Books in BCCB Blue Ribbon Picture Book Awards series

The blues aren't all sad. There's joy in the blues as well as heartbreak. Love discovered. Love lost. Love just around the corner. In this beautiful tribute to the poetry and art of the blues, renowned author Walter Dean Myers collaborates with his son, award-winning illustrator Christopher Myers, in a true masterpiece of picture book creation filled with struggle, grief, hope, joy, and love. Each original blues-style verse on a page calls out a response from the artist in striking tones of brown, black, white, and blue. Together, father and son weave an enchanting story of the creation of the blues through the experiences of African Americans from the end of slavery through the beginning of the civil rights movement. This book is for older children who love music and their parents who will appreciate the layered sophistication of the striking artwork and interplay between art and text. Includes an author's note explaining the birth and development of the blues, a timeline of blues milestones, and an explanatory glossary of terms in the blues. Together this content deepens the appreciation for the blues as a truly original art form. A Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor book An ALA Notable bookHorn Book Fanfare SelectionKirkus Reviews Editor's ChoiceNew York Public Library Book for the Teen AgeA Children's Book of the Year, Child Study Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College

He got into nails, of course, because He'd always loved hands -- hands were some of the best things He'd ever done. In God Went to Beauty School Cynthia Rylant imagines a God whose curiosities about the world He created inspire Him to go out and experience human things. But what would God do if He could live in a human world? Would He write a fan letter? Get a dog? Make spaghetti? God Went to Beauty School celebrates the simple things in life while taking a long, hard look at what it means to be human. Rylant's soft, reflective, and often humorous verse glimpses everyday life through wide and wondering eyes and blends the familiar with the profoundly spiritual.

Have you seen Oliver K. Woodman? You'd know if you had--he's made of wood. And he's on a spectacular cross-country journey. Folks of all sorts guide Oliver along the way and report back in letters and postcards to his friend Uncle Ray. After all, there's a lot of road--and adventure!--between South Carolina and California. Oliver's been spotted truckin' in Texas, riding in a Utah parade, and scaring off bears in the California redwoods. Where will he show up next? Read the letters. Follow the map. And buckle up for a road trip you'll never forget!

Do youwake upwith awiggle?Do youwiggleout of bed?For energetic toddlers (are there any who aren't?), here's a book that invites them to wiggle along with the story. Told in rollicky, wiggly rhyme that begs to be read again and again, Doreen Cronin's latest romp will have toddlers wiggling, giggling, and then (hopefully) falling into bed, blissfully exhausted!

A big, ugly dog is happy to meet a farmer and his wife who decide to give him a name and a home, but not so happy when they chain him to the barn. All Orville can do is bark to tell the world how unhappy he is, and the more he barks, the more he is left alone. But everything changes when Sally MacIntosh moves into the little house across the road and Orville falls in love. A beautifully crafted text that blends wry humor with the poignant twang of a country-and-western song is accompanied by dreamy, spare watercolor-and-ink illustrations for a fresh, original picture book that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt lonely or misunderstood.

Winner of the Printz HonorAward-winning biographer Elizabeth Partridge dives into Lennon’s life from the night he was born in 1940 during a World War II air raid on Liverpool, deftly taking us through his turbulent childhood and his rebellious rock’n’roll teens to his celebrated life writing, recording, and performing music with the Beatles. She sheds light on the years after the Beatles, with Yoko Ono, as he struggled to make sense of his own artistic life—one that had turned from youthful angst to suffocating fame in almost a split second.Partridge chronicles the emotional highs and paralyzing lows Lennon transformed into brilliant, evocative songs. With striking black-andwhite photographs spanning his entire life, John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth is the unforgettable story of one of rock’s biggest legends.

Billy can be very difficult to please. Show him something very tall or very small, and he’ll say, "whatever." Let him play in the bounciest moonwalk, and he’ll shrug, "whatever." Take him for a ride in the smokiest train or the speediest space ship – it doesn’t matter, Billy’s reaction is always the same. What might the surly boy say if a hungry tiger came by, and his nonchalant dad gave Billy a taste of his own medicine?

Imagine walking to the same place every day, to meet your best friend. Imagine watching hundreds of people pass by every morning and every afternoon. Imagine waiting, and waiting, and waiting. For ten years. This is what Hachiko did. Hachiko was a real dog who lived in Tokyo, a dog who faithfully waited for his owner at the Shibuya train station long after his owner could not come to meet him. He became famous for his loyalty and was adored by scores of people who passed through the station every day. This is Hachiko’s story through the eyes of Kentaro, a young boy whose life is changed forever by his friendship with this very special dog. Simply told, and illustrated with Yan Nascimbene’s lush watercolors, the legend of Hachiko will touch your heart and inspire you as it has inspired thousands all over the world.