All Aboard the Magic School... Shuttle? Field Trip to the Moon by John Hare

What are the rules for a primary-grade field trip to the moon?

Rule One is familiar: Stay with the group!

But when this class, clad in their spacesuits, climb onto the big yellow school shuttle and zoom off for a field trip to the moon's surface, as we might predict, one little space scholar stops off to do some sketches of moon rock specimens and dozes off while the class hikes off into the moonscape.

And when sleeper awakes and hastily follows the class's footprints in the moon dust, she arrives just in time to see the big yellow space bus already heading back to Earth! Oh, no!

Dejected, the visitor sits down and pulls out a big yellow box of markers and begins to sketch a hopeful rainbow while waiting for rescue. But, what is that with the one big eyeball scoping out their visitor from behind a chunk of moon junk?

The curious moon creatures are fascinated with the concept of drawing, so the marooned kid passes out markers, and they all begin to create colorful self-portraits on the gray moon rocks.

And when the yellow shuttle returns for the little lag-behind moon scholar, the teacher hugs her and then makes her scrub the rocks clean from what looks like lunar graffiti.

Not since Ms. Frizzle took her class for a little moon stroll in The Magic School Bus Takes a Moonwalk (Scholastic Reader, Level 2)) has there been such an an intriguing field trip in earth's orbit. In John Hare's terrific debut picture book, Field Trip to the Moon (Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House Books, 2019), his illustrations tell the story wordlessly, setting the whole field trip off in shades of moon gray with spots of color, particularly in the big yellow box of markers, set against the deep black of space beyond. Even preschoolers can "read" the body language and the pathos of the little left-behind student, in a "story" that will be a favorite. "A close encounter of the best kind," says Kirkus Reviews.

Oh, Yeah? The Pigeon HAS to go to School by Mo Willems

Why do I have to go to school?

I ALREADY KNOW EVERYTHING!

Pigeon is being oppositional.

Wait! School starts early in the morning? No way!

You know what I look like in the morning!

It's NOT PRETTY!

Pigeon is adamant that he doesn't need school!

Of course, it's obvious to everyone but himself that Pigeon is scared of starting to school. He has a million What Ifs. The teacher may not like him. He may not like the teacher. What about those school lunches? Nobody likes them! What about those ginormous backpacks they make you carry? There is too much stuff to learn! Like math! All those numbers. He has only one big eye, you know!

At last, Pigeon admits the truth:

The unknown stresses me out, Dude!

What Pigeon needs is a place to go to get used to school first.

OH. Like Preschool and Kindergarten.

And, WAIT! Pigeon is going to get to ride on the big yellow school bus? He is ON IT! He's even driven one, sort of!

Mo Willems' best-selling The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! (Hyperion Books, 2019) has the obstinate, nay-saying feathered scholar starring in the perfect prep book for the first day of school, giving voice to all the fears that youngsters feel before they walk through those epic doors into the world of education. Willems' Pigeon is already a super star, joining the notable, multiple award-winning Willems' other famed characters-- Knuffle Bunny and Elephant and Piggie, and the rest--who have charmed and guided children so long and so well through their early years. A million parents nervous about first-day anxieties thank you, Mo Willems!

Big Top Primary School! Your First Day of Circus School by Tara Lazar

What kid wouldn't want his first day to be at Clown School?

Even the stand-in for the school bus is as commodious as a clown car!

Don't worry. An endless number of seats!

But the Ringmaster does call the roll for all the new pupils:

Ladeez and Gentle-Men, Boys and Girls!
This is the most amazing day of all: your first day of school!  Step right up!

Right away the uniforms give it away. They are clown costumes, strong-man tights, band uniforms, and other natty circus garb.

They are introduced to their teacher--Miss Stupendous!

They are advised that the school cafeteria is a ZOO! In fact, it's a jungle in there!

But new students are congratulated for their high expectations as they climb up to take their turns on the trapeze!

