Frightful First-Day Little Ghoul Goes to School by Jeff Czekaj

TOMORROW WAS THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, AND LITTLE GHOUL WAS NERVOUS.

"DON'T WORRY, MY LITTLE MAGGOT," SAYS HER MOTHER.

Mom promises that everything is going to go perfectly ghastly tomorrow. Little Ghoul reassured herself by downing a package of creepy crispies and brushed her teeth with rotten onion toothpaste, and her mom gave her a great big slobber and tenderly tucked her in.

But the next day dawned dreadfully. Instead of the cold and rainy day she's hoped for, it was disgustingly sunny. Instead of a decrepit old clunker of a bus, it's your standard cheery yellow school bus. The driver had an unpleasantly happy smile and the kids are boring normal children.

Little Ghoul is met in front of the school by a perfectly friendly principal who shows her to a putridly pink classroom and a standard-issue middle-aged teacher with another unpleasant big smile. At least she has lunch to look forward to. Her mom is sure to have packed her favorite brown-maggot and brown banana peel sandwich. Her stomach lurches when she sees a PB and J sandwich and cookie instead.

At least art class gives her a chance to rip up paper and splatter paint all over it. But her heart sinks when the teacher praises her dynamic work and posts it on the display board. The librarian tells the class that each student may check out a book to take home a book, but it's hard for Little Ghoul to pick one. Which is worst--Cute Babies, Happy Kittens, Adorable Squirrels??? She chooses the least abominable title, The Frightful Guest by Edward Scary.

To top off this perfectly dismal day, a boy approaches to shake hands.

"HI!" HE SMILED. "MY NAME IS BEN!"

"LET'S BE FRIENDS!"

"FRIENDS? FRIENDS!" "GHOULS DON'T HAVE FRIENDS!"

Suddenly, Little Ghoul WAKES UP!

It was all a NIGHTMARE! Maybe Little Ghoul's real first day will go better, that is, more ghastly!

Today is cold and rainy with just the right touch of thunder! Things are looking up already!

And this first day happily goes absolutely frightfully. She learns slime-oozing and her lunch is perfectly repulsive! All's well that ends abominably, in Jeff Czeka's Little Ghoul Goes to School (Balzer and Bray/HarperCollins, 2021). The more savvy third graders may even recognize the allusions to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the much-loved master of creepy middle grade mysteries, Edward Gorey. "... Sure to scare away the first-day-of-school nerves,” says School Library Journal.

Apex Predator? I Am the Shark by Joan Holub

"I'M THE TOPS! I'M THE APEX PREDATOR.

I'M THE BEST! NONE OF YOU DO IT BETTER!"

"I AM THE GREAT WHITE SHARK! I'M THE GREATEST SHARK IN THIS BOOK!"

(NO, YOU'RE NOT......!")

Whale Shark cruises by, bragging that he's bigger than a bus, the largest and therefore greatest fish on the planet.

("INTERESTING THEORY...!")

Dwarf Lantern Shark. who, as the smallest shark, dodges in and out, says he can hide anywhere and doesn't have eat much, saving time on hunting.

But Hammerhead Shark claims the biggest brain with all that space between his eyes. And his dark top side and white belly make him almost invisible to prey looking down on him and prey looking up at him.

"I'M THE SNEAKIEST SHARK IN THIS BOOK!!"

("NO YOU'RE NOT... !")

Angelfish Shark swims up from under the sand at the bottom of the sea. He brags that his camouflage makes him the most stealthy shark in the sea.

Great White Shark refuses to be put down, even when tattooed tough guy Tiger Shark claims he eats trash and metal car parts for breakfast, and Greenland Shark brags that he is 400 years old. Nobody can top that longevity, so Great White Shark sets off to prove he's the fastest swimmer among his finny kin, until...

("NUH-UH!")

Mako Shark, churning out 46 miles per hour, passes him like he's standing still!

Darn! It seems that the whole kit and kaboodle of the shark kingdom are pretty cool creatures, in Joan Holub's latest, I Am the Shark (Crown Books, 2021).

In this pescine power struggle amongst the sharks portrayed in the jolly cartoons of noted illustrator Laurie Keller, Holub's just published primary-grade book provides an introduction to shark lore that is both funny and informative for young readers. Author Holub imbeds considerable information in the text, including a diagram of a shark's shape and innards, and even appends her  "Fintastic Sharks Facts." Says Kirkus, "This book will be swimming off the shelves."

The Bare Facts: Those Are Not My Underpants! by Melissa Martin

One morning when Bear Cub comes outside, he notices something unexpected hanging on a limb right out his door. Clearly someone had misplaced a pair of underwear. Bear Cub has simply got to get to the bottom of this!

"HI, SQUIRREL," HE SAYS. "ARE THESE YOUR UNDERPANTS?"

"NO. THERE'S NO HOLE FOR MY TAIL!" SQUEEKS SQUIRREL.

Turtle's no tattletale. He shows off the striped undershorts under his shell. Oh, well. Bear Cub moves on until he meets Owl, who says owls only wear sparkly briefs. Beside a rushing stream, he questions Salmon, who says he only wears sleek swim trunks.

In his cave, Bat, already hanging upside down from the ceiling, shows off his glow-in-the-dark bikini bottoms. Skunk sniffs the scanty panties and ventures that they don't stink enough to be his!

Then Bear Cub spots snake's head sticking out of his hole.

"HI, SNAKE! ARE THESE YOUR UNDERPANTS?

"NO!"

"ARE YOU SURE?"

"YES. SNAKES ONLY WEAR L-O-O-O-N-G UNDERWEAR!"

They are not Beaver's briefs either. He blushes and says that beavers are too shy to show off their underpants. And when questioned, Moose points out that he has to wear Extra Large underwear!

Bear Cub's case is about out of suspects. Back home, Mama Bear spots him with the mysterious tightie whities in hand.

"BEAR CUB! WHY ARE YOU CARRYING YOUR UNDERPANTS AROUND? I WASHED AND HUNG THEM OUT TO DRY LAST NIGHT!"

Looking down, now it's Bear Cub's turn to blush!

The case of the bare bear is solved, in Melissa Martin's newest, Those Are Not My Underpants! For the reading circle bunch, any mention of unmentionables, be they briefs or lingerie, is a sure-fire giggle getter, and with the award-winning artist Troy Cummings' lighthearted illustrations, this story promises a laugh a minute.

Says Booklist, "A solid contribution to that important children’s book category, adorable animals wearing underwear!"

The War Back Home: World War II On The Home Front by Martin Gitlin

Mainland America awoke on a pre-Christmas Sunday morning to learn that the country was at war. In Europe, Germany had crushed Poland and was now attacking France, but Americans had hoped to stay out of what they called "foreign wars," but the bombing of much of the Navy's fleet in Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands had brought the war to United States territory, killing military personnel and civilians. President Franklin Roosevelt had no choice but to declare war. World War II had begun. Everyone's lives had changed forever on that morning.

