Leon's Picks

Having grown up in Montana, I have always had one foot in the Rockies and the other one wading in the Atlantic Ocean. My book interests are schizophrenic as well, because I have never stopped reading children’s books. I especially love children’s book illustrators, my favorite being Maurice Sendak.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

by Grace Lin

This beautiful little book with terrific illustrations is the exciting adventure of a young girl on a quest to meet the Old Man of the Moon. Wonderfully told in a series of folk-like tales that follow the heroine to the next quest in her adventure. 2010 Newbery Honor Award winner. (Ages 8 and up.)

Swamp Angel

by Anne Isaacs

Swamp Angel, a Caldecott Honor Book, is hilarious. The exaggerated antics of the tall-tale characters are outrageous, making this an ideal read-aloud. The paintings by Paul Zelinsky are delightful as well--rendered on natural wood--which gives them a wonderful folk-art effect.

Dragon's Blood

by Jane Yolen

This first book in a terrific series by the venerable Jane Yolen, throws us into the harsh, unusual slave world of Pit Dragons, which must fight in large arenas. Jakkin must buy his way out of bondage by secretly training a dragon hatchling. (Ages 10 and up.)

Tutankhamun

by Demi

Exquisitely illustrated in golds and rich color, Demi's picturebook is also an excellent biography for young readers. (Suitable for all ages.)

Gertruda's Oath

by Ram Oren

The Nazis have invaded Poland, and a Catholic nanny is trying to get a Jewish boy to Israel. She promised his mother she would, as his mother lay dying. His father is in France and cut off from his family.

The biographer brilliantly weaves in the stories of other people with whom they come in contact; an SS officer for instance, who saves the child by helping him hide his Jewish identity.

The nanny and the boy end up on the refugee ship Exodus as they try to break into Israel's waters past the British blockade. This is an amazing story, compelling and ultimately triumphant.

Anna Karenina

by Leo Tolstoy

Anna is without question my favorite European novel. This paperback edition is very handsome and has a wonderful new translation. At the center of the novel is Anna, her horrid marriage, and her devastating affair with Count Vronsky. This is contrasted with the courtship and marriage of Anna's cousin Kitty, who marrys the amiable Levin. And it is through Levin that we get a glimpse of the life and world of Tolstoy himself, as he modeled the character of Levin on his own life.