Going to circus school is like being a human cannonball--a BLAST from the circus cannon, in Tara Lazar's latest, Your First Day of Circus School (Tundra, 2019).  With Melissa Crowton's colorful illustrations, this first-day-of-school tale is a lively introduction to circus school doings.

In the Deep: Song of the Abyss (Tower of Winds 2) by Makiia Lucier

They came in the night as she dreamt, in her berth, in a ship sailing home to del Mar. Two carracks, painted Scorpion black. No emblem flying to hint at a kingdom of origin.

"Quiet!" Gunnel ordered. She wore her sword. "Up, up, quickly, Reyna!

Sea raiders!"

To the sound of sound of soft humming, the crewmen lie still, as if somehow enchanted, while the guttural sound of a vaguely familiar language is heard, ordering the crew of pirates looting the ship. As a map maker, Reyna knows she must save the charts of trading routes, the lifeblood of the kingdom of del Mar. With them safe in a water-tight quiver, she goes overboard and swims through the monster-filled sea until she reaches an island, a land which she recognizes as Lunes, one for which she has learned the language, but still strange and seemingly undergoing a crisis, with no torches or signs of activity, but where she hopes to find a del Marian trading ship to take her home.

As the rising sun shows her a landing, she sees the dark figure of a young man slumped, as if in grief.

In Lunesian, in a voice that rolled deep and pleasant in the dark, "Between the two of us, I wonder who's had the worst night of it!"

He tells her that he is Levi, a son of the King who has just died.

Reyna vanishes into the dawn, but later, she meets up with him again. He is the second son of the king, and when Reyna's ship is towed into the harbor with its dead, the two of them find themselves assigned the task of finding his older brother and locating the mysterious raiders before they strike again.

With Reyna's navigational knowledge and Levi's knowledge of sailing ships, they sail out from Lunes into the Sea of Magdalen and through the Strait of Cain, with its maelstrom filled with drowned but undead souls, and trace their pirates to the distant land of Miramar, a secretive and xenophobic people with exquisite etiquette and with the barbaric custom of tutto mortise, burying their ruler with his chosen retainers. It is to this land that the mysterious raiders belong, inexplicitly swapping their stolen booty for shiploads of Lunesian clay. In managing to stay alive and discover the unthinkable logic behind the piracy, Reyna and Levi find themselves falling in love.

In her Song of the Abyss (Tower of Winds) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019), author Makiia Lucier fashions an compelling fantasy romance within an extravagantly imagined world drawn from the Mediterranean society of the early Enlightenment period. Del Mar resembles Portugal in the days of Henry the Navigator, and Lunes is reminiscent of the Venice of Marco Polo, while Miramar suggest a rigid, ingrown Asian empire. Within this exotic setting, Lucier tells the intrigue-filled story of two strong-minded, star-crossed, but chaste lovers whose love and loyalty grow during their own odyssey through their world. The sequel to Lucier's Isle of Blood and Stone (Tower of Winds), this title sets the roles of the characters for the last book of the trilogy, perfect for knowledgeable young adult readers with promise for those who crave a bit of sophistication, an amalgamation of familiar cultures with fantasy, in their romance novels.

Bugged! Something Is Bugging Samantha Hansen by Nancy Viau

It started last fall on our class trip to Slippery Stone Cave. I was being extremely helpful to our cave guide, and That Kid Richard said I was a science freak and had rocks in my head. But Todd Kensington stuck up for me. I decided right then that Todd would be my boyfriend one day--in a few years when I was allowed to have a boyfriend. But then Kelli invited Todd over to her house. I got so mad at Kelli.

Kelli and I don't stay mad for long. She's been my friend since kindergarten. Best friend. But since Christmas vacation, she's only been over twice. She has not been best friend material these days.

The rocks in Samantha's head have been displaced pro tem by the next science unit--insects--but her relationship with Kelli is not exactly buzzing. Kelli has started dance lessons and has been as busy as a bee with her ballet friend Ling. But, not surprisingly, at school Samantha finds a new obsession, not fractions and percentages, but bees--and on an outing to a local apiary with her grandfather, she is dismayed to learn that the owner is planning to sell out and move away. Her angry stomping around gets her in trouble with her mom, who is starting a new job and her teenaged sister Jen, thinks she's a big baby to make a fuss over a bunch of bees.