Many men between 18 and 35, some veterans of WWI, most with wives and children, rushed to volunteer for military service. Even young men in their senior years of high school were accepted, and the country began to "draft" men of suitable age to take on the forces of three nations, Italy, Germany, and Japan, called the "Axis." Those they left behind in the U.S. were called the Home Front. Their duty was to keep the country going, to raise the foodstuffs and manufacture the goods needed by their "boys" at war on both foreign fronts. Without the work of people on the Home Front, the soldiers couldn't continue the fight.

For young readers many decades later, it is hard to imagine the immensity of what happened in that period. Martin Gitlin's World War II on the Home Front (You Choose: History) (Capstone Books) offers a "you are there" experience, in which readers can choose to live the lives and make the life-changing decisions of three different characters in this interactive history of American's Home Front.

A wife stares at her husband as they listen to Roosevelt's radio broadcast: in his face she sees that he is going to join the fight. The next day he enlists in the Navy and is soon gone. What is she to do? She can take her young daughter and live with her well-to-do mother. She could help the war effort by working at the local "canteen" there, a friendly place with doughnuts and coffee for draftees being shipped off to war, or she could try to find child care for her child and go to work in a factory making ships or tanks or airplanes to help with the war effort. Or, since she has a pilot's license, she could leave her daughter with her mother and join the WASPS (the Women Airforce Service Pilots), despite the risk. But what about her child if both she and her husband are killed?

A different choice falls to boy in San Diego. His best friend Toki is Japanese, but the boys in his class are planning to beat Toki up because they say he is the enemy now. Should you go with them, or hurry home to hide Toki in your garage? Even though you'll be called a traitor, should you go to see Toki off as he as his family are rounded up and sent to an internment camp somewhere in the desert West?

"In times of war," says your father, "people get carried away by fear."

"But Dad," you say, "if we, a Jewish family, were in Germany now, wouldn't you want someone to hide us?"

A third man, a former black infantryman who has lost his left arm in battle, has to decide whether to encourage his sons to join the army. He thinks of moving to Chicago to give his boys a chance to be one of a larger pool of people of draft age and reduce the chance of being called up. But in a just a few days his son Albert receives his draft notice and has to go.

"I'm not fighting in any war for the U.S.," says his other son Jack. "I can't vote. I can't even swim in the town pool!"

Should the father try to convince him to obey the law? He reminds his son about the concentration camps where Jews are slave laborers or die in gas chambers in Germany. Two days later Jack has changed his mind and is off to join the Tuskegee Airmen. But will Jack survive that hazardous duty?

There were few easy choices for Americans on the Home Front, and Gitlin's book on some of the hard decisions gives middle readers a taste of what it was like at home during World War II. It was a time when the fate of the world's people hung in the balance: no one knew what their future would be, and there were few simple right or wrong choices, only different results for each. It was also a time when the choices made by those left behind were critical to their futures. In this book in the You Choose series, the reader has the choice to follow each of the three characters through 37 choices and 21 alternative results of their sometimes life-and-death decisions, a fascinating challenge to elementary and middle school readers, with believable characters and authentic situations from this crucial time in history.

Farm Musicale: Cock-a-doodle-do, Creak, Pop-Pop, Moo by Jim Aylesworth

Who needs a band, when you have a constant concerto in progress!

ROOSTER CROWS

COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO

WAKE UP GIRLS, AND LITTLE BOYS, TOO!

It's a semi-rhythmical rehearsal as the kids clatter downstairs, with the frying ham in the skillet providing the percussion--POP POP! From the milking shed, a quartet of milk cows moo a melody. CLUCK go the laying hens looking to be fed. Sparrows peep and baby chicks cheep. Breakfast utensils clank and clink.

The day bring work and very little play, but you can always make music any day..

Pups yip; bees buzz. CAW! complains the crow, as the boys chop wood. Cow bells clink as they slowly let the crickets' chirp call them to line up to return to the barn again, as Ma and Pa rest and rock to the squeak of the porch rockers. Granma's needles click with the beat as the big old clock ticks.

CROW CALLS OUT, HOO HOO, HOO HOO!

GOOD NIGHT, BOYS... AND LITTLE GIRLS, TOO!

And every night on the farm is a nocturne, in Jim Aylesworth's fantasia of farm life, Cock-a-doodle-doo, Creak, Pop-pop, Moo. Every player performs his part in a symphony of sound, and artist Brad Sneed adds his charming illustrations to the performance to make perfect harmony of life.  For class animal sound fun or perhaps for a  soothing bedtime scherzo.

Between the Rack and a Stinky Moat: Could You Escape the Tower of London (An Interactive Survival Adventure) by Blake Hoena

 

You are about to step foot into one of the most famous fortresses in the world. It has served as a home to kings and queens, the United Kingdom's Royal Mint, a zoo, and even the crown jewels. And... it has housed prisoners who spent the rest of their lives behind its walls.

Even if you were not one Henry the Eighth's six wives, being imprisoned inside the White Tower of London was not where you would want to be.

Built as by the invading William the Conqueror from Norman France as a combination palace and invincible castle redoubt, The Tower was both a castle for the king and all-too-often a prison where he kept traitors to his rule and those who questioned what he considered the proper religion. Few were those who escaped from the TOWER! And kings came and went, some adding double walls and many other infamous towers--like the Bloody Tower and the Cradle Tower--and the famous gate towers--like The Traitors' Gate and the Coldharbour Gate.

Inside the King's servants kept watch and sometimes tortured prisoners on The Rack, which stretched their arms and legs until sometimes the bones broke. Many attempted escape, either by disguise or some sort of subterfuge, and some sent for help from friends who offered to assist in the escape. The most successful means involved grappling hooks and sliding down some sort of rope to be spirited away down the river by rescuing boatmen below. Some had to choose between swimming the wide and wild Thames River or the sewage-filled moat.

"The moat is shallower and much less dangerous. But the moat has its drawbacks. Human waste from the people living at the castle is often dumped into the moat. It will be a smelly stretch of water to swim across. The swim is not easy. Slick waste coats your clothing. You struggle to breathe because of the stench. But it is a short swim. And after climbing out on the other side you disappear into the night. You're free!

YOU CHOOSE!

Blake Hoena's Could You Escape the Tower of London?: An Interactive Survival Adventure (You Choose: Can You Escape?) (Capstone Press, 2020) gives middle readers an opportunity to choose their escape from England's famous Tower of London, one of the great places to visit (and imagine clever escape ruses and routes) in Britain. With "three paths, 35 choices, and 18 possible endings" and plenty of illustrations to help young readers visualize the exterior and interior of the Tower (and sympathize with Henry VIII's three beheaded queens and the others who died there) this series provides thrills and chills, along with plenty of informative backmatter with a timeline, accounts of several successful and unsuccessful escapes, a bibliography and list of internet sites, and an index to round out a book report or class project.

Other books in this interactive adventure series are Could You Escape the Paris Catacombs?: An Interactive Survival Adventure (You Choose: Can You Escape?) and Could You Escape the Paris Catacombs?: An Interactive Survival Adventure (You Choose: Can You Escape?).

