Alice Cary

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Into the woods, under the sea

Feature by Alice Cary

Full of well-researched details and evocative illustrations, two middle grade books tell stories rooted in the natural world and offer informative looks at how humanity impacts the environment.

Readers will look at crows quite differently after reading Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt’s Little Bird, the tale of a young crow who’s the smallest member of her flock.

Little Bird lives a bucolic life at the Old Davis Farm, where humans live alongside domesticated farm animals as well as the wild creatures who dwell in the forests, lakes and mountains nearby. Voigt’s plot kicks into high gear when a fisher cat (a carnivorous mammal in the weasel family) kills a fledgling crow as Little Crow watches in horror. The predator also steals the flock’s prized possession, a shiny silver pendant the crows call “Our Luck,” so Little Crow ventures into the great unknown beyond the farm to try to retrieve it.

During her quest, Little Crow becomes a winged detective who encounters a variety of animals, all of whom Voigt gives distinct personalities without overly anthropomorphizing. Little Crow also learns about great dangers, such as Longsticks (guns), the Sickness (rabies) and Fire. She begins to realize that she can choose her own path in life, instead of always following her flock’s bossy leaders.

As a reader, it’s a pleasure to put yourself into the hands of a writer like Voigt, whose career as an author for young readers spans nearly four decades. Voigt’s research into the natural world and her masterful sensibility on the page combine to create a wild and wonderful adventure told completely from a corvid’s point of view. This memorable tale is a celebration of knowledge and truth, as well as the importance of understanding and communicating with those who are like and unlike yourself. As Little Bird herself observes, “The more you can understand, the more you can know.” It’s also about the joy of stepping outside your comfort zone and finding new experiences. Those are some mighty meaningful lessons for one little bird.

After just a few pages, readers will be completely immersed in the underwater world of Rosanne Parry’s A Whale of the Wild, which follows a pod of orca whales in the Salish Sea between British Columbia and Washington. “We alone among the creatures of the sea share our food,” explains Vega, a young whale who is training to be a “wayfinder” for her family. In her matriarchal pod, led by Greatmother, Vega helps her mother look after her younger brother, Deneb, and is eagerly anticipating the imminent birth of her sister.

As described by Parry, pod life is fascinating, but it’s impacted by the hungry group’s desperate search for increasingly hard-to-find salmon. Their family lore includes a traumatic attack by humans when Vega’s mother was young; several brothers were killed, and her sister and cousins were taken away, presumably to a theme park or aquarium. Parry, whose previous book, A Wolf Called Wonder, explored the dynamics of a wolf pack, skillfully incorporates details about orcas as well as the many threats to their existence. The majestic scene in which Vega’s long-awaited sister arrives, only for tragedy to strike, is especially moving.

The pod’s grief, along with a massive earthquake and subsequent series of tsunamis, trigger a terrifying cascade of events that result in Vega and Deneb becoming separated from their pod. They seek safety in the normally forbidden deep ocean, trying to avoid the many overturned “boats that bleed poison” and other debris. Vega sees firsthand what she’s been taught: “What touches the water touches us all.”

Although Vega and Deneb experience the consequences of ocean pollution, they also encounter humans trying to make a positive impact on the lives of marine wildlife. Vega recalls her uncle’s words: “Perhaps there is nothing more than to swim beside those you love and help them with all your strength.” A Whale of the Wild offers brisk drama alongside insight and wisdom, demonstrating the vital importance of taking care of each other and the world we live in—above and below the surface.

Full of well-researched details and evocative illustrations, two middle grade books tell stories rooted in the natural world and offer informative looks at how humanity impacts the environment.
Children's & YAPicture Book

In the city, wonder awaits

Feature by Alice Cary

Ordinary city life becomes extraordinary when seen through the eyes of talented author-illustrators Chris Raschka and Christy Hale.

Two-time Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka’s In the City celebrates the joys of newfound friendship. Two girls, one Black and one white, make their way separately through a city while pigeons circle overhead. “Could a friend be waiting for me?” they each wonder.

As the girls walk, pigeons soar above and settle down to roost on a statue in a park. The girls sit on the same park bench and watch the birds. “Now we see them one for one,” the text says, highlighting differences among the birds, including gleaming rainbows of colored feathers. A turn of the page finds the girls facing each other, reaching out to hold hands as the flock takes flight around them. Raschka asks, “How do two friends find each other?”

Raschka’s watercolor city teems with color and movement. Reddish buildings give way to park trees in myriad shades of green. He unites the girls and the birds through a similar shade of blue, seen on one girl’s glasses, the other girl’s hair scrunchie and the pigeons’ neck feathers. Raschka’s plain-spoken prose forms rhyming couplets that never feel forced, and his refrain evokes the coos of pigeons and is sure to be echoed by engaged young readers.

Combining all the ingredients for a perfect read-aloud picture book, In the City is a visual feast and an introspective meditation on the rewards of noticing what’s right in front of us.

The streets of Brooklyn snap into focus on the very first page of Christy Hale’s Out the Door, a salute to the daily routines that define our lives. A girl walks down the front steps of her home, heads down the sidewalk with her father and rides the bustling subway to school. Minimal text and bright, cheerful illustrations reveal every step of the journey. Tree branches arc overhead as she walks down her street. She crosses beneath a traffic light, walks down the subway station stairs, waits on a crowded platform and strolls past shops and skyscrapers.

The book’s prose is spare. “Through a tunnel in the dark” is the only text on a page with a cross section of the city, depicting the girl’s train as it travels beneath the streets. Hale styles prepositions in bold and uses different colors to set them off from the rest of the words, emphasizing the motion of the girl’s journey. Her collage illustrations initially appear as deceptively sparse as her prose, but a closer look reveals skillful use of pattern, texture and detail that brings the city to life as the girl travels through it to school and back home again.

There’s great comfort to be found in such routines, and youngsters will be riveted by the sights and sounds of Hale’s city. Out the Door is a charming read that will prompt readers to reflect on their own daily rituals.

Ordinary city life becomes extraordinary when seen through the eyes of talented author-illustrators Chris Raschka and Christy Hale.

Two-time Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka’s In the City celebrates the joys of newfound friendship. Two girls, one Black and one white, make their way separately through a…

Children's & YAPicture Book

Celebrate the joy of working together for a greater cause

Feature by Alice Cary

Two picture books inspired by real-life community organizations demonstrate the great things we can achieve when we all pitch in.

Based on Jillian Tamaki’s experience of volunteering at a community kitchen in Brooklyn, Our Little Kitchen follows a mother and child who help a group of volunteers prepare and serve a meal for their community.

As the story begins, everyone springs into action to assemble ingredients from a garden as well as the kitchen’s cupboards and refrigerator. The group’s leader heats up day-old bread until it’s “soft and warm, as good as new!” then ponders what to do with canned beans for the third week in a row. Once the cooking starts, the pages burst with onomatopoeias in huge, sprawling letters (“glug glug glug” and “chop chop chop chop chop”). When the leader shouts “FIFTEEN MINUTES!” in a spiky speech bubble that nearly fills the whole page, the energy and urgency is palpable.

Every page sizzles and pops as Tamaki captures the kitchen’s hustle and bustle. Lively, detailed visuals abound, often depicted from unusual perspectives such as extreme close-ups and overhead angles. Even the book’s endpapers feature illustrated recipes. Tamaki’s thoughtful author’s note is the icing on this treat: “We are often told that a single person can change the world. Just think what many of us can accomplish—with our bodies, voices, votes, and hearts—together.” Our Little Kitchen is an inspiring call to action that will warm readers’ hearts and tummies.

Cooking a community dinner can be a haphazard, improvised affair, but stitching a community quilt is a measured and precise endeavor. Such contrasting processes make The All-Together Quilt the perfect counterpoint to Our Little Kitchen.

