The Solution: Sugar in Milk by Thrity Umrigar

WHEN I FIRST CAME TO THIS COUNTRY, I FELT SO ALONE.

An immigrant girl waits for her parents to join her, lonely and homesick for her family, friends, and her two cats, all her old familiar life. Her aunt understands and invites her to take a walk with her outside. The girl walks silently in a place that seems strange. But her aunt sits down and tells her an old, old story:

It seems that once there were a group of people who were forced to leave their ancient land. They sailed the sea until they found a shore where they were met with a king. The king felt he had plenty of people to rule over already, with no need for these strangers. They cannot understand each other's language, so to show the strange people why they were not wanted, he filled a cup to its brim with milk, so full that one more drop would overflow it. But the refugee people had a wise leader, who smiled and pulled out a little bag and from it put one small spoonful of sugar into the cup of milk, stirring it with great care until it dissolved completely. The cup was no fuller, but sweeter.

BETWEEN TWO WISE PEOPLE, SOMETIMES WORDS ARE NOT NECESSARY.

And the girl understands what her aunt's story means for her. And she smiles at the next person who passes, who returns her smile happily.

NOTHING HAD CHANGED, AND YET EVERYTHING HAD CHANGED.

In Thrity Umrigar's frame story, a story within a story, Sugar in Milk (Running Press, 2020), an old parable finds a new meaning to someone who is in a new and unfamiliar place, and in the walk back home, the girl finds bright smiles, cheery hellos, friendly dogs, and hope for a sweet beginning in her new home. There's a larger life lesson in Umrigar's  lovely prose, told visually and elegantly by illustrator Khoa Le. Says Horn Book's reviewer, "This story of new beginnings, lushly illustrated, celebrates the threads of kindness and humanity that bind us together."

All Kinds of Best Friends: Izzy in the Doghouse by Caroline Adderson

ISABEL AND ZOE WERE EACH OTHER'S FAVORITE FRIEND--MOST OF THE TIME.

They make each other friendship bracelets and wear them until they are gray and brown. At school they hang their coats in side-by-side cubbies so that their sleeves are in each other's pockets.

"OUR COATS HANG OUT SO MUCH THAT THEY HATE TO SLEEVE EACH OTHER!" JOKES IZZY.

But Izzy tends to take her ideas a bit over the top. They get into trouble as, with toilet paper streaming from their waistbands, they twitter like lizards running down the halls at school, and when at recess she tries to get a Kindergarten boy to pretend a pinecone is cookie and take a bite, both girls find themselves on the carpet in the principal's office.

Zoe blames Izzy for getting her in trouble and chooses a less rambunctious playmate after school. Bernadette turns Izzy down: Patty has piano lessons after school; and Nima says she has soccer practice. Izzy has a dull afternoon at home with her nanny Rosa, who wants to watch her soap opera in peace, and to make it worse, Mom is away on a business trip and won't be home until late. Izzy sleeps downstairs waiting for mom to get home and when she does, Izzy gets more bad news: Mom has an important business meeting the next day, so they can't have their usual Hooky Day and stay in their PJs together all day.

IZZY IS IN THE DOGHOUSE.

But when the next day Mom declares a Make-up Hooky Day, she has another great surprise for Izzy! They are going to adopt a puppy! Since Izzy herself is adopted, she is delighted. But when they bring Rollo home, she realizes that it takes a lot of thinking ahead to take care of a baby puppy.

"HE COULD CHEW CORDS THAT AREN'T UNPLUGGED OR GET STUCK UNDER SOMETHING. OR KNOCK SOMETHING OVER AND GET SQUASHED!"

And when Zoe asks for a playdate so she can see Rollo, Izzy forgets to lock his crate when he naps, and she's horrified when they can't find him anywhere!

"ZOE! WE HAVE TO FIND HIM. YOU CAN'T LEAVE A BABY ALONE! SOMETHING TERRIBLE COULD HAPPEN!"

But then Izzy realizes that she is the one who knows exactly how to find Rollo, in Caroline Adderson's Izzy in her Doghouse (Kids Can Press, 2020). In her new series for early chapter book readers, author Adderson has a character who is even more "over-the-top" than Beverly Cleary's Ramona Quimby. Adderson goes bravely into the weeds of an unusual family with a more rambunctious and less perceptive young heroine, but catches the moment when the impetuous Isabel suddenly discovers what responsibility to others means.

This is a endearing story, with an infectuously funny character that promises to equal Adderson's beginning chapter success with her Jasper John Dooley: Left Behind series, and Kelly Collier's funny line drawings break up the text and enrich and advance the story line with pazzazz that just fits Izzy. Says Kirkus Reviews, "An endearing, energetic take on chapter books for transitioning readers.

The Summons: The Bell Rang by James E. Ransome

Monday:The bell rings,
and no sun in the sky.
Daddy gathers wood.
Mama cooks.
We eat.

In the dawn a girl watches her family, Mama, Daddy, and brother Ben, go off to work with Master Tucker's other slaves, while she stays with the kids too young for field work with Miss Sarah Mae.

But on Wednesday morning something is different.

Ben surprises me
first with a kiss on the cheek,
then whispering
"Goodbye"
in my ear.

Ben has gone to the fields with his friends Joe and Little Sam. But at night they don't come home.