Post Office Phobia? I Do Not Like Yolanda! by Zoey Abbott

Bianca loves all things epistolary!

She loves decorating her envelopes with clever colored illustrations. She loves stamps (and even collects them). She loves to write letters to her Grandma in Washington, D.C., her globe-trotting Grandma making port somewhere, and her several far-flung pen pals, even thought writing letters is not easy.

YOU'VE GOT TO SPELL WORDS CORRECTLY SO SOMEONE ELSE CAN READ THEM.

YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE INTERESTING THINGS TO SAY, OTHERWISE YOU MIGHT JUST BORE THEIR PANTS OFF.

And then there's the post office. Bianca likes the post office and all the many kinds of stamps. But... she's terrified of having to be in Yolanda's line.

THAT LADY GIVES ME NIGHTMARES!

One day Bianca spends an hour decorating the front of her envelop with a illustration, but when Yolanda weighs the letter, she slaps an ugly postage label right across Bianca's colorful drawing. Her bright red pointy nails scratch! And the next time Bianca tries to buy stamps from Yolanda, she flinches, dodging those nails, losing a nickel and leaving without enough change to buy her stamps.

But one day is a five-letter day, and Bianca resolves that Yolanda is not going to scare her. But when she arrives at the post office, guess who is the only clerk available? Bianca screws her courage up to the sticking point and approaches the counter bravely.

Quickly she blurts her request:

"I'LL TAKE THREE INTERNATIONALS AND TWO DOMESTIC STAMPS... AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEKEND?"

Yolanda looks surprised and bends forward ....

And smiles a big friendly smile...

"WELL, I SERVED ONE OF THE MOST DELIGHTFUL MEALS ANYONE EVER PREPARED..."

"TELL ME MORE!" I SAY . . . .

All's well that ends with sharing menus, in Zoe Abbott's just published I Do Not Like Yolanda (Tundra Books, 2021), as Bianca learns that she and Yolanda have some things in common, mail, stamps, menus, and recipes. In this charmingly amusing story of fears and friendships, author illustrator Zoey Abbott shares a simple lesson of reconsidering first impressions. Abbott's detailed illustrations of her chatty epistolary heroine and her supposed nemesis are full of humorous touches that young readers will love. Says School Library Journal, “A book that will inspire readers to find their own pen pals, a good book, and a new friend.”

Back to the Future With Ben: To the Future, Ben Franklin (Magic Tree House #32) by Mary Pope Osborne

It was an extra hot July day in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania.

"Let's go do something," said Annie.

"Too hot!" said Jack.<

"We could go swimming!" Annie suggests.

Jack stubbornly keeps reading his book. Annie looks out the window.

"WOW! LIGHTNING!!" SHE SHOUTS.

"Nice try." said Jack.

"No joke!" said Annie. "It must have been... MAGIC!"

But after Annie's been gone to investigate for a few minutes, Jack puts his book down with a sigh and follows her into the Frog Creek woods to their special big oak tree. Annie is waiting with a "told-you-so" smile on her face, the ladder dangling from the Magic Tree house beside her. Inside the tree house there is a parchment from Morgan Le Fay.

In old Philadelphia

A paper must be signed.

Help Dr. Ben

Make up his mind.

If his fears start to grow,>

There's a place he must go.

In their Pennsylvania book in the tree house Jack turns to a page showing a cobblestone street in post-colonial Philadelphia. Jack points to the page and wishes to go there, and with many spins the magic tree house comes to rest in a tree in the yard of Benjamin Franklin's brick house. Annie has just hidden the tree house's rope ladder when a lady comes out with a lunch basket, looking for a boy called Louis. She tells them that the basket is for Dr. Ben' lunch at the Pennsylvania State House. Jack and Annie volunteer to take it and soon find themselves slipping inside a big brick building, where they peek inside a large room, with a dais where George Washington is seated in a large, fancy chair in front of a room full of men in knee pants with long hair, seated at tables. Dr. Ben Franklin is there, looking weary, and the others are arguing hotly.

"We have no Bill of Rights!" ONE SHOUTS.

"Or freedom of speech."

"Too much power to the national government!

"What about trial by jury?"

Jack consults his Pennsylvania book.

"Oh, man!" whispers Jack. "They're creating the United States Constitution."

With a gasp Annie reads the note from Morgan Le Fay again.

"I get it!" Annie said. "A paper must be signed!"

Now Annie and Jack understand what their mission is... to persuade the reluctant Benjamin Franklin to sign on to James Madison's draft of the U.S. Constitution. Without the Constitution, the United States will never exist and the former colonies will remain a loose confederation of quarrelsome states. But what is it that he and Annie can show Ben Franklin to persuade him to vote for the Constitution agreement? Re-reading the information on Franklin in their Pennsylvania book, they are reminded that Dr. Ben founded the first public library in America. They have a great public library back in Frog Creek!

And Dr. Ben, thinking he's playing a make-believe game like his grandchildren love, is treated to a trip to the future in downtown Frog Creek. He is fascinated with the cars on the street and airplanes flying over, but one thing he notices defies logic...

"I don't understand--why are your clotheslines so high?"

"Those are power lines that carry electricity into all the buildings," Jack said.

"MY electricity?" says Ben.

And when, inside the air-conditioned Frog Creek Public Library, Dr. Ben sees everyone studying and borrowing books and using the computers freely, he is proud to have established the first public library. And when he recognizes the Great Seal of the United States on one of the library's computers, he remembers helping design it in 1776. He reads aloud the motto they wrote.

"E PLURIBUS UNUM."

"OUT OF MANY, ONE!"

And Jack and Annie return a no-longer weary Dr. Ben to his own very important time, determined that the founding fathers can write a Constitution that they can all agree upon, one that can carry the nation forward into the future, in Mary Pope Osborne's To the Future, Ben Franklin! (Magic Tree House (R)) (Harper, 2019). Osborne's recent time-travel story for rising chapter book readers is a timely read for elementary graders with its message that managing a democracy has never been easy, but always worth it.

For kids who want to know the historical events behind this fantasy time-travel novel or for across-the-curriculum class novel studies, share this one with its companion book, Benjamin Franklin: A nonfiction companion to Magic Tree House 32: To the Future, Ben Franklin! (Magic Tree House (R) Fact Tracker).

Sea Monsters? Pirates? Shipwrecks? Oh, MY! The Quiet Boat Ride by Sergio Ruzzier

Under a bright morning sky, Fox launches his little rowboat into the tranquil pond. But before he can row away, Chick appears, full of questions, as usual.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, FOX?"

"I'M GOING FOR A QUIET BOAT RIDE."

"CAN I COME, TOO?" ASKED CHICK.

"I GUESS IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE QUIET..." SAYS FOX, NOT WITHOUT REGRET.

And Fox is right about that. As soon as they shove off, Chick begins asking questions. Can he be captain? Are there sea monsters down there under the water? Are there scary pirates on this pond? What about shipwrecks?

"I DON'T KNOW, FOX. THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A QUIET BOAT RIDE!" LAMENTS CHICK.