Lizzy Rockwell has more than 30 books to her name, but The All-Together Quilt is especially personal. Her author’s note describes her involvement with a Connecticut-based quilting group called Peace by Piece. Senior citizens, kids from the neighborhood and adult volunteers like Rockwell meet two afternoons each week at a senior housing facility to stitch. Their quilts hang in public libraries, a community college and a children’s museum.

Zeroing in on small acts of collaboration between kids and adults, Rockwell depicts the group making a quilt from start to finish. Her images are informative as well as narrative and include labeled diagrams of sewing tools and illustrations of classic quilt blocks. There’s even an explanation of the origins of each fabric used, from an African wax print to a Scottish plaid. The strong how-to component may encourage young readers to learn to make their own quilts.

The book’s communal spirit is epitomized in a glorious spread that shows a diverse group of people of all ages gathered around a quilting frame, working together to create something beautiful. “It takes a long time to quilt the quilt,” the text reads. “Everybody lends a hand.” The All-Together Quilt is an exemplary, colorful and moving blend of fact and fiction.

Two picture books inspired by real-life community organizations demonstrate the great things we can achieve when we all pitch in.

Based on Jillian Tamaki’s experience of volunteering at a community kitchen in Brooklyn, Our Little Kitchen follows a mother and child who help a group…

NonfictionNature

A walk in the woods

Feature by Alice Cary

We don’t just live on this planet; we’re part of it. These books help foster a stronger relationship with the living world around us.

In 1851, Henry David Thoreau wrote that he came to the woods “as a hungry man to a crust of bread.” More than 150 years later, many of us continue to crave the forest. These four books provide a variety of fun ways to immerse yourself in the natural world.

If you’re searching for a perfect gift book with broad appeal, 100 Things to Do in a Forest by Jennifer Davis may be the answer. Inside are 100 creative ways to spice up your woodsy wanderings, brought to life with colorful illustrations by Eleanor Taylor. Creative types will appreciate recipes for hedgerow jam and campfire bread. Kids of all ages will love making a grass whistle. Try a dice-rolling walk or (yikes!) cowpat Frisbee—although Davis assures readers that cow “poo is not smelly, dirty or harmful.” There are suggestions for woodland yoga, meditating or local gifting, such as leaving a book in a tree for someone else to find. Pair 100 Things to Do in a Forest with a local trail guide, and keep an outdoor lover busy for many happy months.

“There has always been singing in dark times—and wonder is needed now more than ever.”

America's National Historic TrailsCongress created the National Trails System in 1968, and since then it has designated 19 National Historic Trails that commemorate and protect routes of historic significance, special places that allow hikers to experience firsthand “the intersection of story and landscape,” as Karen Berger explains in America’s National Historic Trails: In the Footsteps of History. Some trails are coastal routes, while others cross the inland landscape, and they range in length from 54 to 5,000 miles. Stretching across time and weaving throughout the nation’s history, they include the East Coast’s Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, the Lewis and Clark Trail, the Oregon Trail, Alaska’s Iditarod Trail, Hawaii’s Ala Kahakai Trail and many more.

Each entry contains stunning photographs by Bart Smith and a detailed discussion of the history and geography of the route, as well as a list of specific historic sites, such as museums and visitors’ centers, along the way. Whether you’re a history buff, an outdoor enthusiast or both, America’s National Historic Trails offers a wealth of touring possibilities. I’m already making a list.

Backyard Birdwatcher's BibleWhen a great horned owl perched on my deck railing one winter afternoon, it felt like a mysterious, magical and majestic visitor had arrived. Keep a copy of The Backyard Birdwatcher’s Bible close at hand, and you’ll be more than ready to identify your own winged guests. Compiled by an impressive team of experts, the book contains a lengthy identification guide with corresponding photos. A discussion of “Birdwatching for Beginners” explains that migration pathways are inherited. Astonishingly, a common cuckoo chick raised by a foster parent can migrate months after its genetic parents have left and still find its way to Africa.

The “Birds in Art” section is especially fascinating, showcasing a variety of artists and their work. Some of their stories will astound you, such as English photographer Eric Hosking, who was struck by a tawny owl and lost sight in one eye. Undeterred from his passion, he went on to take “the first ever flash photograph—ironically, of an owl with its prey.”

There are also helpful tips on how to attract birds, with step-by-step instructions for building a nest box. Grab a pair of binoculars, and you’ll be all set.

The Lost SpellsA follow-up to the bestselling The Lost Words, The Lost Spells is a combination of Robert MacFarlane’s acrostics (poems in which each line begins with a letter to spell out a word) and Jackie Morris’ illustrations of the natural world. Suitable for adults as well as younger readers, the book celebrates a range of flora and fauna, including a red fox, goldfinch, oak tree and snow hare. Calling this “a book of spells to be spoken aloud,” nature writer MacFarlane (Underland) writes, “Loss is the tune of our age, hard to miss and hard to bear. Creatures, places and words disappear, day after day, year on year. But there has always been singing in dark times—and wonder is needed now more than ever.”

This is a decidedly heartfelt volume, with accessible poems that somehow feel sacred. Morris’ hauntingly beautiful watercolors are perfectly matched to the spirit of the text. Should you find yourself unable to go outside, cozying up with The Lost Spells is the next best thing.

We don’t just live on this planet; we’re part of it. These books help foster a stronger relationship with the living world around us.
Children's & YAPicture Book

Yes, even the mice: Christmas picture books with tiny protagonists and big hearts

Feature by Alice Cary

Kind and generous mice are the stars of the show in two sparkling picture books that prove that no heart is too small to spread the joy of Christmas.

When Clement Clarke Moore penned his famous holiday poem in the early 19th century, he had no way to know that “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” as it was originally titled, would become one of the most beloved Christmas verses of all time. He certainly couldn’t have imagined how famous the lines “Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse” would become.

But according to Tracey Corderoy and Sarah Massini’s Mouse’s Night Before Christmas, there was, in fact, a mouse stirring on that Yuletide evening. In this alternate version of events, a lonely mouse is spending the night gazing in awe at the tree, decorations and gifts of the human family whose house he shares while wishing he had a friend to celebrate with. When Santa lands (with a clatter, naturally) on the lawn, having lost his way in a snowstorm, Mouse offers to act as his guide and help save the day. Will Santa make Mouse’s Christmas wish come true?

Corderoy recounts her heartwarming mouse-capade in rhyming verses that reflect the spirit of Moore’s original poem. In lines such as “He was quiet, and careful, and ever so neat— / quite the best little helper that Santa could meet!” she strikes the perfect balance between honoring Moore’s phrasing and adding her own lively twists.

Illustrator Massini’s wonder-filled images anchor the book in gorgeous pastel hues with splashes of holiday red on Santa’s suit, the reindeer's harnesses and Mouse’s dashing scarf. As Santa’s sleigh soars across the sky, it leaves a trail of bluish-white stars in its wake that contrast beautifully against the dark and wintry night sky. Massini’s work is filled with texture: the spiky needles of the Christmas tree, the curly wisps of Santa’s beard, the colorful knits of the handmade stockings hanging from the mantel.

Mouse’s Night Before Christmas is a joyful addition to the canon of Christmas picture books. It’s steeped in tradition, holiday magic and the happiness that comes from helping others and sharing joy with someone special.

A mouse named Mistletoe already has a best buddy, an elephant named Norwell, in Tad Hills' Mistletoe: A Christmas Story, a tale of unlikely friendship that will call to mind Arnold Lobel’s beloved Frog and Toad adventures.

