Best Picture Books of 2014

There were a lot of picture books published in 2014.  Here are my picks for the best . . .

Amy's Top Ten

Brother Hugo and the Bear by Katy Beebe
Brother Hugo has to protect his previous replacement copy of a library book from a hungry bear.

Go! Go! Go! Stop! by Charise Mericle Harper
Little Green only knows one word -- Go!  Which is great to get things moving, but how do they stop?

Here Comes the Easter Cat by Deborah Underwood
Cat wants to replace the Easter Bunny -- until he learns it wouldn't allow him to take naps.

Love Monster by Rachel Bright
A googily-eyed misfit tries to find someone to love him just the way he is.

Mix It Up! by Herve Tullet
A continuation of Press Here, this book teaches kids how to mix colors following simple directions and interactions with pages.

Naked! by Michael Ian Black
A child discovers that the only thing more fun than being naked is wearing nothing but a cape.  My favorite book of the year is by one of my all-time favorite authors -- Michael Ian Black.

The Nuts: Bedtime at the Nut House by Eric Litwin
Mama Nut says it's bedtime, but Hazel Nut and Wally Nut just aren't quite ready to stop the fun and go to bed.  The new series from original Pete the Cat writer Eric Litwin.

The Queen & Mr. Brown: A Day for Dinosaurs by James Francis Wilkins
The Queen is excited to spend the day at the museum with her dog.

This Is a Moose by Richard T. Morris
A director tries to film a moose in its natural habitat but keeps getting interrupted by the moose who has a different dream for his life.

Weasels by Elys Dolan
What is better than a book filled with weasels?  A book filled with weasels bent on complete world domination.

More Favorites --
Alone Together by Suzanne Bloom
As an Oak Tree Grow by G. Brian Karas
Big Bug by Henry Cole
Buddy and the Bunnies in Don't Play with Your Food by Bob Shea
Count on the Subway by Paul Dubois Jacobs
Dragon's Extraordinary Egg by Debi Gliori
Flashlight by Liz Boyd
The Flat Rabbit by Barour Oskarsson
Here Comes Destructosaurus! by Aaron Reynolds
How to Lose a Lemur by Frann Preston-Gannon
I'm Brave! by Kate McMullan
The Midnight Library by Kazuno Kohara
My Bus by Barton Byron
My Grandfather's Coat by Jim Aylesworth
Ninja! by Arree Chung
Number One Sam by Greg Pizzoli
Penguin in Peril by Helen Hancocks
The Scraps Book by  Lois Ehlert
Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton
Some Bugs by Angela DiTerlizzi
Sparky by Jenny Offill
Telephone by Mac Barnett
Those Magnificent Sheep in Their Flying Machine by Peter Bently
Wazdot? by Michael Slack
The Whispering Town by Jennifer Elvgren


These books and more picture book favorites from 2014 are currently on display at the Arnold Branch through February 6, 2015.

Best Teen Books of 2014

The year 2014 was a good year for teen books.  There was a variety of books published for teens.  Here are my top books for the year . . .

Amy's Top Three

Firebug by Lish McBride
Ava, a contracted hit man who can start fires with her mind, hits the road with her friends, desperately trying to escape the Coterie, a magical mafia, while keeping the murder to a minimum after she is asked to kill a family friend by Venus, who killed Ava's mother.  This book takes place in the same world as the author's Hold Me Closer, Necromancer.

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
Sparks fly when Lucy and Owen meet on an elevator rendered useless by a New York City blackout. Soon after, the two teenagers leave the city, but as they travel farther away from each other geographically, they stay connected emotionally, in this story set over the course of one year.  This was probably my favorite teen book of the year.

Wayfarer: A Tale of Beauty and Madness by Lili St. Crow
In this retelling of Cinderella, Ellen Sinder's violent stepmother terrifies her, her plan for surviving and getting through high school quietly begins to unravel, and Auntie, an odd old woman who takes her in, may not be as kindly as she appears.  I waited and waited for this book as the publication was pushed back a couple times.


More Best Teen Books --
100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith
Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire
Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King
Going Over by Beth Kephart
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
Heap House by Edward Carey
The Hit by Melvin Burgess
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Islands at the End of the World by Austin Aslan
Kate Walden Directs: Night of the Zombie Chickens by Julie Mata
The Last Forever by Deb Caletti
Nil by Lynne Matson
Noggin by John Corey Whaley
She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick
Skink No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Why We Took the Car by Wolfgang Herndorf
The Young Elites by Marie Lu
Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts


The Best Teen Books of 2014 will be on display at the Arnold Branch through January 30, 2015.

