Although Janie and her mother go birding often, she never manages to spot an owl, which she longs to see in the wild. Fortunately, Janie’s teacher, Mr. Koji, is also a lifelong birder, and owls are his favorite too. After Mr. Koji offers her a tip, she heads to the snowy woods once more and sees not one, but two owls. 

Children often dive wholeheartedly into their interests—many, like the wonderful Mr. Koji, carrying those interests into adulthood—focusing with boundless energy. When something sparks their curiosity, they explore it with pure enthusiasm, driven by a sense of wonder and joy. This is precisely what Matthew Cordell captures so skillfully in To See an Owl, using plain language and short, impactful phrasing: “I look and look in the woods. Deep in the trees. At sunrise. At dusk.” 

As the story unfolds, readers learn about owls: their vocalizations (entertainingly, one is “WHO COOKS FOR YOU ALL?”), their droppings (owl poop is called whitewash) and their habitats. Cordell’s repetition works to great effect. The refrain, “Perfectly stout. Large, round eyes. Silent, knowing faces. Birds of the night,” appears more than once and is beautifully paired with the stunning penultimate spread of two adult owls in a tree, snow falling gently around them. There are moments of subtle humor, like when Janie describes her patient mother, who faithfully joins Janie on her owl-watching adventures: “Mama is not excited about birding in a cemetery.” 

Cordell’s palette features a harmonious blend of earth tones and pastels, with the blue of the sky anchoring these elegant tableaux. In the spread where Janie hears her first owl call, only the blue sky, falling snow and Cordell’s handwritten “Hoo-hoo-hoo Hooooo-hoooo” are present. The closing spread conveys Janie’s awe at finally seeing an owl: “Magic,” she exclaims, her bright eyes reflecting wonder as the word escapes in a cloud of vapor suspended in the cold air. Having experienced the buildup of tension through Janie’s repeated attempts to spot the creature she adores, readers end To See an Owl by sharing in her joy.

A wondrous nighttime adventure unfolds for a nature-loving family in Safe Crossing. As the narrator, a young girl, explains, “The wood frogs, spring peepers, salamanders—spotted, blue-spotted, and Jefferson—and other amphibians are crossing the road tonight.” She, her parents and sister head out as part of the local Amphibian Migration Team to facilitate safe road crossings as the amphibians make their annual journey from the woods to vernal pools to lay eggs. As she did so well in How to Say Hello to a Worm, author-illustrator Kari Percival awakens children’s curiosity while spurring them to action.

Percival’s illustrations, bathed in dark purple and brown that contrast with the bright yellow raincoats and safety vests these citizen scientists wear, evoke the excitement of the rainy night. Readers will practically feel the spring rain on their shoulders as the team shines flashlights in search of amphibians that need help. A host of different species emerge, each labeled as they hop and crawl across the road to the vernal pools. End papers complement these field guide-like identifications with further information and prompt readers to go back and try to spot different types of eggs with the help of detailed clues.

The narrator recognizes that the amphibians struggle to cross a busy road, and “need their own safe crossing. Their own bridge or their own tunnel.” With admirable efficiency and a gift for presenting information in easily understandable ways, Percival shows how this family and others in the community turn this idea into a reality. Data is collected, plans are drawn, a grant is applied for and the narrator nervously states her case at a town hearing. “My belly feels like it’s full of jumping frogs,” she says. Before long, a variety of town groups help raise needed funds, shedding more light on the effectiveness of community involvement. Finally, the completed tunnels under the roadway allow the amphibians to safely lay their eggs. Several pages of backmatter round out the text, including fun facts, a glossary, safety tips and suggestions for citizen scientist involvement.

Safe Crossing is an exciting, informative call to action for budding scientists and environmental activists.

A plump mother duck sleeps soundly in her nest, with seven little eggs snuggled under her breast. But as she sleeps, there’s a crack, crack, peep! And seven little ducklings rustle out of sleep.

But what’s this? Later, the mother collects her seven ducklings and counts eight! The imposter (a turtle) is welcomed into the family—and so are the other little ducks who join the duckling line. Two more past eight, then two more past 10 add up to a delightful dozen.

Thus begins Seven Little Ducklings, the latest little treat from Annette LeBlanc Cate, and it has all the hallmarks of a satisfying storytime read-aloud. Children can count the ducks (plus turtle) on each page to keep track of how many have joined the family, and will need to pay close attention to the illustrations to catch when newbies join the pack. On the final spread, the mother has a surprise 13 ducklings resting in her nest, in a manner reminiscent of Sandra Boynton’s Hippos Go Berserk, where the number of hippos keeps growing past the expected 10.

The rhyme of this picture book flows well, and the prose includes chances for children to complete rhyming sentences, mimic noises or practice simple counting and addition. The sweet and lovely illustrations lend themselves to the adventurous nature of the story by encouraging children to look for the ducks, look for the imposters and compare and contrast which of the ducks are not like the others.

Seven Little Ducklings is sure to go down as a quacking classic.

Make a Pretty Sound: A Story of Ella Jenkins describes a pioneer whose 70-year career introduced children to Black music and music from all over the world, earning her a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 and the nickname “the First Lady of Children’s Music.”

Thanks to Traci N. Todd’s rhythmic prose and Eleanor Davis’ powerful illustrations, this picture book biography is beautifully grounded in the lively sights and sounds that inspired Jenkins. Jenkins grew up in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, amid “the blare and bleat of taxicabs, the screech of high-up trains, the tambourines that ring as preachers preach and choirs sing—amid the pool hall-gritty beat of the city.” Todd shows how Jenkins listened to music from all over the world at record shops, and loved seeing Cab Calloway perform. Each spread is filled with lively city scenes, people and music—a church choir, a boy in a window playing a flute, Jenkins’ uncle’s harmonica serenade, or Cab Calloway, dressed in a bright yellow suit, belting out, “Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-hi!” Davis uses a palette of textured bronzelike browns and reds along with a yellowish green and teal, giving the illustrations an old-fashioned feel that deftly imparts the grand span of Jenkins’ life: She celebrated her 100th birthday in 2024.

As an adult, Jenkins moved to San Francisco and became a teacher before returning to Chicago, where she fought for civil rights. She appeared at the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1964 rally at Soldier’s Field, to perform “for the children, for the hope she feels when she hears their voices, for all that music can teach them about themselves and about each other.”

While the book’s text immerses young readers in the variety of personalities and sounds that defined Jenkins’ musical life, these details are more explicitly spelled out in an accompanying timeline, lengthy afterword and bibliography. As a result, the book can be enjoyed by a wide range of readers, from preschoolers to older elementary students, who can choose how much detail to absorb. Make a Pretty Sound highlights the life of a musical pioneer whose message continues to be vibrant and vital.