Lively and determined, Mistletoe is an avid knitter whose lace collars, jolly striped tights and matching red cap, coat and boots epitomize prim-and-proper fashion. Norwell is a thoughtful artist who loves to stay cozy indoors, while Mistletoe loves nothing better than being outside in the falling snow. Try as she might, tiny Mistletoe can’t convince her friend to join her. Sitting by Norwell’s fire and enjoying each other’s company, they each begin to plan a Christmas surprise for the other.

Like Lobel, Hills uses understated humor throughout the story to underscore the differences between his two characters and highlight their friendship in ways guaranteed to bring a smile to readers both young and old. “Just a drop for me, and a cookie crumb, please,” Mistletoe says when offered tea. Later, as Mistletoe works night and day to knit a gift for Norwell, she “realizes two things: one, sometimes you don’t have enough yarn, and two, elephants are big!” The creator of the bestselling Duck and Goose series, Hills is hardly a stranger to odd-couple friendships, and his lively prose energizes this otherwise quiet tale.

Using a palette of bright, bold colors, Hills skillfully alternates lively panels, full-page illustrations and double-page spreads to depict Mistletoe’s holiday mission and reveal how she transforms her giant rainbow-colored balls of yarn into an enormous present for Norwell. Mistletoe knits everywhere—even in the bathtub ("which isn't easy")—in order to finish on time. Her efforts to haul her massive creation to Norwell’s house are especially comical.

A timeless story about appreciating and honoring differences among friends, Mistletoe merrily conveys the seasonal feeling of joy we experience when we share gifts from the heart.

Kind and generous mice are the stars of the show in two sparkling picture books that prove that no heart is too small to spread the joy of Christmas.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Snowy days

Feature by Alice Cary

Ezra Jack Keats set the gold standard for snow stories with his Caldecott Medal-winning book, The Snowy Day, in 1962. Two picture books are worthy additions to his legacy.

A cold and snowy day has never been so cheery as in the delightful A Sled for Gabo, which contains a winning combination of picture and prose. Author Emma Otheguy’s rich text conveys both narrative and mood in an evocative but spare style, beginning with the opening spread: “The day it snowed Gabo followed the whistling sound of an old steam radiator into the kitchen.” Illustrator Ana Ramírez González paints the large, inviting kitchen in bright colors and includes a red table, a purple and orange stove, and walls covered in light blue paint and red, green and yellow tiles.

Gabo can’t wait to head outside to play, but he doesn’t have snow gear or a sled. His mother reassures him by saying, “Vamos a resolver”—Spanish words and phrases are skillfully sprinkled throughout the story—and equips her son with his father’s hat, multiple pairs of socks and plastic bags over his sneakers. With understated, matter-of-fact determination, she sends Gabo outside to solve his own problem.

Otheguy perfectly captures the meandering freedom of a child on the hunt for fun and adventure. Gabo, who is “much too shy for anyone just his age,” roams his lively neighborhood in search of a sled and encounters a variety of friendly adults, a stray cat and a frolicking dog. When one adult joyfully presents him with a cafeteria tray, Gabo can’t help feeling “very small and very sad” because he desperately wants a real sled. But before long, Gabo finds a new friend, a girl named Isa who quickly shows him that his tray will make an excellent sled.

Ramírez González bathes Gabo’s snowy outdoor world in warm tones. The sun gleams bright yellow, the houses sparkle with a multitude of colors, and reds, oranges and pinks burst forth from everything, including Gabo’s hat and his shoelaces. The illustrations accentuate how, in this welcoming neighborhood, everyone looks after one another—even the stray cat.

By the end of the day, Gabo has learned an important lesson about the joys of friendship and about sharing and making do with what you have. A Sled for Gabo’s friendly spirit will wrap itself around your heart like the warm helping of dulce de leche that Gabo and Isa share after their perfect day of sledding.

In Ten Ways to Hear Snow, a blizzard helps a young girl understand how her beloved grandmother copes with the difficulties of aging. Lina has been looking forward to making warak enab (stuffed grape leaves) with Sitti, her Lebanese grandmother. An evening snowstorm has left their city “muffled and white,” but that doesn’t stop Lini from heading to her grandmother’s nearby apartment.

Author Cathy Camper transforms Lina’s journey into a sparkling study of both keen observation and onomatopoeia. “Ploompf!” goes the powdery snow falling from a pine tree, and “swish-wish, swish-wish” is the sound of people brushing snow off their cars. Basking in every moment of this winter wonderland, Lina tallies nine different snowy sounds during her walk. Illustrator Kenard Pak’s images are full of muted tones and plenty of white space, which emphasizes the vast, quiet mood created by the newly fallen snow. His art sets the perfect stage for Lina to hear so many different and unfamiliar sounds.

Once Lina reaches her destination, the joy of her relationship with Sitti takes over the tale. Although Sitti is losing her eyesight, grandmother and granddaughter work side by side in her kitchen, filling grape leaves with lamb and rice. When Lina holds a grape leaf up to her nose and suggests that it looks like a mustache, a cheerful illustration shows the pair clowning around and taking selfies. Sitta may be getting older, but she remains independent, energetic and full of fun.

In a final, touching scene, Lina asks Sitti how she can see snow with her diminished eyesight, and the two discuss the importance of listening. Finally, hand in hand, they venture outside, where Sitti teaches her granddaughter one final way to hear snow. Ten Ways to Hear Snow is a quietly powerful story about the ways that both young and old can help each other adapt to a changing world, told with care and insight.

Ezra Jack Keats set the gold standard for snow stories with his Caldecott Medal-winning book, The Snowy Day, in 1962. Two picture books are worthy additions to his legacy.

Children's & YAPicture BookMiddle Grade

Black history now

Feature by Alice Cary

In the pages of these books, young readers will meet American heroes and heroines who made vital and lasting contributions to a history we all share. Some lived long ago, some are still alive today, but each has left their indelible mark.

William Still and His Freedom Stories

Do you know about the remarkable life of William Still, “the Father of the Underground Railroad”? If you don’t, as Don Tate explains in William Still and His Freedom Stories, it’s because white abolitionists usually glorified their own heroism while diminishing the efforts of African Americans.

Born in New Jersey, Still was the son of formerly enslaved people who were forced to leave behind two of their elder sons when they escaped enslavement in Maryland. At just 8 years old, Still helped a neighbor avoid slave catchers and escape to safety, an experience that defined the rest of his life. As a young man, Still worked for the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery and assisted freedom-seeking people on the Underground Railroad. After a chance reunion with one of his older brothers, who had escaped and made his way north, Still began recording the testimonies of every person who passed through his office in case the stories helped family members find each other. Still concealed his records after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 to protect himself and the people he’d met, but he published them in 1872.

Tate’s short sentences and accessible language convey the urgency of Still’s work, and his illustrations sensitively communicate the danger and terror faced by enslaved people. Nighttime scenes bathed in ominous blue washes are particularly effective. There’s plenty of hope here, too. One particularly wonderful spread shows Still’s words like rays of light beaming from a copy of his book. “Stories save lives,” Tate writes. “William’s stories needed to be told, so slavery’s nightmare will never happen again.”

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre

The nightmare of racism did not end with abolition, however, and Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre is an extraordinary account of the worst racial attack in American history, a 16-hour massacre in 1921 that destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and left as many as 300 people dead.

Author Carole Boston Weatherford begins by celebrating the successes of the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, also known as Black Wall Street. It was a place where commerce and community thrived through more than 200 businesses, including beauty shops, movie theaters, soda parlors, two Black-owned newspapers and the largest Black-owned hotel in the country. Floyd Cooper’s illustrations convey the hustle and bustle of this booming, prosperous area and show the expressive faces of Greenwood’s residents filled with pride.

