Okay, it’s hardly feeling spring-like in Vermont, so why am I talking about summer reading? Because now is the time smart booksellers plan for the annual summer reading season. There is always more that can done to prepare for the summer reading lists that help drive readers into the bookstore.

We all know the ritual of summer reading. These days though, summer reading lists are intense, long and often accompanied by substantial work that sometimes needs to be turned in — during the summer! Gone are the easy days of “read three books.” Kids come in with page upon page of books sorted by the genres they must pick from. There is even a reading list for kids as young as first graders. The challenge for bookstores is how to make the books from most lists accessible and, more importantly, how to make the reading seem fun.

There are a myriad of ways for a store to get organized for summer reading. The first thing to do is get hold of all the school’s lists. This can be a daunting task depending on the number of schools in a store’s area. This is the time of year to start calling around for the lists. It may feel early, but there are eight weeks of school left. We keep all the lists in a folder for easy reference. So many kids come in without their list, the day before they leave for camp, that parents really appreciate our having the list to refer to. The real reason to get the lists this early though, is to take advantage of backlist promotions.

By planning ahead, it’s easy to get many of the summer reading books for a better discount than normal, if there’s a promo going on. This little bit of planning ahead could mean that for every summer reading book you sell, you could make an additional 4% per book. Do a brisk business with reading lists and that can really add up. Also, the more direct publisher orders you do, the more you’re adding to your coop pool, and that’s always a lovely thing. And, planning ahead means you’ll have the books in when kids start coming in for them.

We dedicate a bookcase to summer reading. It’s arranged alphabetically by author, so families can zip in and get the title they’re looking for. This makes it easy for the kids to see all the books and pick the one(s) they’re most likely to read and enjoy. We also all try to read some of the ones we might not be familiar with so we can recommend as many books as possible. So often parents come in, while getting ready for camp, with this five-page list, and are just as bewildered as their children. It’s really helpful if we can go through the list with them and help find the best books for their child.

Some stores send home flyers with an order form. Which works well for a lot of communities. We have never done that, but we have set up a summer reading list section on our website. This has proven to be a very smart idea. So often customers go someplace else for the summer, but they want to shop local with us. The website list makes it easy for them to do that in one easy place. Schools can use their local store and their website as a way to make money, by making the entire summer reading list part of an in-store book fair, so every time a customer orders a book from that list, the school gets 20% back in store credit to use at the store.

I’d love to hear from other booksellers and librarians what they do to get ready for summer reading.

Commerce at the Flying Pig Bookstore screeched to a halt the other day when a picture book, newly unpacked, proved to be so charming, so chock full of loveable goodness, that staff couldn’t get any work done until each last picture had been perused. The customers, drawn by our exclamations, hastened over to be part of the experience and were immediately sucked in to the lure of this book. I hate to say it, but there may even have been some squeeing.

The traffic-stopping book was A Little Book of Sloth, by British photographer and Animal Planet baby-sloth filmmaker Lucy Cooke. Chock full of photographs of baby sloths (both two- and three-toed varieties) who live at “Slothville,” a sanctuary in Costa Rica, this book is both an introduction to the habits of these funny, expressive, mellow little animals and a tribute to the sanctuary and its founder, Judy Arroyo. (Slothville’s real name is the Aviarios del Caribe sloth sanctuary.)

While there is quite a bit of information in the book, its tone — in keeping with its subject matter — is relaxed, unrushed, lighthearted. Cooke strikes the perfect tone here, managing to be friendly, funny, and laid-back without slipping into irritating slanginess. And her photos! Even the greediest sloth lover’s thirst will be slaked by the dozens of bright, colorful, clear close-ups of the fuzzy little critters, each of whose face is appealingly distinctive and surprisingly human. There’s a lot of hugging in here: baby sloths cuddled up together, or slinging a long arm around a soft toy. Basically, there is just no way to look through this book and not feel happy. It’s impossible. So thank you, Simon & Schuster, thank you, Lucy Cooke, thank you, Judy Arroyo, and thank you, baby sloths. You made our day.

And that’s worth slowing down business on a Monday morning, isn’t it?

One of the lovely things about owning a bookstore for as long as I have is you get to know people you might not otherwise meet. Chris Bohjalian has become a friend of the bookstore and of me. In March we provided books on extremely short notice for a talk sponsored by the Armenian Society and the local library.

Each group thought the other had gotten in touch with us about the event. Neither had. Elizabeth, thinking ahead, had ordered multiple copies of Sandcastle Girls, in anticipation of the folks wanting the book. The  day of the event we got a call about selling books. We had neither the staffing nor all the multiple stacks of backlist we like to have at these events. The library took our dozen hardcovers and sold them all. Chris wrote a lovely email to us thanking us for having the books. Then he and started started chatting.

When I’m not at the bookstore I teach and perform stand-up comedy throughout New England. Chris and his wife, Victoria, have been to many shows. Chris also writes a column, Idyll Banter, in the Burlington Free Press every Sunday. He had an idea to write a column about me in advance of a comedy show. The column: Throwing the book (seller) at Comedy came out yesterday and the comedy show was last night.

