Cynthia Rylant moves about the world of children's books at a rapid pace. Born in 1954, she has already written more than 60 books for children and young teens. You may know her as the author of her first book, When I Was Young in the Mountains, a Caldecott Honor Book published in 1982. She continued to call on her memories of childhood in West Virginia with more picture books, including another Caldecott Honor book, The Relatives Came. Rylant also writes poetry and easy readers remember the Henry and Mudge books and later Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby? More recently, she has even begun illustrating her picture books with the strong, primitive pictures in Cat Heaven, Dog Heaven, and The Whales.

Her strong storytelling skills appeal to middle-graders and young teens in the novels she writes. Though they appear less frequently, they are memorable when they do. In 1986, A Fine White Dust was named a Newbery Honor Book, and in 1992 her Missing May was the Newbery Award winner.

In the newly released novel The Islander, she writes about the area where she now lives the Pacific Northwest. (Incidentally, Rylant painted the picture of the pelican on the cover.) The story is a sort of memoir told by Daniel Jennings, a young man looking back on his 20th birthday. Daniel, a boy of eight, lives alone with his grandfather on a sparsely populated island off the coast of British Columbia. A shy child, he nonetheless yearns for a larger world. The appearance of a mermaid's comb on the beach intrigues him, and he waits into the night, hoping to see the mermaid. When she appears, the comb vibrates and slips through the air until she catches it. Then she speaks Daniel's name before disappearing back into the sea. Soon after, an otter brings him a shell which he pries open to discover a small, very old key, and he knows the mermaid has sent it. From that moment on, he wears the key around his neck.

The remaining story turns on the key. Its vibrations at critical points lead Daniel to find wounded pelicans after a terrible storm hits the island and, the following winter, to rescue a little girl who had disappeared.  Time passes until Daniel is 17. After his grandfather's sudden death, he discovers an old photograph of a young woman in his Bible. Written on the back was her name and the dates of her birth and death. She had only lived to be 17, and Daniel determines to unravel the mystery. What follows gives The Islander more excitement and the ring of authenticity. Daniel emerges at the end of the story with gifts from the sea that make him a wise and contented young man, one who has found the companionship he needed. Rylant's haunting story with its mix of reality and fable is one that stays with readers, whether they are middle-graders, young teens, or adults. Rylant's own young life in West Virginia may have been the source of inspiration for Daniel. She describes that stage of her life as being "graced with silence in those mountains, and the smell of flowers and pines, and space." That kind of childhood seems very near to Daniel's spent walking the beach and caring for animals. It has the sort of quiet solitude with nature that enriches a young person and may stimulate imagination later in life. It certainly did for Cynthia Rylant.

Sweet and spicy gingersnaps make the world a better place. Or at least, they’re a starting point in Mara Rockliff’s second picture book, The Busiest Street in Town. Agatha May Walker wants to bring some cookies to her neighbor Eulalie, but when she starts to cross the street, the speeding traffic on Rushmore Boulevard won’t stop for her: cars and trucks just keep on roaring, zipping and rumbling past (the frequent use of onomatopoeia makes this a fun read-aloud).

Undaunted, Agatha carries out her yellow wingback chair and becomes a human roadblock, forcing traffic to slow down around her and offering gingersnaps to the passing drivers. Soon Eulalie joins her, bearing a piano stool, a card table and a Parcheesi set. Eventually, traffic slows, and other neighbors venture into the street for gingersnaps and a turn at the Parcheesi set. Flowers get planted along the street, and children play hopscotch. Traffic was slower, but “no one minded,” Rockliff writes. “If you drove too fast, you couldn’t smell the honeysuckle. You wouldn’t hear the music of the mariachi band. Worst of all, you’d miss the chance to sample one of Agatha May Walker’s sweet and spicy gingersnaps.”

Sarah McMenemy’s mixed-media illustrations are beautiful and evoke midcentury modern: men and women wear hats and long coats; children are dressed in pinafores. Though they’re completely charming, in some ways this choice makes the message of The Busiest Street in Town seem less directed to our contemporary lifestyles—when in truth we could all use encouragement to slow down. Still, this detail is not likely to register with young readers, who will be drawn into a fun, absorbing story that proves faster isn’t always better.

