There Are Cats in This Book

One of the most engaging, joyful books of the year, Viviane Schwarz's turn-the-flap tour de force will have toddlers screaming with anticipation as they race through the pages at the urging of three playful cats. "Are you NICE?" the cats ask. "You LOOK nice." "And STRONG. Could you turn a whole PAGE?" Of course, your grandchildren can, and will, helping the cats play with yarn, boxes, and pillows until they turn the final flap to tuck the cats in. "Will you come and play with us again soon? Really soon!" the cats ask on the last page. The answer is yes, right now!

Candlewick Press, 2008

Age: 4+
Retail Price: $12
Available at: amazon.com

Turtle's Penguin Day

After Little Turtle's dad reads him a bedtime story about penguins, Little Turtle has a night of penguin dreams. The next morning, he wakes up and decides to be a penguin all day in school. In Valeri Gorbachev's picture book that captures the best of preschoolers and kindergartners, all of Little Turtle's friends decide to get in on the act and spend the day waddling, sliding on their bellies, and sleeping standing up. And then Little Turtle's dad reads him a bedtime story about monkeys. Grandchildren just starting school or almost ready will enjoy playing along with Little Turtle and his friends as they show the kids how terrific school can be.

Knopf, 2008

Age: 4+
Retail Price: $12
Available at: amazon.com

Yellow Square

This looks more like a paper collection of modern and abstract sculpture than a children's book — and that actually makes Yellow Square lots of fun for young readers. Searching for as simple an object as the book's title suggests, readers are challenged to find the yellow-square shape among the pop-up craziness of wrestling noodles and knickknack gardens. The pop-up pieces are especially delicate, so we recommend handling this one carefully for what's sure to be multiple viewings.

Little Simon, 2008

Age: 4-8
Retail Price: $14
Available at: amazon.com

President Pennybaker

In President Pennybaker, elementary-schooler Luke Pennybaker sees the unfairness of being a kid, and decides to run for president on the Birthday Party ticket. It's a cute story that enlightens young readers on the sequence of events that can land a person in the White House, using issues they can get behind like the right to eat dessert at any time of day and even the right to have domestic pets, like iguanas and hamsters.

Simon & Schuster, 2008

Age: 4-8
Retail Price: $12
Available at: amazon.com

Lady Liberty: A Biography

Doreen Rappaport and Matt Tavares's Lady Liberty: A Biography is told in the present tense by those responsible for the creation of the Statue of Liberty, from concept through construction. Introducing these historical characters is an ingenious way for Rappaport to relate the statue's story. Young readers meet the French "dreamers" who wanted to thank America's patriots for inspiring their own revolution. They also hear from Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, the resourceful sculptor, who chose copper for the statue so it would not rust in the salt air, and Emma Lazarus, the poet who wrote "The New Colossus." The poem's immortal words are inscribed on the statue's pedestal: "Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ... "

The real hero of this story, however, turns out to be newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer, who used his New York World to lead a campaign to raise $100,000 to complete the statue's pedestal. Americans of all ages sent in nickels, dimes, and dollars to ensure that the 151-foot-tall Lady would rise high above New York City's harbor, welcoming new arrivals to America.

The text is moving, and the realistic illustrations are inspired. The full-page images of the construction end in a magnificent vertical gatefold of Lady Liberty in her original 1886 copper color.

Candlewick, 2008

Age: 4-8
Retail Price: $12.23
Available at: amazon.com

What the Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy

By the time they get to their 'tween years, many kids get tired of hearing the same old fairy tales. That might explain the trend in young-adult fantasy writing these days, which takes the old standards (i.e., the tooth fairy) and turns them into multilevel narratives that blow all the old notions out of the water. In this novel, allegorical mastermind Gregory Maguire (Wicked) depicts a world where thousands of tooth fairies live in colonies around the world, and use the teeth they collect to make special, wish-granting candles for kids. The story begins as Dinah, Zeke, and their little sister, Rebecca Ruth, hunker down with their cousin and babysitter, Gage, in the middle of the worst storm their little town has ever seen. All Gage can do to distract the anxious kids from the dwindling food supply and their discomfort at the absence of their parents is unfolded in the long, complicated tale of the tooth fairy that changed it all for him, and for the entire tooth fairy world.

Candlewick Press, 2008

Age: 8+
Retail Price: $9
Available at: amazon.com

What on Earth Happened?

This ambitious book, written by science journalist and historian Christopher Lloyd, surveys the "complete story" of planet Earth: from its humble beginnings as an "invisible speck of infinite energy" to its relatively new human inhabitants and their current global financial crisis. Each chapter is punctuated with brilliant maps, charts, and timelines, along with historical photos and paintings. All topics are treated with Lloyd's steady, analytic remove, but the interesting facts and quirky cast of nonfiction characters still make it a fun read.

Bloomsbury USA, 2008

Age: 8+
Retail Price: $27
Available at: amazon.com

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

In a sea of teenage-gossip drama novels, heroic fantasy tales, and dark confessional sagas, it's pretty rare to find a classic family narrative that will keep the interest of a typical tween. But even without blogs or magical powers, the four Penderwick sisters at the center of the novel are so compelling it’s hard to resist wanting to be a part of their world. Every girl can find someone to relate to in this story, and may even see a little of herself in each character. Rosalind is the oldest and, by default, the caretaker of the group. Skye is a short-tempered, science- and math-loving soccer star who shares a room with her younger sister Jane, a writer and artist who can't stop talking about her latest work. And finally there's Batty, the youngest, an animal lover who spends her days with Hound, the family dog. In this second installment of the Penderwick series, we join the four sisters as they conspire against their father's new love life. Their mother, Elizabeth, died of cancer years ago, and the girls can think of nothing worse than ending up with a stepmother. But amid their academic, athletic, and romantic problems, their "Save Daddy Plan" begins to unravel, and the results are surprisingly different than they imagined.

Knopf, 2008

Age: 9-12
Retail Price: $11
Available at: amazon.com

Generation Dead

It’s hard enough going to high school every day as a regular kid — you’ve got AP exams to take, a homecoming date to find, and maybe a chore or two to do around the house. For zombies, who move at half the pace of normal teenagers, the road is extra bumpy. Generation Dead by Daniel Waters, is set sometime in the future, where those American teenagers who happen to die just won’t stay dead. Scientists have many theories about why this happens — preservatives in food, live-action video games, and vaccines are the favored few — but no one can fully explain the phenomenon. Teenage zombies are a relatively new breed, and the “traditionally biotic” (i.e., living) teenagers have a hard time getting used to the idea of them. Some, like Phoebe, our ironically Goth main character, do their best to reach out to the undead. But as history dictates, conflict always arises when the “normal” way of life is called into question, despite the best efforts of Phoebe and her friends. Surprisingly, the scariest characters in this book aren’t the ones who don’t breathe.

Hyperion, 2008

Age: 14+
Retail Price: $12
Available at: amazon.com

Twisted

Laurie Halse Anderson is one of those prolific young-adult writers with an uncanny understanding of the teenage mind. In Twisted, she lets us into the life of Tyler Miller, a somewhat average, nerdy kid who commits a notorious and less-than-intelligent act of vandalism just before his senior year of high school. After a summer of hard labor keeping up the school grounds (part of his punishment for the prank), Tyler finds himself with a new sense of confidence and a new set of muscles to boot. And while his new image draws some surprising attention from the beautiful and popular Bethany Millbury, he also has to deal with disapproving stares and accusatory glances from the adults in his life.

Puffin, 2008

Age: 14+
Retail Price: $10
Available at: amazon.com