Chris interviewed me two weeks ago and marveled at the process of comedy and my work with teaching in the prisons. It was fun to be interviewed by Chris because usually I’m the one asking him questions. He knew I was having my gallbladder out last week and he didn’t want to interrupt my recovery with fact-checking questions. So he wrote the column ahead of time and called me on vacation to fact-check. Picture this: I’m walking back from lunch in Key West while Chris reads me the draft of the column. Pretty cool stuff. Even my college friend, Isabelle, who does not impress easily, was fairly amazed at what was going on.

So, all the comics killed last night. And, I’m fairly certain we all had Chris’s column and enthusiasm for comedy to thank for the standing-room-only crowd.

Well, you CAN get this online, strictly speaking, since you’re reading ShelfTalker, but let me tell you, the real live moment was sublime. There I was, having just parked at the Flying Pig, when I got out of my car and spied the following across the lot:

“Hey, Elizabeth!” called the grown man reading a picture book in the far end of his hatchback. “We just got this at your store and are waiting for the rest of the gang.” As I got closer, I recognized one of our lovely regular customer dads, M, hunkered down with his toddler reading Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. He explained that they had lost their former copy of this favorite family book in a basement flood and had been yearning for it. While his wife and older son were doing a little more shopping at the store, M and his littlest one came back outside to cozy up with the book.

Even Golden Retrievers like Richard Scarry.

Small moments like this make me SO happy to be a neighborhood book store. I love that people grab stolen moments — even while running errands — to read with their little ones. I love that we can help replace losses from flood and fire. And I love that on any given day, someone might call out, “Hey, Elizabeth!” in a parking lot to share their love of a good book.

(Photos posted with permission of M, his toddler, and their dog.)

Recently, we received a phone call from a customer in California. She has a grandson in our town, and she asked if we had a monthly book club we could set up for him. She used to live near the marvelous Hicklebee’s bookstore, and she had loved their book-of-the-month club for her California grandchildren. “Absolutely,” we said — and then we set about creating one.

“Re-creating” is actually more accurate. For several years early on, we did feature such a program, but we were a new store in a teeny town, and our staff was small. For the first three years it was just two people, Josie and me, and for some years after that, we had only one or two employees. Any program that wasn’t a store mainstay didn’t receive our limited marketing efforts and dollars, and so the book-of-the-month club lapsed over time. But it was a terrific program, so I was delighted when this California grandma called. Her request was a timely reminder that one of the best services a bookseller can provide is to help put the right book into a child’s hands at just the right time, and doing so on a regularly scheduled basis is helpful both to the customer and to the bookstore. It’s also a wonderful thing to be able to offer our long-distance customers and regular summer visitors.

It’s really fun to set up book-of-the-month clubs with a caring relative or family friend. They specify a dollar amount they’d like to spend monthly or annually, and tell us about the child, his age and interests. (It also helps to know if a child is a particularly strong or struggling reader for her age.) Sometimes book club givers will suggest books they or their own children loved, which gives the monthly gifts an extra special quality of a shared experience. More often,customers will ask us to help with or make those choices based on the personal criteria we’re given, combined with what we know about children and literature. For a knowledgeable children’s bookseller, a year’s worth of gifts is a nuanced process. A book you’d give a just-turned-seven-year-old in January might be quite different from a book you’ll choose the following December.

We also try to get a feel for what the customer ordering the books prioritizes. Are they building a lifetime library for their young reader? Do they want to nourish or encourage a particular passion — for nature, for animals, for sports or arts? Would they like a mix of fiction and nonfiction? Are graphic novels welcome? Comic books? The variations are endless.

Now that our feet are wet again, I’m all fired up to expand the program. Now all I need is for me, or someone on our giant staff of seven (sometimes eight) to design a flyer or brochure, and a blurb on our website. Got any ideas for a name?

Before it closes after April 21, anyone with an excuse to get to the fabulous Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts, should nab the chance to see  Some Book!  Some Art!:  Selected Drawings by Garth Williams for Charlotte’s Web, which celebrates the book’s 60th anniversary and what would have been Garth Williams’ 100thbirthday. One particularly sweet note: the website mentions that the exhibit showcases, among other pieces, “The Carle’s very first art acquisition—the drawing of Lurvy tossing a bucket of water on Wilbur [p. 128].” Aww!

I haven’t had the opportunity to see the exhibit yet, and since Charlotte’s Web is my all-time favorite children’s novel (if I were forced to choose just one), I will be going! Hope to see you there.

Perhaps the sorrow over the closing of this exhibition can be partially assuaged by ogling original artwork and manuscripts at The Gorey House‘s tribute to the 50thanniversary of an Edward Gorey trilogy called The Vinegar Works: Three Volumes of Moral Instruction. The trilogy includes one of Gorey’s most famous works, The Gashlycrumb Tinies. (I had a poster of this alphabet of ghastly ends of unfortunate waifs on my college dorm walls — “A is for Amy who fell down the stairs / B is for Basil assaulted by bears,” and so on. I had thicker skin back then and thought it was hilarious.) The other two books in the trilogy are The Insect God and The West Wing. I’m a huge fan of Gorey’s distinctive, elegant, wickedly sly style and have always wanted to visit the Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts. Now I have an excuse! The Vinegar Works exhibit will run from April 18 to sometime in December, so there’s time!