Then, in a spread dominated by shadow, Weatherford explains, “All it took was one elevator ride, one seventeen-year-old white elevator operator accusing a nineteen-year-old Black shoeshine man of assault for simmering hatred to boil over.”

The horror that follows is depicted with care, mindful that the book’s readers will be children. Many readers will feel angry at the injustice and violence that white police officers, city officials and Tulsa residents inflicted on the Black community in Greenwood. Cooper’s illustrations shift powerfully as expressions of fear and sadness replace pride on Greenwood residents’ faces.

The book ends in Tulsa’s modern-day Reconciliation Park with a reminder of “the responsibility we all have to reject hatred and violence and to instead choose hope.” Detailed notes from Weatherford and Cooper root the Tulsa Race Massacre in the context of anti-Black violence throughout American history. Cooper’s grandfather lived in Greenwood at the time of the massacre, a revelation that adds a deeply personal dimension to the book. Unspeakable deserves to be read by every student of American history.

Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston

Packed with evocative language and energetic illustrations, Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston is a fabulous showcase of not only Hurston’s storytelling abilities but also those of author Alicia D. Williams and illustrator Jacqueline Alcántara. Its vibrant opening lines offer a promise on which the book more than delivers: “In a town called Eatonville—a place where magnolias smelled even prettier than they looked, oranges were as sweet as they were plump, and the people just plain ol’ got along—lived a girl who was attracted to tales like mosquitoes to skin. Zora was her name.”

Williams focuses on key moments throughout Hurston’s life when she was inspired by her mother’s advice to “jump at de sun. You might not land on de sun, but at least you’d get off de ground.” As Williams chronicles Hurston’s journey toward literary greatness, she intersperses biographical details with lively commentary and poetic descriptions. Her writing sings and soars.

Alcántara’s illustrations playfully complement Williams’ prose and bring this tale to life on sunny pages filled with bright colors. Whether Hurston is running through the Florida swamps of her childhood or dancing the Charleston in Harlem, her zest for life shines through. An author’s note explains that Hurston died in 1960 and was buried in an unmarked grave until 1973, when Alice Walker honored Hurston with a tombstone inscribed with “A Genius of the South.” Jump at the Sun will leave readers in awe of the life of this national treasure and eager to discover more of her wonderful words for themselves.

That They Lived: African Americans Who Changed the World

Books that tell childhood stories of notable people are beloved by young readers, and That They Lived: African Americans Who Changed the World makes a fantastic addition to this category. Rochelle Riley profiles 20 Black leaders, including activists, scientists, athletes and artists, and accompanying each brief biography are two photographs: The first is a well-known image of the profile’s subject, and in the second, either Riley’s grandson Caleb or photographer Cristi Smith-Jones’ daughter Lola re-create the image in full costume.

Every page of this book has been tailor-made to appeal to young people, from Riley’s thoughtful profiles to the way Smith-Jones stages each portrait to honor the spirit of its subject rather than merely imitate the original photograph. Her attention to small details is extraordinary, such as Shirley Chisholm’s horn-rimmed glasses and Duke Ellington’s pocket square.

A variety of both historical and contemporary figures is included, and Riley relates fascinating stories about each of them. Muhammad Ali, for instance, might never have become a boxer if his bike hadn’t been stolen when he was 12. After he told police officer Joe Martin, “When I find whoever took my bike, I’m gonna whup him,” Martin introduced him to boxing lessons. Fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her bus seat to a white man on March 2, 1955—nine months before Rosa Parks did the same. “It felt like Harriet Tubman was pushing me down on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth was pushing me down on the other shoulder,” Colvin later recalled. “History had me glued to the seat.” Every profile ends with a takeaway, such as “Claudette Colvin taught us that you are never too young to make a difference.”

“We want to show [young people] that every important or powerful or talented or beautiful person in the world was once a child,” write Riley and Smith-Jones in a foreword. To look closely at the young faces in Smith-Jones’ photographs and then at the luminaries to which they pay tribute is to gain a powerful under- standing that Black history is being made every day—even today.

In the pages of these books, young readers will meet American heroes and heroines who made vital and lasting contributions to a history we all share. Some lived long ago, some are still alive today, but each has left their indelible mark.

Children's & YAPicture BookMiddle Grade

Make every day Earth Day

Feature by Alice Cary

Climb a tree, splash in a creek, dig in the dirt, bask in the sun—and take these wonder-filled books along as you discover all the marvels of nature and explore our responsibility to preserve and protect this beautiful planet.

Once Upon Another Time

To introduce a child to Earth’s natural splendor, start with Once Upon Another Time. This poetic ode, written by Charles Ghigna and Matt Forrest Esenwine, is short on text but packs an understated, powerful punch about stewardship. Without an ounce of sanctimony, it vitally conveys how humans have transformed Earth’s landscape.

Opening with idyllic scenes of snowy mountain peaks, rivers running through golden canyons and wild animals grazing in a lush valley, the book pivots to show how humans have filled these vistas with highways, skyscrapers, smog and machinery. Andrés F. Landazábal’s luminous illustrations span the long sweep of history, depicting everything from the cosmos, when “Earth and moon / and stars awakened,” to a modern cityscape observed by a child through their apartment window.

Once Upon Another Time concludes with a stirring call to action, urging readers to “take a step outdoors. / Breathe in air that once was shared / by monstrous dinosaurs!” Scenes of kids playing in a city park, exploring a meadow and camping under the stars will appeal to readers’ senses, urging them to hold an oak leaf, taste the rain, smell the clover and listen to the bees. This stellar book is sure to send kids outdoors equipped with new ways of observing and appreciating their surroundings.

Hello, Earth!

For readers ready to dig a little deeper, Hello, Earth! Poems to Our Planet is the perfect next step. In a collection of appealing and accessible poems, Newbery Honor author Joyce Sidman examines geology, the solar system, natural history and geography. Several pages of back matter, including short scientific explanations of each poem and website links and suggestions for further reading, complete the package. 

Sidman’s verses zoom through our planet’s long history, with stops in a jungle teeming with wildlife, a seemingly barren desert and more. In “Big and Small,” Sidman writes, “We need to figure out / the way / we fit together.” Many of the poems gently speak to the need for respect: “Earth, / you are our ship / through light / and darkness. / We will honor you.”

Miren Asiain Lora’s art depicts vast spaces in which humans are small figures amid wide-angle landscapes, a subtle but effective reminder of our place in this big world. Her spreads are bathed in slate blues and earth tones, so splashes of warmth from erupting volcanoes or the beams of a lighthouse really pop. Hello, Earth! is an excellent handbook for the youngest of Earth’s caretakers.

★ Wonder Walkers

Yearning to transform an ordinary day into an extraordinary adventure? Micha Archer’s Wonder Walkers is an exceptional, radiant tribute to the power of curiosity.

On a bright, sunny day, a girl and a boy lounge inside on the couch and pose a magical question: “Wonder walk?” This is their code for a special journey they’ve obviously taken many times before. Once outside, they ask—but don’t answer—a series of “wonder” questions that are guaranteed to perplex and delight: “Is the sun the world’s light bulb?” “Are trees the sky’s legs?” “Is the wind the world breathing?”

Archer’s exceptional collage illustrations are full of vibrant colors and textures, from striations in underground rocks and roots to swirling clouds at sunset. This book is about not only observing and pondering but also actively exploring, and on page after page, the young explorers peer into a cave, climb a massive tree, run through a valley and sink their toes into a sandy beach. Wonder Walkers is chock-full of joy, beauty and creative thinking, certain to encourage young readers to head straight outside and dream up their own imaginative questions.

