Book of the Week (4/17/2023)

Dogs: A History of Our Best Friends by Lita Judge (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2023)

This illustrated history of dogs, from award-winning author-illustrator Lita Judge, explores how humans’ partnership with dogs changed our lives and theirs.

Of all the animals on the planet, dogs have the widest range of roles in our daily lives. They’re protectors, helpers, lifesavers—but most of all, they’re family.

And they’ve taken a fascinating journey to get to this point. Long ago, early wolves evolved from fierce predators into trusted partners. They became dogs! While we know dogs to be lovable and full of personality, they have also historically improved our lives in many practical ways, like guarding livestock to help humans form the first settlements, cleaning out infectious wounds, and finding food. Covering over 50,000 years of history, from cave-dwelling to the present day, Dogs chronicles fascinating scientific details and the history of how dogs learned to live cooperatively alongside humans.

In this beautifully illustrated and thoroughly researched book, award-winning author and illustrator Lita Judge explores how our lives are intertwined with dogs’—and that’s what makes them our best friends.-- Publisher's blurb

Join NH author/illustrator Lita Judge at Toadstool Bookshops in Peterborough, NH on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at 11 am.

Book of the Week (4/2/2018)

Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein by Lita Judge (New York, N.Y. : Roaring Brook Press, 2018).

Peterborough, NH author/illustrator Lita Judge is well known for her many children's books, including "Flight School" and "Red Sled". Judge has recently released a dark, enthralling, and beautiful telling of Mary Shelley's life leading up to and including the writing of her best known masterpiece.

Pairing free verse with over three hundred pages of black-and-white watercolor illustrations, Mary’s Monster is a unique and stunning biography of Mary Shelley, the pregnant teenage runaway who became one of the greatest authors of all time.
Legend is correct that Mary Shelley began penning Frankenstein in answer to a dare to write a ghost story. What most people don't know, however, is that the seeds of her novel had been planted long before that night. By age nineteen, she had been disowned by her family, was living in scandal with a married man, and had lost her baby daughter just days after her birth. Mary poured her grief, pain, and passion into the powerful book still revered two hundred years later, and in Mary's Monster, author/illustrator Lita Judge has poured her own passion into a gorgeous book that pays tribute to the life of this incredible author.-- Amazon.com

Book of the Week (2/23/2026)

Beatrix and the Unicorn by Lita Judge (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2026)

Inspired by the famous Unicorn Tapestries, acclaimed author-illustrator Lita Judge weaves together a beautiful picture book about a servant girl searching for a real unicorn—and with it, the promise of friendship.

Long ago and far away, a girl named Beatrix wakes each day to her chores in the castle. She serves the meals and scrubs the floors. And when no one is looking, she gazes at the tapestry of the unicorn in a garden. The unicorn is the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen, but it’s only made from thread. Beatrix knows if she could find the real unicorn, she would never feel lonely again, so late one evening, she gathers what she needs for a long journey and slips out into the night… --Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Lita Judge is the award winning author and illustrator of 30 fiction and nonfiction books including The Wisdom of Trees. Her other picture books include Born in the Wild, Red Sled, Hoot and Peep, and One Thousand Tracings, winner of the International Reading Association Award and an ALA Notable Book. Her book, Flight School, was adapted into an off-Broadway musical and is currently running in New York and China. She lives in Peterborough, NH.

FNV: Lita Judge

Author and illustrator Lita Judge tells us about her inspiration for the books Red Hat and Red Sled in the video Red Hat. You might also want to check out the 2007 episode of NH Chronicle that featured Judge and her work.

The plan for this series is to point our readers one Friday each month to an online video featuring New Hampshire authors and their work. If you have a suggestion for a video we should include please let us know in the comments. 

Book of the Week #44

Pennies for Elephants by Lita Judge (New York : Disney/Hyperion Books, 2009)

This book by Peterborough author Lita Judge was chosen to receive the 2009 NH Literary Award for Outstanding Work of Children’s Literature.