In case you’re looking for more children’s book-related outings, the Children’s Book Council has a nice ongoing Calendar of Events. I’d love to see this expand even more and be a clearinghouse for activities across the country! Ideally, there would be subsections: say, one for art and manuscript exhibitions, one for panel and scholarly discussions and lectures open to the public, and one for readings and signings.

And here’s a heads-up for next month: bookmark this link to keep an eye on a chance to own some brilliant children’s book art! One of the best events in children’s-book land is the Association of Booksellers for Children’s annual silent auction featuring original art—sketches and finished paintings and sometimes sculptural art—by children’s book illustrators who generously donate work in a fundraising benefit for ABFFE, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, which is an organization dedicated to protecting free speech and fighting censorship. Published children’s book illustrators may donate art up until April 29, and the auction will have a live component at BookExpo America on May 29 at the Javits Center in New York City, as well as an online component here.

On my way home from Key West, I had a lengthy layover at the Charlotte Airport. As I’m wont to do, I scoped out the books that were available. Most small airport shops don’t have any children’s books. This airport had a small but interesting selection of six.

The first thing that struck me about the kids’ books was they were directly under one of the scariest magazine posters I’ve ever seen. An ad for some sort of automatic weapons. Because really, shouldn’t every small child look for a comforting board book under the gun poster? And, not just a little handgun, but a semi-automatic rifle?

Once I got past the horror of the guns, I looked down at the kids’ selection and while it was only six books, they were six good books. The top row had activity books: A Llama Llama:Birthday Party Sticker Stories, which doesn’t require precision of coloring that can be hard to do on the plane, and Disney Cars Mazes Book. Both are delightfully appropriate for little flyers.

The second shelf was for bears. The oversized board book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Is a great addition to any child’s traveling collection, though somewhat hard to pack. Then the real surprise was Bear Has a Story to Tell. I love this book, I was just shocked and happy to see it at the airport.

The last shelf had the message book. Max Makes Friends — what better book for a young child to read before or during a journey? Let’s all make friends during airline travel and maybe it would feel so arduous. The final book really speaks to all the bad flyers out there: My Brave Year of Firsts. 

I think that pretty much says it all.

I have been traveling this week. Blissfully, I’ve escaped the late spring chill of Vermont and headed to Key West, Florida. I packed two books with me, both galleys. One was the new David Sedaris and another is Open Mic, an anthology of young adult stories edited by Mitali Perkins.

I’m almost done with the Sedaris book and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Laughing out loud is not something that happens often during long layovers in the Philadelphia airport, but laugh I did. As I was laughing I looked around. I was the only person reading an actual/physical book. This kind of amazed me. Where were the books? Surely, I was not the only person with a book? But I searched high and low and nary a book was to be seen.

Everywhere I looked people had their heads in their phones, their iPads and their computers, but no one had a book. Not even the littlest reader had a book. This little four-year-old had a learning device that he deftly used to keep himself amused while waiting to board his flight. Parents of toddlers had the kids huddled up close to look at the small screen while they read out loud. This was disturbing to me. Where were the books?

I know books are hard to pack and all, but really, what happened since the last time I traveled and people had books? I live in Vermont and folks eschew ereaders, so I’m clearly behind the times here. Everyone was reading on a wired device. Blissfully, though, I saw no Kindles, but rather Apple products and phones. So, at least I could maintain the illusion that people weren’t beholden to Amazon for their vacation reading. I happily, almost defiantly, read my book during take-off and landing just to irritate all the people who had power down their devices. I didn’t have to leave my book just because the plane was moving and was happy for this. But as a bookstore owner I was shocked at the dearth of books. The airport bookstores, if you can call them that, since they were sadly lacking books, had clearly switched to catering to the traveling e-readers.

I clung to my book during the flight and all during my trip. I sat on the beach and overheard people complain about how hard it was to read in the sun or lament that they had just run out of power. I gleefully turned real pages and read to my heart’s content. I know the times are changing, but I would rather tote around a heavier bag than read on a screen while at the beach.

And, if you drop a book in the pool, as I did, it gets soggy, but isn’t ruined. The same can’t be said for an e-reader.

Here’s to a new year of starred reviews, readers! The Stars So Far is a project that gathers all the year’s starred reviews for children’s and YA books from Booklist, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Horn Book, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal (in the next update, I’ll add 5Q5P titles from VOYA — Voice of Youth Advocates).

This is a detail-laden process, and as careful as I try to be, there will be bobbles here and there. If you want the cleanest, most consistently formatted version of this list, check back here several days after the original post, when I’ll have been able to make any fixes. Publishers, please alert me to any oversights at ebluemle AT publishersweekly.com, including the review sources and dates for the starred reviews. Thanks! Please do NOT send VOYA stars. As I mentioned above, the VOYA stars will be included in the next update. Please note: starred reviews are counted only when they have been officially published by the review magazines, so if your book has an upcoming star, never fear; it will be included in a future update.

Receiving a starred review is a rare and wonderful honor for a book and its creators. We hope this list will be a handy resource for readers and buyers of all stripes.

FIVE STARS
Midwinter Blood. Marcus Sedgwick. Roaring Brook, $17.99.
Penny and Her Marble. Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow, $12.99.