Best Books for Kids 2014

My picks for the best chapter books for kids is a diverse group.  Here are my favorites . . . .

Amy's Top Five

The Castle Behind Thorns by Merrie Haskell
When Sand, a blacksmith's apprentice, wakes up in a broken castle, he must find a way to put it back together.  This book combines fantasy, fairy tale, and politics into one book for kids who like a thought-provoking read.

Lost in Bermooda by Mike Litwin
Young calf Chuck discovers a shipwrecked boy on the beach and struggles to hide him from the island's other residents who regard humans as monsters.  This was my favorite easy chapter book that came out this year.  It's also the first in a series.

The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Levy
Relates the adventures of a family with two fathers, four adopted boys, and a variety of pets as they make their way through a school year, Kindergarten through sixth grade, and deal with a grumpy new neighbor.

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
The Pickles are new to Midnight Gulch, Tennessee, a town which legend says was once magic--but Felicity is convinced the magic is still there, and with the help of her new friend Jonah the Beedle she hopes to bring the magic back.

The Witch's Boy by Kelly Barnhill
When a Bandit King comes to take the magic that Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, the stuttering, weak boy villagers think should have drowned rather than his twin summons the strength to protect his family and community, while in the woods, the bandit's daughter puzzles over a mystery that ties her to Ned.  This book was so good it caused me to find all the other books written by this author and immediately read them.


More Favorites --
Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
The Angel Tree by Daphne Benedis-Grab
Bad Magic by Pseudonymous Bosch
The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel
Fleabrain Loves Franny by Joanne Rocklin
Fly Away by Patricia MacLachlan
Greenglass House by Kate Milford
Meet the Bigfeet by Kevin Sherry
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
Nuts to You by Lynne Rae Perkins
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee
Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
The Thickety: A Path Begins by J.A. White
West of the Moon by Margi Preus


The Best Books of 2014 are on display at the Arnold Branch through January 23, 2015.

Merry Christmas 2014

Every year there are an abundance of new Christmas books published.  Here are a few of my favorites from this year . . . 

Star Bright: A Christmas Story by Alison McGhee

What can a small angel give a most important baby? A Christmas story about the greatest gift of all.

The Animals' Santa by Jan Brett

A rabbit named Little Snow is celebrating his first Christmas, and after all the forest animals tell him about the animals' Santa, he is excited to wake up on Christmas morning to find his own surprise.

Shooting at the Stars: The Christmas Truce of 1914 by John  Hendrix

In 1914 France, a British soldier writes to his mother about the strange events of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, when German and Allied soldiers met on neutral ground to share songs, food, and fun. 

2014 Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award

The Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award is a readers' choice award geared towards children birth through kindergarten.  The children are asked to listen to at least five of the books read before voting for their choice for the award.  Voting for the Building Block Award can be done at the Arnold Branch or online at http://www.kclibrary.org/kids/missouri-building-block-2014 through the end of December.





Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett
The reader is invited to count the animals that have frightened the monkeys off the pages.

I Dare You Not to Yawn by Helene Boudreau
A boy tries to not yawn although facing baby orangutans, cuddly blankets, and sleepytime songs.

Open Very Carefully: A Book with Bite by Nicole O'Byrne
A crocodile falls into a quiet storybook and wreaks havoc on the characters.

Ribbit! by Rodrigo Folgueira
A pig visits a frog pond, sits on a rock, and says only "Ribbit!".

Little Nelly's Big Book by Pippa Goodhart
Little Nelly's book tells her she is a mouse.

This Little Piggy by Tim Harrington
The toes decide they would like to do more exciting stuff than the traditional rhyme lets them do.

Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos
Is baby Billy's mustache a Good-Guy mustache, or a Bad-Guy mustache?

Moo! by David LaRochelle
When Cow gets her hooves on the farmer's car, she takes it for a wild ride through the country.

The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli
After swallowing a watermelon seed, a crocodile imagines a scary outcome.

That Is NOT A Good Idea! by Mo Willems
A hungry fox invites a plump goose to dinner.