Courtney Elizabeth Lovett

Dec 1, 2023 | bookriot.com | Derrick Barnes |Courtney Elizabeth Lovett |Annie Zaleski |CJ Connor

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Oct 24, 2023 | kirkusreviews.com | Angela Joy |Chris Paul |Courtney Elizabeth Lovett |Lesa Cline-Ransome

Children will come away with a hazy sense of Prince but a firmer grasp on the healing power of music in hard times. Lavender-washed pages background this picture-book tribute to Prince. Author Joy grew up in Prince’s childhood neighborhood in Minneapolis’ Northside and even performed with him once; her lyrical tribute to the groundbreaking Black musician is allusive and evocative, eliciting feelings rather than unreeling facts.

Sep 7, 2023 | kirkusreviews.com | Jane Yolen |Chris Paul |Courtney Elizabeth Lovett |Brad Meltzer

A glimpse of warm ties between a child who sees pirates and a parent who sees the light. A father and son come to terms with their differences in this biographical anecdote. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather have been builders of lighthouses, but young Robert—affectionately nicknamed “Smout”—has no interest in taking up the Stevenson family trade. An aspiring writer, he dreams of “giants and knights in armor, hidden treasure, and pirates.

Jul 13, 2023 | kirkusreviews.com | Chris Paul |Courtney Elizabeth Lovett |James E. Ransome

Evocative and electrifying. A young boy thrust into the role of breadwinner turns to his love of dance. Though Harish is entranced by the music and dance of his native Rajasthan, he is careful not to show how they affect him. Only when playing the Hindu god Krishna in a school play does he embrace the “flowing fabric / and dazzling jewels” that leave him feeling “shiny and / glittery and / NEW.” When he and his sisters are orphaned, he performs in drag to make ends meet.

Jun 13, 2023 | kirkusreviews.com | Peter Willis |James E. Ransome |Chris Paul |Courtney Elizabeth Lovett

Pattison relates the life of French marine biologist Jeannette Power (1794-1871) in this children’s illustrated biography. Power is famous for inventing aquariums, which enabled her to study “a 4-inch long octopus, the Argonauta argo.” The researcher, who was born Jeanne Villepreux in Juillac, France, journeyed to Sicily in Italy to marry her fiance in 1818. Her fascination with the sea inspired her to study live marine creatures.