FOUR STARS
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909. Michelle Markel. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99.
Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickels, America’s First Black Paratroopers. Tanya Lee Stone. Candlewick, $24.99.
Eleanor & Park. Rainbow Rowell. St. Martin’s Griffin, $17.99.
Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty. Tonya Bolden. Abrams, $24.95.
Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School, Book 1).  Gail Carriger. Little, Brown, $17.99.
Have You Seen My New Blue Socks? Eve Bunting. Illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier.  Clarion, $16.99.
Jinx. Sage Blackwood. HarperCollins/Harper, $16.99.
Matchbox Diary, The. Paul Fleischman. Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. Candlewick, $16.99.
Navigating Early. Clare Vanderpool. Delacorte, $16.99.
One Came Home. Amy Timberlake. Knopf, $16.99.
Splash of Red, A: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin. Jen Bryant. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Knopf, $17.99.
Take Me Out to the Yakyu. Aaron Meshon. S&S/Atheneum, $15.99.
You Never Heard of Willie Mays?! Jonah Winter. Illustrated by Terry Widener. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99.

THREE STARS
Building Our House. Jonathan Bean. FSG, $17.99.
Dark Triumph. Robin LaFevers. Houghton Mifflin, $17.99.
Dark, The. Lemony Snicket. Illustrated by Jon Klassen. Little, Brown, $16.99.
Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle. Chris Raschka. Random/Schwartz and Wade, $16.99.
Exclamation Mark. Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. Scholastic, $17.99.
If You Find Me. Emily Murdoch. St. Martin’s Griffin, $17.99.
Look Up! Annette LeBlanc Cate. Candlewick, $15.99.
Lucky Ducklings. Eva Moore. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. Scholastic/Orchard, $16.99.
Maggot Moon. Sally Gardner. Illustrated by Julian Crouch. Candlewick, $16.99.
My Brother’s Book. Maurice Sendak. HarperCollins/di Capua, $18.95.
One Gorilla. Anthony Browne. Candlewick, $16.99.
Pug and Other Animal Poems. Valerie Worth. Illustrated by Steve Jenkins. FSG/Margaret Ferguson, $16.99.
Quintana of Charyn. Melina Marchetta. Candlewick, $18.99.
Teeth. Hannah Moskowitz. S&S/Simon Pulse, $17.99 hardcover; $9.99 paperback.
Uses for Boys. Erica Lorraine Scheidt. St. Martin’s Griffin, $9.99.
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. Meg Medina. Candlewick, $16.99.

TWO STARS
Benjamin Bear in “Bright Ideas!” Philippe Coudray, trans. from French by Leigh Stein. Candlewick/Toon, $12.95.
Bird King, The: An Artist’s Notebook. Shaun Tan. Scholastic/Levine, $19.99.
Black Helicopters. Blythe Woolston. Candlewick, $15.99.
Bluebird. Bob Staake. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99.
Center of Everything, The. Linda Urban. Harcourt, $15.99.
Doll Bones. Holly Black. S&S.McElderry, $16.99.
Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet. Andrea Cheng. Lee & Low, $17.95.
Frog Song. Brenda Z. Guiberson. Illustrated by Gennady Spirin. Holt, $17.99.
Happy Birthday, Bunny! Elizabeth Garton Scanlon. Illustrated by Stephanie Graegin. S&S/Beach Lane, $16.99.
Henry and the Cannons: An Extraordinary True Story of the American Revolution. Don Brown. Roaring Brook, $16.99.
Hero on a Bicycle. Shirley Hughes. Candlewick, $15.99.
Hilda and the Bird Parade. Hilda Pearson. Nobrow/Flying Eye (Consortium, dist.), $24.
Hokey Pokey. Jerry Spinelli. Knopf, $15.99.
Hold Fast. Blue Balliett. Scholastic, $17.99.
Homeland. Cory Doctorow. Tor Teen, $17.99.
How to Bicycle to the Moon to Plant Sunflowers: A Simple but Brilliant Plan in 24 Easy Steps. Mordicai Gerstein. Roaring Brook, $16.99.
I Am Blop! Hervé Tullet. Phaidon, $19.95.
Just One Day. Gayle Forman. Dutton, $17.99.
Little Book of Sloth, A. Lucy Cooke. S&S/McElderry, $16.99.
Long Way Away, A. Frank Viva. Little, Brown, $16.99.
Mary Wrightly, So Politely. Shirin Yim Bridges. Illustrated by Maria Monescillo. Harcourt, $16.99.
Mind Games. Kiersten White. HarperTeen, $17.99.
My Father’s Arms Are a Boat. Stein Erik Lunde; trans. from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson; illus. by Øyvind Torseter. Enchanted Lion, $15.95.
My Happy Life. Rose Lagercrantz. tr. from Swedish by Julia Marshall. Illustrated by Eva Eriksson. Gecko (Lerner, dist.), $16.95.
Nelly May Has Her Say. Cynthia DeFelice. Illustrated by Henry Cole. FSG/Margaret Ferguson, $16.99.
Nelson Mandela. Kadir Nelson. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99.
Night Sky Wheel Ride. Sheree Fitch. Illustrated by Yayo. Tradewind (Orca, dist.), $16.95.
Nobody’s Secret. Michaela Maccoll. Chronicle, $16.99.
Out of Nowhere. Maria Padian. Knopf, $16.99.
Out of the Easy. Ruth Sepetys. Philomel, $17.99.
P.K. Pinkerton & the Petrified Man. Caroline Lawrence. Putnam, $16.99.
Peanut. Ayun Halliday. Illustrated by Paul Hoppe. Random/Schwartz and Wade, $17.99.
Picture a Tree. Barbara Reid. Albert Whitman, $16.99.
Polar Bear Morning. Lauren Thompson. Illustrated by Stephen Savage. Scholastic, $16.99.
Price of Freedom, The: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery. Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Walker, $16.99.
Scarlet. Marissa Meyer. Feiwel and Friends, $17.99.
Sin-Eater’s Confession, The. Ilsa J. Bick. Carolrhoda Lab, $17.95.
Summer Prince, The. Alaya Dawn Johnson. Scholastic/Levine, $17.99.
Tangle of Knots, A. Lisa Graff. Penguin, $16.99.
Tiger in My Soup. Kashmira Sheth. Illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler. Peachtree, $15.95.
Time-Out for Sophie. Rosemary Wells. Viking, $15.99
When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky: Two Artists, Their Ballet, and One Extraordinary Riot. Lauren Stringer. Harcourt, $16.99.
When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders. J. Patrick Lewis. Illustrated by Jim Burke, R. Gregory Christie, et al. Chronicle, $16.99.
World is Waiting for You, The. Barbara Kerley. National Geographic, $17.95.

