Black History Month is a special period of celebration and commemoration—a time for looking back at the individuals and events that made progress possible. In honor of this special time, BookPage has rounded up a group of new picture books that chronicle some of the highlights of the African-American legacy.

MAKING SPIRITS SOAR
In Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper, Ann Malaspina revisits a thrilling chapter in American sports—the story of the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Born in Albany, Georgia, to impoverished parents, Alice Coachman seems destined to defy gravity. Leaping over tree roots and shooting baskets with towering boys, practicing the high jump with a crossbar made of branches and rags, Alice, as depicted in Eric Velasquez’s dynamic paintings, seems always to be airborne. Her father disapproves of her tomboyish behavior, but when she’s invited to join the Tuskegee Institute’s famous Golden Tigerettes track team, Alice develops skills that take her to the 1948 London Olympics. There she soars farther than she ever imagined, setting a new Olympic high jump record. Malaspina employs a spirited prose style to tell the story of Alice’s extraordinary career.

A LEADER GETS HIS START
Proving that knowledge really is power, Lesa Cline-Ransome’s Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass recounts the rise of one of America’s greatest orators. Frederick Douglass spends his early childhood on a Maryland plantation where slaves caught reading are severely punished. When he’s transferred to the home of the Auld family in Baltimore, Frederick gets his first taste of formal education. Kind-hearted Missus Auld gives him lessons in the alphabet, and Frederick is soon obsessed, practicing in secret with a brick and chalk. At the age of 12, he buys his first newspaper and encounters words like “abolition” and “liberty.” Against all odds, Frederick educates himself and—later on, at great risk—his fellow slaves. By unlocking the secrets of language, he arms himself for the future. Featuring beautifully nuanced pictures by the author’s husband, James E. Ransome, this moving book comes with a clear message: Education is the key to success.

OVATION FOR A LEGEND
With Jazz Age Josephine, Jonah Winter offers an irresistible homage to a groundbreaking performer. Born dirt poor in St. Louis, Missouri, young Josephine Baker spends part of her childhood in the city slums, where she’s taunted by other kids. Using theatrics as a survival tactic—clowning and dancing to hide her hurt—she makes a little money and eventually joins a traveling show as a dancer, but the blues follow. At one point, she’s so broke, a bench in Central Park serves as her bed. At the age of 19, Josephine takes off for Paris, where she finds her artistic footing and gets a taste of what liberation is like. Embracing her race and blossoming as a performer, she hits the heights of fame but never forgets her St. Louis roots. Winter’s blues-inflected writing style is perfectly complemented by Marjorie Priceman’s bright, impressionistic visuals. Brimming with infectious energy, Winter’s book is a showstopper from start to finish.

HOME RUN HERO
Showing how team spirit in sports helped break down racial barriers, Chris Crowe’s Just as Good: How Larry Doby Changed America’s Game is a wonderful depiction of the brotherhood of baseball. It’s the fall of 1948, and the city of Cleveland is humming with anticipation for game four of the World Series—a contest between the city’s own Indians and the Boston Braves. An African-American boy named Homer narrates the events of the big day, as he and his parents gather around the radio to listen to the game. Homer’s hero, Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League, will be stepping up to the plate. When Doby hits a home run in the third inning, he makes history, becoming the first African-American ballplayer to do so in the World Series. Mike Benny depicts Homer’s wide-eyed excitement through luminous illustrations, while Crowe seamlessly weaves facts and stats from the actual game into the storyline.

VERSES OF FREEDOM
Ntozake Shange is a beloved African-American playwright, poet and novelist. With Freedom’s
a-Callin’ Me, she delivers a timeless collection of verse inspired by the Underground Railroad—dramatic and impassioned poems about slaves dreaming of escape, the white folks who help them and the trackers who trail them. Shange writes with wonderful authenticity and an ear for syntax, conjuring up a group of unforgettable narrators who experience hope, danger and loss on the road to a better life. The book’s title poem eloquently describes one man’s plan to flee, to “mix myself way low in the cotton . . . wind myself like a snake / till ah can swim ’cross the stream.” The poems are filled with arresting imagery—slave hunters leading ferocious hounds, overseers wielding their whips—which Rod Brown brings to life in his sensitively rendered paintings. Throughout the book, Shange offers different perspectives and stories to create a multifaceted look at the secret system that changed so many lives. This is a wonderful introduction to an important chapter in African-American history—and to the narrative possibilities of poetry.

