For kids, 10 glittering stars of year

December 05, 2010|Anita Silvey, Globe Correspondent

Although I admired many books for young readers in 2010, these 10 exemplified “the unique factor.’’ All combine the highest standards of art and writing; when introduced by an enthusiastic adult, they connect with young readers. Children’s books that adults admire but that children also find meaningful have always been the most difficult to create. The authors and artists of these works accomplish that feat in very different and original ways.

Picture books Although they have been married for 45 years, John Burningham and Helen Oxenbury, two of England’s most talented author-illustrators, have never collaborated before on a book. In “There’s Going to Bea Baby’’ (Candlewick) a mother and her son talk about the child who will arrive in the fall. When will baby come? Do we really need a baby? The boy’s insecurities emerge through their conversations. Exquisite Japanese-style woodcuts alternate with cartoon drawings, in which the boy imagines what the baby will actually do. The simple but universal situation has been brilliantly explored in a book good enough to become a classic.

Picture story books with texts that bring cries for rereading — like “Make Way for Ducklings’’ — have become an endangered species in the last decade. In “Brontorina’’ (Candlewick), written by comic genius James Howe, author of “Bunnicula,’’ the protagonist shares the dream of many children — she wants to become a ballerina. But, unfortunately, Brontorina is a dinosaur. Not only does she lack the appropriate shoes, but she also doesn’t quite fit into Madame Lucille’s dance academy. For this wonderful but ridiculous story, Randy Cecil has added fanciful drawings of our heroine executing an arabesque or plié. If you are headed to the “Nutcracker’’ this season, the book will give you something to talk about: What if Brontorina came?

With corkscrew logic, Lane Smith explores a conversation between a book lover and a technophile in “It’sa Book’’ (Roaring Brook). Three characters — an ever patient monkey, a jackass, and a mouse — talk about the book that Monkey wants to read. Does it scroll? Can you blog with it? Can it text or tweet? Finally, the jackass, who has been pestering the monkey with these questions, picks up the book and gets lost in it. But Monkey gets his revenge with the final cutting line, “It’s a book, jackass.’’ Not only does the picture-book set enjoy this saga, but teachers are using it successfully in high school. Fresh, original, subversive, Smith, illustrator of “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales,’’ remains devoted to the audience that has always embraced him — children who love to read a book.

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