In an effort to cure her own baby of his incessant crying, a mother inadvertently starts an epidemic of crying babies in her village.

Designed to aid adults—parents, teachers, librarians—in selecting from the best of recent children's literature, this guide provides 1,400 reviews of books published between 1979 and 1984. This volume carries on the tradition established by Zena Sutherland's two earlier collections covering the periods from 1966 to 1972 and 1973 to 1978. Her 1973 edition of The Best in Children's Books was cited by the American School Board Journal as one of the outstanding books of the year in education.

In an effort to cure her own baby of his incessant crying, a mother inadvertently starts an epidemic of crying babies in her village.

Matches quality children's books with each day of the year to provide a focus for story time. The lessons in this book will help children develop creative connections between reading and the world around them, introducing them to many other people and places throughout the world.

This bestselling "lyrical, moving book: part essay, part memoir, part surprising cultural study" is an examination of why we cry, how we cry, and what it means to cry from a woman on the cusp of motherhood confronting her own depression (The New York Times Book Review). Heather Christle has just lost a dear friend to suicide and now must reckon with her own depression and the birth of her first child. As she faces her grief and impending parenthood, she decides to research the act of crying: what it is and why people do it, even if they rarely talk about it. Along the way, she discovers an artist who designed a frozen–tear–shooting gun and a moth that feeds on the tears of other animals. She researches tear–collecting devices (lachrymatories) and explores the role white women’s tears play in racist violence. Honest, intelligent, rapturous, and surprising, Christle’s investigations look through a mosaic of science, history, and her own lived experience to find new ways of understanding life, loss, and mental illness. The Crying Book is a deeply personal tribute to the fascinating strangeness of tears and the unexpected resilience of joy.