A REMARKABLE DAY
Written and illustrated by acclaimed author Shane W. ­Evans, We March is a stirring account of a history-making event as seen through the eyes of one African-American family. On August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 people came together for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, an episode forever inscribed on the American memory thanks to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Evans’ tale brings the momentous day down to a personal level, as the family prepares to march, painting signs, praying and joining the procession to the Lincoln Memorial. Evans’ brief, poetic lines have a simple majesty that reflects the significance of the occasion. His vibrantly illustrated story gives readers a sense of what it might have been like to join the crowd taking crucial steps on the road to freedom.

Bedtime books are worth their weight in gold if they work. The good ones—like these five new picture books—can help parents and children ease the tricky transition from day to night, light to dark and together to alone.

IN SHINING ARMOR
Owen Davey’s Night Knight transforms every element of a typical, boring bedtime routine into something fantastical. “For a knight like me, going to bed . . . is a great adventure,” begins the story, with one half of the sentence on the left page accompanying a boy wearing PJs and a colander helmet, and the other half of the sentence over on the right, with the same boy, same yawn, but dressed in full knightly getup. As he heads down the hallway and climbs the stairs, each picture combines the real and the fantastic: a telephone table and a forest, a hall closet and a snow-peaked mountain. The artwork, self-described as “contemporary and nostalgic,” calms in warm, muted brick tones, even as the imagined action busies itself with mythical creatures and noble exertions. Preschool and kindergarten children and parents will dub this daydream royally engaging.

NATURE’S WAY
Sweet Dreams by Rose A. Lewis, illustrated by Jen Corace, is a nature lullaby that works by color-soaked stealth. Although it begins and ends with the same four-line wish for “my precious child” whose “dreams be long and sweet,” thefocus is not so much on the child being put to bed as it is on the nighttime world waking outside the window. Mr. Moon, “who’ll watch you through the night,” also watches owlets in a nest and a tiny mouse family, while moonflower blossoms eclipse spent morning glories. Butterflies trade places with gray moths as crickets, possums, raccoons, frogs and other nocturnal animals “come alive in darkness.” Night, then, is something natural and nothing to fear. Lilting verse and predictable rhymes keep the mood soft but open to interaction. Young children can supply the last word of each page, or succumb entirely (and tiredly) to sleep.

A STUBBORN HOLDOUT
The daughter-father team of Kate and Jules Feiffer has created another winner with No Go Sleep! In a marvelous economy of word and ink, they transform what is one of the most frustrating scenarios of all time—the sleep-resistant baby—into its own delightful antidote. “One night when the stars were out and the moon was bright, a baby said, ‘No go sleep!’ “ Mom, Dad and the rest of the adjacent world, working in a gentle and benevolent conspiracy, try to persuade baby it is really, truly time. The sun, moon and stars weigh in, as do birds, frogs, bunnies, the tree above the house and “a car driving by” (which says, “Beep, beep, sleep, sleep”). Birds, frogs and bunnies reassure baby that he won’t be missing much. The dog, however, is already asleep. Resistance is lovingly futile, and the abrupt ending is a happy one for all concerned.

FAMILY OUTINGS
Good Night, Laila Tov by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Jui Ishida, uses simple, rhyming verse to describe a family on a camping trip. “Good night, laila tov” is the restful refrain after each day’s adventures in the natural world: A sunset sky sings it, a nighttime road rumbles it, a forest storm shushes it, and ocean waves whisper it. Laila tov happens to be Hebrew for “good night,” just as the sweet family in the luminous illustrations happens to be Jewish. The particular becomes universal with takeaway themes of discovery (and stewardship) of the environment, family time and gratitude. All families should be this lucky: to plant tree seedlings, gather berries, collect treasures in a jar, watch deer in a field and tuck each other into bed so tenderly. The youngest listeners will enjoy guessing the predictable rhyme at the end of each couplet.

IT’S TIME!
Adam Mansbach’s Seriously, Just Go to Sleep is a hoot. Exhausted parents need a chuckle at the end of an impossibly long day, and this G-rated version of the surprise bestseller Go the F**k to Sleep will deliver it. If you were too scandalized to pick up a copy of the adult book, try this one. If you bought the first version and hid it so well that you will never find it, this one is 100 percent safe. Even toddlers will appreciate Ricardo Cortés’ illustrations of cheeky peers wide awake amid sleeping lions, farm animals and all manner of obligingly restful critters. The rhythmic text describes natural, sleepy scenes, but each ends in a plea for the child at hand, the one still awake right now, to join the club already. This insistent change of key is funny on any level: sweet, sarcastic or just plain tired.