"A QUIET BOAT RIDE WAS MY PLAN!" MUTTERS FOX.

Fox reluctantly rows the boat to the shore, and as they disembark, Chick kisses the ground. Safe at last.

And as Fox ruefully remarks, no encounter is quiet with Chick around, in Sergio Ruzzier's latest super easy beginning chapter book, Fox and Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories (Chronicle Books, 2019).

In a classic example of the folklorish "noodle" tale, Chick is the perfect "noodlehead," and Fox is the unlikely and patient "straight man," who tries to bring the clueless little chick up to speed in three gentle stories in which Fox is forced to explain how things work to his inquisitive little buddy. In the second story, "The Chocolate Cake" and the third, "The Sunrise," there's a laugh on every page for both adults or older kids who share this book with younger children just beginning to read on their own. With a cogent little tale of innocence and caretaking told in comic book-format, four frames to the page, this latest from author-illustrator Sergio Ruzzier is a little gem. Ruzzier's other Fox and Chick stories and other picture books include Fox & Chick: The Party: Book 1 and Fox & Chick: The Sleepover: and Other Stories. (See reviews here:)

Do Edible Science! Let's Pop, Pop, Pop, Popcorn! by Cynthia Schumerth

DIG GROUND UP WITH A HOE.

PLANT THE SEEDS AND HOPE THEY GROW!

FINALLY HERE! SPROUTS APPEAR!

What any seed does to grow and turn itself into a full-grown plant that makes a "fruit" that contains new seeds is magical enough when you think about it, but that's just the first thing a popcorn seed does, in Cynthia Schumerth's just published science project in a book, Let's Pop, Pop, Popcorn! (Sleeping Bear Press, 2021). In case you have months of warm weather ahead, Schumerth describes how to plant, nurture, and to harvest the ears of popcorn, shuck them, and dry the kernels until it's time for the second part of the project--the part that you can eat! The author reminds her young food scientists to weed and water their little corn plants until they grow ears that are mature and ready for picking and then describes how to store them until you are ready to POP some corn.

In bouncy rhythmic rhyme, not unlike the sound of popping popcorn kernels, author Schermerth teaches about the anatomy of a kernel of popping corn, the germ that knows how to grow into corn, the endosperm, the starch that surrounds the germ and feeds its growth into corn, and the pericarp, the tough shell of the corn kernel that protects the starch and helps it retain some of its moisture even when it seems hard and dry.

And it's that water given to the plant, that moisture within the endosperm, that expands when it's heated, turning into steam which causes the corn kernel to EXPLODE, turn inside out, and become fluffy white popcorn, a tasty science experiment that teaches both plant science and physical science in the use of heat to produce expansion in matter.

It's a tasty tour de force of nature and physics that provides its own refreshments, and with the cute cartoon art of Mary Reaves Uhles to illustrate the whole process and its appended information and craft suggestions (Make A Popcorn Sheep), this book is recommended for primary grade classrooms, libraries, and for an edible home science experiment. Writes Kirkus Reviews, "Fun: a highly disguised STEM book for snack lovers.

Share this one with the classic, Tomie dePaola's The Popcorn Book (40th Anniversary Edition) and Frank Asch's Popcorn (A Frank Asch Bear Book).

Brand-New Beginning: A New Day by Brad Meltzer

The Week has an employee problem. Sunday is on strike! The quiet girl who has long held the job of being Sunday has quit! The other days of the Week are distraught! How can you begin the week (or end it, depending on your point of view) without a Sunday? To be a proper week there must be seven days on deck at all times. But Sunday has submitted an official resignation. She complains that she is not being properly appreciated for the conscientious way she has done her job.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WORK IT TAKES TO GIVE THE WORLD A BEAUTIFUL, FREE DAY... TO PLAY, TO PRAY, TO SLEEP AWAY... TO EAT RASPBERRY SORBET?"

Everyone else gets their free day and nobody cares if she's doing okay!

THE OTHERS ARE AGHAST!

The other Days put up HELP WANTED posters right away!

WANTED!

NEW DAY!

Must Be Tranquil!

The applicants have some unusual suggestions to replace the ordinary old Sunday: BUNDAY, FUNDAY, DOGDAY (EVERYONE gets a puppy!), CATURDAY (for those who prefer cats), WORSTVICE-PRESIDENTDAY (suggested by Elbridge Gerry), and (Yikes!) BIGBURPDAY!

Think it can't get worse? How about KNIGHTSWHOSWORDSAREHERRINGSDAY? Or MYDOGSMELLSLIKECORNCHIPSDAY!

And then a wee girl appears with a tiny potted plant she's grown for Sunday!

"I GREW THIS ONE FOR YOU... TO SAY THANKS!" SHE LISPS.

And a little appreciation is the big game-changer, in Brad Meltzer's just published A New Day (Dial Books, 2021). With the quirky and vivid over-the-top illustrations of award-winning artist Dan Santat to keep the inspired absurdity going, this new one by the team of Meltzer and Santat looks like a hit. For preschoolers just learning the days of the week to sophisticated primary graders who can't get enough of this pair's clever wackiness, this one succeeds in making the point that all of us need to know that we are appreciated!

"It’s a lovely and apt way to tie a bow on all the preceding silliness, with enough room left over to end on a cat joke!" says Publisher's Weekly.

By the way, Dan Santat is the author-illustration of the Caldecott Award winner, The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend (Read my review here.

Genius! I Am Albert Einstein by Brad Meltzer

"SOME SAY THAT I TOOK LONGER TO SPEAK BECAUSE I DIDN'T THINK IN WORDS. I THOUGHT IN PICTURES."

Albert's parents had great hopes for him, and when he was slow in learning to talk, they worried. He seemed bright in other ways, but the sounds he made were, er, very unusual.

"I WOULD PRACTICE EACH SENTENCE IN MY HEAD SILENTLY, MOVING MY LIPS AND WHISPERING TO MYSELF, UNTIL I HAD EVERY WORD RIGHT."

Young Albert was fascinated by his father's compass. Why did the needle always point the same way no matter how you moved it? It was fascinating!

And the young Albert spent hours building amazingly designed playing card structures, and his wooden blocks were arranged in amazingly complex buildings. Later, when he took violin lessons, he seemed enthralled with the structure of the music. He was definitely . . . different!

"SOME PEOPLE SAY I WAS A GENIUS, BUT MY TEACHERS THOUGHT I WAS A DAY DREAMER."

"ONE SAID, "ALBERT, YOU'LL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING!"

But of course Albert Einstein was a genius, so famous for his groundbreaking work with mathematics and physics that his face, even in cartoon style, is almost synonymous with scientific genius these days, as in Brad Metzler's I am Albert Einstein (Ordinary People Change the World) (Dial Books).

Illustrated humorously in Christopher Eliopoulos' caricatures of the famous scientist, this small book offers young readers the basic biographical information of the premier scientist of his time and an introduction to the life's work of the best known achievers of their time. As in the other books in this primary grade series, the main character is also shown in photographs of himself as an adult, as in the presentation of Einstein's Nobel Prize. There are more informative biographies, of course, but this one is a good first introduction of the iconic physicist who grew up to change the world. For those "different drummer" kids, Booklist, adds, "Readers will be interested to learn that despite being a supersmart genius, Albert didn’t always get good grades."

