Who doesn’t love a friendly little ghost? Readers will fall in love with the delightful hero of Wolfgang in the Meadow, who yearns to be a master of causing fright, but whose happy place is basking in the wonders of a nearby meadow. When he’s not casting spells and “twirling in the air,” Wolfgang loves to hug trees, pick wildflowers and gaze at the sky. His goal is to follow his hero, The Mighty Hubert, as guardian of the Dark Castle. After 999.5 years of his reign, Hubert is about to pick his successor.

As Wolfgang studies the dark arts, he no longer has time to enjoy the splendors of the sunny meadow. Once he achieves his goal and holes up in the castle, he starts to flounder because something is missing. How can Wolfgang continue following this dream while not losing his essence as a nature-loving ghoul?

Author-illustrator Lenny Wen achieves eye-catching contrasts between the gentle meadow and fearsome manor with a combination of graphite and acrylic gouache. Children will delight in the spooky, darkly-tinted Dark Castle, which brims with lightning bolts, skulls and secret potions. The tone is perfect for young audiences, with well-balanced—“frightful,” but ultimately nonthreatening—scenes featuring pint-sized spirits. Nightmares are highly unlikely to ensue from all of this spooky cuteness. These eerie scenes stand out vividly against the bright colors of Wolfgang’s meadow, and together they provide a visual feast that helps readers understand the pleasures of both of Wolfgang’s passions, and how one feeds the other. Wolfgang himself—whose huggable shape resembles a puffy marshmallow—pops out amidst the lush green landscape, filled with wildflowers and woodland creatures.

With Wolfgang in the Meadow, Wen has created a fine story arc about making one’s own way in the world, defying stereotypes and the pleasures of leading a well-rounded life. It’s full of heart and humor, and Wolfgang’s dilemma will speak to readers of any age trying to navigate clashes between joy and ambition.

When three distinguished visitors crash their “car”—which is definitely not a spaceship—and knock on Mr. Li’s door to ask for help, they’re disappointed that he doesn’t have the parts they need to repair their vehicle. Dejected, they start to walk away, but Mr. Li kindly offers them a place to sleep and to take them shopping for parts the next day.

The customers at the general store are also fascinated by Mr. Li’s blue-skinned guests, and offer to help them fix their oddly shaped car. Though the travelers don’t understand local customs, like parties or music, the help of their new friends might get these “definitely human” visitors back to their home.

Which, despite their claims, probably isn’t Europe.

Jon Klassen fans, rejoice: a new laugh-out-loud book can be added to the read-aloud rotation. X. Fang’s We Are Definitely Human is a delightful, humorous romp about human kindness towards strangers.

Fang, author of Dim Sum Palace, pleasantly subverts the text with illustrations that will leave kids giggling as Mrs. Li finds the guests sleeping on couches in all the wrong ways, serves breakfast only for one of the strangers to use their toast to clean their armpits, and listens as they explain their European identities and jobs like “making business” and “wearing hat.” The strong, striking shapes of the definitely human visitors, which Mr. Li finds “very hard to describe,” make for memorable character design.

This warm and giggle-worthy tale will please young readers—whether human or definitely human. Pair with Klassen’s The Rock from the Sky and Jess Hannigan’s Spider in the Well for a perfect storytime.

All is aflutter in the Wren family when Mr. and Mrs. Wren’s eggs hatch—except out of one egg comes a baby fairy! This is not the only peculiar thing: the baby fairy doesn’t have wings. The wrens name her Tiny Jenny and raise her with love. Unable to fly to find food like the other wren children, Tiny Jenny searches for things to eat in the brambles, and ends up causing plenty of mischief. When Tiny Jenny overhears her neighbors complaining to Mr. and Mrs. Wren—”Letting a fairy run riot in the woods. How could you?”—she runs away in search of other fairies like herself.

And find them, she does. Although the fairies smirk at Tiny Jenny’s lack of wings, the Fairy Queen agrees to grant Tiny Jenny her own wings if she can keep up with their parade.

In an unexpected twist, the fairies prove themselves to be much worse menaces than Tiny Jenny to the woodland creatures as they stomp and crash through the forest. The fairies don’t even look for food, they simply choose destruction! Suddenly, Tiny Jenny isn’t sure she wants to be a fairy at all. Luckily, the birds of the forest arrive just in time to remind her where she belongs.

Author-illustrator Briony May Smith, whose colorful mind brought us Margaret’s Unicorn and The Mermaid Moon, delivers a mischievous and spirited adventure in Tiny Jenny: Little Fairy, Big Trouble that will make readers laugh as they discover that things are not always what they seem. Smith uses muted browns and greens for the forest and bolder colors for flowers in lively illustrations that bring the story to life. The same bold colors are used on the fairies’ dresses, and Tiny Jenny’s clothes match the bluebells seen throughout the forest.

Readers of all ages will enjoy watching Tiny Jenny learn the difference between playfulness and truly bad behavior in this tale of embracing differences and finding your family.

There’s no shortage of bedtime books, but authors and illustrators continue to surprise with their creativity and artwork. The Bedtime Boat may be joining a very full shelf, but its clever and useful take on night terrors is worthy of attention.