Every year I look forward to the spring crop of children’s poetry books, which always brings a bouquet of creativity. This year is no exception.

UNEXPECTED FINDS

The Arrow Finds Its Mark: A Book of Found Poems, illustrated by Antoine Guilloppé, is a fascinating collection sure to captivate young and old alike. Just leave this book out in plain sight and watch what happens!

What is a “found” poem, you might ask? It’s a piece of already existing text that is then “made” into a poem, as explained by editor Georgia Heard, who collected these examples. Such text might be a line from Twitter, a note found on a floor, a photo caption, a sign or graffiti.

For instance, here’s a poem called “Pep Talk” that consists of phrases from a box of OxiClean detergent:

   Keep cool.
   See a brighter solution.
   Mountain freshness.
   Boost your power!

This little book makes for fun perusing. There’s a poem created by crossword puzzle clues, another from a dictionary entry and another from the book titles on a young girl’s shelf. This is a collection guaranteed to inspire family fun or give students a new way to look at poetry.

SEND THE KIDS OUTSIDE!

Run, jump, blow bubbles or stomp in a puddle: That’s the refreshing theme of A Stick is an Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play. Prolific poet Marilyn Singer doesn’t disappoint in this celebration of classic children’s fun, which is likely to remind adults of their own experiences hosing friends with sprinklers, rolling down hills and playing hopscotch or hide and seek.

Singer captures the endearing exuberance of childhood with poems like “Really Fast”:

   Skateboard races,
   pigeon chases,
   running bases.
   Backyard dashes,
   racecar crashes,
   puddle splashes.
   Everything’s a blast
   when you do it really fast!

LeUyem Pham’s illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to these lively poems. Her colorful pages are full of smiling kids who laugh, leap and lunge. But be forewarned: This book isn’t a great choice for bedtime, because the poems will make readers want to head right out the door.

Outdoorsy kids are likely to adore a new poetry collection with the engrossing title Nasty Bugs. Children’s poetry connoisseur Lee Bennett Hopkins has collected another winning swarm of poems, with names sure to entice kids, such as “Stink Bug,” “Ode to a Dead Mosquito” and “Barbed and Dangerous.”

Will Terry’s illustrations are truly glorious, with a spread on the stink bug swirling in a fiery background of orange, red and yellow as a huge green bug leers at the reader, with fumes rising. Terry brings readers eye to eye with a litany of malevolent creatures, such as fire ants, boll weevils, lice and bedbugs.

Many mothers will (not!) appreciate the first verse of Amy Ludwig Vanderwater’s poem, “Lice”:

   Ridiculous Pediculus
   O tiny vampire louse
   You crawl from head
               to head
                       to head
   from house
              to house
                      to house.

Not only are these poems fun, they also contain facts that will keep kids entertained, educated and grossed out, all at the same time. In addition, an explanatory section at the end contains a short but intriguing entry for each bug mentioned.

For more outdoor poems, dip into the exceptionally clever A Meal of the Stars: Poems Up and Down. Dana Jensen has written a series of “vertical” poems, with each line containing just one word. Some of these poems read from top to bottom, while others read from bottom to top. Kids will love this form and no doubt want to try to write their own.

Jensen writes about such upward and downward topics as giraffe necks, popping balloons, rockets blasting into space and kites soaring in the wind. Tricia Tusa’s illustrations add the perfect touch of humor, personality and motion.

DOUBLE TAKE

When my identical twin girls were born 13 years ago, I dearly wish I’d had Take Two! A Celebration of Twins. This is a treasure chest of poems for parents, siblings and twins, sprinkled here and there with interesting facts. (Imagine, for instance, this hard-to-believe item: “In the 1700s, Mrs. Feodor Vassilyev of Shuya, Russia, had sixteen sets of twins. She also gave birth to four sets of quadruplets and seven sets of triplets!”)