"As she did in One Thousand Tracings, Judge weaves a compelling tale based on a true, heartwarming incident...Warm sepia tones lend atmosphere, too, and splashes of bright red, blue, purple and yellow in the children’s outfits echo their sunny, can-do demeanor." Publishers Weekly, 6/22/09

Book of the Week #38

Born to be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge (NY: Roaring Brook, 2010)

Lita Judge, author and illustrator, lives in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Her books have been chosen as Junior Library Guild selections, ALA Notable Books, Smithsonian Notable Books for Children, and have been nominated for various state book awards. Born to Be Giants fills the author's lifelong dream to investigate paleontologists' understanding of baby dinosaurs and their parents.

This book will be featured by the Center for the Book at the New Hampshire table in the Pavillion of the States at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. this Saturday.

12th NH Literary Awards

Last night the New Hampshire Writers' Project, in partnership with the Center for the Book at the NH State Library, presented the New Hampshire Literary Awards at a reception and ceremony sponsored by the NH Institute of Art. The readers' choice winners were selected based on the online votes of nearly 1,000 readers.

Reception before the ceremony began
(photo: Brenda Noiseux)

2016 Outstanding Work of Fiction

Awarded to a writer for a book of fiction published between June 1, 2013 and March 31, 2016. This may be a novel or a collection of short stories and may focus on a particular genre, such as mystery or science fiction. Brendan DuBois judged this category.

• Breaking Wild - Diane Les Becquets - WINNER
• Welcome to Frost Heaves - Ken Sheldon (Fred Marple) - READERS' CHOICE WINNER
• Gate City - Michael Davidow - FINALIST
• A Measure of Happiness - Lorrie Thomson - FINALIST

2016 Outstanding Book of Poetry

Awarded to a poet for an outstanding book or chapbook of poetry published between June 1, 2013 and March 31, 2016. Betsy Snider judged this category.

• Interval: Poems Based on Bach's Goldberg Variations - Alice B. Fogel - WINNER
• Snowman's Code - Midge Goldberg - FINALIST & READERS' CHOICE WINNER
• No Other Gods - Todd Hearon - FINALIST
• The Alchemy of Desire - Dianalee Velie - FINALIST
• Pretenders - Jeff Friedman - FINALIST

2016 Outstanding Work of Nonfiction Nominees

Awarded to a writer for a book of nonfiction published between June 1, 2013 and March 31, 2016. This may be creative nonfiction, biography, memoir, historical nonfiction, or books that focus on travel, education, and other nonfiction subjects. Katrina Kenison judged this category.

• The Nepal Chronicles - Dan Szczesny - WINNER & READERS' CHOICE WINNER
• Babe Conquers the World - Rich & Sandra Wallace - FINALIST
• A Berkshire Boyhood - Robert Begiebing - FINALIST

Audience members, including
Lita Judge and Marie Harris, listen to
Peter Biello's introduction
(photo: Brenda Noiseux)

2016 Outstanding Work of Children's Literature Nominees

Awarded to a writer for a work of children’s literature (picture book, chapter book) published between June 1, 2013 and March 31, 2016. Lita Judge judged this category.

• The Girl Who Heard Colors - Marie Harris - WINNER
• Albert's Almost Amazing Adventure - Marty Kelley - FINALIST & READERS' CHOICE WINNER
• This Orq (he cave boy) - David Elliott - FINALIST

2016 Outstanding Young Adult Book Nominees

Awarded to a writer for a work of young adult literature (fiction or nonfiction) published between June 1, 2013 and March 31, 2016. Joseph Monninger judged this category.

• Strange Sweet Song - Adi Rule - WINNER
• The Runaway's Gold - Emilie Christie Burack - READERS' CHOICE WINNER
• Chelsea Creek to Bunker Hill: Spring 1775 - Terri A. DeMitchell - FINALIST

NHBF Author: Lita Judge

Author and illustrator Lita Judge has written over 35 nonfiction and fiction books, including Old Blue is My Home, Mary’s Monster, Red Sled, Flight School, and DOGS, A History of Our Best Friends. Awards for her books include the International Reading Association Award, ALA Notable, NCTE Notable Book, Kirkus Best Book, and the Jane Addams Honor. Mary’s Monster received nominations for the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medal, the UK’s most prestigious children’s books awards. Her book, Flight School, was adapted into an off-Broadway musical,
playing in NYC, China, and touring across the country. She makes her home in Peterborough, New Hampshire. 