★ Fatima’s Great Outdoors

For the ultimate outdoor adventure, nothing beats a camping trip. In Fatima’s Great Outdoors, Fatima Khazi is looking forward to her first such expedition after a difficult week at school dealing with microaggressions from her classmates and culminating in a bad grade on her math quiz. On the drive to the campground, excitement builds as Fatima, her parents and her older sister snack on homemade samosas and belt out Bollywood tunes.

Once the family arrives at the state park, things don’t exactly go smoothly. Fatima’s father puzzles over tent setup until Fatima suggests they read the instructions, and then she has a hard time falling asleep after spotting the frightening shadow of a spider. Despite the setbacks she encounters, Fatima’s time spent in nature, which includes wilderness chores like gathering kindling, makes her feel like a “superhero” and reminds her of “how she used to feel in India: She had fun, she didn’t feel sad or scared, and she loved how adventure was around every corner.”

Ambreen Tariq’s writing is buoyant and full of wonderfully specific details, such as Papa’s “bear claw” hand on Fatima’s shoulder and Mama’s fearlessness in the face of creepy-crawlies. Stevie Lewis’ illustrations make each page sing, and her background in film animation especially shines when depicting the Khazis’ emotive faces. Lewis’ use of light is also splendid, from the golden glow of late afternoon sun through the trees’ canopy to the tiny sparkles of fireflies under the gleaming moonlight. 

A closing spread shows the Khazis posing for a photo on a beach near a group of people holding a banner that reads, “Brown People Camping,” a real organization founded by Tariq to promote diversity in the outdoors. Fatima’s Great Outdoors seamlessly combines a celebration of adventures in nature with the story of an Indian American family navigating their new life in the United States.

Treaty Words

Treaty Words: For as Long as the Rivers Flow is an unusual book. At 60 pages, it’s longer than most picture books, and with minimal text, it takes its time in a quiet, purposeful way, just like the flowing river at the heart of its story about an Indigenous girl and her Mishomis (grandfather) who spend a day together by the river in front of his home.

The granddaughter is a city girl, but her Mishomis’ small parcel of land is “the closest thing to home for her.” Not only is her Mishomis an outdoorsman, backpacking for six weeks each spring, but he’s also actively involved in a host of environmental projects, including sturgeon restocking and territorial mapping. On this spring day, as they listen to the sounds of trees rustling, geese honking overhead and ice breaking on the river, the girl recognizes the “privilege to be there in that moment, witnessing this intense transition.” 

Author Aimée Craft’s language is exquisitely lyrical. An Anishinaabe/Métis lawyer in Manitoba, Canada, a professor at the University of Ottawa and a leading researcher on Indigenous law, Craft writes beautifully about our responsibilities as Earth’s caretakers and the importance of treaties, which Mishomis calls “the basis of all relationships.”

Anishinaabe illustrator Luke Swinson uses seemingly simple shapes filled with gentle gradients of color; there’s a stillness to them that perfectly complements Craft’s text. This contemplative book is reminiscent of a great sermon, providing a springboard for deep thought. As Craft writes, “Every person was born with a set of spiritual instructions or understandings, my girl. It’s what we do with it that defines us as human beings.”

The Outdoor Scientist

Imagine having a chance to roam around with Temple Grandin, a Colorado State University professor renowned for her pioneering research on animal behavior and her work as an autism spokesperson. That’s exactly the treat in store for readers of The Outdoor Scientist: The Wonder of Observing the Natural World. This unique book is memoir, science guide and activity book all rolled into one. Perfect for independent readers, it’s Grandin’s personal invitation for children to become citizen scientists while exploring nature. The many projects she suggests (seashell wind chimes, pine cone animals and so on) are straightforward, with no fancy equipment required. 

“I’ve always been curious about pretty much everything in nature, especially when some sleuthing is required,” Grandin writes. As a kid, the outdoors were her sanctuary, “away from everyone trying to make me catch up in reading and writing.” Grandin’s childhood stories are fun as well as fascinating, as she describes hours spent unsupervised, playing and exploring with her siblings—and family photos are included.

Discussions in each of the book’s six chapters (rocks, the beach, the woods, birds, the night skies and animal behavior) are wonderfully far-reaching, spanning everything from the pet rock craze of the 1970s to whether marbles are made of marble. Each subject transitions effortlessly to the next. Short sidebar biographies touch on other relevant scientists as well, emphasizing their childhoods and including kid-friendly facts. Did you know, for instance, that Charles Darwin was seasick nearly every day during the five years he spent aboard the Beagle? 

Grandin’s enthusiasm for citizen science is contagious, and readers of all ages will adore spending time with The Outdoor Scientist. After all, as Grandin reminds us, “You don’t have to be a professor or a professional” to make a difference—“just someone who cares about the environment.”

Climb a tree, splash in a creek, dig in the dirt, bask in the sun—and take these wonder-filled books along as you discover all the marvels of nature and explore our responsibility to preserve and protect this beautiful planet.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Magical, marvelous mothers

Feature by Alice Cary

It’s always important to let Mom know how much you love her. Two picture books celebrate what makes moms magnificent, putting Mom on the proper pedestal. One sings of the sacred connection between mother and child, while the other is packed with sass, silliness and ceaseless devotion.

If you’re searching for the perfect gift for someone’s first Mother’s Day, look no further than I Sang You Down From the Stars. Rooted in Indigenous traditions and cultures, it beautifully expresses a mother’s hopes, dreams and love for her newborn.

A Cree and Trinidadian writer living in Manitoba, Canada, author Tasha Spillett-Sumner conveys much with few words, particularly in the lines that open and close the book: “I loved you before I met you. Before I held you in my arms, I sang you down from the stars.” A pregnant woman addresses her unborn child as she collects items such as an eagle feather and a river stone for a medicine bundle. It’s “something that the child can carry and lean on through their life journey,” Spillett-Sumner explains in an author’s note.

Exquisite illustrations by 2021 Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade (We Are Water Protectors) contain a blend of earthly and ethereal touches. As we see the mother prepare for her child’s birth and then hold her newborn, and as friends and family welcome the new arrival, Goade surrounds each scene with a starry “swoosh” that depicts the “flow of energy that connects all living things.” This understated but omnipresent magical swirl leads readers from page to page. Rich, saturated shades of blue, purple, green and vermillion lend worldly weight to the text’s celestial themes.

I Sang You Down From the Stars marvelously conveys not only the bonds between mother and child but also the multitude of connections that await every child—connections to family, community and Earth itself.

What happens when that newborn bundle of joy grows up to become a real, live kid? What does it take to be a modern mom? Your Mama is an exuberant ode to supermoms everywhere. Author NoNieqa Ramos transforms “your mama” jokes into a series of poetic tributes from a daughter to her mom. For instance, “Your mama so strong, she like a marine. Up three flights of stairs, carries the groceries.”

Indeed, this cool mama is as comfortable showing her daughter how to fly a drone as she is wearing a flowing dress and high heels at parents’ night at school. She can sew costumes, plan spectacular parties and become a tour guide on rip-roaring road trips. Her adoring daughter knows all too well that this mama is her “A-Team.”

Ramos never forgets to include reality amid all the adulation. Even after the daughter messes with her mother’s makeup, uses the couch as a trampoline and makes her mother “cray cray,” her mama is still “so forgiving, she lets you keep on living.” Mama also instills important values in her daughter, taking her along every time she votes and reminding her that true wealth means “rollin’ in” friends, family and “you, her gold.”

Jacqueline Alcántara’s illustrations are as lively as Ramos’ text. They burst with bright colors, strong outlines and movement, whether Mama is marching into the library with a stack of books or jumping sky-high on the couch with her daughter. Humor and happiness fill every page, from a scene of highway karaoke with a hairbrush microphone to a spread in their kitchen in which Mama offers her daughter a lick from the cake mixer as Ramos muses, “She’s the cinnamon to your tembleque, the tres leches to your cake.”