Written by the dynamic children’s literature duo of J. Patrick Lewis (a twin himself) and Jane Yolen, these fun poems address many aspects of twinhood, including the novelty, fun and frustrations. Best of all, the poems are both heartfelt and humorous. Consider these lines from “What’s It Like to Be a Twin?”:

   ’Cause a twin’s a double rainbow
   Or the fork that goes with the knife.
   He may wear around the edges,
   But he’s guaranteed for life.

This is a beautifully designed book as well, with layouts pleasing to the eye and doubly adorable illustrations by Sophie Blackall. Even though my twins become teenagers this month, I’m keeping this book on our shelves for years to come.

BOOK SENSE

BookSpeak!: Poems about Books is a lively, lovely literary collection. Laura Purdie Salas writes verses about things like coming to the end of a book, falling asleep while reading and an avid reader begging for a sequel. One particularly clever poem asks readers to pay attention to the indexes of books and says: “So I’m telling you, kid: / ignore the rest of the book. / All you really need is me.”

Josee Bisaillon’s illustrations are varied and wonderful, adding an extra dimension of fun and whimsy.

Olympic fever has been building in my little town (Groton, Massachusetts) for a year, since we are sending our high school chamber chorus off to London to perform at the games. If Olympic anticipation is growing in your part of the world, check out these fun- and fact-filled Olympic books for young readers.

A MARVELOUS MELTDOWN

Michael Phelps he's not, but take one look at the cover of Olympig! The Triumphant Story of an Underdog, and you'll fall in love with an Olympic hopeful named Boomer. This plump porcine competitor is dressed in sweats and ready to go, undeterred by having to compete with the likes of an elephant in weightlifting, a gorilla in wrestling and a leap frog in hurdles at the Animal Olympics.

"Oh, I'm sure I will win!" says Boomer. "If you practice and try your best, you can do anything."

Not so fast, Boomer! He loses every competition, managing to get the lowest score in Olympic history for his gymnastics routine. What's more, he throws a tantrum and quits. Frankly, this sort of goodhearted underachievement is refreshing in children's books.

In the end, Boomer rallies, determined to compete again. This book is full of visual delights, thanks to the lively art of author/illustrator Victoria Jamieson, whose bighearted, bigmouthed Boomer practically plops right off each page.

OLYMPIC DREAMS

How do you get to be an Olympic athlete? Curious spectators will enjoy Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Olympic Gold, written by Deloris Jordan, Michael's mother, and illustrated by Barry Root.

The year is 1972, and nine-year-old Michael watches the best basketball game he's ever seen on TV, as the U.S. Olympic team loses to Russia by one point. When Michael tells his mom that he wants to become an Olympic champion, she challenges him to do something about it, not simply dream.

Michael's older brother Larry invites him to a high school scrimmage, and when Michael gets on the floor and scores three points, he feels like a champ.

Dream Big is a straightforward tale about dreaming and doing (parents will be delighted to know that focusing on schoolwork is also a recurring theme). Michael quickly learns that practice and perseverance are what it takes to succeed. An afterword explains that "Michael never gave up after that game. Not for a day. Even when he was cut in the tryouts for high school basketball, he just practiced harder and harder."

Michael's hard work paid off, of course, as he went on to achieve NBA glory and his long-coveted Olympic gold medal.

ANOTHER LONDON OLYMPICS

The London Olympics of 1948 were a very different affair from this summer's gala competition. As Europe recovered from World War II, there was no Olympic Village, and athletes, who were often hungry, had to watch out for bomb debris in the streets.

Despite these hardships, these Olympics were a rallying point for the world, and a dream come true for a young high jumper from Georgia named Alice Coachman, who became the first African American woman to win Olympic gold. Author Heather Lang tells her story beautifully in Queen of the Track.

Lang starts with Coachman's childhood in the rural, racially divided small town of Albany, Georgia, writing: "Alice Coachman was born to run and jump. On morning walks with her great-grandmother Rachel, Alice skipped ahead through the fields. She hopped on rocks. She vaulted over anything that got in her way."

Lang deftly weaves in historical details of segregation, as Coachman is noticed by a track coach and receives a scholarship at Tuskegee Institute. The tension heats up in London at the high jump competition, as Coachman becomes America's last hope for a gold medal in women's track and field, and as the king and queen of England watch her compete, along with thousands of others.

Floyd Cooper's pastel illustrations capture Coachman's beauty, grace, energy and determination. This excellent book also contains interesting historical notes at the end, as well as links to related websites and videos.

