Mark Kurlansky, Author, S. D. Schindler, Illustrator, Eileen Spinelli, Author , illus. by S.D. Schindler. Putnam $16.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-399-23476-7
In this concise and informative adaptation of his book for adults, Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, Kurlansky traces the role that the once plentiful Atlantic cod has played in the history of North America and Europe. After...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author Bradbury Press $5.99 (0p) ISBN 978-0-689-81533-1
""While this benign tale of youthful talent and parental approval provides few surprises,"" PW noted, ""it's a model of warm-hearted optimism."" Ages 4-7. (June)
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Janet Pedersen, Illustrator , illus. by Janet Pederson. Cavendish $14.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7614-5117-4
Mama Penguin's watch says it's bath time at the igloo, but "You won't hear me complain!" exclaims her perky penguin daughter, who loves the tub. There's just one hitch: the little penguin goes overboard when it comes to toys:
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Linda Bronson, Illustrator , illus. by Linda Bronson. Clarion $15 (32p) ISBN 978-0-618-11760-4
You can take the cat out of the alley but not the alley out of the cat, according to this cozy tale of Moe McTooth, an outdoor cat who loves life on the wild side. Bronson's (Crookjaw) opening spread sets the larger-than-life scale of the cat
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Krysten Brooker, Illustrator, Kyrsten Brooker, Illustrator , illus. by Kyrsten Brooker. Dial $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8037-2821-9
According to this uplifting picture book, a guardian angel adds harmony to the hum of life in the city. City Angel watches over neighborhoods and neighbors—from the mayor to a homeless man—by offering quiet acts of kindness in the form...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff. Knopf, $12.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-449-80987-7
Spinelli’s third novel in verse (after Summerhouse Time and The Dancing Pancake) explores identity, friends, and family with perception and humor. The fast-moving story is told in the fresh voice of Suzy Quinn, who is jealous of the attention heaped
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff, Knopf, $12.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-375-85870-3
Spinelli (who collaborated with Lew-Vriethoff on Summerhouse Time) again effectively employs free verse in this series of poems told by 11-year-old Bindi, whose parents' recent separation has thrown her life into upheaval. With her father gone,...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Holli Conger. Ideals/CandyCane, $7.99 (18p) ISBN 978-0-8249-1853-8
With so many different kinds of shoes, how's a kid to choose? Lively collage spreads feature beads, buttons, and laces (a pink pair of laces are even threaded along the book's spine) while providing shoe-level perspectives. One girl sports "Shoes to
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Marjorie Priceman. Knopf, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-375-85700-3
Winter fun becomes a little less so for the denizens of Toby Mills when a deep freeze descends upon their quaint small town. The first cold day is filled with sledding and snowballs, and the icicle hanging from the nose of a town statue is barely...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Geraldo Valério. Eerdmans, $16 (26p) ISBN 978-0-8028-5387-5
Behind every great man or woman, there’s a great dog, suggests this rhyming canine tribute, which follows the format of Do You Have a Cat? and Do You Have a Hat? Figures like Agatha Christie, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jackson Pollock, and Annie...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Melanie Florian. Ideals, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8249-5661-5
Christopher Award winner Spinelli (Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch) retells the biblical creation story. With colorfully engaging illustrations by French artist Florian (My Real Name is Princess), the story follows two children as they talk about...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Bin Lee. Albert Whitman, $15.99 (24p) ISBN 978-0-8075-8010-3
Lee’s luminous paintings set the scene for Spinelli’s (The Perfect Christmas) graceful poem about 10 mice trying to stave off the cold on Christmas Eve. Hushed rhymed verse counts down as, one by one, the mice find warmth in such refuges as an...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by David A. Johnson. Eerdmans, $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8028-5303-5
When the narrator of this poem-story is alone, “I cheer for myself as I race near the hoop/ I soar and I score with a dunk and a whoop!/ When no one is watching, I cheer.” But when people are around—even her family—she prefers to retreat to...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Gillian Flint. Ideals, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8249-5686-8
Spinelli (Thankful) composes a breezy, reassuring ode to the people in children’s lives who love them. Her poem moves from family member to family member (“Seasons come and seasons go./ Mama loves you always./ Sometimes rain and sometimes snow./...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Jean Gralley, Author, JoAnn Adinolfi, Illustrator , illus. by JoAnn Adinolfi. Holt $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8050-6531-2
Hailing from a frenetic family akin to the stars of Spinelli's Thanksgiving at the Tappletons' (noted below), a girl narrator despairs of her relatives' ineptitude as she contrasts her holiday table with that of Abigail Archer: "Their
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Anne Mortimer, Illustrator , illus. by Anne Mortimer. Hyperion $14.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7868-0458-0
Coaxing Kittycat to sleep, Spinelli's (In My New Yellow Shirt,
reviewed above) unseen narrator recounts in rhyme the pet's very busy day: "Sniffing pots of catmint/ Prancing on the chairs/ Knocking over paint cans/ Underneath the stairs.