A Picture Book of the Plague Year: Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham

SOMETHING STRANGE HAPPENED ON AN UNREMARKABLE DAY JUST BEFORE THE SEASON CHANGED.

EVERYBODY WHO WAS OUTSIDE...

WENT INSIDE.

It didn't happen on the same day everywhere, but the change came in a swift wave across the country. The pandemic came, and life changed so much. Not everyone stayed inside their homes, because essential workers like those in hospitals and food stores and pharmacies had to go out to work. Mail was delivered. But most of the people stayed inside. If they could do their jobs or schoolwork, they did it at home.

Outside, things didn't look strange. The sky was still blue, and the birds flew from tree to tree and over the houses. The wind blew, and pets went in and out. The green grass grew greener and the kids grew taller. But a lot of people stayed inside--most of the time. They laughed and cried, and worked to take care of each other, because they knew...

...IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

ON THE INSIDE, WE ARE THE SAME.

And a better day will come.

The award-winning author-illustrator LeUyen Pham is one of the first to take on the COVID-19 pandemic in her just-published Outside, Inside (Roaring Brook, 2021). Her illustrations capture the good times and the bad, the isolation and the love, of the pandemic in beautiful child-centered illustrations that show the good and bad times honestly and the affection and strength that children found at home and in their much altered school days and play days beyond. A recommended read-aloud for the first weeks of school, Kirkus Reviews writes "... a timeless message of humility, perseverance, and hope.”

Candid Craters: Mars Is...Startling Slopes, Silvery Snow, and Startling Surprises by Suzanne Slade

Most kids know that Mars appears as a red star, named after the Roman god of war. But what does it really look like, up close and personal?

People have wondered about the mysteries of Mars for centuries. Over time, scientists have discovered that Mars has weather and seasons, just like earth....

But Mars is unlike earth in so many ways, and now with the striking photos from the sky-rovers candid camera hat we can recognize the wondrous differences.

In scientist Suzanne Slade's just published picture book of of Mars, Mars Is: Stark Slopes, Silvery Snow, and Startling Surprises (Peachtree Publishing, 2021), young readers get color photos that show how many of the features described in books about the Mars Rovers actually look from a camera carried in a different rover-in-the-sky, the HiResolution Imagining Science Experiment Orbiting Mars (the MRO) which photographed some of Mars' most amazing surface phenomena.

Mars is ... Steep Slopes, created by Mars' volcanoes, asteroid and meteor strikes, landslides and Marsquakes.

Mars is... Bubbling Gases and Silvery Snows, courtesy of the frozen carbon dioxide underground which melts in the Martian spring and falls as Silver Snowflakes and Slippery Snow and ice in the Martian winter. The earth has oxygen, but Mars has carbon dioxide, which accounts for many similarities and differences from earth.

Mars is... Sandy Dunes, and Mighty Mesas, and Volcanic Mountains which form Craggy Chasms and Cliffs, while meteor strikes create Craters. And most of all Mars is Breathtaking, (or it would be if we could breathe carbon dioxide, that is!)

Loaded with the recent information about the fifth planet and made almost lilting by the alchemy of author Slade's alliteration, the large color photos made from above Mars surface are intriguing, never seen glimpses of Earth's sister planet, one that elementary age children will find awesome! The author appends photos of the development of the spacecraft which carried the high resolution candid camera over the surprising surface of Mars. Says Booklist's starred review, "Each phrase is perfectly paired with its dramatic photo, while the paragraphs offer facts and fascinating statistics. . . . "

What's in A Shell? Tiny Tales: Shell Quest by Steve Waldo

This squishy little critter is lost and alone!

"GOSH, THIS BACKYARD IS BIG. WHERE IS EVERYONE?

She follows some voices through the grass. Scoot Scoot!

"WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS ON THEIR BACKS? WHY DON'T I HAVE ONE?"

The critters she sees look like her--with two antennas out in front, but they have big round things on their backs. Evidently she has got to have one of whatever that is on her back. Spying an acorn shell, she pops it on her back. It fits!

"THEY ARE SHELLS. ALL SNAILS HAVE THEM. IF YOU HAVE GOT ONE, YOU CAN PLAY WITH US!" SAY HER NEW FRIENDS!

But keeping a shell in place has its problems! BONK! A falling acorn knocks it off. She promises to find a substitute ASAP!

"COME BACK WHEN YOU DO!" THEY SAY.

But finding a substitute shell is not easy. A thimble is a really bad fit! Will she ever fit in and find a friend?

But a lucky rainstorm washes her into a hollow log, where she spies some creatures who look like her but DO NOT have hards shells on their backs.

"WHERE IS YOUR SHELL?" SHE ASKS.

"WE DON'T HAVE ONE! WE ARE SLUGS! "HER NEW ACQUAINTANCE SAYS.

"I'VE GOT YOUR BACK!"

Our little lost mollusk finds her place in the world at last in Harper Publishing's new easy reading series, I Can Read Comics, in Steve Waldo's Tiny Tales: Shell Quest (I Can Read Comics Level 3) (Harper Alley, 2021), in a story of finding a sense of belonging in the world of mollusks, a fascinating group of animals on their own, in an attractive comic book format for beginning readers. Share this new format for emergent readers with Tiny Tales: A Feast for Friends (I Can Read Comics Level 3).

Not So Hard! I'm Trying to Love Rocks by Bethany Barton

GEOLOGY... It's all starts with loving rocks.

But our young Rock Skeptic begs to differ. What's not to like about rocks? Mostly everything. They lie around on the ground. They're usually dirty, and they don't do anything--no matter how hard you poke 'em.

The Rock Expert has a good comeback. How about FOSSILS! VOLCANOES! DIAMONDS! They are all parts of . . .

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GEOLOGY!

GEOLOGY IS ABOUT WHAT THE EARTH IS MADE OF!

And the Rock Expert points out that we wouldn't be here without the results of geological processes--and igneous, metamorhic, and seditary rocks are all part of geology. Most of the surface of the earth we depend on for life begins as igneous rock, which morphs under pressure and weathering through metamorphic and sedimentary processes. Rocks are the basis of what we interact with daily, right under our feet--our continents, islands, mountains, and the minerals we use in so many ways.

EVEN THE MOST BORING ROCK IN YOUR BACKYARD IS A TIME MACHINE TO EARTH'S HISTORY AND WE WOULDN'T BE HERE WITHOUT THEM!

The witty comic dialog between the rock skeptic and the rock expert, the president of the local Rock Club, makes the unbeliever into a solid rock fancier, and young primary readers can join the club, too, in author-illustrator Bethany Barton's I'm Trying to Love Rocks (Penguin/Random House, 2020). The dialogue between the two illustrates the rule that Science is all about asking questions. A book that may appeal especially to the reluctant science student, this is a lively, funny introduction to the study of geology that makes a great kick-off introduction for that popular unit on on rocks certain to come in the primary grades. Other books in Barton's naysaying science series are I'm Trying to Love Spiders, I'm Trying to Love Garbage, the punny, funny Give Bees a Chance and a cheery pitch for the so-called (but rarely beloved) Queen of the Sciences, I'm Trying to Love Math.