But her teacher, Miss Montemore, is sympathetic, and That Kid Richard Frey, who does have cute dimples, helps her start their class Bug Club.

But dimple-faced boys are not important now. What I need is a friend. A best friend. Someone who wants to hang out with me. And if that someone liked science, that would make the second half of fourth grade fifty-million percent better.

Samantha finds a science friend, her classmate Kat, who also loves science and is very funny besides, and Kat joins her in forming a club and heading up their campaign, Save The Bees. Before she knows it, she's Samantha Hansen, Entymologist, and President of the Bug Club, the science kids organize a demonstration, complete with Save the Bees posters and articles in the local newspaper.

The apiary is saved, with a surprising new owner and there is clearly more nature science and best friends in Samantha's future, in Something Is Bugging Samantha Hansen (Schiffer Publishing, 2019). It's not as if Samantha Hansen has exactly lost her love for rocks. She's not fickle, but in this humorous sequel to Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head, (see review here) she's playing the field, that is, the field of beehives at Orchardville Farm, learning about beekeeping, and perhaps a little about juggling emotions and controlling her temper with her best friends (plural) and potential far-in-the-future boyfriends. Samantha Hansen is a delightfully lively and honest character in this forthcoming funny and down-to-earth realistic fiction book for middle readers.

Tiny Turtle Trek! Truman by Jean Ready

Truman was the size of a donut,
a small donut--and every bit as sweet.

Truman is a tiny turtle who lives with Sarah in a tiny tank on the windowsill, overlooking a city street of loud taxis and trash trucks--where sometimes he sees the number 11 bus traveling south.

Truman is a very quiet pet, one who happy to watch Sarah color and play. But one morning is different.

Sarah hops out of bed, eats a very large banana, gets dressed in new clothes, and puts on a terribly big backpack.

Sarah placed seven green beans in Truman's dish
--two more than usual.

Something is up! And as Truman watches from his tank by the window, he sees Sarah go away on the number 11 bus with her mom.

Truman waits, bereft. At last he decides he must find Sarah, even if he has to take the number 11 bus, too!

Truman struggles to clamber up the rocks in his tank and drops down onto the floor to start his trek toward the door. It takes a very long time time in turtle hours. But at last Truman stands before the door, summoning all his courage to board the bus on the busy street. But after all, Truman is a valiant turtle.

Suddenly Truman hears the number 11 bus, and then, of course, Sarah returns from school, amazed to find her tiny but intrepid little turtle at the door, in Jean Ready's most delightsome pet story, Truman (Atheneum Books, 2019).

Author Jean Ready tells her tale of love and loyalty in charmingly precise but picturesque language and perhaps signals a sequel on the final pages with a hint that Truman may get to ride the number 11 bus after all--on Show and Tell Day. Artist Lucy Ruth Commins' blackline drawings use simple lines, with soft hues in single and double-page spreads that tell this "peaceful and pensive" story with perfect pacing and just the right touch of pathos. This picture book is just about perfect! In fact, Booklist's reviewer gives in and uses that one word that best describes Sarah's loyal and plucky little turtle: "Cummins has rendered in Truman a character so indisputably adorable that, coupled with Reidy's soulful characterization, readers of all ages will be falling in love."

Cat in the Hat? Hats Are Not For Cats! by Jacqueline K. Raymer

Who says?

A cute little cat finds a little red fez. It fits. But then...

There's a supercilious voice from on high....

Excuse me, cat. I see you're wearing a hat,
but hats...
... are not for cats.

He insists that headgear is only for that superior group -- dogs! He shows off his spiffy top hat, that chapeau of choice for superior canines, preferably, one assumes, of the shaggy persuasion!

The little grey kitty tries to change his mind, modeling a pink cloche, and a long, stripey knitted cap with a pom-pom.  The dog promptly points to his poster, the "CORRECT WEARING OF HATS," in which the cat in the hat is simply X-ed out.