Little Chandan has a hard time sleeping—not because he doesn’t want to, but because it leads to his imagination running off, taking him on a journey that starts out fun, but quickly turns into a nightmare. Chandan’s mom, however, has a clever trick: She has Chandan concentrate on a toy boat, which helps him focus his breathing, calming him down and helping him drift off. Sital Gorasia Chapman maintains a steady pulse of rhyming, alliteration and repetition, which makes for good bedtime reading even amid Chandan’s terrors. When Chandan’s mother gently interrupts scary thoughts with her reminder to breathe, speaking in a cadence that feels like the waves she invokes, Chandan—and the reader—can’t help but be soothed.

The Bedtime Boat begins with a literal circus of colors, and one can almost hear the cacophony of rides and voices against cheerful carnival music, evoking what the inside of an active child’s mind might look like after a busy day. As Chandan and his mother head home, the circus gives way to the soft blues of a nighttime routine and, finally, bed. But sleep is interrupted by images from Chandan’s day, and his imagination takes over, pulling him into somewhat frightening dreams of whales and pirates, sharks and treasure. The bedtime boat itself links the real world and Chandan’s dream stories, bringing Chandan safely through these nightmares and back to his bed, where he sets an anchor. Anastasia Suvorova’s art is soft and hazy like a dream, but also intricate, and reality and dream weave together in a manner that reflects those final stages of dozing off. The Bedtime Boat is fanciful, artistic and beautiful—almost too visually appealing to send little ones off to sleep.

The book also gives practical advice—a rarity in this reviewer’s experience—providing back matter with instructions for creating your own paper bedtime boat  to help little ones feel a sense of control. For children who struggle with bedtime, and especially those who experience night terrors, The Bedtime Boat can help put feelings into words.

Marije Tolman brings readers cozy scenes of family and warmth with Quill the Forest Keeper, which was originally published in the Netherlands and is translated into English by David Colmer. At the story’s present-day start, the woods are clean, the air is cold and it smells like hot blueberry pie indoors, where a family of hedgehogs asks Grandpa to tell them about the past.

Grandpa launches into a tale of the long-ago Terrible Rush Era, when animals were always busy and never stopped: “Everything and everyone had to be higher, faster, further, bigger, prettier, more!” But one hedgehog named Quill enjoyed taking it easy, resting in the sun, paddling on the water and cleaning up everyone else’s trash along the way. With compassion, Quill tended to the mountains, the woods and the sea.

One day, however, Quill collapses from the fatigue of constantly taking care of everyone else’s mess. His concerned neighbors help him get back up, and Quill goes home and sleeps through the winter. Soon, the animals begin rushing about again—but this time they also get busy tending to their surroundings and cleaning up after themselves. When Quill wakes, he sees the woods cleaner than he has ever seen them, and his “prickles shook with a shiver of joy.” After presenting him with a gold rake, the animals declare him the official Forest Keeper.

Tolman’s exquisite mixed-media illustrations, with meticulous linework and colors that sparkle, are superimposed upon monochromatic photos of the Scottish Highlands. There’s a visual richness and spaciousness to these spreads, and Tolman includes eye-catching details to delight her young audience: a penguin holding a cell phone, rhinos in shades and an alligator in a winter hat and scarf. It all adds up to a playful and openhearted examination of community, consumption and the value of a life lived slowly and deliberately, with care for the natural world.

As Grandpa wraps up Quill’s story, the hedgehog family heads into the sunshine, leaving readers wanting to head right back to the beginning of this charming Dutch import.

Young children courageously face their fears in Dare to Be Daring, a funny and reassuring tale told in upbeat, singsongy rhyme that provides an excellent mantra for situations when a little extra motivation is needed: “Today, I will dare to be daring.”

As author Chelsea Lin Wallace acknowledges in straightforward, witty prose, trying something for the first time is daunting, indeed. But what if taking risks can lead to wonderful things, like a little boy’s feelings of elation and relief after conquering his fear of the dentist? He happily discovers, “That paste tastes like candy! / This suck tool is handy! / A trip to the toy bin, woo-hoo!”

In a variety of scenarios depicting a relatable mix of physical, social and emotional challenges, children throw caution to the wind in gym class, try a new food, ask to join a group of others playing a game and more. Their initial trepidation and ultimate exuberance is expertly depicted by illustrator Lian Cho, who conjures up expressive characters that are a delight to behold, including the comically huge grimace and widened eyes of a skeptical girl bracing herself for a meal of pea and beef stew (“It’s GREEN and it’s GRIMY”).

Cho’s gouache and colored pencil art is rendered in a cheery mix of patterns and textures. There’s a splattery Pollock-esque painting, a furry Bernese mountain dog and the gaping dark maw of the unlit basement—the latter of which will have readers cringing and giggling as a little girl tries, again and again, to take that first step down the stairs.

Dare to Be Daring makes a sweetly supportive case for mustering up the courage to try new things—and remembering you don’t have to do it alone, perfectly or all at once. After all, as Wallace shows us, “It’s our light that we shine that is daring. / It glows when we set our fears free.”