryant's Pocket; illus. by Petra Mathers. Houghton. (July/August)
  
• Rael, Elsa Okon. What Zeesie Saw on Delancey Street; illus. by Marjorie Priceman. Simon. (December)
  
• Sabuda, Robert, illus. The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Pop-Up Celebration; illus. by Robert Sabuda. Little Simon. (September)
  
• Stanley, Diane. Saving Sweetness; illus. by G. Brian Karas. Putnam. (November)
  
• Winter, Jeanette. Josefina; written and illus. by Jeanette Winter. Harcourt. (October)
  

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