Your Mama hits the perfect note of sweetness, without an ounce of treacle.

It’s always important to let Mom know how much you love her. Two picture books celebrate what makes moms magnificent, putting Mom on the proper pedestal.

Children's & YAPicture Book

From sea to shining sea

Feature by Alice Cary

Who are Americans, and what do they believe? How does our history shape our future? Six exceptional picture books explore our complicated, captivating country and offer meaningful perspectives on these vital questions about the great American experiment.

America, My Love, America, My Heart book cover

America, My Love, America, My Heart

In the author’s note of America, My Love, America, My Heart, Daria Peoples-Riley recalls growing up as “the only brown girl” at school, which made her feel like she wasn’t “free to be myself. . . . My country, America, didn’t feel free to me.” Her book is a glorious gift that will reassure children that they don’t have to change to accommodate people who don’t love every part of who they are.

In spare text accompanied by powerful images, Peoples-Riley conveys big, beautiful ideas. The first page depicts the narrator, a Black boy in a red shirt, his arms outspread, standing in a spotlight and looking down at his eagle-shaped shadow. “America, the Brave. America, the Bold,” writes Peoples-Riley. 

From this striking opening, the book launches into a series of questions the boy asks his country. “Do you love me when I raise my hand? My head? My voice? When I whisper? When I SHOUT?” he wants to know. Complex legacies of injustice and activism are embedded in every question.

Peoples-Riley’s muted spreads contain splashes of red, white and blue that pop with pride on every page. Her illustrations portray people of various ages and many different skin tones. She employs a variety of settings, including vast fields, towering cityscapes and the interiors of churches and classrooms. The book builds toward a resounding challenge to embody the American ideal of inclusiveness: “America, Land of the Free. America, ’Tis of Thee. America, I am you. America, you are me.”

America, My Love, America, My Heart is exquisitely wrought and provides a perfect first glimpse at patriotism and equality.

We Are Still Here! book cover

We Are Still Here!

In 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Indian Appropriations Act, which effectively declared that Native tribes and nations were not sovereign entities with whom the federal government could form treaties. Indigenous people often disappear from American history curricula after this event. “We are still here!” is the resounding refrain of Traci Sorell and Frané Lessac’s excellent informational picture book, We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know. 

Sorell, who is a dual citizen of the Cherokee Nation and the United States, has created an amazing repository of Native American history and presents it in an engaging, accessible manner. The book is her second collaboration with American-born Australian illustrator Lessac; their first, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, received a Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Honor in 2019.

The book’s title page shows a diverse group of students and their families entering the Native Nations Community School, where a clapboard by the door reveals that they’re celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Subsequent spreads represent student reports on topics such as assimilation, relocation and tribal activism. This framing device is a clever way to address many issues, with bright, colorful and kid-friendly illustrations depicting both the historical topics and the school scenes. Detailed back matter—which includes further information on each topic, an extensive timeline, a glossary, a bibliography and an author’s note—reveals the careful research that informs each spread.

An excellent resource, We Are Still Here! is an important book that highlights the sovereignty, strength and resilience of Native American peoples, tribes and nations despite centuries of mistreatment.

Areli Is a Dreamer book cover

Areli Is a Dreamer

Areli Morales describes her personal experience growing up as an immigrant who came to America without legal permission in Areli Is a Dreamer: A True Story, a heartwarming, thoughtful and accessible introduction to contemporary immigration issues. The book will be simultaneously published in a Spanish-language edition, translated by Polo Orozco.

Morales excels at gently conveying the emotional challenges of her story. Readers meet young Areli when she and her older brother, Alex, are living with their abuela in Mexico. Areli’s parents, who have already immigrated to New York, have “been away so long, they felt like strangers.” When Areli finally joins them, she is heartbroken at leaving her grandmother and friends behind but thrilled to be reunited with her family. 

However, Areli’s new city is intimidating, and her classmates tease her and call her “an illegal.” When her mother explains that without legal documentation, Areli can be sent back to Mexico and can’t become a citizen, she struggles to understand. She begins to grasp the significance of her journey during a field trip to Ellis Island. In a memorable spread, Areli gazes at the Statue of Liberty and envisions a boat full of immigrants. “She did not feel illegal,” Morales writes. “She felt like she was part of something very big.”

Despite the hardships and uncertainty that Areli experiences, Luisa Uribe’s illustrations portray scenes of Areli’s family, as well as her changing surroundings from Mexico to New York, in a lively, reassuring way. An energetic scene of July Fourth fireworks conveys Areli’s feelings of acceptance in her new home, while a visual motif of stars highlights her hopes and dreams for a bright future. 

Areli Is a Dreamer speaks to the fears and difficulties of immigration in a well-told story that never loses sight of its young heroine’s hopes and dreams. It’s a touching portrait of a loving, determined family as they deal with uncertainty and discover what it means to be American.

A Day for Rememberin' book cover

A Day for Rememberin’

A Day for Rememberin’ is a fictionalized account of the incredible events that occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 1, 1865. In one of the first known observances of Decoration Day, now known as Memorial Day, 10,000 formerly enslaved people, along with other members of the community, decorated the graves of 257 Union soldiers who died and were buried at a racetrack that had been used as a Confederate prison during the Civil War. 

Leah Henderson tells this story through the eyes of 10-year-old Eli. In lively prose, she incorporates details about Eli’s family at this critical juncture in American history. Eli’s parents had been enslaved. His mother secretly taught herself to read and tells her son that he has the “hard-earned right to learn and what it’s gonna get you beyond.” On this special day, Eli is proud to be chosen to lead a procession of children to the graves because he’s “fastest at learning [his] numbers and letters.” 

Using warm sepia tones, Coretta Scott King Award-winning illustrator Floyd Cooper brings the newly freed people in Eli’s community to life, filling their faces with expressions of determination, remembrance, mourning and celebration. Henderson’s writing is specific and energetic, from the roses and hawthornes carried by Eli’s classmates to his mother’s calico dress to Eli’s description of leading the parade: “Right out in front, I stomp, knees high.” 

A Day for Rememberin’ relates a fascinating, little-known historical event with a moving story about slavery, freedom and the importance of honoring those who sacrifice their lives for others. Sumptuously told and illustrated, it’s likely to be long remembered.

Twenty-One Steps book cover

Twenty-One Steps

“I am Unknown. I am one of many,” declares the narrator of Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Author Jeff Gottesfeld writes from the perspective of the first soldier to be interred at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. His book describes the monument’s history, the rigor of the highly select group of people who serve as guards and the meticulous changing of the guard ceremony. 

This is by no means an easy subject for a picture book, but Gottesfeld navigates the tricky turf well. Though his focus is on the Tomb itself, the specter of “combat’s vile fury” hangs over many of the spreads. In an appropriately elegiac tone, the text delicately evokes a range of emotions and images, including the horrors of World War I’s bayonets and mustard gas, the grief of surviving family and friends, and the admiration and remembrances of those who flock to the monument to “marvel at our sentinels.”

Illustrator Matt Tavares knows his way around American history, having previously illustrated books about Benjamin Franklin, Helen Keller, John F. Kennedy and even the Statue of Liberty. He begins with an engaging close-up of a framed photograph of a Black soldier, suggesting what the unknown soldier interred in the Tomb might look like. His illustrations show the Tomb during the day and at night, in snow, sleet and under bright skies, emphasizing the unwavering presence of its guards. 

Twenty-One Steps is such a vivid tribute that readers will practically hear the rhythmic click of the guards’ heels as they walk back and forth, a measured reminder of the loss and sacrifice the Tomb represents.