Not fine hats or flapper,

not dashing and dapper!

Also to be banned are party toppers or artsy berets. Not frilly or silly, not stripy or dotty.

But this little kitty is inventive. She tries sombreros and tam o'shanters. Nordic ear warmers. Tropical sunhats. Every size and every style. But hats modeled by cats cannot persuade this picky, cranky canine. As far as he is concerned, they are ALL his hats!

But the grey cat campaigns for her rights and raises a cadre of cats who wear hats. They liberate all the haberdashery, and the little grey cat pounces and takes possession of the dog's very own top hat.

Cats rule, in Jacqueline K. Raymer's first picture book, Hats Are Not for Cats! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Clarion, 2019), as the victorious cat pack models all the headgear, from boater to bowler, from sunbonnet to stetson. But turnabout-is-fair turns into it's better-to-share, in Rayner's jolly rhymes and ebullient illustrations, Dog happily regains his high hat as his new friends live it up in their best-liked lids. It's an easy reading, funny, rhyming story that will please preschoolers to primary graders, and a fun picture book to read on HAT DAY!

Share this new one with John Klassen's classic hat tales, I Want My Hat Back, We Found a Hat, and This Is Not My Hat. (See reviews here.)

Together Is Better: The Tall Man and the Small Mouse by Mara Bergman

On a tall hill in a tall house
lived a tall man and a small mouse.

All day the tall man did tall man things--plucking apples, removing cats and kites stuck in tall trees....

All night the mouse had small things to do, finding dropped pens and long-lost rings and pennies....

Since they worked different shifts, the tall man and the small mouse knew nothing of each other... until the day the tall man could not complete a tall task.

The tall man went to fix,
the town's great clock.
It had no tick;
it had no tock.

The tall man tried and tried and tried. The hands were stuck.
And he was too big to get inside. Bad luck!

The tall man goes home to study his clock book and slips off his tall boots to take a nap. And when he wakes, he discovers someone very small inside one boot--the mouse!

"Mouse," he said, "you're small and clearly clever.
I wonder whether
I may borrow you.
I've a most important thing to do.

The mouse complies, and when she tries, she finds inside a tiny piece to fix....

The town clock is good as new, and the two make their way home, new partners, as the tall man puts it:

We may be of a different kind,
But both of us can fix and find.

Two can be better than one when there are things to be done, in Mara Bergman's The Tall Man and the Small Mouse (Candlewick Press, 2018), a sprightly rhyming fable of combining traits and talents to get the job done. Berman's rhymes in free rhythm add to the fun of reading this one, and artist Birgitta Sif provides the long and the short of it in her long-stemmed spring flowers and elongated figures, finishing up with the Tall Man making an airplane for Mouse to pilot. In their starred review, Booklist says, "a rhythmic, rhyming text that reads aloud beautifully [and]... Capturing the sense, the polish, and the wit of the verse, Sif’s digitally colored pencil drawings bring their own elegance and charm to the narrative while adding amusing details for curious viewers to discover."

Don't You Want to Ride? Trains Run! by George Ella Lyon

Steam engine,
gas engine,
electric engine, too.

Chooka-chooka! Vroom zoom!
Hssss! Whoo-oo-whoo!

The streamlined sheer power of the engine, the sinuous string of varied cars, the rhythm of the rails, the thrill of moving swiftly through the landscape, the fun of going somewhere else--everything that trains do and all they mean to travelers is included, in George Ella and Ben Lyon's Trains Run! (Atheneum Books, 2018).

And assisted by the powerful retro-styled illustrations of artist Mick Wiggins, Lyon's strong and rhythmic quatrains summon up the sights and sounds and sensations of the train.

Can a train climb a mountain?
I think I can!!

Slow it goes up the slope,
fast across the bridge--
a long strong trestle
that links the ridge to ridge.