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

Book of the Week (12/18/2017)

Hoot and Peep A Song for Snow by Lita Judge (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2017).

As I write this, New Hampshire had it's first snow storm of the season recently, much to the delight of my 3 year old son (although not so much to my delight). I have to admit that his excitement for the "first snow" was infectious, so it was perfect timing that I discovered a book on this very topic - Hoot and Peep A Song for Snow by NH author and illustrator Lita Judge. You can also find coloring pages featuring Hoot and Peep for your little ones at the author's website!

It’s Peep’s first winter, and it’s going to snow very, very soon. Peep has so many questions for her older brother Hoot: Does snow drop, polppety splop, like the rain's song? Does it scrinkle scrattle like falling leaves? But Hoot can't remember snow very well. The one thing he knows for sure is that it is worth waiting for.

But Peep doesn't have his patience, and as she flies around the gorgeous Paris skies, she tries her best to make up her own snow song. But once those first snowflakes start to fall, Peep realizes just how wise her older brother really is for waiting...and just who she wants to cuddle up to when the snow starts to really sing.

With all the wonder and the joy of a first snow day, and perfect for fans of The Quiet Book and Little Owl's Night, this tender follow-up to Hoot and Peep is certainly worth waiting for, too. -- Publisher's blurb.

Q&A: Lita Judge

There are a lot of wonderful writers living in our state. As the Director of the NH Center for the Book  I get the opportunity to talk to many of them. This interview series of Q&As with New Hampshire authors here on Book Notes lets me share that experience a bit with my blog readers.

Lita Judge and friends

If someone hasn't read your  work yet, where should they start?
I write and illustrate both fiction and nonfiction picture books, so if a new reader wants to explore fiction, I’d answer Red Sled. For non fiction, I’d say Bird Talk. 

When did you first think of  yourself as a writer?
I guess it wasn’t until I published my first book, One Thousand Tracings. I had written in journals throughout my life, but thought of myself as an artist only because that is how I made my living. After writing my first book, I knew writing was just as much a part of my work as creating art and that I would continue to create stories.  

How did you end up living in NH?
I had always lived in the west and had spent very little time on the east coast. Then my husband and I traveled to Boston for the first time in 2002 and flew into the Manchester airport. Though it was a work trip with most of our time spent in Boston, we took a weekend to explore NH. One of my favorite painters, Abbot Thayer, had lived here in the early 1900’s and I wanted to explore the landscapes he had painted. We had such a lovely time that weekend, we decided to move here immediately. We flew home, put our house up for sale, packed the U-haul, and were headed back to NH by the end of that week! I had spent a total of 2 days in NH, but our instincts were right. We love the natural beauty of the land and the people here, and will spend the rest of lives here. Now we have a wonderful red house in the woods outside Peterborough with a big studio that looks like a barn on the outside.

Lita in her studio

 Where do you like to write? 
Where doesn’t matter for writing, as long as I have a cat on my lap and an idea in my heart. I always paint at my easel by the huge north light window in my studio. But for writing, I float around the house and porch choosing whichever spot looks comfy. I also love writing in my sketchbook/journal on travels.

At her easel

How important is place in  your writing?
A sense of place is hugely important in both my writing and my artwork. When creating a story, even one straight from my imagination, I want a feeling that you could get a ticket and go there. I think all my experiences traveling, writing, and painting on location have instilled a great sense of place in my work. Characters just don’t come alive to me until I’ve established where they live and play and imagine.


What do you do when you aren't writing?
I paint, and paint, and paint. Sometimes I stop to play with my parrot and cats, build a pot out of clay, or go for a hike with my husband, but I love creating and spend most of my waking time (and dreaming time as well) painting and writing. Even when traveling to places I love, I spend most of my time painting and writing in my journal, capturing everything I see and experience.