This Very Tree book cover

This Very Tree

Native New Yorker Sean Rubin tells the story of a Callery pear tree that survived the September 11 terrorist attack on his city in This Very Tree: A Story of 9/11, Resilience, and Regrowth, transforming the tree’s story into a beautiful allegory about trauma and healing. 

Writing from the tree’s perspective, Rubin describes the moment of the attack in plainspoken language: “It was an ordinary moment. Until it wasn’t.” A multipanel spread shows glimpses of stunned onlookers’ faces, the pants and shoes of people running away, debris, smoke and flames, followed by a spread that shows the tree buried beneath a mountain of twisted black and gray metal. “Around me it was dark and hot and close. Did the sun even exist anymore?” the tree recalls. After being pulled from the wreckage, the tree is taken to a nursery, where it spends nine years healing. Ultimately the tree is returned to the plaza at the Sept. 11 memorial. 

The process of excavating, rescuing and bringing the tree back to life is likely to fascinate young readers. A spread of eight panels reveals parallel stages in the construction of One World Trade Center and the tree’s regrowth. Rubin’s text often includes emotional details that will help readers relate to the tree’s journey. As it’s transported back through the city, the tree reveals that it’s worried. “What if something bad happened again?” Rubin keeps the story simple and focused, relying on ample back matter to provide curious readers with further information. It makes for a stirring story of hope and healing in the aftermath of immense tragedy.

Six exceptional picture books explore our complicated, captivating country and offer meaningful perspectives on these vital questions about the great American experiment.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Journeys of imagination

Feature by Alice Cary

All aboard! Anchors aweigh! These inventive picture books are your tickets for two fantastic voyages as they capture the fun of transforming your world using nothing but your imagination.

A girl escapes onto a make-believe train in Michael Emberley and Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick's I Can Make a Train Noise, which creatively sweeps readers right alongside her on an adventure that’s bursting with rhythm and energy.

As she enters a city coffee shop with her family, the girl spots a commuter train rushing by on an elevated track. Intrigued, she quietly says, “I can make a train noise.” Once inside, she repeats her statement a bit louder. No one notices, so she stands up on her chair and adds an emphatic “NOW!” In the next spread she leaps off her chair and plunges into her own imagination. 

A swoosh of brown and white paint signifies that the girl is transforming the coffee shop into a traveling train, with herself as its engineer and her family and other customers as its passengers. Tabletop condiments and salt and pepper shakers become skyscrapers that the train speeds past before heading into the countryside. The red train and blue sky provide splashes of color amid muted sepia spreads, emphasizing the shifting landscape and giving readers a sense of change and motion.

Through the book's exquisitely minimal text and repeated titular refrain, readers feel the clickety clacks of the train's acceleration, as variations in lettering size and layout highlight changes in momentum and direction. “TRAIN-NOISE-TRAIN-NOISE-TRAIN-NOISE . . .” appears in a small, straight line across a spread that shows the train chugging through a grassy prairie. And “Now!” becomes the train’s whistle, at one point appearing in huge letters on a curved baseline—"NOOOOW!!"—as the train whooshes through a tunnel.

The result is a fully choreographed, immersive journey. Readers will see and hear the train rumble along the tracks, then feel it stop abruptly with a jumble of passengers when it pulls into the station. The book ends with an enticing invitation that breaks the fourth wall in irresistible fashion. Deceptively simple, I Can Make a Train Noise is a perfect choice for reading aloud. Young readers will eagerly hop aboard again and again. 

All it takes is a sturdy wooden crate for a determined red-haired girl to turn an uneventful afternoon into a grand adventure in I Want a Boat!. Through a series of spare declarative statement pairings, the girl dreams up an exciting sea voyage and sets sail right from her bedroom. 

“I have a box. / I want a boat,” the girl announces on the first page as she stands before an empty wooden box, hands on her hips. On the next page, she declares, “I have a boat. / I want a rudder,” while seated inside the box, smiling. The action continues to build in this fashion as she uses ordinary objects to fulfill her seafaring needs. Stuffed animals become her crew, and a toy whale swims beside her in the imaginary ocean. The girl also yearns for and creates excitement, including the danger of a raging storm, the peril of stuffed-animal sailors gone overboard and the thrill of a safe return—happy, tired and ready for dinner. 

Author Liz Garton Scanlon’s step-by-step approach to the story doesn’t just create an effective narrative arc that’s perfect for preschoolers. It also provides a road map for young readers inclined to envision their own imaginative expeditions. 

Kevan Atteberry’s cheery and animated illustrations practically leap off the pages. He’s a master of using simple strokes to convey great emotion, whether it’s the girl’s exuberance as she sails the high seas or her stuffed animals’ astonished expressions as she sets off. 

In tandem with the story’s exciting ebbs and flows, white margins frame each page, becoming slimmer as the girl grows more engrossed in her voyage. When the girl declares, “I have the wind. / I want the world,” the margins give way to full-bleed spreads, only to reemerge as she returns home. It’s a wonderful homage to a similar technique employed by Maurice Sendak in his ultimate imaginative adventure story, Where the Wild Things Are.

In I Want a Boat! dynamic illustrations and tightly focused prose combine for a boatload of high-seas fun.

All aboard! Anchors aweigh! These inventive picture books are your tickets for two fantastic voyages as they capture the fun of transforming your world using nothing but your imagination.

Mystery

Mutts, matchmaking and a touch of murder

Feature by Alice Cary

Looking for an absorbing but lighthearted mystery? Two very unusual detective agencies—one in the American Southwest and the other across the pond—take readers on fast-paced and funny adventures.

When people see Bernie Little’s large black dog, they often ask, “Is he yours?” “We’re more like partners,” Bernie always responds. Indeed, there’s hardly a more devoted team than Chet and Bernie of the Little Detective Agency. Bernie is a hardscrabble private eye in Arizona who lives and works with his canine pal, Chet, the narrator of their adventures. Hats off to author Spencer Quinn for making this potentially cloying premise work—not just well, but superbly. The duo’s 11th case, Tender Is the Bite, follows on the heels of titles such as Of Mutts and Men and Heart of Barkness. Quinn loves wordplay, and it’s one of the many things that makes this series so endearing. 

Chet and Bernie’s new adventure begins when a pretty young woman with a large diamond ring begins to follow them but then goes missing. Around the same time, a Ukrainian man who may have ties to a powerful senator threatens Bernie. Bernie also begins a romance with a police sergeant named Weatherly who has a dog that, incredibly, seems to be Chet’s sister. The suspenseful plot’s many threads are made all the more enjoyable by Chet’s narration.

“I made no attempt to understand,” Chet notes as he listens to Bernie ponder their latest puzzle. “That didn’t mean I wasn’t listening. I always listen to Bernie. His voice is like a lovely brook bubbling by.” What Chet lacks in linguistic understanding, he compensates for with his finely attuned senses of smell and hearing. “This might amaze you,” he notes, “but I could smell what the senator was drinking—namely bourbon. I was even pretty sure that it was the kind Bernie liked, the bourbon with red flowers on the label.” With each chapter, Quinn ramps up the action while still keeping things light, snappy and funny. With its thoroughly lovable detective duo, Tender Is the Bite is highly entertaining from start to finish.

In 1946 London, Iris Sparks and Gwendolyn Bainbridge are making a go at professional matchmaking with their Right Sort Marriage Bureau, but murder keeps getting in the way. They find themselves involved in detective work once again in Allison Montclair’s A Rogue’s Company, the third in the Sparks and Bainbridge series. It’s a delightful blend of historical intrigue, sharp-tongued humor and savvy sleuthing. 

