Weekend Reviews (II)

I hope your long weekend (if you live in the U.S.) has been all you've wanted it to be. (I wanted to say "productive," but then I realized that others may have been going for "relaxing" or "fun.") In any case, weekend reviews are popping up everywhere, most often in the form of year-end lists. Here's a summary:

Edward Bloor's London Calling is the Washington Post "Book of the Week."

Mary Harris Russell reviews six new children's books for the Chicago Tribune. This week she considers:

• Dizzy, by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Sean Qualls ("Strong words and pictures are well-matched here")
• Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter, by Susan Goldman Rubin ("Susan Goldman Rubin's emphasis is on Warhol's development as an artist...")
• No Dessert Forever!, by George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Peter Catalanotto ("Almost any age can enjoy the theater of threat")
• Snow, by Joan Clark, pictures by Kady MacDonald Denton ("Like sun on a bright and sparkling snowfall, there's a lightness to this entire story...")
• The Red Chalk, by Iris van der Heide, illustrated by Marije Tolman ("Sara is bored. She thinks she never has the right thing to play with, so she's always trying to trade for something else...")
• The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems, compiled and illustrated by Jackie Morris ("elegantly arranged and illustrated")

You know, holiday season is coming up and people have suggestions. This week, fortunately, the suggestions are good, interesting ones.

The wonderful Amanda Craig recommends books for children ages 11 and up in the Times. Highlights include:

• Carole Wilkinson’s Dragonkeeper
• The Tide Knot, by Helen Dunmore (yes!)
• Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series

Amanda Craig also suggests holiday books for children ages 2-6 and 7-10 this week.

Julia Null Smith makes some great book recommendations for children of all ages in the Austin American-Statesman.