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Jerry Spinelli, Author, Julia Rothman, Illustrator , illus. by Julia Rothman. Knopf $15.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-375-84057-9
From inspiration to confession, here are three books to enlighten and entertain.
Today I Will: A Year of Quotes, Notes, and Promises to Myself
Eileen and Jerry Spinelli
, illus. by Julia Rothman. Knopf
, $15.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-375-84057-9
This...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Betsy Lewin, Illustrator , illus. by Betsy Lewin. Harcourt $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-15-216779-0
From the opening lines (“Sun sizzled. Hair frizzled”), Spinelli (Summerhouse Time
) jauntily establishes the theme for this tale of one sweltering week in the town of Lumberville, long before the advent of air conditioners. Beginning on...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Vincent Nguyen, Simon & Schuster, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4169-4925-1
Bumblebee Buzz has a crisis of faith when a newspaper article points out that bees, with their too-small wings and cumbersome bodies, ought not to be able to fly. The effect is immediate: the pert, doe-eyed Buzz "bobbled. And wobbled. And fell—PLIP—t
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Raul Colon, Illustrator , illus. by Raúl Colón. Dial $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8037-2601-7
Colón's (My Mama Had a Dancing Heart) richly textured, at times capricious illustrations light up this poetic tribute to the moon and the many magical and mysterious ways it influences and inspires. Wrought in the artist's signature...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Megan Lloyd, Illustrator HarperCollins Publishers $16.99 (28p) ISBN 978-0-06-008670-1
First published in 1982, Thanksgiving at the Tappletons' by Eileen Spinelli is being reissued with new art by Megan Lloyd. The illustrations present an all-animal cast (who bear a slight resemblance to Ashley Wolff's furry critters), with the ...
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Schindler (One Witch, Children's Forecasts, Aug. 4) offers some of his most striking work to date in this well-crafted book. Winter is coming, and Moses the mouse is supposed to follow the example of his parents and older sister, who are combing
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Emily Arnold McCully, Illustrator , illus. by Emily Arnold McCully. HarperCollins $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-028886-0
Spinelli (When Mama Comes Home Tonight
) and McCully (Mirette on the High Wire
) turn in less than their most substantial performances in this sweet, soothing but empty-headed bedtime book. As a mother says goodnight to a child (who could be either...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by JoAnn Adinolfi. Holt/Ottaviano, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8050-8702-4
The creators of The Perfect Thanksgiving celebrate another holiday in this companion book that revisits an endearingly flawed family. Once again, the narrator laments that her clan’s festivities fall far short of their neighbors’: “Abigail Archer’s...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Keiko Narahashi, Illustrator , illus. by Keiko Narahashi. Holt $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8050-6685-2
With one full-bleed spread for each of the 12 months, Spinelli (When Mama Comes Home Tonight) and Narahashi (I Have a Friend) focus on how that month's personality is manifested in nature. The author chooses one defining characteristic then...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Cyd Moore, Illustrator Boyds Mills Press $14.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-56397-171-6
Although its title seems to promise moon-kissed metaphors and dreamy rhythms, this collection of lilting verse ventures far beyond its stated theme. It's difficult, for example, to see what a poem about soaring ""on borrowed wings/ of Poetry"" or...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Giuliano Ferri. Eerdmans, $16 (26p) ISBN 978-0-8028-5382-0
Spinelli (Something to Tell the Grandcows) freshens the familiar titular Bible story by showing events from the point of view of the whale. He is big and he has lots of teeth, but he is also playful and majestic, and sings joyfully to praise God....
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Hideko Takahashi, Illustrator , illus. by Hideko Takahashi. Holt $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8050-6242-7
When a boy receives a new yellow shirt for his birthday, he spends the day pretending to be one yellow creature after another. He's a lion scaring the crows in Mrs. Miller's garden, then a caterpillar taking a nap and a fancy tropical fish...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Nora Hilb. Zonderkidz, $14.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-310-72006-5
In this homage to the joy of creative play and storytelling, Spinelli (Cold Snap) uses a singsong refrain to move the story forward: “Nora built an ark. Just like Noah. Well... not just like Noah.” Hilb’s illustrations depict the scenes the girl...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Melissa Iwai, Illustrator Hyperion Books $14.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7868-0495-5
Spinelli (When Mama Comes Home Tonight) and debut artist Iwai inventively turn the tables in this winning bedtime book about a girl whose father works while she sleeps at night. Both art and text set a joyful opening scene, as the child's day winds...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Scott Nash, Photographer Orchard Books (NY) $15.95 (40p) ISBN 978-0-531-30212-5
Three generations of the Hog family set out to attend an operatic performance of Pigoletto. They emerge from a pale-yellow house and stroll down the lawn to their sedan. ""The car sputtered. The car snorted. The car would not start."" They seek...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Jane Dyer, Illustrator , illus. by Jane Dyer. S&S $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-689-80112-9
The team behind When Mama Comes Home Tonight
here introduces readers to a spider who weaves with grace and serves others with courage. Dyer's gently tinted watercolors show Sophie as a blond with a human face and a perpetually tranquil...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Jane Dyer, Illustrator Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing $14.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-689-81065-7
Mother returns from her job to spend an evening of play and bath time with a sleepy, grateful toddler in this comforting picture book. Spinelli's (Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch) brief, rhythmic sentences immediately establish the mood: ""When Mama...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Jane Dyer, Illustrator , illus. by Jane Dyer. S&S/Aladdin $6.99 (0p) ISBN 978-0-689-86680-7
A tender-hearted arachnid—shown here as a blond with a human face, two arms and six colorfully stockinged legs—weaves a work of art for a grateful mother-to-be. "Spinelli and Dyer's tale of devotion and generosity is as...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Jane Dyer, Illustrator Little Simon $7.99 (30p) ISBN 978-0-689-84220-7
Another song worth singing, Eric Carle's Today Is Monday, begins with string beans on Monday and spaghetti on Tuesday. Different animals eat their way through the week, teaching the names of the days as they go. Music and lyrics included. ( Apr.)