Lita sketching in the UK

What’s the best piece  of advice (writing or otherwise) you were ever given?
If you want to be a writer, read great books, and if you want to be an artist, look at great paintings. And always practice your craft everyday - write in your journal, do a sketch on location, and remember don’t just create the easier things like doing fun loose sketches or journal entries, but take a piece of work and revise it over and over again until you’ve built something from your ideas.

What books do you love  and what about them speaks to you?
There are so many – at any one time I have stacks of books near the couch, window seat, and bed. I cherish them all so it’s hard to pick favorites. Right now I’m really enjoying an eclectic mix of journals and sketchbooks by other illustrators. Their rawness and gesture quality gives me such insight to their work. I’m particularly in love with the journal memoirs of Danny Gregory. His personal journey of overcoming a devastating loss and rebuilding his life through journal writing and sketching is a big inspiration to me. I’ve also read and reread When Woman Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams. Her insight to finding one’s personal voice in their writing has been a huge inspiration. For children’s books – oh so many I love, but I return over and over to Red Sings from the Treetops by Joyce Sidman and A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip and Erin Stead. The warmth and love conveyed in these two books constantly restores me.

What are you working  on now?
I have so many projects in the works! I have a new book coming out now, entitled Red Hat which is a story with the characters from Red Sled. And I just finished another fiction story called Flight School about a penguin with big dreams. I also have a couple of nonfiction books in the works, How Big Were Dinosaurs, and a book about baby animals. And now I’m having a ball writing a book about my parrot, Beatrix. This book is so much fun! I’ve been working hard at the storyboard putting this together, while the real Beatrix whistles and sings inspiration. I’ll be posting videos and the first of these sketches on my blog and website.

What do you want to share that I neglected to ask  about?
My inspirations for my stories come from everything. Things I see, my travels, things I learn through conversations and reading, but my greatest inspiration are the animals I love. From the wildlife I helped care for as a kid with my grandparents (who were wildlife biologists) to the pets I have today, these animals inspire my writing and my art. I draw from life as often as I can, capturing each nuanced gesture and expression, filling up journal after journal. And from those drawings comes many of my favorite stories. The drawings always come first, then the words. It’s as if I must create the look and feel of my character before I can hear their voices. I know many writers have different approaches, but drawing my characters is my way into a story, opening up my understanding of their characters so that I can build their stories.



Beatrix

Ladybug Longlist: Animals

A is for Axolotl by Catherine Macorol

"This book gives the opportunity for including non-fiction in the selection.  There is a great opportunity for researching some of the animals that pique student interest." -- nominator

Don't Worry Wuddles by Lita Judge

"The book has great kid-appeal with a fun and engaging story and delightful farm illustrations.  Bonus, Lita lives in NH!" -- nominator

I am a Great Friend! by Lauren Stohler

"Children can identify with main character Baby Capybara who is exuberant but oblivious to others.  Gradually he comes to understand himself better and how his actions affect others. Social/Emotional growth!" -- nominator

The King Penguin by Vanessa Roeder

"A fun book for helping young people think about how to work together." -- nominator

Mine! by Candice Fleming and Eric Rohmann

"Cute rhyming story about greed, patience and twists of fate." -- nominator

Wildfire! by Ashley Wolff

"Beautifully illustrated story that shows the drama and renewal of a forest fire." -- nominator

This post is one of a series of 12 "bite-sized" pieces into which we have divided the 2024 Ladybug Picture Book Award Long List to help NH librarians consider all the potential nominees. Please review the full list (or wait until we have covered all the titles) before you cast your vote as you can only vote once.

3 on a Theme: Monsters

Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein by Lita Judge

Monstrous by MarcyKate Connolly

Monsters of the Northeast: True Tales of Bigfoot, Vampires, and Other Legendary Creatures by Jessica Freeburg & Natalie Fowler

Ladybug Season Begins

Ladybug Picture Book Award votes are due in 12 weeks (by 4:30pm on Friday, December 11, 2015). That means you should start reading next week (September 21st) if you want to cover one book each week (skipping Thanksgiving week) and have a week for the voting. 