GET YOUR BRITISH BEARINGS

Olympic fever often goes hand in hand with a case of London Mania, so brush up on this historic capital with Pop-Up London. Don't be fooled by the listed age range, because adults as well as kids will find this tour fascinating. The River Thames winds along each spread of the book, surrounded by a variety of flaps and paper engineering feats (engineered by Richard Ferguson).

Artist Jennie Maizels has included a multitude of irresistible facts and intrigues, along with many pop-ups, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, the Tower Bridge and, finally, the Olympic Village and Park. Facts and fun are squeezed in everywhere: This is a book that must be inspected closely to find everything (including a variety of seek and find challenges).

Did you know, for example, that St. Paul's Cathedral has a whistling ghost and a secret room? Or that a pair of Queen Victoria's underpants are on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum? Maizels excels at finding unusual tidbits with guaranteed kid-appeal.

OLYMPIC HISTORY

For a historical glance at different Olympic venues, check out Richard Platt's Through Time Olympics. This book begins with an overview of the games, and then travels through time with full-page, colorful spread on a variety of different locations, from Paris in 1900 to this summer's London games.

While this isn't a fully comprehensive history, it presents intriguing bits of the past, along with colorful illustrations and graphics by Manuela Cappon. Combine this book with Pop-Up London, and young fans will be ready to watch the Olympics with a knowledgeable perspective.

Each child, whether confident or nervous, stands on the edge of the great unknown when a new school year begins. These dandy books will help the youngest students face this big step toward independence.

In Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten! we find out that two people are anxious about the first day: mom and son. At first, the oversized boy bounces out of bed while the nervous mom (small and washed in anxious blue) drags her feet. Using color, size and varying perspectives to show the emotions of both generations of kindergartners, Hyewon Yum captures the nerves, bravado and excitement of the first day.

In Marco Goes to School, a chuckle-worthy and encouraging sequel to Too Busy Marco, a little red bird has a big dream. Marco wants to go to the moon. After he exhausts the opportunities for entertainment around the house, his mom suggests he attend school. Though teacher Mrs. Peachtree has fun floral pants, she talks a lot, which allows Marco’s mind to wander to the class library, where a toy astronaut is perched alluringly. Marco knows what he wants: to go to the moon. Roz Chast’s love of this distracted student is almost enough to get him there, but he does find a friend willing to push him very high . . . in a swing.

For read-aloud hilarity, Ollie’s School Day: A Yes-and No Book, written by Stephanie Calmenson and illustrated by Abby Carter, is the perfect choice. Written as a series of questions, this read-aloud gem allows even the youngest child to learn about the social and behavioral expectations of school. The reader asks questions about Ollie’s day (What will Ollie eat? Wear? Say? Ride? How will he ask a question? Do at story time?). Three silly follow-up questions allow the reader to call out, “NO!” before the turn of the page allows the satisfying “YES.” Calmenson’s wit and Carter’s light, cartoony watercolors are the perfect vehicles for imparting important social expectations to newbies.

Stan is worried that all the other children know how to write, but his words are coming out in a muddle. In Back to Front and Upside Down! Claire Alexander has created a comforting book for little learners. Instead of asking for help with the principal’s birthday card, Stan struggles by himself. He hides his writing failure from his friends until the pressure is too much. Then he finds out that everyone needs help sometimes, and writing becomes easier once he shares his struggle with the engaging Miss Catnip. Stan’s story can serve as a springboard to discussions about learning and getting help when needed.

Kids love monsters. Actually, kids like the idea of monsters, along with that delicious feeling of being a little bit scared. However, at midnight, a child’s fear of monsters doesn’t seem quite so adorable, does it? Here are a few books to send a shiver of fear down a child’s spine without disturbing too much sleep.

A GENTLE GIANT
One of my favorite books of the season is Patrick McDonnell’s The Monsters’ Monster. Grouch, Grump and Gloom ‘n’ Doom are little monsters who mess with each other all the time. Their favorite 10 words are “No” and they argue over who is the worst monster. Each argument ends in a brawl until they work together to build the “biggest, baddest monster EVER!” In a scene out of Frankenstein, their creation is struck by lightning and comes to life. Imagine the little monsters’ surprise when the huge new monster speaks his first words, “Dank you.” This monster, though enormous, is a gentle thing and his clumsy celebration in the land of the living will amuse the youngest readers and help them reassess their fears of monsters. A gem.

