Digby Takes Charge, Caroline Church.  S&S, $14.99.  Digby the sheepdog tries increasingly comical ways to herd the sheep into their pen.

Help! Holly Keller. Harper, $16.99. After a mishap in the woods, Mouse needs to trust his friend Snake for help.

Listen, Listen, Phyllis Gershator. Barefoot, $16.99.  Honking geese, crunching boots:  the sounds of the seasons in a poetic text accompany Alison Jay’s trademark precise & stylized illustrations.

I Love My Pirate Papa, Laura Leuck. Harcourt, $16.  From dawn to dusk, on ship and shore, a toddler’s salty adventures with his loving dad.

Little Toot, Hardie Gramatky. Putnam, $17.99. A restored version of the classic tale of a playful tugboat who proves his worth during a big storm.

Mother Goose: Numbers On The Loose, Leo & Diane Dillon. Harcourt, $17. The Dillon’s friendly animals seem to step off the page, as they romp past counting rhymes.

The Prince Won’t Go To Bed! Dayle Ann Dodds, FSG, $16. Everyone in the castle tries to soothe the itty-bitty prince. Jaunty textured collage illustrations and a bouncing rhythmic beat combine for a winner of a bedtime tale.

Dolores Meets Her Match, Barbara Samuels. FSG, $16.  Dolores, resident cat expert, is threatened by new girl in school Hillary, proud owner of a prize winning Siamese. Will show & tell become a cat fight?

Iron Hans, retold by Stephen Mitchell. Candlewick, $16.99. A fairy tale adventure, boldly illustrated by Matt Tavares, about a prince learning his way in the world.

The Jewel Box Ballerinas, Monique de Varennes. Random House, $16.99. A lonely rich woman travels the world in an attempt to make her dolls smile.

Little Red Riding Hood, retold by Jerry Pinkney. LB, $16.99. Pinkney’s version features watercolors of a not too scary wolf, snowy woods, and a very red cloak.

The Luck Of The Loch Ness Monster, A. W. Flaherty.  HM, $16.  A delicious tall tale about an ocean voyage, a picky eater who tosses her oatmeal overboard daily, and the sea worm who follows her all the way to Scotland. 

Mary And The Mouse, The Mouse And Mary. Beverly Donofrio.  RH, $16.99.  Barbara McClintock’s  illustrations invite us into a girl’s house, and the home of the mouse living in the walls, and detail the changes as they grow up.

Rabbit’s Gift, George Shannon. Harcourt, $16. Shannon sets this folktale about sharing in snowy woods, and artist Laura Dronzek incorporates the Chinese symbol for each animal that passes along a turnip.

Stone Age Boy, Satoshi Kitamura. Candlewick, $15.99.  A boy wakes up to find himself thousands of years in the past and learns how families used to make clothes & tools and cook.

Strong Man, Megan McCarthy. Knopf, $15.99.  It reads like an adventure comic but it’s true: the story of Charles Atlas, who changed himself from a bullied weakling into the famous founder of a successful fitness routine.

Swift, Robert Blake. Penguin, $16.99.  Johnnie needs to rely on his dog when his father is injured in the Alaskan wilderness. 

Abracadabra! Magic With Mouse And Mole, Wong Herbert Yee. HM, $15.  Two small friends find real magic while practicing tricks.

The Aurora County All-Stars, Deborah Wiles. Harcourt, $16.  Baseball is all House and his friends care about, but there are secrets in their small Mississippi town that threaten the annual big game.

Book Of A Thousand Days, Shannon Hale. Bloomsbury, $17.95. Hale’s latest fairytale-like novel, peopled with Khans, shamans, yaks and  brave maid  Dashti, is set on the steppes of a kingdom inspired by medieval Mongolia.

The Book Of Time, Guillaume Prevost. Scholastic, $16.99.  Sam travels to medieval Ireland, ancient Egypt and Renaissance Europe in search of his missing father.

The Charioteer of Delphi, Caroline Lawrence.  Roaring Brook, $16.95. Another entry in the fun history/mystery series set in ancient Rome.

Darkwing, Kenneth Oppel. Harper, $16.99.  From the author of the acclaimed Silverwing trilogy, a new novel about prehistoric bats and their struggle to survive in a time of changing species.

Emmy And The Incredible Shrinking Rat, Lynne Jonell. Holt, $17.95.  Emmy and Joe discover that the classroom rat can talk, the pet store rats have strange powers, and Emmy’s evil nanny is using those powers in an evil plot.