Voting materials for 2015 are at http://ladybug.nhbookcenter.org/  There is a picture ballot suitable for kids to use when voting (or you can have them vote whatever way works for you); a link to the online tally sheet  and a paper tally sheet you must use if you will be sending in votes rather than using the online tally sheet.

 The 2015 nominees for the Ladybug Picture Book Award are:

• Sleepover with Beatrice & Bear by Monica Carnesi (Nancy Paulsen Books)
• The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers (Philomel Books)
• This Orq (He Cave Boy) by David Elliott and Lori Nichols (Boyds Mills Press)
• Flight School by Lita Judge (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
• As an Oak Tree Grows by G. Brian Karas (Nancy Paulsen Books)
• The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig and Patrice Barton (Alfred A. Knopf)
• Maple by Lori Nichols (Nancy Paulsen Books)
• Blizzard by John Rocco (Disney/Hyperion)
• Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman (Dial Books for Young Readers)
• Mama Built a Little Nest by Jennifer Ward and Steve Jenkins (Beach Lane Books)

Ladybug Nominees 2015

The Ladybug Picture Book Award committee has chosen the nominees for the 2015 Ladybug Picture Book Award.

New Hampshire children, from preschool to third grade, will select the winning picture book when they vote in November 2015. The deadline for sending in vote tally sheets will be Friday, December 11, 2015 at 4:30pm. Voting materials will be posted on the Ladybug web page in July. Full catalog records for all of the nominated titles are available in the NHU-PAC. 
If you want to get ahead of the crowd you can go ahead and order your Ladybug Stickers anytime. 

The 2015 nominees for the Ladybug Picture Book Award are:

•  Sleepover with Beatrice & Bear by Monica Carnesi (Nancy Paulsen Books)
• The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers (Philomel Books)
• This Orq (He Cave Boy) by David Elliott and Lori Nichols (Boyds Mills Press)
• Flight School by Lita Judge (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
• As an Oak Tree Grows by G. Brian Karas (Nancy Paulsen Books)
• The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig and Patrice Barton (Alfred A. Knopf)
• Maple by Lori Nichols (Nancy Paulsen Books)
• Blizzard by John Rocco (Disney/Hyperion)
• Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman (Dial Books for Young Readers)
• Mama Built a Little Nest by Jennifer Ward and Steve Jenkins (Beach Lane Books)

Summer Book Show on NHPR

On The Exchange Thursday Laura Knoy talked to local booksellers Dan Chartrand, Michael Herrmann, and Jeff Smull about what they are reading and recommending this summer. Lots of good books were mentioned, including several that have been books-of-the-week recently.

Had they asked me, I would add to the discussion about Sy Montgomery's Birdology that if the idea of birds evolving from dinosaurs interests you another local author's work to check out is Lita Judge's new book, Born to Be Giants.

And the winners are ...

The 2010 New Hampshire Letters About Literature competition received 684 entries in the from New Hampshire students. Of these, 47 letters were selected as New Hampshire LAL Semi-Finalists. From those 47 letters a panel of NH judges selected these three as the winners:

• A letter to Judy Blume from Kristin Chan , a fifth grader at Infant Jesus School (Nashua, NH), was selected as 2010 Level I NH winner.
• Lauren Kiessling , an student at Haverhill Cooperative Middle School, wrote the 2010 Level II NH winning letter to Jodi Picoult.
• Sarah Schott, a student at Belmont High School wrote the letter that was selected as the 2010 Level III NH winner. She did not give us permission to publish her letter.

The 2010 NH Letters About Literature judges were: Georgeanne Boyd, a teacher at Plymouth Regional HS; Walter Butts, NH Poet Laureate; Ann Hoey, Youth Services Coordinator, NH State Library; author Lita Judge; Albert McKeon, a reporter at The Telegraph; and Christopher Rose, a teacher at the Mary A. Fisk School.