If you are in the market for a Christmas book this season, you will not be disappointed. The offerings are varied and rich the tough part will be deciding which ones to buy! Grandfather's Christmas Tree (ages 4-8) has everything a good holiday book should have: gorgeous illustrations (by Thomas Locker, one of my favorite children's artists); a heartfelt story (by Keith Strand, writing about his grandfather's birth); and a bit of a miracle. As we say good-bye to the 1900s, it's fun to read this Little House on the Prairie-like tale of husband and wife settlers in 1886 Colorado, all alone in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, watching the snow pile up around them, and wondering how they will keep their infant boy warm. The only available firewood is a stand of spruce trees outside their cabin door that provide shelter for a family of geese. The couple can't bear to destroy the birds' home. Not surprisingly, the ending will warm readers' hearts in festive fashion.

On a much lighter note, the classic Eloise at Christmastime by Kay Thompson is back in print after nearly 40 years, one of a handful of volumes about this spunky heroine who lives in the tippy top floor of New York City's Plaza Hotel. Hilary Knight's whimsical drawings are pure delight, and the text positively sparkles ( You can hear Nanny say/ÔOh trinkles/my dear/Oh drinkles and skinkles of fun/It's Christmas/ Christmas/Christmas Eve/Oh my/there's a lot to be done' ).

Meet a family living in more spartan quarters than the Plaza Hotel in Not Enough Beds: A Christmas Alphabet Book by Lisa Bullard, illustrated by Joni Oeltjenbruns, (ages 5-8). Here's a dilemma many families face when relatives arrive: where do you put them all? Children will laugh at the imaginative solutions, as Aunt Alison snores in an overstuffed chair, while my young brother Ben stretches out on a stair. Smart Cousin Constantine brought his own cot, and so on. Watch, too, the amusing antics of a mouse family prancing about on each page.

For a unique twist on the holiday theme, try Pigs on the Move: Fun with Math and Travel by Amy Axelrod, illustrated by Sharon McGinley-Nally (ages 4-9), one in a series of books devoted to a pig family and their explorations of various math themes. When Mr. and Mrs. Pig and their two piglets miss their plane from Texas to Boston, they are forced to take a series of flights that take them through several time zones, thus allowing readers to consider how both mileage and time add up. The story alone is enjoyable enough, however, should you choose to leave math discussions until the end. There's also a nifty map of the United States showing time zones and funky nicknames of assorted cities, such as Porkopolis, Ohio.

'Twouldn't be Christmas without some new version of Clement C. Moore's The Night Before Christmas, and this year illustrator Max Grover offers a bright and cheery edition. His childlike acrylic style brings fun and surprises, including Santa landing in the fireplace amidst a cloud of soot and two charts of Santa, with Little Round Belly and Nose Like a Cherry appropriately labeled. Grover's interpretation is a particularly good choice for youngsters hearing the famous poem for the first time.

The young will also be thrilled by another of David A. Carter's pop-up bug extravaganzas, The 12 Bugs of Christmas. His variation of the traditional carol features, of course, Carter's signature crazy critters, including the likes of a fruitcake bug, snowflake bugs, lovely glowing bugs, and tinsel bugs, all wrapped up in flap packages waiting to be flipped.

Travel to San Juan, New Mexico, for Farolitos for Abuelo by Rudolfo Anaya, illustrated by Edward Gonzales (ages 5-9), the story of Luz, whose beloved abuelo (grandfather) dies in a river accident as he saves the life of a careless boy. While learning to deal with her loss, Luz puts farolitos (candlelit lanterns) around his grave at Christmas in this sad but uplifting tale.

More farolitos are featured in Tomie de Paola's wonderful The Night of Las Posadas (ages 4-8), about an annual procession honoring Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in Santa Fe, New Mexico. When the couple playing Mary and Jesus gets caught in a snowstorm and misses the ceremony, a pair of mysterious replacements show up in what the village elder, Sister Angie, immediately recognizes as a miracle of the manger. This is a simple yet powerful story, accented by dePaola's always luminous art.

The Legend of the Christmas Rose by William H. Hooks, illustrated by Richard A. Williams, is a nativity story featuring nine-year-old Dorothy, who tags along with her older shepherd brothers on their journey to Bethlehem. She has nothing to give the newborn babe until an angel appears and bestows tiny white flowers (Helleborus niger), blossoms known for their beauty as well as curative powers.

