The Children's Literature Choice List is a national book award that annually recognizes 150 children's books of excellence chosen from over 3000 children's books that our reviewers receive each year. Children's Literature, an international monthly newsletter of children's book reviews helps teachers, librarians, childcare providers and parents choose quality books for kids of all ages.
In addition to exceptional writing, creative story lines (for fiction) and factual accuracy (for nonfiction and historical fiction), the criteria for selection are age-appropriate subject matter, fresh themes, new approaches to known stories and relevance to the lives of today's kids.
Children's Literature founder Marilyn Courtot commented "There were so many really good books for the middle school readers that we had difficulty narrowing our list for 1999, but we are confident that these selections represent many outstanding books that children, parents, teachers, and librarians will want to add to their collections."
Books for Children 3 and Under
Picture Books for Children Ages 4 to 8
Short Books or Picture Books with More Text Than Usual for Younger Readers (Children 5 to 10)
Longer Books with More Sophisticated Themes for Middle Readers (Children 8 to 12)
Young Adult (Generally Children 12 and Up)
Poetry
| Children's Literature Choice List 1999 | |||
| Books for Children 3 and Under | |||
| Come Along, Daisy! | Jane Simmons | Little, Brown | $ 5.95 |
| Fire Truck | Peter Sis | Greenwillow | $14.95 |
| Jack- It's Playtime, Jack-Happy Birthday, Jack-It's Bathtime, Jack-It's Bedtime | Rebecca Elgar | Kingfisher | $5.95 |
| Just You and Me | Sam McBratney | Candlewick | $15.99 |
| Lunch | Denise Fleming | Henry Holt | $6.95 |
| No, David! | David Shannon | The Blue Sky Press | $14.95 |
| Picture Books for Children Ages 4 to 8 | |||
| 18 Penny Goose, The | Sally M. Walker | HarperCollins | $14.95 |
| Celebrate! Stories of the Jewish Holidays | Gilda Berger | Scholastic | $17.95 |
| Disappearing Alphabet, The | Richard Wilbur | Harcourt | $16.00 |
| Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra | Andrea Davis Pinkney | Hyperion | $15.95 |
| Elizabeti's Doll | Stephanie Stuve Bodeen | Lee & Low | $15.95 |
| Frog Face - My Little Sister & Me | John Schindel | Henry Holt | $14.95 |
| God's Little Seeds | Bijou Le Tord | Eerdmans | $15.00 |
| Greetings, Sun | Phillis Gershator and David Gershator | DK Ink | $15.95 |
| Gullible's Troubles | Margaret Shannon | Houghton Mifflin | $15.00 |
| Gus and Grandpa Ride the Train | Claudia Mills | Farrar Straus Giroux | $13.00 |
| Handful of Beans, A | Jeanne Steig | HarperCollins | $17.95 |
| Honk! | Pamela Duncan Edwards | Hyperion | $14.95 |
| In the Hush of the Evening | Nancy Price Graff | HarperCollins | $14.95 |
| Loud Emily | Alexis O'Neill | Simon & Schuster | $16.00 |
| My Box of Color | Lorianne Siomades | Boyds Mills Press | $8.95 |
| Ouch! | Natalie Babbitt | HarperCollins | $14.95 |
| Owl and the Pussycat, The | Edward Lear | HarperCollins | $15.95 |
| Pete's a Pizza | William Steig | HarperCollins | $13.95 |
| Puddle, The | David McPhail | Farrar Straus Giroux | $15.00 |
| Pushkin Meets the Bundle | Harriet M. Ziefert | Atheneum | $16.00 |
| Raising Yoder's Barn | Jane Yolen | Little, Brown | $15.95 |
| Salmon Summer | Bruce McMillan | Houghton Mifflin | $16.00 |
| Sense-Abilities: Fun Ways to Explore the Senses | Michelle O'Brien-Palmer | Chicago Review Press | $12.95 |
| Shanti | Maartje Padt | DK Publishing | $14.95 |
| Snake Alley Band | Elizabeth Nygaard | Bantam Doubleday Dell | $15.95 |
| Snow | Uri Shulevitz | Farrar Straus Giroux | $16.00 |
| So Say the Little Monkeys | Nancy Van Laan | Atheneum | $16.00 |
| Tale of a Tail | Judit Z. Bodnár | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard | $16.00 |
| Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go To Sleep | Joyce Dunbar | Harcourt | $16.00 |
| Trow-Wife's Treasure, The | Olivier Dunrea | Farrar Straus Giroux | $16.00 |
| What Baby Wants | Phyllis Root | Candlewick | $15.99 |
| What's the Matter Davy? | Brigitte Weninger | North-South | $15.95 |
| When Mama Comes Home Tonight | Eileen Spinelli | Simon & Schuster | $14.00 |
| Which Way to the Revolution? A Book about Maps | Bob Barner | Holiday | $16.95 |