Quoth Kirkus Reviews, "Chock full of facts, diagrams, and examples, including fun end pages, this book will reward readers who return to it frequently. Bold lines, lively colors and clever use of white space make for an eye-catching read."

Big Wheel On The Road! The Runaway No Wheeler by Peter Stein

Tony was a rugged truck who had a load to haul.

He'd load his rig and hit the road without a hitch or stall.

But there's many a slip between start and end of trip... when you're on the road.

But it was a not much time till he slipped on some slime. There goes one wheel! 

Then a pothole made one tire bounce off and fly high. It's off the road and gone!

And there's many a way to lose a tire this day. He dodges baby ducks and loses two wheels--Bad luck! He just misses some chicks, and finds he'd lost six! There's many a swerve and many a skitter, but Tony The Truck is not a quitter!

At last after many mishaps and with no wheels left at all, he skids to a stop right at the end of his haul.

There's a final visual joke in store, in Peter Stein's The Runaway No-wheeler (Viking,2020). With the noted comic artist Bob Staake's illustrations on board for this wild ride, this is a fun read for young motorheads who get revved up by tales of truck and truckers.

Says School Library Journal, "...an upbeat tempo and an impeccable sense of rhythm."

Little Dog Lost! Perdu by Richard Jones

THE SKY WAS DARK, THE WIND HOWLED, AND SO DID PERDU.

A LITTLE LOST DOG, ALL ALONE, NOTHING TO CALL HIS OWN BUT AN OLD RED SCARF.

Someone had once loved little Perdu, lovingly tying a bright red scarf around his neck. But now the scarf is wet and so is he. A leaf blows by, seeming to know where it is going, so Perdu follows as it tumbles away. The rain ends and the sun rises, and Perdu finds himself on the outskirts of a city, where even the stream he has been following turns away from him. Just beginning to become busy, the city is filled with faceless figures rushing in all directions. Perdu seeks a familiar face, but finds none. Some see him, but only say "SHOO."

HIS LITTLE LEGS ACHED. HE HAD TO FIND SOMETHING TO EAT.

He slips into a restaurant and pulls at a tablecloth spread with delicious-smelling food, which suddenly generates a mob of people, all seeming to be running toward him!

HE COWERED. SCARED, HE GROWLED BACK.

Perdu runs away from the angry voices, losing even his red scarf. He curls up sadly, alone, in a little ball of misery in the park. And then he hears a gentle voice from a little girl who held... his scarf.

"IS THIS YOURS?" SHE ASKED SOFTLY.

She kneels and reties his red scarf. And Perdu knows he is lost and unloved no more, in Richard Jones' story of a little dog found, Perdu (Peachtree Publishing, 2020).

Jones' sweet and touching narration is paired with soft watercolor illustrations in which the little homeless dog is also symbolic of that loneliness in the crowd, the loss of belonging, which applies to people as well as animals. The rescue of little Perdu (whose name, not surprisingly, means "lost" in French) stands out among the world of lost dog stories out there, a beautifully-paced read aloud for young children.

When You Grow Up! What Will You Be? by Yamile Saied Mendez

"WHAT WILL YOU BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?"

"IT'S NEVER TOO SOON TO DREAM...." SAYS THE GIRL'S ABUELA.

"BUT I DON'T HAVE TO THINK MUCH!!" THE GIRL REPLIES.

She quickly spins out a string of popular preschool wishes--a unicorn, a clown, an astronaut!

But her friends are more practical and ask what possible choices she might really make. Abuela responds that she still doesn't know what she's going to be when she "grows up," and pointing her dripping paintbrush at her granddaughter, pointedly tells the girl that she is the only one who can choose. There are so many things she likes--building and making, so many dreams and stories to tell and draw.

"I'M A WARRIOR WITH MY PEN AND BRUSH!"

She can trace the footsteps of her ancestors. She can follow the untrodden trails that lie before her. She can be a grower of apples, a healer, or a speaker for justice, in Yamile Saied Mendez' latest What Will You Be? (HarperCollins, 2021). It's "Que' sera', sera'," or it's what you yourself make of life for this little girl. Artist Kate Alizadeh's charming little "Dora the Explorer" character stands in for all children who wonder and explore what lies before them in that period of childhood where anything seems possible.

Get Ready for A Change! The Reason for the Seasons by Ellie Peterson

THE SEASONS!

I BET YOU KNOW ALL ABOUT THEM! YOU MAY EVEN HAVE A FAVORITE!

Fine! Maybe you love summer best, with shorts and sandals and swimming and sleeping late. But no matter how much fun it is, it doesn't last all year. So why DO we have seasons?

Meet Joulia Copernicus, the third grade science sage!

But first, Joulia has to explains a few things that seem obvious but aren't exactly true. We know that on earth heat comes from our sun, so we must be closer to the sun in summer, right? No!

THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE IS ACTUALLY CLOSER TO THE SUN IN JANUARY!

So is it the fact that the earth rotates? No!

ROTATION IS ACTUALLY THE CAUSE OF DAY AND NIGHT!

SO WHAT IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASONS?

Joulia says it's the....

TILT OF THE EARTH ON ITS AXIS!

That happened when a meteor collided with Earth and knocked it a bit cattywampus! But Joulia says not to worry. That happened long, long ago when our planet was just forming.

The angle of the sun's rays determine how strong the light is and how much heat is released when that light strikes a surface--like your garden or you in your bathing suit! The greater the angle, the less light and heat is delivered to any one point. Check it out! Compare how long your shadow is at noon during all four seasons!

With author Ellie Peterson's cute and knowledgeable science sleuth, Joulia Copernicus, in her crisp white lab coat, kids will soon feel quite at home with the reasons for seasonal changes, in her latest, The Reason for the Seasons (A Joulia Copernicus Book). Demonstrated by author-illustrator Peterson's humorous cartoon character with her trusty flashlight, the author explains such effects as the summer Midnight Sun in the polar regions, as well as Joulia and her polar bear pal foraging for food by the light in the fridge during the two months of arctic darkness, and slips in information about those semi-seasons--the dry season and rainy season, the growing season, and the harvest season. Along with this winsome instructor, Joulia Copernicus, the author-illustrator also provides plenty of diagrams that make the sun's effects on our planet visible and understandable.

Says Kirkus Reviews, "A breezy, information-packed, visually attractive explanation of an important elementary school science topic."

Pair this one with its companion Joulia Copernicus book, Peterson's It's a Round, Round World!

What's Out There...? Summer Camp Critter Jitters by Jory John

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"AM I NERVOUS? ABOUT THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER CAMP?" LAMENTS SLOTH.

"IT'S THE WILDS! WHAT IF I HAVE TO CATCH MY OWN LUNCH?"

