2012 Notable Children's Books - Middle Grades

I read The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families, Migrant, Nursery Rhyme Comics..., The Third Gift, Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku.  My Favorite was The Mangrove Tree.  I loved how you could read the left hand pages to younger kids and perhaps summarize the factual information on the right hand pages...or read the book page by page to older kids.  Great ecological message.  My grandson loved Nursery Rhyme Comics.  We had to reread and discuss several of the stories...and he is a reluctant listener (5 years old).  Pictures in Migrant were whimsical.  Cal was endearing.  We were surprised to learn that myrrh comes from a tree.