NH Booklist: Nonfiction

• The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery. (Ballantine Books, 2006)
• Dirty Whites and Dark Secrets: Sex and Race in Peyton Place by Sally Hirsch-Dickinson (University of New Hampshire Press, 2011)
• The Science of Star Wars by Jeanne Cavelos (St. Martin’s Press, 1999)
• The Coat Route: Craft, Luxury & Obsession on the Trail of a $50,000 Coat by Meg Lukens Noonan (Spiegel & Grau, 2013)
• Born to be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge (Roaring Brook, 2010)
• Our Little Secret: The True Story of a Teenage Killer and the Silence of a Small New England Town by Kevin Flynn and Rebecca Lavoie (Berkley Books, 2010)
• Live Free and Eat Pie: A Storyteller’s Guide to New Hampshire by Rebecca Rule (Islandport Press, 2008)
• Turn and Jump: How Time and Place Fell Apart by Howard Mansfield (Down East, 2010)
• A Barn in New England: Making a Home on Three Acres by Joseph Monninger (Chronicle Books, 2001)

In honor of New Hampshire Writers' Week,  each day this week we will present a list of books by NH Writers. Each day will have its own theme and no writer will be included more than once or in more than one list (though many of our state's writers work in multiple genres). We invite you to tell us about your favorite works of nonfiction by NH authors by adding comments to this post. 

Ladybug 2024 Shortlist

The first round of Ladybug Picture Book Award voting closed earlier this week and we are ready to move on to round 2.

We have heard from many school libraries that fitting ten nominees into the time between the start of school and the December voting deadline is often quite difficult. Based on this feedback, we are going to select 9 nominees this year which we hope will ease some of the stress of scheduling story times for each nominated book.

Ninety-three people weighed in on the long list of nominees and we have eliminated from consideration any title that did not get at least 9% of the total votes cast. This left us with a shortlist of 20 titles from which NH librarians are invited to vote for the 9 titles that they think should be nominated for the 2024 Ladybug Picture Book Award.

The Final Round 2024 Ladybug Nomination Survey is now open and will remain open until Sunday, 3/24/2024. 

PLEASE NOTE that you can only vote once from your device (phone, computer, whatever you use to browse the web) so don't preview the survey, as you will not be able to go back again to vote.

To help make sure as many people as possible in the NH library community have an opportunity to check out these books before voting for the final nominees we have linked each of the titles below to a video of the book being read. We did not create any of these videos; they are from a variety of sources. Where there was a version available read by the author we chose that, otherwise we chose the best depiction of the book that we could find. 

 

2024 Ladybug Picture Book Award Shortlist

• 100 Mighty Dragons All Named Broccoli by David LaRochelle and Lian Cho
• A is For Axolotl by Catherine Macorol and Aimee Sicuro
• Bears are Best! by Joan Holub and Laurie Keller
• Beneath by Cori Doerrfeld
• Big by Vashti Harrison
• Don't Worry Wuddles by Lita Judge
• Flat Cat by Tara Lazar and Pete Oswald
• Fluffy McWhiskers Cuteness Explosion by Stephen W. Martin and Dan Tavis
• Gibberish by Young Vo
• Hidden Gem by Linda Liu
• I am a Dragon! by Sabina Hahn
• I am a Tornado by Drew Beckmeyer
• I Eat Poop by Mark Pett
• Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Yas Imamura
• Mine! by Candice Fleming and Eric Rohmann
• Once Upon A Book by Grace Lin and Kate Messner
• The Mermaid with No Tail by Jessica Long and Airin O’Callaghan
• The Red Jacket by Bob Holt
• Wallflowers by MacKenzie Joy
• Wildfire! by Ashley Wolff

 

 

Ladybug 2026 Shortlist

The first round of Ladybug Picture Book Award voting closed earlier this week and we are ready to move on to round 2.

Eighty-five people weighed in on the long list of nominees and we have eliminated from consideration any title that did not get at least 7 votes. This left us with a shortlist of 18 titles from which NH librarians are invited to vote for the 9 titles that they think should be nominated for the 2026 Ladybug Picture Book Award.
 
The Final Round 2026 Ladybug Nomination Survey is now open and will remain open until Sunday, 3/22/2026.