But sloth is not the only one with secret fears. Skunk worries that when he is scared, he tends to stink! Snake knows that snake in the grass is not a welcome sight in the woods! When she's nervous, Parrot can't stop repeating everything anyone says. She knows it's annoying. Mouse knows there's no way he can sleep in the top bunk! When Duck hears there is a lake at camp, she is ashamed to admit that she's never learned to swim! Bear admits that he is an indoor bear.

There's a collective SIGH from the prospective campers as they roll toward camp.And when they reach their cabin they are even more worried when they find that their counselor, (a first-time counselor and a cat at that!) stuck in the tree where she was trying to hang a WELCOME banner.

But having bonded during their group confessions of camp-o-phobia, the newbie campers combine their special abilities to rescue their hapless counselor and get this camping experience on its way.

"THE BUDDY SYSTEM WORKS!"

In popular author Jory John's Summer Camp Critter Jitters (Dial Books, 2021), the timid campers learn that everyone has their own fears and their own abilities and with S'Mores and campfire tales, everyone falls asleep fast in their bunks, dreaming of the week ahead that they have to share together. With the dialog done in speech balloons and illustrated by veteran artist, Liz Climo in comic book fashion, this is a funny and reassuring book for young camp-o-phobes to help sooth the sleep-a-way camp jitters. Booklist's reviewer says "Helpful for any child who dreads new experiences, this picture book delivers a reassuring message in an inviting way."Share this one with Jory John's and Liz Climo's companion first day of school book, First Day Critter Jitters

Mind Over Monster! My Monster and Me by Nadiva Hussain

THIS IS MY MONSTER.

AND THIS IS me.

IT'S ALWAYS BEEN THERE.

The boy is little. The Monster is huge, with a great big yellow belly and two sharp horns.

Nobody else can even see the Monster. When the boy tries to tell his mom about him, he disappears. And later, the Monster gets even bossier, keeping him inside when he wants to play outside with his friends. One day he even follows him over to his Gran's house. She asks why he is crying!

And finally he tells her.

I TOLD HER HOW MY MONSTER WOULDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE. EVER.

And as he speaks, suddenly his Monster begins to shrink, growing smaller until he fits in the boy's pocket.

And the boy is fine with that.

MY MONSTER IS PART OF ME. WE'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER SINCE THE BEGINNING.

But the Monster now knows who's the boss, in Nadiva Hussain's My Monster and Me (Viking, 2021). Hussain's message, that fears are part of the human condition, is given a soft sell in this easy-going picture book, illustrated with gentle humor by Ella Bailey, which reaffirms FDR's maxim that "we have nothing to fear but fear itself." And talking about fears helps helps cut them down to size before they turn into constant anxiety. "Charming and effective," says Kirkus Reviews' starred review.

Our Space Place: Explore My World: Planets by Becky Baines

Viewed from space, Earth appears to be a small blue, white, and green ball hanging in space.

But we know that down on earth, we are the only planet in the best place for us--in the Goldilocks Zone, just right for humans, not too hot, not too cold, with water and different climates that suit forms of life like plants and animals. The planets closer to the sun, Mercury and Venus, are rocky planets like Earth, but too close to the sun for us to live.

WARM SUNSHINE, FLUFFY SNOWFLAKES,

STORMY SHOWERS, FALLING AUTUMN SHOWERS.

The planets closest to the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, are rocky planets with minerals, but Earth has more moderate seasons of hot and cold compared to its neighbor rocky planets. Mercury and Venus are to hot for humans, and Mars is too cold and dry for us to live on without supplies brought from earth.

In Becky Baines' Explore My World Planets (National Geographic Books), preschool and primary students are introduced to our solar system, visiting not only the rocky planets, but also the giant planets beyond Mars--Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

THERE ARE FOUR GAS GIANTS THAT SWIRL WAY OUT IN SPACE. THEY DON'T HAVE HARD GROUND LIKE THE ROCKY PLANETS.

But the "gas giants" are huge. Some have rings, like Saturn, and many moons, like Jupiter. And out beyond Neptune, there's much more to our solar system--

FIVE TEENY-TINY PLANETS, CALLED DWARF PLANETS, CAN BE FOUND IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, TOO SMALL TO BE CALLED PLANETS BUT TOO BIG TO BE JUST ROCKS, LIKE PLUTO.

Author Baines explains in simple language that the solar system is huge, so large that it would take years in a spaceship reach the closest planet, Mars. But as Baines says, our galaxy, The Milky Way, has at least 500 solar systems (planets orbiting a star like the sun) and that's only one galaxy in the universe.

Baines' beginning book gives the youngest space scientist a eye-opening, mind-expanding view beyond the world we live in, with photos from space telescopes, artwork and charts that help the picture the almost unbelieveable world of outer space.

MAYBE ONE DAY WHEN YOU'RE GROWN, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ROCKET TO MARS. UNTIL THEN, LOOK UP AT THE NIGHT SKY, IMAGINE WHAT ELSE IS OUT THERE!

Share this one with Bruce Betts' My First Book of Planets: All About the Solar System for Kids.

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"OH, HI, FRIEND! IT'S YOUR FRIEND, BIG! I HAVE A PROBLEM.

BUNNY WILL NOT JUMP!"

Big has committed an unintended faux pas.

Big Blue Bear challenged his friend Bunny into a jumping contest, and Bunny lost. Now Bunny has lost his self confidence.

"THAT'S RIGHT! I WILL NOT DO IT."

Big can tell his friend is sad about the whole thing. He knows Bunny loves to jump. It's what bunnies DO! But he will not jump, even for a trophy full of lettuce! This is SERIOUS.

So Big Blue Bear asks the readers to pitch in.

IF YOU SHAKE THE BOOK, MAYBE HE'LL JUMP.

SHAKE!

Bunny does not jump. Big Bear brings in the old JUMP-0-MATIC.

"PUSH THE BLUE BUTTON, FRIEND!"

PFFFFFOOOOF! The Jump-o-Matic malfunctions! Big Blue Bear tries to explain that he can jump higher than Bunny only because he is much taller. His argument falls flat. Finally, Big Blue Bear turns to his readers for help:

FLIP THE PAGE BACK AND FORTH TO HELP BUNNY JUMP!

And the old Flip-the-Page trick really works, as Bunny jumps really high, in Jason Tharp's Bunny Will Not Jump! (Ready-to-Reads) (Simon Spotlight, 2020).

In this comic easy reader in Jason Tharp's contribution to the beginning reader series Ready-to-Read,, author-illustrator Tharp encourages young reader with an interactive book that gets everyone into the act. Other books in this easy-to-read series are Bunny Will Not Be Quiet! (Ready-to-Reads), Bunny Will Not Smile!: Ready-to-Read Level 1 (Ready-to-Reads), and Kiwi Cannot Reach! (Ready-to-Reads).

Green-Eyed Monster Attack? Way Past Jealous by Hallee Adelman

I MADE MY BEST PICTURE EVER, BUT NOBODY NOTICED.