Iris and Gwen have a new client, a Rhodesian man named Simon Daile. As Simon’s enigmatic past gradually unfolds, Iris and Gwen begin to worry that he is not being completely forthcoming about his intentions, and having a Black client leads to some lively discussions between the white matchmakers about race and their own privilege. Gwen and Iris’ animated dialogue throughout, on a wide variety of subjects from race to women’s roles, is always enjoyably thoughtful-provoking. The plot thickens with a murder, and later a very close-to-home double kidnapping. 

This detective duo could hardly be more different. War widow Gwen lives in luxury, although she’s fighting to regain custody of her son from her bullying father-in-law, who wants to send 6-year-old Ronnie off to a strict boarding school. (Gwen lost custody when she suffered a mental collapse after her husband’s death and spent four months in a sanitarium.) Meanwhile, Iris lives a decidedly less elegant life, which includes a boyfriend whose criminal connections often turn out to be helpful. “I thrive on chaos,” Iris admits. “That’s my life.” 

Montclair does an excellent job of exploring the post-War World II London setting and showing how the series’ characters and relationships have evolved. Both Gwen and Iris fight to hold their own in their patriarchal, class-driven society, and their constant pushback against prejudice and sexism is a centerpiece of the series. With well-defined characters, high-stakes action and a quickly evolving plot, readers will find much to enjoy. Like its predecessors, A Rogue’s Company is brisk, entertaining fun.

Looking for an absorbing but lighthearted mystery? Two very unusual detective agencies take readers on fast-paced and funny adventures.

Children's & YAPicture Book

First-day feelings

Feature by Alice Cary

Backpack? Check. Crayons? Check. Positive attitude? Check. Having the right mentality when you set out for the first day of school is just as important as remembering to bring all your supplies. These books will ensure that students approach school with confidence and kindness and enter their new classrooms fully prepared for success.   

Becoming Vanessa

First days don’t always go smoothly, as one girl discovers in Becoming Vanessa, a vibrant story about first-day jitters and feeling confident in new situations. 

Vanessa carefully curates her own first-day outfit—a tutu, yellow feather boa, polka-dot leggings, shiny red shoes and a jaunty green beret—in the hopes that her new classmates will “tell right away that she [is] someone they should know.” 

But Vanessa’s initial delight in her ensemble turns to dismay when her boa keeps shedding feathers, her shoes hurt and the student seated behind her complains that he can’t see past her hat. When she realizes that even her name makes her stand out, Vanessa wants to change that, too. “My name is Megan now,” she tells her teacher. 

The next morning, Vanessa picks out a more Megan-ish outfit, until her mom tells her that Vanessa means metamorphosis. “I gave you a name that would help you become whoever you want to be,” she explains. Vanessa heads to school with newfound assurance in her outfit and her identity.

Author-illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s collage artwork is a visual feast that sizzles with color, pattern and movement. Vanessa’s school is full of lively and diverse characters with big, engaging facial expressions. Careful observers will enjoy noticing clever details in the illustrations, such as ledger paper used for the classroom rug and newsprint and dictionary pages for the desks. 

Brantley-Newton also wonderfully incorporates the theme of metamorphosis throughout the book. One especially beautiful and touching full-page spread depicts Vanessa, who has gone to bed in tears, wrapped up in a patchwork quilt that strongly suggests a chrysalis, floating on a deep blue, star-filled background. Inspired by Brantley-Newton’s personal experiences, Becoming Vanessa is paced just right and squarely addresses real fears and emotions in a compelling, empowering way. 

Norman’s First Day at Dino Day Care

It’s OK to feel shy, a young dinosaur named Norman learns in Norman’s First Day at Dino Day Care, a sweet saga with a delightful prehistoric setting guaranteed to appeal to the pre-K crowd. 

Author-illustrator Sean Julian’s dinosaurs come in all shapes, sizes and colors, but Norman is among the smallest. The adorable yellowy orange fellow is so good at hiding that when he’s introduced, one of his classmates asks, “Is Norman an invisible dinosaur?” Norman’s kindly teacher, a purple pterodactyl named Miss Beak, reassures him that his shyness “is a special part of who you are” and adds that the afternoon’s group activity will allow everyone to “discover what other amazing qualities you have hidden inside.” Norman’s partner, a large pink dinosaur named Jake, feels just as shy as Norman, but together they devise a creative way to overcome their fears. 

The day care setting will show young children what a warm and welcoming place school can be. Readers will delight in finding Norman’s many hiding spots. (Hint: Norman’s tiny tail often gives away his location.) Julian’s dinosaurs are cute and friendly, and Miss Beak is exactly the sort of teacher every parent and new student would hope for.

Norman’s First Day at Dino Day Care is a much-needed rejoinder to the well-intentioned advice “don’t be shy.” This gentle tale suggests an alternative approach: learning to recognize and accept who you are, while also discovering how to use those qualities to be part of a team. 

I Can Help

Author Reem Faruqi’s exceptional I Can Help commands attention from its very first sentence: “Just when the leaves are thinking of changing colors to look like the spices Nana cooks with, school starts.” 

Narrator Zahra explains that she enjoys helping Kyle, a classmate who excels at drawing and drumming but needs help reading and writing. Faruqi establishes their strong bond in a series of scenes brought to life by illustrator Mikela Prevost, who depicts them sharing cookies at recess and wonderfully mimicking each other’s facial expressions in the classroom. The vignettes exude youthful fun as well as Zahra’s pride in helping her friend.

But poison lurks in the background, in the form of classmates Tess and Ashley. Prevost introduces them in an expertly composed spread in which Zahra swings blissfully high into the treetops while Tess and Ashley denigrate Kyle below, calling him a “baby” and “weird.” Zahra overhears their words, which awaken her own “mean voice” and ultimately destroy her friendship with Kyle—even as she yearns to do the right thing. 

One of this story’s many strengths is its authenticity. Zahra’s narration captures how easily we can be filled with unkind thoughts and conflicting emotions. Notably, the situation between Zahra and Kyle is never resolved, because Zahra’s family moves away, though she chooses a different path when a similar situation arises at her new school.

An author’s note reveals that I Can Help is based on an experience from Faruqi’s own childhood. “I regret my actions to this day,” she writes in a striking disclosure. In her own note, Prevost adds that her diagnosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis caused her peers to see her differently and that she is thankful to those who “risked looking ‘weird’” to help her. I Can Help is a memorable story about the rippling and lingering effects of cruelty and the redeeming power of kindness.

Henry at Home

Going to school can be tricky not just for the new student but also for the sibling left behind. In Henry at Home, a boy is completely gobsmacked to discover that his big sister and best buddy, Liza, is abandoning him to go to kindergarten. Henry is so angry that he stomps on Liza’s new crayons and roars after she hops on the school bus. 

A wonderful sequence shows all the experiences the siblings have had together, including scaling the furniture, capturing imaginary leopards and getting haircuts and even flu shots together. Most of all, they enjoyed swinging and relaxing at their gnarly Twisty Tree, bathed in sunlight and shades of green, gold and brown. 

Author Megan Maynor uses crisp, precise prose to capture the passions of these young siblings. Readers will readily identify with the book’s cascade of emotions. Alea Marley’s luminous illustrations convey the creative play and the bond that Henry and Liza have shared, as well as Henry’s anger and Liza’s excitement. Her warm tones provide a sense of security and help readers understand how lonely and abandoned Henry feels when things change. The illustrations completely focus on the siblings and their world, pointedly depicting only the legs and feet of a few adults.

Henry gradually learns to have fun on his own, and soon he and Liza are back at their Twisty Tree, happily reunited. Henry at Home is an excellent reminder that precious relationships can survive great change and that independence can strengthen, not threaten, a special bond. 

Backpack? Check. Crayons? Check. Positive attitude? Check. Having the right mentality when you set out for the first day of school is just as important as remembering to bring all your supplies.

Sign Up

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.

Sign up now

Trending Features

All Features