"Don't you want to ride?" All aboard! Who wouldn't want to ride those silver rails, to see those sights, to feel that power beneath you, taking you somewhere new, somewhere special? George Ella Lyon's latest in her series captures the folklore, the mystique, the promise of traveling by train. There are many great literary accounts of trains, going back to Emily Dickinson's "I Like to See It Lap the Miles," and Watty Piper's classic The Little Engine That Could (Original Classic Edition), and notable children's writer George Ella Lyon and son Benn Lyon have given us a worthy new one to make our senses ring with the rails. Other books in this series are Boats Float! (Richard Jackson Book), and Planes Fly!, and Trucks Roll! (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover))

First-Day Strategies: How to Get Your Teacher Ready by Jean Reagan

Teachers get first-day jitters, too!

You're ready for the first day of school.

But what about your teacher?

It's true. After all, there's only one teacher and lots of kids in her classroom.

YOU can hide behind your new notebook or the kid with big hair in front of you, but you can bet everyone is staring at your teacher!

With August comes an epidemic of school-days anxiety, and it may be time to revisit author Jean Reagan's and illustrator Lee Wildish's classic how-to manual for kids, How to Get Your Teacher Ready (How To...relationships) (Alfred A. Knopf. 2017) that should help banish butterflies in the tummy for teachers and students alike.

A great big smile is always a good beginning. But first things first....

Whisper, "I know where the bathroom is if you ever need to know."

Give your teacher a few hint or two about getting in good with the lunch ladies that'll encourage generous helpings.

Give her something special, but definitely not...
An ice sculpture for her desk...Or an already opened box of chocolates!

It's going to be a long year. To give the teacher something to look forward to, tell her about the good times to come--like Field Day (bring sunscreen), Zoo Day (don't forget the naked mole rats), and even the Last Day of School (with spontaneous hugs).

Artist Lee Wildish creates a classroom of cheerful moppets to keep the new teacher busy from the first day of school and right on through the year. Kids with first-day worries will be cheered by this classic by Jean Reagan, author of How to Babysit a Grandpa (How To...relationships) and How to Babysit a Grandma (How To...relationships).

Share this one with Julie Danneberg's best-selling tale of teacher anxieties, First Day Jitters (Mrs. Hartwell's Classroom Adventures) and the favorite Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten.

Tears! Big Boys Cry by Jonty Howley

It was Levi's first day at a new school, and Levi was scared.

His Papa doesn't know how to help him. So he tries to give him courage.

"Big boys don't cry."

And as Levi walks alone to that new school along the harbor road, he doesn't cry. He can be a big boy, he thinks.

But as he walks he sees the tears of a fisherman, hugging his children as he leaves on a long sail.

Levi takes the new streets through a new town, but as he goes, his sees the tears of some people--parents taking their new baby out for the first time, a grandfather with tears of pride, watching his beautiful little granddaughter, a young man proposing marriage, a tough biker searching for his lost dog, a musician moved by music....

Levi sheds a tear himself, as he approaches his new school, but nevertheless he goes inside and is welcomed by his new teacher and class. His day is good, and Levi has no more tears of fear.

But when he returned home Levi was surprised.

Papa had tears in his eyes.

There are many kinds of tears, Levi learns--tears of fear and relief, loss and joy... and yes, pride.

And Levi and Papa shed a few tears of understanding together, in Jonty Howley's unusual first-day-of-school story, Big Boys Cry (Random House, 2019). Beginnings are hard for young children, who haven't experienced so many endings and beginnings. Tears can be brave as well as fearful, and Howley's gentle story of emotions set in the frame of a first-day experience has a lot to say about natural emotions--at any time of life. Illustrator Howley's quaintly stylized seaside town, a setting where sea and land come together, is a perfect location for this story of endings and new beginnings and the courage to face them. Says Kirkus Reviews, "A compassionate story that encourages openness and honesty about emotions."

Hold the Hugs! Elmore by Holly Hobbie

FRIENDS WANTED

Despite his cozy home in a tall maple tree, Elmore Porcupine is lonely.

Solitude can be boring.

He posts a sign at the foot of the tree to advertise for someone to talk to and to play with. His old Uncle Porcupine tries to be supportive.

"I'm your friend," he says.

