Best Kids Books of Winter 2013

By Holman Wang and Jack Wang
Simply Read Books
Ages: 0 and up

These new board books prove it's never too early to give kids a classic! The Cozy Classics series presents well-loved stories to small children using only twelve child-friendly words and twelve needle-felted illustrations. In Moby Dick, authors Wang and Wang present words such as sailor, leg, mad, and whale to help babies and toddlers build vocabulary and learn everyday concepts. By putting words in the context of a story, the series helps children find further meaning through a growing sense of narrative. Move over number and counting books, there’s a new game in town.

Click here to buy Cozy Classics Moby Dick.

By Emily Jenkins and G. Brian Karas
Schwartz and Wade
Ages: 3-7

Despite Mom and Dad’s reservations, Pauline and her little brother, John-John, are convinced that selling lemonade in the middle of a bitter winter is a great idea. More than a great counting book, Lemonade in Winter is a tribute to siblings, a celebration of entrepreneurship and a clever parable about the hard work, thrills and disappointments that accompany turning dreams into marketable realities.

Click here to buy Lemonade in Winter.

By Corey Rosen Schwartz
G.P. Puntnam & Sons
Ages: 3-7

Perfect for young fans of ninjas and martial arts, The Three Ninja Pigs is a hilarious riff on the classic Big Bad Wolf story. The three ninja pigs begin taking different martial arts lessons to prepare to battle the Big Bad Wolf. Unfortunately, Pig One and Pig Two don’t stick with their training and are easily defeated. Good thing Pig Three (aka sister pig) works hard at mastering the art of karate. The Big Bad Wolf is no match for her and her perfected pork chop! Pig One and Pig Two learn a lesson about training and hard work in this colorful, fun-rhyming book that kids will devour.

Click here to buy Three Ninja Pigs.

By Ellen Bryan Obed
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Ages: 3-8

Like a literary treasure discovered in a dusty, turn-of-the century library, this tribute to rural winter celebrates the slow freezing of barn buckets and fields, the thrilling heights of ice-skating season, and the inevitable spring thaw. This is a magical book.

Click here to buy Twelve Kinds of Ice.

By Rebecca Stead
Wendy Lamb Books
Ages: 9-12

Newbery Medalist Rebecca Stead has created the most touching, smart and hilarious book that’s just right for sensitive middle-schoolers. Seventh grade is not easy when you’re named after pointillist Georges Seurat, your family is strapped for cash, and your former best friend is pretending to be “cool” while the bullies attack you. When Georges befriends some home-schooled children in his building, things begin to change. This is a coming-of-age story that simply is as good as it gets.

Click here to buy Liar and Spy.

By Stefan Bachman
Greenwillow Books
Ages: 9-12

Set in the faery slums of Victorian England, The Peculiar is part mystery, part steampunk adventure and part gothic fantasy. Bartholomew and his younger sister, Hettie, are changeling children (Peculiars) outcasts even amongst faeries. Neither humans nor faeries want anything to do with Peculiars until nine kidnappings and murders reveal an evil plot that requires one more changeling murder to destroy the world. When Hettie is taken, Bartholomew must save his sister from becoming the gateway that will destroy everything.

Click here to buy The Peculiar.

By Jennifer Holm
Yearling
Ages: 9-12

It’s not easy to find work in 1935, so when 11-year-old Turtle’s mother lands a job as a live-in housekeeper for a woman who doesn't like children, Turtle must move to Key West to live with relatives. The rag-tag cast of characters; hilarious dialogue and outlandish plotline nicely offset the very real Depression-era background. It’s impossible not to fall in love with this well-deserved Newbery honor book.

Click here to buy Turtle in Paradise.

By Lemony Snickett
Little, Brown and Company
Ages: 9-12

“What happened to his parents? Where is that screaming coming from? Is it too late? This book contains these and other wrong questions.”
How’s that for a hook? Snickett himself is the young protagonist in this wonderful “autobiography” about a boy starting his apprenticeship with a dim-witted woman, to solve a mystery that might or might not be a mystery at all, about an elusive statue that has virtually no value… Fans of the Unfortunate Events series will love discovering bygone references from the celebrated series, but uninitiated readers will also enjoy this odd and hilarious romp.

Click here to buy Who Could That Be at This Hour.

By Rachel Hartman
Random House
Ages: 12 and up

Hartman emerges as an exciting new talent in this razor-sharp, must-read fantasy book. Readers are introduced to a remarkable, Medieval-esque world in which dragons and humans live side-by-side in an uneasy truce. They have not fought for decades, yet there is a festering distrust between them that begins to detonate after the suspicious death of a member of the royal family. As 16-year-old Seraphina attempts to solve the mystery, she learns more about herself and must come to terms with the true power that accompanies her very secret ‘condition’. Seraphina ranks alongside the best of JK Rowling, CS Lewis and Tolkien. Yes, it really is that good!

Click here to buy Seraphina.

By Neil Shusterman
Simon and Schuster
Ages: 12 and up

Unwholly is the much anticipated sequel to the best-selling Unwind, which Publisher’s Weekly, called a “gripping, brilliantly imagined futuristic thriller.” With an unforgettable cast of characters and a premise so wild it’s nothing less than jaw dropping, this book is every bit as good, if not better than the first. Let’s just say it was worth the five-year wait.

Click here to buy Unwholly.

By Mark Frost
Random House
Ages: 12 and up

The movie rights have already been bought to this page-turning, heart-pounding superhero coming-of-age story. Teens will enjoy Will West’s journey at an elite prep school for extraordinary kids. Even at 547 pages, this fast-paced, breezy read is a good choice for reluctant readers.

Click here to buy The Paladin Prophecy.