| Short Books or Picture Books with More Text Than Usual for Younger Readers (Children 5 to 10) | |||
| Autumn Leaves | Ken Robbins | Scholastic | $15.95 |
| Barefoot Book of Princesses, The | Caitlin Matthews | Barefoot Books | $17.95 |
| Beautiful Warrior: The Legend of the Nun's Kung Fu | Emily Arnold McCully | Scholastic | $16.95 |
| Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story | Julius Lester | Dial | $16.99 |
| Black Whiteness: Admiral Byrd Alone in the Antarctic | Robert Burleigh | Atheneum | $16.00 |
| Boom Town | Sonia Levitin | Orchard | $15.99 |
| Boss of the Plains: The Hat theat Won the West | Laurie Carlson | DK Ink | $16.95 |
| Bravo, Zan Angelo! | Niki Daly | Farrar Straus Giroux | $16.00 |
| Clouds of Glory | Miriam Chaikin | Clarion | $19.00 |
| Crane Wife, The | Odds Bodkin | Gulliver/Harcourt | $16.00 |
| G is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book | David M. Schwartz | Tricycle | $15.95 |
| Hatmaker's Sign, The | Candace Fleming | Orchard | $15.95 |
| Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth | Robert Burleigh | Silver Whistle | $16.00 |
| I See the Rhythm | Toyomi Igus | Children's Book Press | $15.95 |
| Johnny on the Spot | Edward Sorel | McElderry | $16.00 |
| Look-Alikes | Joan Steiner | Little, Brown | $12.95 |
| Lucy Dove | Janice Del Negro | DK Ink | $16.95 |
| Morning on the Lake | Jan Bourdeau Waboose | Kids Can Press | $15.95 |
| My Freedom Trip | Frances Park and Ginger Park | Boyds Mills Press | $15.95 |
| My Name is Georgia | Jeanette Winter | Silver Whistle | $16.00 |
| Nothing Here But Trees | Jean Van Leeuwen | Dial | $15.99 |
| Painted Dreams | Karen Lynn Williams | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard | $16.00 |
| Riches of Oseola McCarty, The | Evelyn Coleman | Albert Whitman | $14.95 |
| Sailor's Alphabet, The | Michael McCurdy | Houghton Mifflin | $16.00 |
| Scrambled States of America, The | Laurie Keller | Henry Holt | $16.95 |
| Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups, The | David Wisniewski | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard | $16.00 |
| Shadows in the Dawn | Kathryn Lasky | Gulliver Green/Harcourt Brace | $18.00 |
| Sky Sash So Blue | Libby Hathorn | Simon & Schuster | $16.00 |
| Snowflake Bentley | Jacqueline Briggs Martin | Houghton Mifflin | $16.00 |
| So Far from the Sea | Eve Bunting | Clarion | $15.00 |
| Soaring with the Wind: The Bald Eagle | Gail Gibbons | Morrow | $16.00 |
| This Land is Your Land | Woody Guthrie | Little, Brown | $15.95 |
| Weave of Words, A | Robert D. San Souci | Orchard | $15.95 |
| Wild Boy, The | Mordicai Gerstein | Farrar Straus Giroux | $16.00 |
| Zelda and Ivy | Laura McGee Kvasnosky | Candlewick | $15.99 |
| Longer Books with More Sophisticated Themes for Middle Readers (Children 8 to 12) | |||
| 52 Days by Camel: My Sahara Adventure | Lawrie Raskin | Annick | $13.99 |
| Adventures of Sojourner, The: The Mission to Mars that Thrilled the World | Susi Trautmann Wunsch | Mikaya | $22.95 |
| Bandit's Moon | Sid Fleischman | Greenwillow | $15.00 |
| Bodies from the Bog | James M. Deem | Houghton Mifflin | $16.00 |
| Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence: The Story of New York's African Burial Ground | Joyce Hansen & Gary McCowan | Henry Holt | $19.98 |
| Bronze Cauldron, The | Geraldine McCaughrean | McElderry | $19.95 |
| Career Ideas for Kids series | Lindsey Reeves | Facts On File | $18.95 |
| Chuck Close, Up Close | Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan | DK Ink | $19.95 |
| Clockwork | Phillip Pullman | Scholastic | $16.95 |
| The Deetkatoo: Native American Stories about Little People, The | Edited by John Bierhorst | Morrow | $16.00 |
| Discovering the Inca Ice Maiden: My Adventures on Ampato | Johan Reinhard | National Geographic | $17.99 |
| Faraway Summer | Johanna Hurwitz | Morrow | $15.00 |
| Great Turkey Walk, The | Kathleen Karr | Farrar Straus Giroux | $16.00 |
| Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | J.K. Rowling | Scholastic | $16.95 |
| Holes | Louis Sachar | Farrar Straus Giroux | $16.00 |
| In the Forest with the Elephants | Roland Smith | Gulliver Green/Harcourt Brace | $9.00 |