PLEASE NOTE that you can only vote once from your device (phone, computer, whatever you use to browse the web) so don't preview the survey, as you will not be able to go back again to vote.

To help make sure as many people as possible in the NH library community have an opportunity to check out these books before voting for the final nominees, we have linked each of the titles below to a video of the book being read. We did not create any of these videos; they are from a variety of sources. Where there was a version available read by the author, we chose that, otherwise we chose the best depiction of the book that we could find.
 
2026 Ladybug Picture Book Award Shortlist:

Aggie and the Ghost by Matthew Forsythe
The Bakery Dragon and the Fairy Cake by Devin Elle Kurtz
Bear and the Three Goldilocks by Patrick Horn and Dan Yaccarino
Broken by X. Fang
Cat Nap by Brian Lies
Cranky, crabby crow (saves the world) by Corey R. Tabor
The Day the Books Disappeared by Joanna Ho, Caroline Kusin Pritchard and Dan Santat
Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson  and Dan Santat
The Humble Pie by Jory John and Pete Oswald 
If I Built a Town by Chris Van Dusen
If We Were Dogs by Sophie Blackall
The Man Who Didn't Like Animals by Deborah Underwood and LeUyen Pham 
Never Give a Baby a Library Card by Erin Sandberg and Tom Booth
Old Blue is My Home by Lita Judge
Pop! Goes the Nursery Rhyme by Betsy Bird and Andrea Tsurumi
Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale From a Little Cave by Drew Beckmeyer
The Wild Robot on the Island by Peter Brown
Zip Zap Wickety Wack: A Story About Sharing by Matthew Diffee

Notes from my inbox

There have been a number of interesting book-related items in my email recently:

• White Birch Books announced the 2009 Celebration of Books Gala featuring special guest Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog and Garden of Last Days. The Gala event will be held on Tuesday, June 23, at the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort, and will feature a 3-course meal, a visit with Andre and a book signing. They will throw in some free books and some fun and games to round out the evening. Tickets are $40 per person or $300 per table of 8 and are available only at the bookstore. Proceeds from the ticket sales will go to the North Conway Library. White Birch Books is located at 2568 Main Street, North Conway, NH (603-356-3200)
  
• On Saturday, June 20, 2009 at 3 o'clock the NH State Library will host the Poetry Society of New Hampshire and its guests Walter Butts, New Hampshire Poet Laureate and Patricia Fargonoli, immediate past New Hampshire Poet Laureate. Both poets will read their work.
  
• NYT bestselling author Lisa Gardner will release her new book, The Neighbor later this month. White Birch Books will host a debut party for the book on Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 7 p.m., at the Lutheran Church across from the bookstore. White Birch Books is located at 2568 Main Street, North Conway, NH (603-356-3200)
  
• The Conway Public Library and Host Tom Diegoli are continue their monthly Open Mic series featuring Poetry, Acoustic Music, and Storytelling to be held on the 2nd Monday of every month, from 6:30-8:30PM, downstairs at the Library. Everyone is welcome to come and share, or just to listen. On Monday, June 8th, there will be a triple feature: Library’s June Artist of the Month will be Dawn Marion; Featured writers Poet Brad Marion, (Dawn’s husband); and Biker Poet Extraordinaire K. Peddlar Bridges. Rumor has it that Tom has a brand new story in his Scratch Wooley series, too....
  According to Tom: "The Rules for the Open Mic will be: Max 5 minutes per performer. There will be a Sign-Up Sheet for all who would like to participate. Performers may be allowed more time but they must arrange it with Tom beforehand, time permitting. A second round may also be possible if time allows, so bring some extra material along, too. For more information, directions, etc., you can email Tom at (and please be sure to put “Open Mic” in the subject line to get past the spam filter) or you can call the Library at 447-5552."
  
• The Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough is hosting readings this month with P. J. O'Rourke (Saturday, June 6th at 11am); Nancy Mellon (Saturday, June 13th at 11am); and Lita Judge (on Saturday, June 13th at 2pm).
  
• New Hampshire is kicking off the summer reading program, “Summertime…and the Reading is Easy.”

If you have book related NH news, please send me an email about it!