Master Tucker knows that they have "run," and the girl wakes on Thursday to the sound of the Overseer hitting Mama and Daddy. The girl hides.

Mama cries
all the way to the fields.

On Saturday they hear dogs barking and horses coming, and Joe and Little Sam, caught, are whipped, but there's no Ben.

Sunday We pray
Ben made it.
Free like Moses.
No more bells.

In stark but elegant free verse, James E. Ransome's The Bell Rang (Atheneum Books, 2019) tells the story, not of the runaway, but  from the witness of a little girl, a member of the slave family left behind, their sadness at the loss of a son, the fear for his safety, and the hope for his freedom. It's a powerful narrative, heightened by Ransome's stunning paintings which reveal much that cannot be said in mere words, however powerful. What is communicated are many truths about slavery's history and the wrenching human loss for families of those who dared to escape it, much as Ransome did in his 2017 award-winning story of young Harriet Tubman, Before She was Harriet (Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books). and Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass (Paula Wiseman Books).

An American Legacy: Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to His Daughters by Barack Obama

HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY HOW WONDERFUL YOU ARE?

HAVE I TOLD YOU THAT YOU ARE CREATIVE?

GEORGIA O'KEEFE. . . HELPED US SEE BEAUTY IN WHAT IS SMALL: THE HARDNESS OF STONE AND THE SOFTNESS OF FEATHERS.

HAVE I TOLD YOU THAT YOU ARE BRAVE?

JACKIE ROBINSON. . . GAVE BRAVE DREAMS TO DREAMERS.

Written by Barack Obama in 2007, Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters (Alfred A. Knopf, 2010) is a tribute to thirteen varied Americans whose personal qualities he wishes to share with his daughters. From Jane Addams, who tried to bring health, education, and joy to poor children, they learn kindness; from Billie Holiday they see the beauty of music that brings joy to listeners. From Albert Einstein they see that it is good to be smart, to help people understand the importance of energy and light, and from the Viet Nam Veterans' Wall they learn the essence of sacrifice.

HAVE I TOLD YOU TO BE PROUD TO BE AMERICAN? GEORGE WASHINGTON. . . HELPED MAKE AN IDEA INTO A NEW COUNTRY, A COUNTRY OF CITIZENS.

HAVE I TOLD YOU THAT THEY ARE ALL PART OF YOU?

. . . AND THAT YOU ARE THE FUTURE?

... AND HAVE I TOLD YOU THAT I LOVE YOU?

Award-winning artist Loren Long contributes beautiful illustrations which evoke the energy and hope of childhood and honor the young experiences and adult achievements of those Americans who have contributed to our national consciousness. Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters is a great readaloud for primary classes leading into those January and February units on great Americans and a great way for a parent to share their love for country with a child.

Summer Days: A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee

Ah, summer vacation. Time to waste with your best friend, doing "nothin.'"

These are the idyllic and perhaps vanishing summer days that grown-ups remember, when kids got up, dressed minimally, and went outside with the whole day a blank slate to be filled as they pleased.

But the adults in Marla Frazee's 2009 Caldecott Honor Book, A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, have other ideas. Eamon's Grampa Bill signs him and his best buddy James up for a week at Nature Camp. Grampa dutifully grumbles through the long, winding drive to the day camp every day because he has visions of the two boys happily accompanying him to the local museum's fascinating (to him) penguin exhibit and acquiring a life-long love for nature, thanks to his wise guidance.

James and Eamon have other ideas. They dutifully climb in the truck for the long haul to camp every day, but contrary to Bill's hopes, the two don't exactly become budding Audubons:

"I think it should be called Sit-Around Camp," said Eamon.

"Yeah, or Sweat-Alot Camp," said James

Bill presents the kids with a matching pair of binoculars and a list of birds to spot, but the boys have other ideas of nature study.

On the way home the boys report their findings.

"His freckles are HUGE!"

"Yeah, and his tongue is GROSS!"

The boys never tire of each other's company, bouncing on their basement air mattresses, watching endless TV shows, and "meditating" as they slaughter each other in video games, until Bill gives them a joint name--"Jamon." But at least one part of their visit is an unquestioned success:

Bill brought tide charts and glop to the dinner table.

Pam served banana waffles with maple syrup.

"The food is way better here than at my house," says James

"Mine, too!" says Eamon.

On the last night Bill and Pam schedule a movie and popcorn night, but the exhausted grandparents are soon snoring loudly on the couch, and the boys find themselves at loose ends.

So they wander outside for some peace and quiet. Tomorrow they have to go home.

They look up at the sky and out at the ocean.

For the first time all week, they couldn't think of anything to do. The sun went down. The stars came out.

At last James and Eamon finally got busy with something... and it turned out to be the very best part of the boys' best week ever.

Collecting shells and flotsam, James and Eamon build a model of Antarctica--complete with rocks for whales, and, to Bill's delight, clamshell penguins--that nearly fills Grampa's dock. Bill wakes up, takes in the amazing scene, and hugs them both, and the two admit that they hope they can be nature campers again soon.

Frazee's relaxed award-winning cartoon-syle illustrations let the two round-headed (a la Charlie Brown) campers' body language tell the story of two kids who know what they like and do it together constantly for their best week ever.