Early in 2011, I embarked on a seekrit project. I thought it might be good to see if I could blog everything that legendary blogger Elizabeth Bird did. I got off to a spectacular start, but as the year picked up, it became harder and harder for me to acquire a lot of these books. The library budget being what it is, and non-availability of ARCs on some of these titles made it a real challenge. Normally, I don't have much overlap because obviously, she doesn't review YA (usually) and I do (it's the majority of what I review.) I'm glad I tried it, even though things kind of fell apart during the middle of the year. It inspired me to blog some great picture books. And I got out of my comfort zone and read some interesting, well-written middle-grade fiction. There are a number of books on the list that I read, but didn't review. I marked those with italics and an asterisk.
- Perfect Square - Michael Hall
- Eliza’s Freedom Road: An Underground Railroad Diary - Jerdine Nolen
- Queen of the Falls - Chris Van Allsburg
- Manners Mash-Up: A Goofy Guide to Good Behavior - Tedd Arnold, et. al.
- Words in the Dust - Trend Reedy
- Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku - Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
- Fortune Cookies - A. Bitterman
- Season of Secrets - Sally Nicholls
- Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart - Candace Fleming
- Hot, Hot Rot for Dada-ji - F. Zia, illustrated by Ken Min
- Okay for Now - Gary D. Schmidt
- Zita the Spacegirl - Ben Hatke
- A Pet for Petunia - Paul Schmid
- Small Persons with Wings - Ellen Booraem
- Me... Jane - Patrick McDonnell*
- I Must Have Bobo! - Eileen Rosenthal
- Inside Out and Back Again - Thanhha Lai
- Cousins of Clouds: Elephant Poems - Tracie Vaughn Zimmer*
- Press Here - Herve Tullet
- The Penderwicks at Point Mouette - Jeanne Birdsall
- The Many Faces of George Washington: Remaking a Presidential Icon - Carla Killough McClafferty
- Ice - Arthur Geisert
- Fly Trap - Frances Hardinge
- Vincent van Gogh and the Colors of the Wind - Chiara Lossani
- Blue Chicken - Deborah Freedman*
- Kat, Incorrigible - Stephanie Burgis
- Sidekicks - Dan Santat*
- My Side of the Car - Kate Feiffer, illustrated by Jules Feiffer*
- Dead End in Norvelt - Jack Gantos
- Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom - Sue Macy
- The Greedy Sparrow - Lucine Kasbarian, illustrated by Maria Zaikina*
- EllRay Jakes is Not a Chicken! - Sally Warner
- Lemonade: And Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word - Bob Raczka, illustrated by Nancy Doniger
- Chuckling Ducklings and Baby Animal Friends - Aaron Zenz*
- The Boy at the End of the World - Greg van Eekhout
- Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero - Marissa Moss, illustrated by John Hendrix
- I Want My Hat Back - Jon Klassen
- The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente
- Bad Island - Doug TenNapel
- Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? - Susan A. Shea, illustrated by Tom Slaughter
- The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales - Chris Van Allsburg, et. al.
- Eat Your Math Homework: Recipes for Hungry Minds - Ann McCallum, illustrated by Leeza Hernandez
- Lola’s Fandango - Anna Witte, illustrated by Micha Archer
- Breadcrumbs - Anne Ursu
- Hidden - Helen Frost
- My Name Is Elizabeth - Annika Dunklee, illustrated by Matthew Forsythe*
- Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes - Jonathan Auxier
- The Incredible Life of Balto - Meghan McCarthy
- Orani: My Father’s Village - Claire A. Nivola
- Marty McGuire - Kate Messner, illustrated by Brian Floca
- Around the World - Matt Phelan
- The Book That Zack Wrote - Ethan Long
- Hound Dog True - Linda Urban
- Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert - Marc Aronson
- The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred - Samantha R. Vamos, illustrated by Rafael Lopez
- The Chesire Cheese Cat - Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright
- A Little Bitty Man - Halfdan Rasmussen
- When Life Gives You O.J. - Erica S. Perl
- Hera - George O'Connor
- The No. 1 Car Spotter - Atinuke
- Lily Renee, Escape Artist - Trina Robbins
- The Unforgotten Coat - Frank Cottrell Boyce
- Never Forgotten - Patricia McKissack
- Jefferson's Sons - Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
- Witches - Rosalyn Schanzer
- What Do You See? - Martine Perrin
- Wonderstruck - Brian Selznick
- Peaceful Pieces - Anna Grossnickle Hines
- Hopper and Wilson - Maria van Lieshout*
- Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading - Tommy Greenwald
- The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont - Victoria Griffith
- A Dog is a Dog - Stephen Shaskan
- Ghetto Cowboy - G. Neri
- The Meaning of Life and other Stuff - Jimmy Gownley
- Icefall - Matthew Kirby
- Nursery Rhyme Comics - Chris Duffy
- Little Chicken's Big Day - Katie Davis
- A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness
- Heart and Soul - Kadir Nelson
- What Animals Really Like - Fiona Robinson
- Dragon Castle - Joseph Bruchac
- Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina - Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
- Belle, the Last Mule at Gee's Bend - Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Bettye Stroud*
- The Romeo and Juliet Code - Phoebe Stone
- From Then to Now - Christopher Moore
- Everything Goes on Land - Brian Biggs
- The Trouble With May Amelia - Jennifer L. Holm
- Coral Reefs - Jason Chin
- Come to Bed, Red! - Jonathan Allen
- The Luck of the Buttons - Anne Ylvisaker
- Big City Otto: Elephants Never Forget - Bill Slavin
- The Princess and the Pig - Jonathan Emmett*
- Toys Come Home - Emily Jenkins
- Drawing from Memory - Allen Say
- A House in the Woods - Inga Moore
I am part of the Comment Challenge and thought I would stop by to say "hi". Thank you for sharing your book list.
ReplyDeleteInteresting challenge. You really did start off with a gusto. After surveying the list, I decided I didn't do nearly as well as you...reviewed 4 of the titles and read only 11! Tsk-tsk!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun idea! Betsy Bird writes the BEST reviews. That's probably why she actually gets paid to do so :) I never even thought of trying to read everything she reads!
ReplyDeleteHaha, what a great idea! I love Betsy Bird's blog.
ReplyDelete@Russ - Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDelete@Brimful - It was easy at first, but as the year wore on, and my budget dried up, it was harder and harder to get hold of a lot of those titles. I'm still glad I tried it though!
@Katie & Katie - Doesn't she though? Sometimes her reviews feel a bit long and whimsical to me, but you can't deny the depth of knowledge or passion she has for kids lit, that's for sure!
I have a "Betsy" file in my Recommended Reading folder.
ReplyDeleteYou set the bar really high for yourself, Madigan, which takes guts, and, honestly, I think you did well. Kudos!
@Jen - That's a really good idea. I should start a "Betsy" tag on my Goodreads TBR list.
ReplyDeleteWow! that's a really cool project. I love projects, and I do enjoy Betsy's book reviews. She thinks of stuff that never even enters my mind when I'm reading the same book.
ReplyDelete