Books in Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award series

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!

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.

Irving and Muktuk have arrived from Yellowtooth in the frozen North to their new home in the Bayonne, New Jersey, Zoo. There they meet another polar bear, Roy, who tells them about his life outside the zoo. Roy goes home every night at six when the zoo closes. After a week of swimming, eating fish and the occasional muffin thrown to them by zoo visitors, playing, and taking naps, Irving and Muktuk feel bored and restless. They decide to explore life outside the walls and go in search of Roy and more muf-fins. Soon their escape is discovered and the zookeepers, the zoo director, and the police are called. Are these polar bears to be trusted?

Pioneers in the Australian bush, like those on America's westernfrontier, had isolated, difficult lives. In this story, based on theauthor's own family history, Papa goes away to work,leaving Lizzie and Mama and baby alone in theirlittle house. Lizzie's playful pretending turns routinechores into games and adventures. Mama calls it"Lizzie nonsense," but Mama herself has an imaginative,lighthearted side.Stunning landscapes and graceful, affectionatelydrawn characters make Jan Ormerod's remarkablepaintings an evocative counterpart to this touchingportrayal of family ties in pioneer days.

The Worm family loves being wormy. They're skinny--they're squiggly--they're very long--and they sing loud worm songs. They're nothing like their glossy, bossy, buggy neighbors. And the neighbors don't like that one bit. What are the Worms to do? Jump back into their skinny car and hope to find nicer neighbors somewhere else? Or stay put--and show the world the Glory of Worm? In a tale both warm and quirky, a family of merry, down-to-earth worms proves that being different is truly grand. They may not fit in, but they carry on, doing things they love with the family they love--and finally find some fuzzy-wuzzy neighbors who like them just as they are. Oh joy! They're Worms!

Laszlo is afraid of the dark. The dark lives in the same house as Laszlo. Mostly, though, the dark stays in the basement and doesn't come into Lazslo's room. But one night, it does.This is the story of how Laszlo stops being afraid of the dark. With emotional insight and poetic economy, two award-winning talents team up to conquer a universal childhood fear.