-
Apr 8, 2024 | 
hbook.com | Martha V. Parravano |Jessica MacDonald |Susan Dove Lempke
The Last Zookeeper by Aaron Becker; illus. by the authorPrimary, Intermediate Candlewick 40 pp. 3/24 9781536227680 $18.99Becker’s (The Tree and the River, rev. 3/23) latest wordless fantasy takes readers to a post-apocalyptic future. Animals in a flooded zoo huddle on exposed bits of dry land; they are tended by an enormous yellow robot with wind turbines mounted on its back. Becker works in landscape orientation, with the robot’s verticality dominating most compositions.
-
Apr 1, 2024 | 
hbook.com | Martha V. Parravano |Jessica MacDonald |Susan Dove Lempke |Marva Hinton
What’s New, Daniel? by Micha Archer; illus. by the authorPreschool Paulsen/Penguin 32 pp. 2/24 9780593461303 $18.99e-book ed. 9780593461310 $10.99Daniel (Daniel Finds a Poem; Daniel’s Good Day, rev. 7/19) is back in another open-hearted, child-friendly picture book. It’s spring, and Daniel is meeting his grandfather in the park. When Grandpa asks him what’s new, Daniel heads off to find out.
-
Mar 25, 2024 | 
hbook.com | Jessica MacDonald |Susan Dove Lempke |Marva Hinton |Emma A. Shacochis
Are You Big? by Mo Willems; illus. by the authorPreschool, Primary Union Square 32 pp. 2/24 9781454948186 $17.99Big, bigger, or downright astronomical—it’s all relative in Willems’s latest concept book. On the first page, a round-headed, stick-limbed child smiles at the reader; text opposite asks, “Are you big?” Sitting in the middle of the square, solid-colored page, the kid looks plenty large.
-
Jan 4, 2024 | 
hbook.com | Susan Dove Lempke |Sarah Ellis |Dean Schneider |Michelle Lee
Not the Worst Friend in the World by Anne RellihanIntermediate Holiday 272 pp. 2/24 9780823454792 $17.99e-book ed. 9780823457663 $10.99In this pitch-perfect middle-grade novel, Lou (short for Louise) copes with her deep shame over some unkind words she said in anger to Francie, her (now former) best friend. Lou can hardly believe that new-kid Cece wants to be friends, but she’s intrigued by the girl’s conviction about having been kidnapped by her father.
-
Jan 1, 2024 | 
hbook.com | Julie Roach |Adrienne L. Pettinelli |Susan Dove Lempke |Grace Mckinney Beermann
Once, a Bird by Rina Singh; illus. by Nathalie DionPreschool, Primary Orca 32 pp. 9/23 9781459831438 $21.95e-book ed. 9781459831452 $16.99French ed. 9781459839045 $21.95This wordless story follows a small bird as she perches on a snow-covered branch. When she sees a little red bud on one of the branches, she takes flight. Panel art from an aerial viewpoint shows her flying over the melting, greening landscape below.
-
Dec 25, 2023 | 
hbook.com | Adrienne L. Pettinelli |Susan Dove Lempke |Grace Mckinney Beermann |Patrick Gall
Maybe a Whale by Kirsten Pendreigh; illus. by Crystal SmithPrimary Groundwood 40 pp. 8/23 9781773066646 $21.99e-book ed. 9781773066653 $16.99The unnamed narrator’s grandfather has died, and her mother is taking her on a trip he had planned for them, to the ocean to see his beloved whales. The girl doesn’t want to go, but she packs up her stuffed whale and draws whales in the condensation on the car window while the pair drives to the coast.
-
Dec 18, 2023 | 
hbook.com | Susan Dove Lempke |Grace Mckinney Beermann |Patrick Gall |Pauletta Brown Bracy
Down the Hole by Scott Slater; illus. by Adam MingPrimary Clarion/HarperCollins 40 pp. 10/23 9780358683346 $19.99Wily Fox meets his match in crafty Rabbit, as the would-be predator waits by a bunny hole. Underneath the ground, the light from the hole shines down on a rabbit listening alertly while the rest of the bunnies spring into action. Some have hard hats and shovels, while others pore over a map, looking as if they are strategizing.
-
Nov 2, 2023 | 
hbook.com | Martha V. Parravano |Sylvia Vardell |Susan Dove Lempke
At the Poles by David Elliott; illus. by Ellen RooneyPrimary Candlewick 40 pp. 10/23 9781536205992 $18.99That paragon of poetic pith Elliott (In the Woods, rev. 3/20; and others) returns with another winning entry. Here his focus is on animals of the Polar Regions, from emperor penguins in Antarctica, through two species that inhabit the waters of both regions, to polar bears in the Arctic.
-
Oct 19, 2023 | 
hbook.com | Eboni Njoku |Martha V. Parravano |Sylvia Vardell |Susan Dove Lempke
Kin: Rooted in Hope by Carole Boston Weatherford; illus. by Jeffery Boston WeatherfordIntermediate, Middle School Atheneum 208 pp. 9/23 9781665913621 $18.99e-book ed. 9781665913645 $10.99From a single photograph and sparse information to a fully realized lineage of excellence, an African American author, with dramatic illustrations by her son, traces their family’s roots. Carole Boston Weatherford (Standing in the Need of Prayer, rev.
-
Sep 4, 2023 | 
hbook.com | Megan Lambert |Julie Roach |Susan Dove Lempke
Before, Now by Daniel Salmieri; illus. by the authorPrimary Rocky Pond/Penguin 48 pp. 6/23 9780593461976 $19.99e-book ed. 9780593461983 $10.99Salmieri delivers a moving intergenerational story using opposites as its central conceit.