ONE STAR
10 Plants That Shook the World. Gillian Richardson. Illustrated by Kim Rosen. Annick (Firefly, dist.), $24.95.
100 Animals on Parade. Masayuki Sebe. Kids Can, $16.95.
13-Story Treehouse, The. Andy Griffiths. Illustrated by Terry Denton. Feiwel and Friends, $13.99.
17 and Gone. Nova Ren Suma. Dutton, $17.99.
39 Deaths of Adam Strand, The. Gregory Galloway. Dutton, $17.99
5th Wave, The. Rick Yancey. Putnam, $18.99.
All My Noble Dreams and Then What Happens. Gloria Whelan. S&S/Wiseman, $15.99.
Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves, and Other Female Villains. Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple. Illustrated by Rebecca Guay. Charlesbridge, $18.95.
Ball. Mary Sullivan. Houghton Mifflin, $12.99.
Becoming Babe Ruth. Matt Tavares. Candlewick, $16.99.
Being Henry David. Cal Armistead. Albert Whitman, $16.99.
Below. Meg McKinley. Candlewick, $15.99.
Ben Loves Bear. David McPhail. Abrams Appleseed, $8.95.
Better Nate Than Ever. Tim Federle. Simon & Schuster, $16.99.
Betty Bunny Didn’t Do It. Michael B. Kaplan. Illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch. Dial, $16.99.
Big Bad Wolf Goes on Vacation, The. Delphine Perret. Sterling, $12.95.
Bones Never Lie: How Forensics Helps Solve History’s Mysteries. Elizabeth MacLeod. Annick, $24.95 hc, $14.95 pb.
Brief Thief. Michaël Escoffier. Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. Enchanted Lion (Consortium, dist.), $16.95.
Bruised. Sarah Skilton. Abrams/Amulet, $16.95.
Bunnies on Ice. Joanna Wright. Roaring Brook/Neal Porter, $16.99.
Bye-Bye Baby Brother! Sheena Dempsey. Candlewick, $15.99.
Case of the Team Spirit, The. John Allison. Oni (Diamond, dist.), $19.99 paper.
Cats of Tanglewood Forest, The. Charles de Lint. Illustrated by Charles Vess. Little, Brown, $17.99.
Cheetah Can’t Lose. Bob Shea. HarperTeen, $17.99.
Chickens Build a Wall, The. Jean-François Dumont. Eerdmans, $16.
Chu’s Day. Neil Gaiman. Illustrated by Adam Rex. Harper, $17.99.
City of a Thousand Dolls. Miriam Forster. HarperTeen, $17.99.
Corner of White, A (Colors of Madeleine, Book 1). Jaclyn Moriarty. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine, $17.99.
Crash and Burn. Michael Hassan. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $18.99.
Darius & Twig. Walter Dean Myers. Amistad, $17.99.
Dash of Magic, A. Kathryn Littlewood. Harper/Katherine Tegen, $16.99.
Deer Watch, The. Pat Lowery Collins. Illustrated by David Slonim. Candlewick, $15.99.
Diego Rivera: An Artist for the People. Susan Goldman Rubin. Abrams, $21.95.
Dirty Gert. Tedd Arnold. Holiday House, $16.95.
Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets. Evan Roskos. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99.
Dream Friends. You Byun. Penguin/Paulsen, $16.99.
Earth Girl. Janet Edwards. Pyr, $17.95.
East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Jackie Morris. Frances Lincoln, $14.99.
Elvis and the Underdogs. Jenny Lee. Illustrated by Kelly Light. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $16.99.
Escape Theory. Margaux Froley. Soho Teen, $17.99.
Fat Angie. e.E. Charlton-Trujillo. Candlewick, $16.99.
Fearless. Cornelia Funke. Little, Brown, $19.99.
Fire Horse Girl, The. Kay Honeyman. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine, $17.99.
Flight 1-2-3. Maria van Lieshout. Chronicle, $14.99.
Flora and the Flamingo. Molly Idle. Chronicle, $16.99.
Fog Island. Tomi Ungerer. Phaidon, $16.95.
Follow Follow: A Book of Reverso Poems. Marilyn Singer. Illustrated by Josée Masse. Dial, $16.99.
Friends. Mies van Hout. Lemniscaat USA, $17.95.
Game. Barry Lyga. Little, Brown, $17.99.
Game On! (Squish #5). Jennifer L. Holm. Matthew Holm. Random, $6.99.
Garden of My Imaan, The. Farhana Zia. Peachtree, $15.95.
Giant Dance Party. Betsy Bird. Greenwillow, $17.99.
Gingersnap. Patricia Reilly Giff. Random/Wendy Lamb, $15.99.
Girl Called Problem, A. Katie Quirk. Eerdmans, $8.99.
Girl of the Wish Garden, The: A Thumbelina Story. Uma Krishnaswami. Illustrated by Nasrin Khosravi. Groundwood, $17.95.
Good Night! Benoit Marchon. Illustrated by Soledad Bravi. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $7.99.
Good Trade, A. Alma Fullerton. Pajama Press, $19.95.
Gorgeous. Paul Rudnick. Scholastic, $18.99.
Great Lollipop Caper, The. Dan Krall. Simon & Schuster, $16.99.
Grumpy Goat. Brett Helquist. HarperCollins/Harper. HarperCollins, $17.99.
Hank Finds an Egg. Rebecca Dudley. Peter Pauper, $16.99.
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. David A. Adler. Holiday House, $18.95.
Hattie Ever After. Kirby Larson. Delacorte, $16.99.
Hello in There! A Big Sister’s Book of Waiting. Jo Witek. Illustrated by Christine Roussey. Abrams Appleseed, $16.95.
Hiding Out at the Pancake Palace. Nan Marino. Roaring Brook, $16.99.
Highway Rat, The. Julia Donaldson. Illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine, $16.99.
Hooked. Liz Fichera. Harlequin Teen, $9.99.
Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball. John Coy; illus. by Joe Morse. Carolrhoda, $16.95.