First Light, Rebecca Stead. Random, $15.99.  Alternating chapters tell the stories of Peter, who accompanies his scientist parents to Greenland, and Thea, who lives in a society with rigid rules, hidden from the light of the sun under the Arctic ice.

The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio, Lloyd Alexander. Holt, $18.95.  Carlo and companions join a caravan to seek hidden treasure in an Arabian Nights-like realm.

The Invention Of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick.  Scholastic, $22.99.   Told in a bold mix of sketchbook style pictures and text, Hugo’s secret life in a Paris train station is in jeopardy when he is discovered by a mysterious toymaker who seems to hold the key to Hugo’s past.

The Klipfish Code, Mary Casanova. HM, $16. During WW II in Norway, Marit and her brother see how dangerous life is for the brave adults who join the Resistance.

Miss Spitfire. Sarah Miller. S&S, $16.99.  A fictionalized look at how the young teacher Annie Sullivan was able to win the trust of Helen Keller and her family.

The Name Of This Book Is Secret, Pseudonymous Bosch. Little Brown, $16.99. A tongue-in-cheek narrator interrupts (often!) this outrageous tale of two friends who follow the riddles of a magician and end up in danger at a sinister spa.

Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren. Viking, $25.  This slightly oversized edition, with Lauren Child’s witty illustrations zigzagging throughout, crackles with fun.

Revolution Is Not A Dinner Party, Ying Chang Compestine.  Holt, $16.95.  Nine year old Ling’s happy family life is turned upside down by the Cultural Revolution in 1972 China. A short historical note is included that makes this accessible to young readers who will identify with Ling’s outrage and fear at the injustices she witnesses.

Squirrel World, Johanna Hurwitz. Chronicle, $14.95. In the newest addition to the Park Pals series, squirrels Lexi and Lenox venture out of Central Park to explore the city.

The Swan Maiden, Heather Tomlinson. Holt, $16.95. In a fairytale France, Doucette learns that her magical birthright, transforming into a swan, has been hidden from her.

Theodosia And The Serpents Of Chaos,  R. L. LaFevers.  HM, $16.  Her father may be head curator at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London, but it is only Theo who can see (and try to remove) ancient curses still clinging to artifacts.

 

Animal Poems, Valerie Worth. FSG, $17.   Small gems of poetry, paired with Steve Jenkins’ textured torn-paper collages.

Explorer. Candlewick, $15.99.  “A daring guide for young adventurers” featuring survival tips and snippets about real worldwide expeditions.

How To Find Flower Fairies, Cecily Barker. Penguin, $19.99.  Lovely pop-ups of woodland scenes create a magical 3-D world inhabited by fairies.

Maze Ways, Roxie Munro. Sterling, $12.95.  Find hidden objects as you twist and turn through a variety of locales:  jungles, boatyards, airports, mountains and 20 more.

Saint Francis And The Wolf, Jane Langton. Godine, $16.95  Ilse Plume’s delicate detailed illustrations give the look of a medieval manuscript to this handsomely made book about St. Francis taming a wolf.

The Spatulatta Cookbook, Isabella & Olivia Gerasole. Scholastic, $16.99. A unique seasonal arrangement of recipes with easy instructions and yummy photos.

Warriors, James Harper. S&S. $21.99.  The weapons and tactics of warrior cultures around the world and through time; Spartans, Aztecs, Samurai; they’re all here.

We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, Michael Rosen. S&S. $24.99.  A pop-up edition of the Helen Oxenbury illustrated classic picture book.

Wonders Of The World, Elisabeth Dumont-Le Cornec. Abrams, $24.95.  Stunning oversize photos of man-made and natural wonders around the world.

Christmas Magic, Sue Stainton.  Harper, $15.99.  The reindeers’ bells are missing, and woodland animals search a snowy forest to find them.

Do Rabbits Have Christmas?, Aileen Fisher.  Holt, $16.95.  Gentle poems about the winter season with soft pictures by Sarah Fox-Davies.

Fireside Stories, Caitlin Matthews. Barefoot, $19.99.  Tales about winter celebrations from Russia, Scotland, Austria and more.

Let It Snow, Holly Hobbie. LB, $16.99.  Toot and Puddle wish for snow as they wait for Christmas and work on surprise gifts for each other.

Letters On The Wind, Sarah Lamstein. Boyds Mill, $16.95.  This Chanukah tale about sharing, trust and faith in prayer is a story worth hearing any time of the year.