Don't forget the youngest on your holiday lists, who will enjoy board books such as:

The First Christmas: A Christmas Bible Playbook (Reader's Digest Children's Books, $4.99, 1575843285).

My First Christmas Board Book (DK Publishing, $6.95, 0789447355), filled with eye-catching photographs of everything from Christmas trees, toys, and snowmen to nativity scenes.

Christmas Lights (Little Simon, $4.99, 0689822693), a glow-in-the-dark board book with collage illustrations of holiday scenes.

Last but not least, for a selection you can really sink your teeth into, try New Baby's Nativity (Standard Publishing/ Reader's Digest Children's Books, $10.99, 1575843293), a cloth book with an attached cloth angel that can be moved from page to page.

Ho, Ho, Ho, and Peace on Earth!

With Mother's Day just around the corner, there's no sweeter gift than a child's pure and adoring love. That most wondrous of loves is the subject of Margaret Park Bridges's delightful new book, If I Were Your Mother.

In this enchanting story, a little girl offers her own imaginative version of what she might do if their roles were reversed and she was her mother's mother. In her fanciful world, the little girl, as the pretend mother, would serve breakfast in bed on a silver tray, and take her little girl to work to dance on her desk, and spin her around until she was all dizzy.

The real mommy just smiles and agrees as the little girl imagines curling her little girl's hair, making up her face, and painting her fingernails just so she could look silly. Taking a bath with a school of goldfish and having a nap in grandma's soft furry coat (with her legs in the sleeves) are highlights of the day the little girl has planned.

But the little girl soon begins to see that the most precious things in life a simple kiss on the forehead, an ear to whisper in, a warm, secure place in her mommy's lap are always ready and waiting just when she needs them most.

Parents and children alike will adore the wistful, fanciful imaginings of the little girl, and the marvelous wisdom of the mother. Margaret Park Bridges manages to touch the very pulse of motherly love in If I Were Your Mother, and the delightful illustrations by Kady MacDonald Denton, one of Canada's foremost illustrators, are warm and loving. As much an example for parents as an entertaining tale for children, If I Were Your Mother is a thoroughly enchanting lesson in pure love and would make a charming Mother's Day present for mommies everywhere.

Sharon Galligar Chance is a book reviewer for the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas.

To Fly (ages 6 months-3 years) by Lucia Scuderi is a jewel of a book with a gently humorous story but few words, making it an excellent choice for both very young children and beginning readers. A mother crow tries to teach her newly hatched chicks to fly, prompting all sorts of endearing expressions and action. Each time a bird flies, the page folds out and up to show the avian aviator's efforts. There's also one large fold-out page showing the entire family in flight.

Alice Cary reviews books from her home in Groton, Massachusetts.

Complied by Paul Janeczko, Very Best (almost) Friends is a wonderful book of poems for friends of all ages. The poems in this treasury are as varied as a circle of friends. Some of the poems are humorous, while others tug at the heart. This collection, written by some of today's best-known poets and authors, was chosen with a meticulous eye and ear. Open this book and find gems like "Friendship" by Walter Dean Myers. In this poem he describes the special thread that makes two friends. There is also the funny "Another Poem to Send to Your Worst Enemy" by Colin McNaughton. In this poem one friend is calling the other names like "flat-foot-duck-toed-knocked-kneed-sweat"! Also included: "Finding a Way" by Myra Cohn Livingston, "Jim" by Gwendolyn Brooks, and "To You" by Karla Kushkin.

Other poets featured include Charlotte Zolotow, John Ciardi, Betsy Hearne, Nikki Grimes, Jeane Steig, and Judith Viorst.

The addition of Christine Davenier's lively watercolor illustrations alongside each poem brings an overall beauty to the book. A powerful book for the ear and eye, Very Best (almost) Friends makes a perfect gift for that special little — or big — friend in your life.

A Band of Angels by award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson skillfully weaves the story of the Jubilee Singers of Nashville's Fisk College within the context of family lore. A loving narrator, Aunt Beth, tells an attentive niece how her great-grandmother Ella led the Jubilee Singers to perform the old sorrow songs, the songs of slavery, to audiences all over the world. Through seven years of travel, the young group earned enough money to salvage the ailing Fisk College, now Fisk University.