| Into the Ice: The Story of Arctic Exploration | Lynn Curlee | Houghton Mifflin | $16.00 |
| Jazmin's Notebook | Nikki Grimes | Dial | $15.99 |
| Joan of Arc | Diane Stanley | Morrow | $16.00 |
| Just Juice | Karen Hesse | Scholastic | $14.95 |
| Let My People Go | Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack | Atheneum | $20.00 |
| Long Way from Chicago, A | Richard Peck | Dial | $15.99 |
| Other Shepards, The | Adele Griffin | Hyperion | $14.95 |
| Painters of the Caves | Patricia Lauber | National Geographic | $17.95 |
| Panama Canal | Elizabeth MannMikaya | $19.95 | |
| Perloo the Bold | Avi | Scholastic | $16.95 |
| Petey | Ben Milaelsen | Hyperion | $15.95 |
| Rachel's Journal: The Story of a Pioneer Girl | Marissa Moss | Silver Whistle | $15.00 |
| Reaching Dustin | Vicki Grove | Penguin Putnam | $16.99 |
| Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief | Wendelin Van Draanen | Knopf | $15.00 |
| Sang Spell | Phyllis Reynolds Naylor | Atheneum | $16.00 |
| Secret Letters From 0 to 10 | Susie Morgenstern | Penguin Putnam | $15.99 |
| Shakespeare Stealer, The | Gary Blackwood | Dutton | $15.99 |
| Squire's Tale, The | Gerald Morris | Houghton Mifflin | $15.00 |
| Starting School with an Enemy | Elisa Carbone | Knopf | $16.00 |
| Storyteller's Beads | Jane Kurtz | Guilliver/Harcourt | $15.00 |
| Tales of Wisdom and Magic | Berlie Doherty | Candlewick | $21.99 |
| Turn of the Century | Ellen Jackson | Charlesbridge | $17.95 |
| Walter Wick's Optical Tricks | Walter Wick | Scholastic | $13.95 |
| Weirdo's War | Michael Coleman | Orchard | $16.95 |
| Wild Kid, The | Harry Mazer | Simon & Schuster | $15.00 |
| Young Astronomer, The | Harry Ford | DK Publishing | $15.95 |
| Young Adult (Generally Children 12 and Up) | |||
| Art Attack: A Short Cultural History of the Avant-Garde | Marc Aronson | Clarion | $20.00 |
| Behaving Bradley | Perry Nodelman | Simon & Schuster | $16.00 |
| Behind the Mask: the Life of Queen Elizabeth I | Jane Resh Thomas | Clarion | $19.00 |
| Brad's Universe | Mary Woodbury | Orca | $16.00 |
| Dark Lord of Derkholm | Diana Wynne Jones | Greenwillow | $16.00 |
| Go and Come Back | Joan Abelove | DK Ink | $16.95 |
| Gone A-Whaling: The Lure of the Sea and the Hunt for the Great Whale | Jim Murphy | Clarion | $18.00 |
| Greater than Angels | Carol Matas | Simon & Schuster | $16.00 |
| Heat | Michael Cadnum | Viking | $15.99 |
| I Am Mordred: A Tale from Camelot | Nancy Springer | Philomel | $16.99 |
| I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade | Diane Lee Wilson | Orchard | $17.95 |
| In a Dark Wood | Michael Cadnum | Orchard | $17.95 |
| Invisible Enemies | Jeanette Farrell | Farrar Straus Giroux | $17.00 |
| Joyride | Gretchen Olson | Boyds Mills Press | $14.95 |
| Killing Frost, A | John Marsden | Houghton Mifflin | $15.00 |
| My Louisana Sky | Kimberley Willis | HoltHenry Holt | $15.95 |
| No More Strangers Now: Young Voices from a New South Africa | Tim McKee | DK Ink | $19.95 |
| No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War | Anita Lobel | Greenwillow | $16.00 |
| Outspoken: Role Models from the Lesbian and Gay Community | Michael Thomas Ford | Beechtree | $15.00 |
| Rules of the Road | Joan Bauer | Penguin Putnam | $15.99 |
| Shadow Spinner | Susan Fletcher | Atheneum | $17.00 |
| Someone Like You | Sarah Dessen | Viking | $15.99 |
| Stephen Fair | Tim Wynne-Jones | DK Ink | $15.95 |
| Strays Like Us | Richard Peck | Dial | $15.99 |
| Transall Saga, The | Gary Paulsen | Delacorte | $15.99 |
| Whirligig | Paul Fleischman | Henry Holt | $16.95 |
| Virtual War | Gloria Skurzynski | Simon & Schuster | $16.00 |
| Poetry | |||
| BoshBlobberBosh | J. Patrick Lewis | Creative Editions | $18.00 |
| Cool Melons - Turn to Frogs!: The Life and Poems of Issa | Matthew Gollub | Lee & Low | $16.95 |
| Insectlopedia | Douglas Florian | Harcourt | $16.00 |
| Llama Who Had No Pajama, The | Mary Ann Hoberman | Browndeer/Harcourt | $20.00 |
| Space Between Our Footsteps | Naomi Shihab Nye | Simon & Schuster | $19.95 |
| This Big Sky | Pat Mora | Scholastic | $15.95 |
Added 04/01/2000
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If you're interested in reviewing children's and young adult books, then send a resume and writing sample to marilyn@childrenslit.com.