How to Be a Cat. Nikki McClure. Abrams, $16.95.
I Love You, Nose! I Love You, Toes! Linda Davick. S&S/Beach Lane, $17.99.
I See the Promised Land: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Revised). Arthur Flowers. Illustrated by Manu Chitrakar. Groundwood/House of Anansi, $16.95.
I Wish I Had… Giovanna Zoboli. Illustrated by Simona Mulazzani. Eerdmans, $16.
If You Want to See a Whale. Julie Fogliano. Illustrated by Erin E. Stead. Roaring Brook/Porter, $16.99.
Impulse (Juniper, Book 3). Steven Gould. Tor, $25.99.
In the Shadow of Blackbirds. Cat Winters. Abrams/Amulet, $16.95.
Inside Outside. Lizi Boyd. Chronicle, $15.99.
Invisibility. Andrea Cremer and David Levithan. Philomel, $18.99.
Janie Face to Face. Caroline B. Cooney. Delacorte, $17.99.
Kindhearted Crocodile, The. Lucia Panzieri. tr. from Italian by Grace Maccarone. Illustrated by AntonGionata Ferrari. Holiday House, $16.95.
Knit Your Bit: A World War I Story. Deborah Hopkinson. Illustrated by Steven Guarnaccia. Putnam, $16.99.
Left Behind (Jasper John Dooley). Caroline Adderson. Illustrated by Ben Clanton. Kids Can, $15.95.
Lightning Dreamer, The. Margarita Engle. Harcourt, $16.99.
Lincoln’s Grave Robbers. Steve Sheinkin. Scholastic Press, $16.99.
Little Acorn Grows Up. Edward Gibbs. Little, Brown, $8.99.
Little You. Richard Van Camp. Illustrated by Julie Flett. Orca, $9.95.
Long, Long Journey, The: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration. Sandra Markle. Illustrated by Mia Posada. Millbrook, $26.60.
Longest Night, The: A Passover Story. Laurel Snyder. Illustrated by Catia Chien. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99.
Look! Ted Lewin. Holiday House, $14.95.
Lucy Variations, The. Sara Zarr. Little, Brown, $18.
Lulu and the Dog from the Sea (Lulu, Book 2). Hilary McKay. Illustrated by Priscilla Lamont. Albert Whitman, $13.99.
Madman’s Daughter, The. Megan Shepherd. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99.
Master George’s People: George Washington, His Slaves, and His Revolutionary Transformation. Marfe Ferguson Delano. National Geographic, $18.95.
Meanest Birthday Girl, The. Josh Schneider. Clarion, $14.99.
Mighty Lalouche, The. Matthew Olshan. Illustrated by Sophie Blackall. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99.
Missing Mommy: A Book About Bereavement. Rebecca Cobb. Holt, $16.99.
Mister Orange. Truus Matti, tr. by Laura Watkinson. Illustrated by Jenni Desmond. Enchanted Lion, $16.95.
Mister Whistler. Margaret Mahy. Illustrated by Gavin Bishop. Gecko, $18.95.
Mojo. Tim Tharp. Knopf, $16.99.
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World. Tracy Kidder. Delacorte, $16.99.
Mouse Bird Snake Wolf. David Almond. Illustrated by Dave McKean. Candlewick, $17.99.
Murilla Gorilla: Jungle Detective. Jennifer Lloyd. Illustrated by Jacqui Lee. Simply Read (Ingram, dist.), $9.95.
My Beautiful Hippie. Janet Nichols Lynch. Holiday House, $16.95.
My First Day. Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. Houghton, $16.99.
My Neighbor is a Dog. Isabel Minhus Martins. Owlkids, $16.95.
Nantucket Blue. Leila Howland. Hyperion, $16.99.
Natural World, The: The World in Infographics. Jon Richards and Ed Simkins. Owlkids, $16.95.
No Bath, No Cake! Polly’s Pirate Party. Matthias Weinert, tr. from German by David Henry Wilson. North-South (Ingram, dist.), $16.95.
Noisy Book, The. Soledad Bravi. Gecko (Lerner, dist), $15.95.
Not a Chance. Michelle Mulder. Orca, $9.95.
Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong. Prudence Shen. Illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks. First Second, $16.99.
Nowhere to Run. Claire J. Griffin. Namelos, $18.95.
OCD, the Dude, and Me. Lauren Roedy Vaughn. Dial, $16.99.
Odette’s Secrets. Maryan Macdonald. Bloomsbury, $16.95.
Oh So Tiny Bunny. David Kirk. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99.
Ol’ Mama Squirrel. David Ezra Stein. Penguin/Nancy Paulsen, $16.99.
Open This Little Book. Jesse Klausmeier. Chronicle, $16.99.
Orleans. Sherri L. Smith. Putnam, $17.99.
P.S. Be Eleven. Rita Williams-Garcia. HarperCollins/Amistad, $16.99.
Paper Valentine. Brenna Yovanoff. Razorbill, $17.99.
Paperboy. Vince Vawter. Delacorte, $16.99.
Paul Thurlby’s Wildlife. Paul Thurlby. Templar, $17.99.
Peace. Wendy Anderson Halperin. S&S/Atheneum, $16.99.
Peanut and Fifi Have a Ball. Randall De Séve. Illustrated by Paul Schmid. Dial, $15.99.
Perfectly Percy. Paul Schmid. HarperCollins/Harper, $17.99.
Permanent Record. Leslie Stella. Amazon Children’s Publishing, $17.99.
Pet Named Sneaker, A. Joan Heilbroner, illus. by Pascal Lemaitre. Random, $8.99.
Pieces. Chris Lynch. Simon & Schuster, $16.99.
Pinwheel. Salina Yoon. Little, Brown/LB Kids, $12.99.
Pivot Point. Kasie West. HarperTeen, $17.99.
Planet Ark: Preserving Earth’s Biodiversity. Adrienne Mason. Illustrated by Margot Thompson. Kids Can, $18.95.
Poems to Learn by Heart. Caroline Kennedy. Illustrated by Jon J. Muth. Disney-Hyperion, $19.99.
Poseidon: Earth Shaker (Olympians, Book 5). George O’Connor. First Second, $16.99 hc, $9.99 pb.
