Staff picks are selected each month and archived here. Check back often to find more suggestions for great reading.

To view previous staff picks, please click on the dates below:

Nov-Dec 2003

Jan-Feb 2004

April 2004

May 2004

Summer 2004

September 2004

October 2004

Nov-Dec 2004


Back to current Picks


January 2005


2004 in Review

January, February and March 2004

(Click here for reviews)

The Red Rose Box by Brenda Woods

The Bartimaeus Trilogy Book 1: The Amulet of Samarkard by Jonathan Stroud

Brundibar written by Yony Kushner, illustrated by Maurice Sendak

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libby Bray


April 2004

(Click here for reviews)

Superdog: The Heart of a Hero by Carolyn Buehner, illustrated by Mark Buehner

Flying Feet by James Stevenson

Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes

The Oracle Betrayed by Catherine Fisher

Pirate Pete Sets Sail by Jean-Pierre Jaggi, illustratd by Alan Clarke

The Singer of All Songs (Bk 1 of The Chanters of Tremaris) by Kate Constable

The Various by Steve Augarde

The Young Royals: Patience, Princess Catherine by Carolyn Meyer

Lily Quench Book 1: Lily Quench and the Dragon of Ashby by Natalie Jane Prior


May 2004

(Click here for reviews)

The Report Card by Andrew Clements

Bad Bears in the Big City by Daniel and Jill Pinkwater

The Bridge is Up by Babs Bell

Heartbeat by Sharon Creech

A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Moss

The Last Chance Texaco by Brent Hartiger

Messenger by Lois Lowry

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg

Story Time by Edward Bloor


Summer 2004

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Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe

The Edge Chronicles: Beyond the Deepwoods by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

The Edge Chronicles: Stormchaser by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Sidewalk Circus by Paul Fleischman, Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Ophie Out of Oz by Kathleen O'Dell


September 2004

Featuring Baltimore Book Festival Authors & Illustrators
(Click here for reviews)

"Animal Tales" by Jim Weiss

"Galileo and the Stargazers" by Jim Weiss

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

Leaping Beauty by Gregory Maguire

Exiled: Memoirs of a Camel by Kathleen Karr

Willoughby Spit Wonder by Jonathon Scott Fuqua

Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde

Wizard at Work by Vivian Vande Velde

T is for Terrible by Peter McCarty

The Flag Maker by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Illustrated by Claire A. Nivola

Behind You by Jacqueline Woodson

Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson

The Lost Colony of Roanoke by Jean Fritz, Illustrated by Hudson Talbott

Not Quite a Stranger by Colby Rodowsky

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen, Ilustrated by Kadir Nelson

Castle of the Cats by Eric A. Kimmel

The Stink Files Dossier 001: The Postman Always Brings Mice by Holm & Hamel


October 2004

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Gothic! Ten Original Dark Tales edited by Deborah Noyes

Grandy Thaxter's Helper by Douglas Rees, Illustrated by S. D. Schindler

Pumpkin Cat by Ann Turner, Illustrated by Amy June Bates


November and December 2004

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Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke

The Game of Sunken Places by M. T. Anderson

The Royal Mice by Loretta Krupinski

Hana in the Time of the Tulips by Deborah Noyes, Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

African Princess: The Amazing Lives of Africa's Royal Women by Joyce Hansen, Illustrated by Laurie McGaw

Lu and teh Swamp Ghost by James Carville with Patricia C. McKissack, Illustrated by David Catrow

Mira Mirror by Mette Ivie Harrison

Piratica: Being a Daring Tale of a Singular Girl's Adventure Upon the High Seas by Tanith Lee

Betsy and the Emperor by Staton Rabin