But Elmore has overheard the other young animals in the forest talking about how hard he is to get close to. As he rattles his quills, he realizes that perhaps the others have, um, a point.

Elmore spent a rainy day, holing up in his tree, thinking about what to do about his troublesome quills.

Clearly Elmore is stuck with his quills. His problem is that the others are stuck by them.

Perhaps he can find his way to making his quills an asset! He gathers up his some of the quills he's shedded, ties them up in an attractively yarn-tied bundles and creates a new sign:

QUILL PENS!
100% REAL PORCUPINE QUILLS
FREE!

In a version of the old saw, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade," Elmore finds that offering free quills gets everyone happily writing notes and letters to each other, and Elmore's tree becomes the best place to be. Soon he finds a new sign taped to his tree.

YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL PORCUPINE.
OUR WOODS ARE LUCKY TO HAVE YOU!

                                  --YOUR FRIENDS

Noted author-illustrator Holly Hobbie has a new and appealing prickly little character, in her Elmore (Random House, 2018), who manages to parlay his spiky, prickly quills into presents for his would-be friends, in a new version of making a silk purse out of a swine's ear. Elmore is a personable, proactive, and positive-thinking porcupine who finds popularity while remaining true to himself, and Hobbie's watercolor artwork is as charmingly engaging as in her best-selling series, Toot & Puddle (See reviews here).

Share this one with two other sweetly prickly tales, Paul Schmidt's Hugs from Pearl or the popular Aussie author-illustrator Aaron Blabey's I Need a Hug.

What's Old Is New! Curious George (75th Anniversary Edition) by H. A. Rey

He's BACK!

Of course, he's never been away. Curious George has been a star in the panoply of children's book characters right up there with the Little Engine That Could, Little Toot, The Little House, Max, and Peter Rabbit. The original books created in mid-twentieth century by H.A. and Margret Ray have already been loved to tatters by three generations of young hands, and spin-off easy readers and television series have celebrated that too curious little monkey for decades.

But a seventy-fifth anniversary of a story book classic that has never lost its charm is a big deal. And although the cover of this celebratory edition, Curious George: 75th Anniversary Edition (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019) has been given a glossy blue ribbon banner and some shiny new lettering, and although the Times New Roman font seems a bit larger and more crisp and the pictures brighter, it's George who is still the center of the story--George, for whom each new surprise is accompanied with a big smile, George whose curiosity leads him into big adventures and who emerges a bit wiser, but no less curious--George is the star!

Author-illustrator H. A. Rey's illustrations, set in vignettes, spot-art style, against bright white pages, tell the classic story of an irrepressible, naughty little monkey whose curiosity takes him into many situations. George's yen to try dialing the telephone leads him into the custody of fat fireman and the skinny fireman and on to a high-flying balloon flight over the big city. Although his inquisitiveness gets George into some unwonted escapades, he's a good model for young readers, one who approaches life and learning with an open and infectious joie de vivre.

The houses looked like toy houses
and the people like dolls.
George was frightened.
He held on very tight.

It's a lucky kid who gets to see a copy of this classic story that hasn't already been read hundreds of times, and this sparkling new edition comes with a link to an audiobook reading of the story by actor John Krasinski. But it doesn't take a famous reader to make Curious George come alive, thanks to the author H.A. Ray's perfectly paced storytelling. And with the magic of George, young listeners may soon turn into readers, sharing the story themselves with others.

Beach Buddy! Waiting for Chicken Smith by David Mackintosh

"HEY, LOOK!" my sister calls.

But I'm waiting for Chicken Smith.
He should be here soon.

The boy is has arrived at the beach cabin where he goes every summer and where his friend Chicken Smith always comes, with his rusty bike, his dog Jelly, and his binoculars to use to watch for whales from the base of the lighthouse.

But the boy has waited for several days and Chicken Smith has not come. Summer at the shore is not the same without his beach buddy.