Prodigy. Marie Lu. Putnam, $17.99.
Rain! Linda Ashman. Houghton, $16.99.
Rainbow Shoes. Tiffany Stone. Tradewind, $14.95.
Rapture Practice. Aaron Hartzler. Little, Brown, $17.99.
Red Hat. Lita Judge. Atheneum, $16.99.
Red River Stallion. Troon Harrison. Bloomsbury, $16.99.
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen. Lucy Knisley. First Second, $17.99.
Reluctant Assassin, The. Eoin Colfer. Disney-Hyperion, $17.99.
Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, The. Susin Nielsen. Tundra, $17.95.
Requiem. Lauren Oliver. HarperCollins, $18.99.
Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl. Carolita Blythe. Delacorte, $16.99.
Revolutionary Friends: General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. Selene Castroville. Illustrated by Drazen Kozjan. Boyds Mills/Calkins Creek, $16.95.
Rithmatist, The. Brandon Sanderson. Illustrated by Ben McSweeney. Tor Teen, $17.99.
Road Trip. Gary Paulsen and Jim Paulsen. Random/Wendy Lamb, $12.99.
Rosie’s Magic Horse. Russell Hoban. Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Candlewick, $15.99.
Ruining, The. Anna Collomore. Razorbill, $17.99.
Rump. Liesl Shurtliff. Knopf, $16.99.
Savage Fortress, The. Sarwat Chadda. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine, $16.99.
See Me Dig. Paul Meisel. Holiday House, $14.95.
Sketchy. Olivia Samms. Amazon Children’s Publishing, $16.99.
Sneaky Art: Crafty Surprises to Hide in Plain Sight. Marthe Jocelyn. Candlewick, $12.99.
Something to Prove: The Great Satchel Paige vs. Rookie Joe Dimaggio. Robert Skead. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Carolrhoda, $16.95.
Splintered. A.G. Howard. Amulet/Abrams, $17.95.
Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and Other Poems. Jack Prelutsky. Illustrated by Carin Berger. Greenwillow, $17.99.
Starring Jules (as Herself). Beth Ain. Illustrated by Anne Keenan Higgins. Scholastic, $14.99.
Steadfast Tin Soldier, The. Cynthia Rylant. Illustrated by Jen Corace. Abrams, $17.95.
Steam Train, Dream Train. Sherri Duskey Rinker. Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. Chronicle, $16.99.
Stronger Than Steel: Spider Silk DNA and the Quest for Better Bulletproof Vests, Sutures, and Parachute Rope. Bridget Heos. Photos by Andy Comins. Houghton , $18.99.
Stung. Bethany Wiggins. Walker, $17.99.
Sugar. Jewell Parker Rhodes. Little, Brown, $16.99.
Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket, The. John Boyne. Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers. Knopf, $16.99.
That is Not a Good Idea! Mo Willems. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99.
This Journal Belongs to Ratchet. Nancy J. Cavanaugh. Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, $12.99.
Too Hot? Too Cold? Keeping Body Temperature Just Right. Caroline Arnold. Charlesbridge, $17.95 hc, $7.95 pb.
Toys in Space. Mini Grey. Knopf, $16.99.
Tragedy Paper, The. Elizabeth LaBan. Knopf, $17.99.
Treasure on Superstition Mountain. Elise Broach. Illustrated by Antonio Javier Caparo. Holt/Christy Ottaviano, $15.99.
Trinkets. Kirsten Smith. Little, Brown, $17.99.
Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse, A. Frank Viva. Toon Books, $12.95
Twelve-Fingered Boy, The. John Hornor Jacobs. Carolrhoda/Lab, $17.95.
Typewriter Girl, The. Alison Atlee. S&S/Gallery, $15.
Up Close. Gay Wegerif. Abrams Appleseed, $12.95.
Vacation for Pooch, A. Maryann Cocca-Leffler. Holt, $16.99.
Want to Be in a Band? Suzzy Roche. Ilustrated by Giselle Potter. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99.
War Brothers. Sharon E. McKay. Illustrated by Daniel Lafrance. Annick, $27.95 hc, $18.95 pb.
War Dogs: Churchill and Rufus. Kathryn Selbert. Charlesbridge, $17.95.
Watcher in the Shadows, The (Inquisitor’s Apprentice). Chris Moriarty. Harcourt, $16.99.
Water Castle, The. Megan Frazer Blakemore. Walker, $16.99.
Watermelon Seed, The. Greg Pizzoli. Disney-Hyperion, $16.99.
We Go Together! A Curious Selection of Affectionate Verse. Calef Brown. Houghton, $9.99.
Wee Rhymes: Baby’s First Poetry Book. Jane Yolen. Illustrated by Jane Dyer. S&S/Wiseman, $19.99.
When I Was Eight. Christy Jordan-Fenton. Margaret Pokiak-Fenton. Annick, $21.95 hc, $9.95 pb.
When No One Is Watching. Eileen Spinelli. Illustrated by David A. Johnson. Eerdmans, $16.
When We Wake. Karen Healey. Little, Brown, $17.99.
White Fur Flying. Patricia MacLachlan. S&S/McElderry, $15.99.
Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell. Tanya Lee Stone. Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman. Holt/Christy Ottaviano, $16.99.
Whole Stupid Way We Are, The. N. Griffin. S&S/Atheneum, $16.99.
Windblown. Edouard Manceau, tr. from French by Sarah Quinn. Owlkids (PGW, dist.), $16.95.
Winger. Andrew Smith. Illustrated by Sam Bosma. Simon & Schuster, $16.99.
Wrap-Up List. Steven Arntson. Houghton, $15.99.
Yellowcake. Margo Lanagan. Knopf, $16.99.
You Are Stardust. Elin Kelsey. Owlkids, $18.95.
Zebra Forest. Adina Rishe Gewirtz. Candlewick, $15.99.