THE ABCs OF MONSTERS
For children who love all sorts of monsters, The Monster Alphabet, written by Michael P. Spradlin and illustrated by Jeff Weigel, will be a perfect handbook. From Abominable Snowman to Jabberwocky to Zombies, this little volume will provide the monster aficionado with hours of delight. Our trip through the alphabet is led by a narrator who appears to be the Indiana Jones of monster seekers. Each letter is explained with a simple rhyme, telling just a little about monsters familiar and rare. Who among the uninitiated knows what a Kraken or a Redcap is. Or a quetzalcoatl? Weigel’s bold and colorful illustrations add funny and interesting details without being too terrifying. More a study guide than a story, this is the kind of book that kids love to memorize and then use to impress friends with their esoteric knowledge.

AN UNFORGETTABLE SING-ALONG
The 1960s song “Monster Mash” is one of those ditties that gets into your brain and refuses to let go. The picture book version by David Catrow, Monster Mash, is just as memorable. Catrow’s over-the-top, wild illustrations are a perfect match for the song’s catchy lyrics (“I was working in the lab late one night, when my eyes beheld an eerie sight”). From Pepto-Bismol pink to iridescent greens, Catrow’s many-eyed creatures spring to life beside guitar-wielding zombie musicians and one hilarious dancing dog. Try reading Monster Mash aloud to a group—the children will be entertained, and you’ll be humming the song to yourself for hours.

ONE BY ONE
“Ten creepy monsters met ‘neath a gnarled pine. One blew away, and then there were nine.” The early reader set will enjoy Carey F. Armstrong-Ellis’s Ten Creepy Monsters as it counts down a dwindling roster of unfortunate monsters. With rich language and a delightfully dark nighttime palette, this pleasing rhyme begs to be acted out or performed with puppets. Though the text has the bounce of a preschool finger play, the illustrations are appropriately ghoulish. The zombie holding onto his lost foot might be a bit much for the youngest reader but the rest of the illustrations are the right balance of slightly scary and funny. The final spread in the book contains a surprise that is subtly delivered, allowing any scaredy cat to be reassured.

Here's a variety of snappy, fun-filled books designed to keep young friends and family members happily entertained for hours. Children's gift books seem to be getting better and better every year, with amazing feats of paper engineering and creative activities designed to appeal to all ages.

SLEEPY TIME

Are the kids going haywire with excitement? Open up either of these two collections before the holidays if your young preschoolers are in desperate need of some calming activity.

A great value, The Family Bedtime Treasury contains eight complete books in a large, colorful format, as well as a variety of poems and a CD containing an hour’s worth of classical music. The large format brings these stories alive, showing off a lively variety of children’s artists and writers.

The unifying theme is sleep, that often elusive state for the preschoolers for whom this book is meant. Story titles include such classics as Don and Audrey Wood’s The Napping House; one of Eileen Christelow’s perennial favorites, Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed; the (hopefully) suggestive title, The Quiet Book; and the bound-to-be-a-favorite The Goodnight Train. Despite the “sleepy” theme, there’s plenty of bed-jumping action, and the book is sure to be a hit with kids and parents alike, night after night. 

Both young and slightly older children will enjoy dipping into a year of poems with Julie Andrews’ Treasury for All Seasons: Poems and Songs to Celebrate the Year. The poems are arranged into monthly themes, along with several bonus sections celebrating such occasions as birthdays and new babies.

The authors include such luminaries as Robert Frost, Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, Emily Dickinson and E.B. White, all accompanied by colorful, lively illustrations by Marjorie Priceman. These pages will brighten any day, as Priceman’s energetic art swirls across the page with a zooming skateboarder, a swooshing bicycle or a canoe floating downstream.

This is the sort of gift book children can enjoy for years, first as a read-aloud and later as an anthology to explore on their own. Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, have done a good job of combining lighthearted verses about childhood with those by renowned voices such as Langston Hughes and Billy Collins.

EXPLORE!

Elementary-aged children are likely to spend hours with the information-packed visual treat My Pop-Up World Atlas. Did you know, for example, that the largest lake in Australia, Lake Eyre, is almost dry for part of the year? This is just one of the many geographical tidbits presented here in easily digestible form.