Besides, Chicken Smith is cool. Together they swim far out, holding onto his dad's surfboard, and collect driftwood and special shells along the water line. Chicken Smith can kick a tennis ball all the way to the edge of the sea, and his dog Jelly will fetch it every single time. He can ride his old bike with no brakes everywhere, and every day, as the sun sinks low over the sea, they go to the lighthouse to watch with his binoculars for a whale to breach on the horizon. The boy has bought a special shell to give to Chicken Smith when he comes.

But Chicken Smith's cabin is still vacant, and there is a sign on the door,

SUMMER RENTAL
Inquire at shop.

What is taking Chicken Smith so long anyway?
We're missing out on everything.

"JUST HURRY UP!" his sister yells, running off down the beach.

What is she yelling about? The boy follows her down the beach and up to the lighthouse. He sees something he's never seen before.

It's a whale! He never saw one with Chicken Smith. But thanks to his sister, he sees the WHALE! With her.

Named for the character who never appears and through his absence changes the story, David Mackintosh's Waiting for Chicken Smith (Candlewick Press, 2019 [Am. ed]) deals with the truth that things always change, even the most beloved things, and people go on in new ways. Like the actors in "Waiting for Godot," the boy remains stuck waiting for his usual beach buddy to arrive and make things happen. But unlike those hapless characters, the boy's sister helps him move on to a wonderful new experience. Together they bond as they spot the long-awaited whale, plan a shell hunt for the next morning, and their relationship is changed forever. A sister can be a friend, too, one hopes, for life. To this understated but powerful story, author-illustrator David Macintosh adds wonderful scratchy illustrations that capture the rustic cabins and palm trees, flotsam and jetsam at the waterline, and the wondrous whale in perfect blues and soft browns of the beach. "Mackintosh’s text perfectly captures the timelessness of childhood summer," Kirkus Reviews says.

Much Given, Much to Give: Jumping Mouse: A Native American Legend of Friendship and Sacrifice by Misty Schroe

Long, long ago, there was a mouse.

She had heard a story the old ones told about somewhere, the High Places, where life was good.

So all alone she went to find the High Places.

But how could a mouse, the smallest of the small, hope to reach the high place, far above her desert home? She soon reaches a stream too wide to cross. Lamenting, she hears a low voice.

"I am Grandfather Frog . Your journey will be long and hard, but because of your great longing, I will give you a gift to help you. Close your eyes."

And when Jumping Mouse opens her eyes, she has long, long, jumping legs. She leaps over the water and quickly crosses the wide grassy plain at the foot of the high mountain. After a while she meets with a blind buffalo, unable to find his way, and thinking of Grandfather Frog's gift to her, she offers him her eyesight. Buffalo rises and carries her on his back as far as he can go to the foot of the mountain. Smelling the cool mountain air ahead, Mouse follows her nose until she stumbles upon a sad wolf.

"I have lost my sense of smell," said the wolf. "Without my nose I cannot hunt. I will die."

Kind Mouse gives the wolf her sense of smell and she agrees to carry Mouse up the mountain to the tree line. There Wolf must go no higher, and Jumping Mouse is left with only the touch of her feet on the rough rock of the peak. She has given away too much to make it to the High Places.

And then she hears the voice of Grandfather Frog once more.

"Jump! As high as you can."

And Jumping Mouse leaps and is transformed, in Misty Schroe's reshaping of this Native American legend, The Story of Jumping Mouse celebrating personal sacrifice and gratitude, and illustrating the sense of the saying, To whom much is given, much is required. Mouse's transfiguration as an eagle both fulfills her hopes and rewards her self-sacrifice as such fables should. This powerful story was due a retelling, since John Steptoe's 1985 Caldecott Honor-winning version is now available only in paperback. Author-artist Schloe's work is strikingly illustrated with her clay animal sculptures overlaid on color photographs of the western landscape in a setting fitted to the origins of the story itself.

Summer at Camp Mimi: Me, Toma, and the Concrete Garden by Andrew Larson

I'm staying with Mimi for most of the summer. My mom had an operation. She has to take it easy for a while.

Most everything is pretty gray around here. It doesn't look like much of a summer.