When I was six or seven and older, I used to LOVE a collection of poems called You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You by John Ciardi, illustrated by the incomparable Edward Gorey. (How much do I adore HarperCollins for keeping this book in print?! 9780064460606, $7.99) The poems were printed in two colors: the blue poems were easier, meant for young readers to be able to read aloud, and the poems in black font were harder, intended for adults to read to the children.This was a go-to family favorite; we all particularly liked “Mummy Slept Late and Daddy Fixed Breakfast,” with its illustration of the poor chef of a father holding a burned disc of a pancake; one could practically smell the char. The thirty-five poems in this collection are funny and clever, sometimes with a dark or slightly jaundiced edge. This is a terrific gift for families who love Shel Silverstein. As the New York Times said, back when it was published, “Every single poem and drawing is superior. A perfect book for every parent and child.”

There’s something wonderfully companionable about a book meant for both parent and child to take turns reading, so I was delighted to see that Mary Ann Hoberman and Michael Emberley’s newest addition to their series of “You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You” stories is coming out in paperback April 2. It’s a collection of Aesop’s fables, titled You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Fables to Read Together. This joins prior read-togethers (all published by Little, Brown): Very Short Stories to Read Together, Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together, Very Short Mother Goose Tales to Read Together, and Very Short Scary Tales to Read Together. As in the Ciardi/Gorey collection, the passages meant for adult and child are differentiated from each other by color. (Psst: LB Kids, you might want to check this link for something funny.)

As far as I know, the books I’ve mentioned here are the only collections that feature this kind of back-and-forth read-alouds. They are so marvelous for young readers, who are proud to be able to read to their parents, but still love to be read to. Are there more collections like these to be found?