Starting with a spread of the world, the book contains pop-up spreads for each continent, filled with flaps, information wheels, pullouts and a “Fact File” for each. Budding geographers will find much to devour, as each map is jam-packed with illustrations and facts.

Adults as well as elementary students will be mesmerized by the striking Legendary Journeys: Space, which bills itself as “the Slide-Out, Lift-Up, See-Through Story of the Greatest Voyages in Space.” This historic overview is well organized and full of visual appeal, discussing the first rockets, early space pioneers, moon voyages, the space shuttle and modern missions, including missions to Mars. In addition to tracking the “big picture” of space exploration, the book offers a variety of entertaining minutia, such as a brief discussion of spiders that traveled into space, or photographs of the first television images broadcast by satellite Telstar on July 23, 1962.

The book’s pull-out flaps allow for expansive visualizations of, for example, the solar system as well as the Saturn V rocket with its many stages. Diagrams and flaps are fun and focused, accompanied by photographs that bring the subject to life. Readers can’t help but enjoy these sophisticated tidbits, which jump off the page like an intriguing museum exhibit.

PLAY & LEARN

Mo Willems’ pigeon is an irrepressible character, the star of a beloved series that began with Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! So what better guy to direct the fun-filled Don’t Let the Pigeon Finish This Activity Book! Perfect for advanced preschoolers (there’s some reading to be done) and young elementary students, its perforated pages are packed with Willems’ wonderful humor, along with games, mazes, coloring, puzzles and things to build. Since this isn’t just any pigeon, this activity book is more creative than most.

Seven- to nine-year-olds will also stay busy with Dan Waddell’s How To Be a Detective, which comes complete with a magnifier, an ink pad for fingerprints and a periscope-making kit. This engaging book serves as a nice introduction to Sherlock Holmes, who’s mentioned throughout. Jim Smith’s cartoon-like illustrations add personality and humor to these pages, with thuggish suspects who look bug-eyed and furious, while a sweet grandma sweats nervously in a police lineup.

This guidebook explains things like fingerprints, surveillance and handwriting analysis, with activities on every page. Once these pages have been studied, “graduates” are ready to tackle the mysterious case of a missing painting, complete with fingerprints and handwriting samples for each suspect. Kids will love diving into their own CSI world.

Clear a good-sized workspace for mechanical-minded kids who want to Make Your Own T. Rex. The good news is that there’s no need for glue, tape or scissors; this three-foot model is made of 71 heavy cardboard bones that get slotted together, along with a base upon which the skeleton model stands.

An accompanying booklet gives step-by-step instructions, along with plenty of dinosaur facts and photos. The finished product looks fierce and on the prowl, with a mouthful of teeth ready to bite.

It’s impressive how much kids can learn with Super Science: Matter Matters!, part of a superb new science series written by TV producer and science expert Tom Adams. Who knew a pop-up model of the element boron could be so appealing, or that Jell-O is so wobbly because it’s a colloid? This book contains fabulous flaps to pull and turn, along with a variety of simple experiments to try at home.

Thomas Flintman’s bold illustrations immediately grab readers’ attention, pulling them into the informative text, which explains, for instance, that hot water freezes faster than cold, and that scientists aren’t sure why. The text is simple, yet never simplistic, touching on a variety of important topics, including surface tension, the periodic table, and acids and bases, all presented in an appealing way (think “Killer Chemicals!”).

POP-UP TREATS

Star Wars fans of all ages will be overjoyed by the intricate paper engineering in Matthew Reinhart’s fantastic Star Wars: A Galactic Pop-Up Adventure. Rein­hart is a superstar in the field, having created previous Star Wars pop-ups and partnered with paper engineering legend Robert Sabuda on projects like Encyclopedia Mythologica.

The book’s five wondrous spreads tackle the themes of planets, beasts, enemies, technological wonders and finally, Darth Vader. Each spread contains one giant pop-up that leaps out of the pages, along with many flaps and smaller pop-ups, like a wonderful box of secret treasures.

This is pop-up at its artistic best, exploring the characters, creatures and wondrous worlds of the Star Wars universe, even including a color-changing, light-up saber for the 3-D Darth Vader. As readers open the page, they first see the face of Anakin Skywalker, which is then replaced by that of Darth Vader in a nearly magical transformation.