DEBBY DREW A DOG, AND EVERYONE LOVED IT.

I FELT JEALOUS.

Yaz feels mad and sad and mean as she watches the other kids crowd around to admire Debbie's drawing and sees Miss Pimmy put it up at the top of the bulletin board. She tries drawing dogs like Debby's, but someone says her dogs look like bumblebees. Yaz feels awful. Even when Debby saves a seat for her at lunch, she sits at a different table and slips into the empty classroom to take down Debby's drawing.

I DIDN'T FEEL SO GOOD.

"I'M SORRY. I WAS JEALOUS." SHE SAYS.

"THAT'S MEAN!" SAID DEBBY.

At home Dad notices that Yaz is sad and gives her a hug, listens to her story, and wisely lets her decide how to handle it all.

Jealousy is an difficult emotion. If it is justified, that is, if someone has litle talent for something they want to do, it's hard on the ego. On the other hand, if someone's work has merit which is unfairly ignored, it violates that innate dislike of injustice we all share. In some areas, like artwork, there is some room for difference of opinion; in others, like competitive sports, there are clear winners, and as the saying goes, "To the winner go the spoils"--admiration and attention.

In Hallee Adelman's newest, Way Past Jealous (Great Big Feelings) (Albert Whitman Publishing, 2021), Yaz decides that keeping a friendship is more important than a spot at the top of the bulletin board, but this is a subtle issue that deserves the exploration of feelings from parents and teachers that this story can encourage. Karen Wall's sensitive spot-art illustrations reveal feelings honestly and gently portray the resolution of strong emotions through understanding between friends. Says Booklist, "... an excellently crafted behavioral story that addresses a very specific but universal moment in emotional development, and it deftly, healthily, and subtly navigates through the familiar, murky waters of envy."

This duo are also the creators of the companion books, Way Past Mad (Great Big Feelings) and Way Past Sad (Great Big Feelings).

So Far Away! Grandpa Across The Ocean by Hyewon Yum

MY GRANDPA LIVES ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE OCEAN.

Crossing an ocean takes a long flight, over a whole ocean to get there, where everything is strange. Grandpa's food smells strange and tastes stranger. HE bows instead of saying "Hi!"

GRANDPA'S HOUSE IS THE MOST BORING PLACE ON EARTH.

And he naps a lot in his chair in front of the television set, too, except when he watches some very important news, but not cartoons. There are no toys except for one big ball, which the boy plays with only a little while before he kicks it into a very big vase with an important flower growing inside. It breaks, of course.

BUT GRANDPA IS NOT MAD.

In fact, the boy finds that he and Grandpa like a lot of the same things--fresh peaches, his red toy mini-car. watching the same cartoons together-- and chocolate ice cream cones. He even likes playing and swimming at the beach, in the same ocean that the boy flew over to get to Grandpa's house.

I GET TIRED, BUT GRANDPA DOESN'T SEEM TO.

HE'S A TROUBLEMAKER, JUST LIKE ME!

And now Grandpa's food tastes good! (Even kimchi!)

I WISH SUMMER WOULD GO ON FOREVER.

"Blood is thicker than water" the old proverb says, and the boy and grandpa discover they have a lot of things in common. After all, they're related, in Hyewon Yum's latest, Grandpa Across the Ocean (Abrams Books, 2021). In artist Yum's charming illustrations, the age gap, like the ocean between them, changes when boy and grandfather get together and discover how many things they have in common.

Yum's engaging mixed media illustrations tell the story equally with the text in this heartwarming intergenerational story," says School Library Journal's starred review.

Time and Tide: The Old Boat by Jerome Pumphfrey

 

OFF A SMALL ISLAND, AN OLD BOAT RODE THE TIDE.

A young man and a little boy prepare their boat for a fishing trip, the boy with his dip net over his shoulder, while in the shallow waters around the sandbar, marine animals--sea turtles, an octopus, and various fish swim quietly.

Time and tides pass, as the boy grows, and the clear ocean waters become fouled with unnatural flotsam and jetsom--old tires, bottles, plastic forks, and jagged cans, and the sandy shores fill with houses.

FIRST SHALLOW... THEN DEEP.

Catching wants..., keeping wishes on shooting stars, and encountering waves, they ride with dolphins. The now old man and the boy, now grown up, even watch with wonder as a whale sounds nearby.

Now the boat takes the young man alone, sailing farther, far from home, and into a storm, alone and lost in the waves. His boat sinks, and he crawls ashore on his little island, now surrounded by a sea of trash.

It is time to turn that tide.

He fills his net with bottles and plastic cutlery and the paper cups kids collect and is soon followed by a crew of snorkelers in the shallows, and...

THEN DEEP.

And the old boat rests undersea, surrounded by living creatures.

In lovely double-page spreads, artist Jarrett Pomphrey's pastel faux naif illustrations bring his brother Jarrett's spare text to life, telling the story, too, in their place by the sea. The Old Boat (Norton Books, 2021) is a story for those who love boats and beaches and a living ocean, told in two generations of a family who love them, too. Says Kirkus, "A quiet, thought-provoking story of environmental change and the power humans have to slow it."

Share this one with its companion book, The Old Truck

Where the Heart Is: The House of Grass and Sky by Mary Lyn Ray

Once, out in the country, someone knew right where to build a house.

Inside it smelled of sunshine and new lumber. Outside it smelled of meadow grass and sky.

In a field of tall, waving grass there is a house, sturdy and plain, that shelters a family. In the grass a mother in a long white dress walks, with a black and white dog leading the way, while the father waves from the roof where he is repairing the chimney. Soon there are children, a girl with bare feet in a rope swing and a boy running with the dog. It is a a safe place to live and grow.

As years went by, other families came and went.

The house learned about babies growing up and birthday parties.

But one day the family loaded up the dog to drive away. They didn't come back. But other families with children came to swing in the swing and run through the grass. After a time, the families would drive away to stay.

A new family always came--until one didn't.

The house stood empty. It missed the children running through the house, laughing or whispering secrets. Seasons came and went. But...

. . . It knew a family would come.

But they didn't. The little white house sat empty, waiting. From time to time families would come to look and talk about how they would have to "add on" more rooms on the little house or how it was "too quiet" out there in its field of grass. Nobody came to stay. The house didn't want to be added on to!

And then one family with children drives up. They pick the dandelions in the field and find the swing and run whispering through the rooms.

Are they wishing what the house is wishing?

The heart of the house is the family who lives there, says noted author Mary Lyn Ray's just published The House of Grass and Sky (Candlewick Press, 2021). Ray's lovely new picture book, reminiscent of the spirit of Virginia Lee Burton's classic, Caldecott Award winner, The Little House 75th Anniversary Edition, celebrates how those lives are what makes a house a home. The lovely mixed media illustrations of artist E. B. Goodale evokes what a house means to a family who lives there, and also, what the family within means for a house.

Horn Book's reviewer says, "Ray’s quiet, eloquent text serves as a poignant meditation on appreciation: of the things we take for granted, the things we value most, and the things we cannot live without."