But Aunt Mimi is nice. She lets him pick the paint to make the spare room into his own space. But there are just gray apartments all around and a fenced-in concrete space below with some cast-off bike parts. And there's a box of dirt balls on Mimi's balcony.

Kind of weird, if you ask me. "Why do you have dirt balls out here?"

"They were from a secret admirer," Mimi says with a twinkle in her eye.

"Are you sure this person likes you?" I asked."They gave you a box of dirt!"

We both burst out laughing.

But when the boy spots a kid bouncing his ball against the wall of the lot, he grabs a bunch of dirt balls and heads downstairs to ask the boy if he wants to help toss the dirt balls over the fence, adding that his aunt will pay to get rid of them. The boy's name is Toma, and soon the two are busy tossing dirt balls and bouncing Toma's ball. Aunt Mimi rewards their efforts with money for treats from the ice cream truck. Soon the two meet each day to toss dirt balls and play.

One day a grumpy old neighbor man shouts at them for throwing things into the fenced area.

"Dirt balls!" I said.

"We're actually recycling them!" says Toma.

And while the boys' friendship grows, all kinds of flowers begin to sprout from their balls of dirt. Soon the other neighbors notice that inside the fence, a garden of blooming things is growing. Mr. Grumpypants brings out a hose to water the flowers, and noticing the difference, people begin toclean out the junk inside the fence. Suddenly the drab grayish space becomes a butterfly garden. People come to plant little garden patches and neighborhood kids come to play on the grass that grows there.

It's a pretty good summer after all at Aunt Mimi's, in Andrew Larson's Me, Toma and the Concrete Garden (Kids Can Press, 2019). Sometimes friendships just grow naturally from shared experiences, and Larson's gentle narration and artist Ann Villanueve's ink-and-watercolor illustrations portray the development of friendship and a bit of a community that grow from an unlikely gift. Says Booklist's starred review, "... a heartwarming story of serendipity and connection, both among people and with the environment."

Cat Vs. Dog! Princess Puffybottom... and Darryl by Susin Nielsen

Princess Puffybottom had the perfect life.

As the only pet and cosseted cat, the Princess has it made. Her doting owners prepare delectable dishes for her dinner, and if breakfast is a bit late, a mere touch of a velvet paw has them up and dishing food out straightaway.

And they took care of more... delicate matters!

All she has to do to keep her owners happy is a bit of purring and lap-sitting and a little cutesy cat play. It's a great gig!

But then... her owners surprise her with ... Darryl the disgusting dog.

He was horrible.

Darryl chews up socks and throws them back up, along with... revolting stomach contents. He drinks from toilets. He destroys almost anything he can get in his little fangs. Princess Puffybottom is sure his departure must be imminent. And finally one of her owners takes him away. Hurray! Darryl has been summarily banished from her kingdom.But then he returns, wearing a truly stupid, totally un-chic cone around his neck. Definitely not de rigueur attire! And to make matters worse, her people seem more devoted to Darryl than ever.

She tried sabotage.

Puffybottom plants shoes where she knows Darryl will demolish them. She even, ugh, provides evidence of an, er, accident on the carpet. But her owners seem undeterred as far as Darryl's failings go.

But then Princess Puffybottom notices that Darryl is falling under her spell. He is attentive and empathetic. He is clever at getting into the garbage for some exotic snacks. And, yes, the dumb dog clearly adores her. Maybe having a admiring doggy around isn't so bad.

It's the eternal war between dogs and cats, in Susin Nielsen's brand-new Princess Puffybottom . . . and Darryl (Tundra Books, 2019),  a cat's-eye view of  being co-pets, full of critter psychology and with a surprise ending for young readers to enjoy. Nielsen's narrative tone and well-planned page turns make for some snickers, and artist Olivia Chin Mueller comes up with just the right amount of cat scheming and charm which illuminate the text. Kirkus seconds the wish pet-loving kids will feel in their starred review: "Nielsen's tale and Mueller's digitally created pooch and puss pair perfectly. . . . Princess and Darryl need a sequel."