The Night Before Christmas, Clement Moore.  Candlewick, $16.99. Even if you own others, make room for this edition with exquisite black & white silhouettes, cut-out pages and a pop-up finale by artist Niroot Puttapipat.

The Nutcracker, Susan Jeffers.  Harper, $16.99.  A picture book version following the story of the holiday ballet, with a short text well-suited for younger listeners.

Sharing Christmas, Kate Westerlund. Penguin, $16.99. Thanks to a generous donkey, forest animals find enough nuts and berries to have a Christmas celebration.

The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie. LB, $16.99.  When Junior transfers to an all-white school, his friends on the reservation think he’s a traitor. A raw look at adolescence and alienation, Alexie is so funny you laugh when you could be crying.

Click, Linda Sue Park et al. Scholastic, $16.99.  Ten chapters, each by a different author, intertwine to tell the story of photojournalist and the people he met around the world.

Cover-Up, John Feinstein. RH, $16.99. Two teenage journalists who have broken big stories before, tackle a scandal at the Super Bowl.

General Winston’s Daughter, Sharon Shinn.  Penguin, $17.99. When a young heiress joins her father and fiancée in the exotic land her country has invaded, her high spirits and curiosity cause her to question politics, and force her to see herself from another perspective.

I Am Rembrandt’s Daughter, Lynn Cullen. Bloomsbury, $16.95.  Cornelia has never felt loved by her father, and thinks marriage to a wealthy man in Amsterdam will improve her life.  Cullen has made intriguing guesswork to fill in what little we know of the famous painter’s family.

The Rogues, Jane Yolen & Robert Harris.  Penguin, $18.99. Roddy needs a way to fight back when his Scottish village is evicted by their unscrupulous laird.

Schooled, Gordon Korman. Hyperion, $15.99.  Coming straight from a hippie commune, Cap meets middle school with hilarious results.

Taken, Edward Bloor. RH, $16.99.  Full of surprising twists, this suspenseful novel is set in 2035, when extremes of great wealth and poverty have made kidnapping common.

Undercover, Beth Kephart. Harper. $16.99. Elisa is helping Theo write love letters to the popular girl he admires, but what happens when Elisa falls for Theo?

Uprising, Margaret Haddix. S&S, $16.99.  A tour de force blend of great storytelling and compelling history:  the paths of two struggling immigrant girls and a would-be suffragette lead them to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, site of the tragic 1911 fire. 

Baseball Treasures, Stephen Wong.  Harper, $16.99.  This look at collections of baseball memorabilia is also a trip down memory lane.

Anne Hutchinson’s Way, Jeannine Atkins. FSG, $17. In 1640 a mother and her family leave the colony of Mass. rather than compromise their belief in religious tolerance and freedom of speech.

Edward Hopper: Painter Of Light & Shadow, Susan Rubin. Abrams, $18.95. An engaging look at the artist’s life, paired with a great selection of this paintings. 

Emi And The Rhino Scientist, MaryKay Carson. HM, $18.  Follow scientists into the Sumatran jungle to explore the hard work involved in saving endangered species.

Ham The Astrochimp, Richard Hilliard. Boyds Mill, $16.95.  The early days of the U.S. space program, and the pioneering 1961 journey of a chimpanzee.

Living Color, Steve Jenkins. HM, $17.  Jenkins uses his vibrant textured collages to highlight the way color is used- from camouflage to courtship- in the animal world.

The Many Rides of Paul Revere, James Giblin. Scholastic, $17.99. With archival illustrations from contemporary sources, a look at the life and times of the multi-talented patriot.

Sitting Bull Remembers, Ann Turner. Harper, $16.99.  A moving account of the last Sioux war chief, with mood setting paintings by Wendell Minor.

The Trailblazing Life Of Daniel Boone, Cheryl Harness.  National Geog., $16.95.  Pioneer Boone’s adventures in the French & Indian War and settling the west, in a lively format featuring maps, sketches and timelines.

The Wall, Peter Sis. FSG, $18.  In graphic novel format, with diary entries, the powerful story of what it was like to grow up behind the Iron Curtain in Prague.

Whale Port, Mark Foster.  HM. $18. Three hundred years of changes in a fictional New England village as the whaling industry rises and falls.

Young Pele, Lesa Cline-Ransome.  RH, $16.99.  Brazilian soccer star Pele’s determination helped him overcome many childhood obstacles.