Callie Ann Starkey

Spring is here and that means it’s time to garden! This follow-up to This Little Kitty follows the same mischievous cats outside where they gather their gardening tools, seeds and starter plants, and discover all the garden has to offer. The kitties help weed and soften the dirt. They help water the seeds, but watch out for that tricky water hose! The kitties discover buzzing bees and flowers that make them sneeze. Fuzzy friends are there too, but who is that, rustling the grass? Don’t worry, kitties, it’s just a fluffy bunny! By the end of the day, the kitties are a mess, but when it’s time to clean up, they are nowhere to be found. Where could they be? It turns out these kitties have found the perfect place for a catnap. 

Karen Obuhanych’s This Little Kitty in the Garden is a bright and colorful celebration of spring. Pairing rhythmic, rhyming text that begs to be read aloud with bold, playful illustrations, Obuhanych captures each kitten’s personality on every page. Whether they are finding the best nap spot, chewing a stray weed, splishing and splashing in the watering can or digging the perfect hole for a little seed, these feisty pets find excitement in their garden. Readers will enjoy searching the spreads for all of the sneaky cats. Even if they cannot be found, they are sure to have left dirty paw prints behind!

Use this charming story to introduce young readers to gardening, or even the joys and woes of pet ownership. While This Little Kitty in the Garden is sure to attract cat lovers and gardeners alike, one only needs a sense of humor to enjoy this romp on a lovely spring day. Don’t be surprised if your young readers ask for This Little Kitty in the Garden over and over again! 

Little Cap is a shy, anxious mushroom who feels safest when surrounded by the comforts of home and the companionship of his best friend, Gustav, a lovable slug. But one day, Little Cap discovers that the gate of his white picket fence is open and Gustav is nowhere to be found, so he musters his courage, packs a bag and ventures into the unknown to find his friend. 

Along the way, Little Cap faces many obstacles. He must scale a rocky cliff and traverse a fathomless gorge. He’s even forced to deal with the indignities of life in the wilderness when he steps “in something really, really gross.” He also meets his woodland neighbors, including a mole, a toad, a mouse and a grasshopper. Many of the creatures seem kind and willing to help, and one of them has even seen Gustav! The news spurs Little Cap on, even as he continues to worry about his friend. But will he ever find Gustav?  

Andrea Zuill’s Gustav Is Missing! is a heartfelt picture book filled with lively detail and personality. Her expressive illustrations capture every emotion Little Cap experiences on his journey, from trepidation and frustration to fierce determination and bravery. Zuill makes Little Cap’s small-scale world feel large and expansive through whimsical touches such as dandelions as tall as trees. Text and image contradict each other in several funny moments, as when Little Cap expresses distrust of “highly suspicious individuals” and we see him backing slowly away from an innocent-looking stalk of broccoli.  

Zuill created distinct, playful characters in previous books such as Regina Is NOT a Little Dinosaur and Cat Dog Dog (written by Nelly Buchet), and Little Cap and Gustav are adorable additions to her repertoire. With his white-spotted red hat, Little Cap is recognizable as a fly agaric mushroom, but his blue overalls and big, circular-framed eyeglasses give him a childlike quality. Meanwhile, Gustav’s bright red collar and yellow body bring to mind an affectionate golden retriever; in one vignette, Little Cap pats Gustav’s head as the slug’s tongue lolls out of his mouth like a panting dog. 

Young readers who enjoy friendship tales and pet stories, and especially those in need of a fable about confronting fears, will cheer for Little Cap at every step of his quest. Be sure to look for Gustav on the book’s endpapers as well. You never know where that silly slug might be hiding!

When opening an envelope from his recently deceased father, a young boy is confused to only find a map of the woods: “The woods were our place. Why would Dad ask me to go back without him?”

Begrudgingly, the boy laces his hiking boots and begins down the familiar path, along which he is able to recognize several animals—showing how many hours he and his father have spent in the woods. Eventually he comes to a lone chimney, the last remnant of a long gone home. “What was it Dad used to say? There’s always something that remains.” Inside, the boy finds a locked metal box containing drawings and scribbled stories about the forest wildlife.

Nikki Grimes, Brian Pinkney and his late father, Jerry Pinkney, have gifted us a heartbreakingly beautiful picture book about loss and grief. Endnotes explain the creation journey behind A Walk in the Woods (Neal Porter, $18.99, 9780823449651), where life imitated art in an almost unbelievable way. After Jerry’s wife (and celebrated author) Gloria Pinkney asked in 2019 why Jerry and Grimes had never worked together, the two longtime friends began to lay the groundwork for a story featuring an African American child exploring nature.

In October 2021, Jerry died, leaving behind an incredible legacy in children’s literature—but also incomplete artwork for A Walk in the Woods. Brian was given his father’s artwork just a few short weeks after his death, along with an invitation to finish the story his father began. With the help of Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (Jerry’s granddaughter and Brian’s niece), Brian began to merge his ethereal watercolor paintings with Jerry’s original line work, in an experience he calls “mysterious and mystical.”

Grimes’ text is full of depth and feeling and combines with the art in a brilliant display of color and life, capturing in detail the animals as well as the boy’s emotions on every page. The cool blues and purples in the beginning feel rife with grief, while the golds and reds of the woods bring a sense of lightness to both the story and the reader, and hints of green signify that life will continue.

A Walk in the Woods is truly an exquisite story of heartbreak and hope. The collaboration between Grimes and both Pinkneys is seamless, as if all were completely of one mind.

On the last page of the book, as the boy gathers his father’s drawings and begins his trek home, he asks, “Can you smile and cry at the same time?” Readers likely will.