Hopkinson claims her story is fiction, though she explains in "A Note About the Story" at the end of the text that it is based on the life of Ella Shephard Moore. A Band of Angels is a strong story of determination, survival, the rewards of hard work and dedication. Hopkinson tells us that though none of the original Jubilee Singers graduated from college, their years of singing and traveling made that success possible for thousands that followed them at Fisk.

Aunt Beth is based on Fisk Special Collections librarian Beth Howse, who is a pianist, the great-granddaughter of Ella Shephard, and Jubilee Singer herself. Mrs. Howse praises Hopkinson's portrayal of Ella Shephard's story and is proud that the story of her great-grandmother now belongs to a very special body of children's literature that brings history alive for young children.

Illustrator Raul Colon supports the text with warm, glowing, textured paintings. The full-page illustrations are beautiful, reminiscent of old, sepia-toned photographs. Portraits and short biographical sketches of each of the original Jubilee singers are included. Also included is a list of the old Jubilee songs, including "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" from which the book's title is taken. Aunt Beth reminds her niece, and the reader, that "they called them spirituals, or jubilee songs, because the word jubilee means a time of hope and freedom." Although February is Black History Month, the theme of A Band of Angels is important all year long. It is a refreshing story that eloquently illustrates the power of dreams, hard work, determination, and hope.

“I wake up with my head down,” says D. He overslept because no one woke him up, and now Dad says they have to hustle. He walks to school feeling “scrunchy” as a cloud hovers above his head. “It can still be a good day,” he says. “Any day can be good if you try.” But D faces one disappointment after another: It’s gym day, and he forgot to wear his gym uniform, so he can’t play kickball. In writing class, he gets the laptop with the sticky space bar. When he calls out the correct answer in math class, the teacher criticizes him for not raising his hand instead of praising him for having the right answer. When he accidentally makes a mess that leads to a meltdown during show and tell, D must go to the principal’s office. Once there, his day takes an unexpected turn.

Keep Your Head Up is the debut picture book by journalist Aliya King Neil, with illustrations by Coretta Scott King Award winner Charly Palmer. Throughout this touching portrait of a child doing his best to manage a difficult day, D’s feelings of frustration and discouragement are palpable and create a sense of rising tension. Palmer’s illustrations feature thick, textured brushstrokes, and his impressionistic style enhances the emotional narrative. Pops of blue and pink complement D’s deep brown skin.

Parallels to Judith Viorst’s classic depiction of another boy and his “no good, very bad day” are obvious, but Neil never plays D’s troubles for laughs. Instead, she explores how the supportive adults in D’s life, including his parents and Miss King, the school principal, empower him to make positive decisions when it’s not easy to do so.

Reading Keep Your Head Up would be an excellent way to begin a conversation about how to process the highs and lows of life. It’s a simple and powerful reminder to not let bad days get us down.

Author-illustrator Phoebe Wahl’s fourth picture book, Little Witch Hazel: A Year in the Forest, has a charming woodsy setting that readers will find enchanting.

Four vignettes follow Little Witch Hazel, a minuscule witch who wears a pointy red hat and lives in Mosswood Forest. With a determined spirit, Hazel tends to her fellow inhabitants of the forest in any way that she can, be that inspecting the source of a mysterious wailing tree stump, caring for an abandoned bird egg or taking some well-deserved time to unwind with her friends on a hot summer day.

Each story unfolds in a different season and opens with a title page depicting Hazel dressed for the weather and surrounded by the season’s flora—daffodils in spring, acorns in the fall and so on. Hazel’s can-do attitude and willingness to pitch in make her an appealing heroine. Using earthy shades of brown, green, red and blue, Wahl expertly captures Mosswood Forest and populates it with all sorts of quirky creatures whose interactions make a wonderful backdrop for Hazel’s adventures.

These sweet stories are an ode to the calm and peaceful magic of nature. Little Witch Hazel will make you feel as if you have journeyed deep into Mosswood Forest alongside Hazel and her friends. It will also make you long to seek out your own forest, to be immersed in nature and to discover (or rediscover) your own kinship to it, so that you too can enjoy what Hazel finds there: serenity, connection and fulfillment.