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Jane Dyer, Illustrator , illus. by Jane Dyer. S&S/Aladdin $6.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-689-84897-1
Mother returns from her job to spend an evening of play and bath time with a sleepy toddler. "The book works marvelously as a soporific, and will reassure anxiously waiting children as well as the parents who dash home to put them to bed,"...
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Jenny Tylden-Wright, Illustrator Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-689-81490-7
When a snowstorm blows into town, the narrator wonders who will come to the Christmas Eve service. The answer? Everyone! Donning scarves and skis, the congregation--furred and feathered, two-legged and four-legged--gathers at the little blue church.
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Stacey Shuett, Illustrator, Stacey Schuett, Illustrator Albert Whitman & Company $15.95 (1p) ISBN 978-0-8075-3585-1
Inviting readers to take a fresh look at their surroundings, Spinelli ( Boy, Can He Dance ) quarries color from every drab corner and crevice of a cityscape. Her simple, engaging verse captures the beauty of a host of familiar objects as a youngster
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Eileen Spinelli, Author, Elsa Warnick, Illustrator Eerdmans Books for Young Readers $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8028-5172-7
A visual and linguistic delight, this celebration of the endangered whooping crane delivers a subtle environmental message. Beginning ""in the far North/ when October spills/ across the ice/ and the wind sweeps high,"" Spinelli (Night Shift Daddy)...
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Linda Williams, Author, Megan Lloyd, Illustrator, Eileen Spinelli, Author , illus. by Megan Lloyd. Harper-Collins $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-028547-0
The horse wallowing in the pigpen is just the beginning of a girl's laughable lament in this rhyming barnyard romp by the creators of The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. When the youngster yells to her mother, "Horse is in...
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Judith Stuller Hannant, Author, Eileen Spinelli, Author Aladdin Paperbacks $4.5 (128p) ISBN 978-0-689-81848-6
Lizzie makes her first appearance in this chronicle of an on-again, off-again friendship between two very different girls. Since her adventures with colored eyewear, she has headlined in two sequels: Lizzie Logan Gets Married and Lizzie Logan,...
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Judith Stuller Hannant, Author, Eileen Spinelli, Author, Paul Yalowitz, Illustrator Four Winds $14.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-02-786350-5
Although not as affecting as their Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch , Spinelli and Yalowitz's latest collaboration blithely encourages readers to follow their dreams. Young Tony loves to do nothing but dance; his father, however, a brilliant chef,...
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Judith Stuller Hannant, Author, Eileen Spinelli, Author, Paul Yalowitz, Illustrator Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-02-786015-3
This warmhearted tale examines the effect that love and tender regard can have on a lackluster existence. Mr. Hatch is a drab, predictable gentleman who leads a painfully ordered and uninteresting life, his dreary routine at the shoelace factory...
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Judith Stuller Hannant, Author, Eileen Spinelli, Author, Julie Durrell, Illustrator Simon & Schuster $14 (122p) ISBN 978-0-671-74685-8
Picture book author Spinelli (Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch) enters middle-grade fiction with a rather pedestrian chronicle of an on-again, off-again friendship. Just after her family moves to a new house, eight-year-old Heather is greeted by a 10-ye
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Linda Williams, Author, Eileen Spinelli, Author, Megan Lloyd, Illustrator HarperTrophy $6.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-443183-5
In this just-spooky-enough tale, an old lady puts to good use some animated objects that are trying to frighten her. Ages 3-7. (September)
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Eileen Spinelli. Eerdmans, $16 (208p) ISBN 978-0-8028-5513-8
Spinelli (Love You Always) uses free verse to relay this tender and perceptive story about a 12-year-old negotiating the choppy waters of adolescence. Life is distressingly in flux for Birdie Briggs, so nicknamed for her love of birds (“there is...
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Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Rogério Coelho. WorthyKids, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-5460-1539-0
A helping-hands concept and fantastical illustrations elevate rhyming text in this earnest ecological counting book. Beginning with “One wide, sweeping sky./ Two honeybees,” it counts up through bunnies, redwood trees, seagulls, and worms to “ten...
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