On a much calmer note, preschoolers will squeal with delight at the pop-up version of Itsy Bitsy Spider. Despite the smaller scale, however, this book also features true paper engineering, complete with a clear-paned window that opens and closes above the waterspout.

Caldecott-winning artist Richard Egielski injects new life into this simple rhyme, creating an imaginative storybook village that springs to life on every page. Youngsters will be thrilled by the rush of rainwater shooting the heroic spider out of the drain spout, and cheer on the valiant little hero as he dries himself off and completes his mission.

When our kids were little, one of the traditions of the Christmas season was unpacking the ornaments and books. Yes, books. These books were only for December and were as important to the season as the plastic icicles and handmade tree skirt from Aunt Dee Dee. We added new books every year and, if I still had little children living in my house, I would add several new ones from this year’s crop.

Those looking for books that reflect the biblical Christmas story will not be disappointed. Three veterans are back with their take on the Nativity.

Tomie dePaola’s tender, simple tale will delight young children with a bird’s-eye view of the big day in The Birds of Bethlehem. Talking among themselves, the birds tell of the unusual, strange, spectacular, awesome and miraculous event they see. These adjectives are unveiled as the story develops, building a sense of quiet drama. DePaola’s respectful but accessible illustrations add to the story, making this a book that will be enjoyed over and over again.

When he was bouncing along the roads in Africa, Ashley Bryan thought of Mary and Joseph on the road to Bethlehem and wrote a simple poem that examines the question of Who Built the Stable? Lushly illustrated in gouache and tempera paints, this special volume will encourage readers to imagine some of the lesser players in the story.

Poet Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrator Stephen Alcorn collaborate for the gentle Mary’s Song. On one hand, this is a love song to new motherhood and, on the other, it’s the familiar story of baby Jesus and his family. Alcorn’s oversized illustrations in cross-hatched mixed media set the perfect tone as the young mother Mary looks for quiet time with her baby boy. Ahh.

A HOLLY, JOLLY CHRISTMAS

Christmas is also about presents and Santa and reindeer—and there are many new books that celebrate this part of the holiday, too!

One of the sweetest is Just Right for Christmas by Birdie Black, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw. After finding a sumptuous bolt of red fabric, the king has a lovely cloak sewn for his daughter. The sewing maids leave the scraps outside on the steps where they are found by the kitchen maid, who uses the material to make a jacket for her mother. The scraps are passed on and on until the last little bit is used as a scarf for a mouse. This celebration of generosity and making things by hand feels “just right” for the holidays.

Jane Yolen and Mark Teague have a small cottage industry going with books about dinosaurs. Their two newest are sure to become family favorites: How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Chanukah? and How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas? It’s fun to see how Yolen and Teague make connections between these two books (mom is knitting in both, the dinosaurs all kiss their grandparents, etc.) but still give each holiday’s traditions its own spotlight. As always, these dinosaur books are more humor than lesson and are the perfect way for little people to laugh at naughtiness.

Another fabulous dinosaur series is Bob Shea’s Dinosaur vs., which pits a red dinosaur against such adversaries as “bedtime” and “the potty.” This time it’s Dinosaur vs. Santa. The dinosaur is like an energetic preschooler, just learning to control himself. It’s impossible to read this book without laughing. I mean, the dinosaur is wearing all varieties of Christmas sweaters and pajamas! But, of course, that’s not all. Dinosaur growls and roars his way through the joys and jobs of the season: writing to Santa, decorating the tree, being extra good and even going to bed on Christmas Eve. When Dinosaur sneaks downstairs to investigate the sounds of jingle bells, readers will worry right along with him: “Did Santa see you? Will he put you on the Naughty list?” The final reassuring turn of the page answers these important questions.

YOUNG SANTA

Santa from Cincinnati, written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, has the feel of a classic tale that could become a family favorite. Barrett (of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs fame) cleverly imagines the childhood of Santa Claus, told as a remembrance from Santa himself. In a scene from the hospital nursery, there is smiling baby Claus, wrapped in a bright red blanket, his nose round and red. Every page holds a treat for children who know the story of the grownup Santa. Here we see baby Santa playing with a reindeer and snowman mobile, and later we see family pictures celebrating his first words (“ho, ho, ho”), first steps (in dad’s big black boots) and favorite snack (cookies). It’s hard to imagine a Christmas-crazy kid not falling hard for this one . . . and imagining the childhoods of other holiday icons.