Today We'll Be Eaten by Alan Barillaro - ADVISABLE

Today We'll Be Eaten by Alan Barillaro. PICTURE BOOK. Rocky Pond Books (Penguin), 2026. $20. 9798217004362

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: MANY

Ladybug and dragonfly are on their way home when a storm unexpectedly sends them in a new direction. Helpless to change their course, they learn to see things through a new perspective, facing their fears and finding new friends, if only for the moment.

The simple story has a humorous element where the main characters' worst fears, being eaten, do not actually come to pass, but instead, they find their winding way is filled with surprising new thoughts and views on the world. Barillaro's beautiful illustrations add whimsy to the life-and-death situation the bugs find themselves in. The main characters are resigned to their fate, but when it doesn't happen, they see the world around them that they never took the time to notice before. There is humor and depth behind the simple story, but the bugs also show resilience when life doesn't happen as they thought it would.

Heather Robinson 

Diary of a Bee by Stepanka Sekaninova and Linh Dao - OPTIONAL

Diary of a Bee by Stepanka Sekaninova and Linh Dao. Translated by Mark Worthington. NON-FICTION PICTURE BOOK. B4U Publishing for Albatros, 2025. $17. 9788000074467

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

The 37-day life of Matilda, a worker bee, is spent feeding larva, collecting pollen, cleaning and protecting the hive, and doing other worker bee tasks. Matilda explains how a hive works including the different bees and their jobs. I appreciated the cute illustrations and that the text was geared toward a young audience. 

That said, I didn't love all the ways the bees were anthropomorphized. In one instance, Matilda's drone friend, Thomas is excited for his ""wedding flight."" He is described as the youngest bee who is flying off with a group of drones to mate with the queen. Matilda hopes he will come back, because the bees that mate with the queen will die. Thomas does come back and is disappointed because he couldn't finish his task. Kids probably won't read too much into this, but as an adult, it seemed a bit odd to give a bee characteristics of a young boy and use that bee to teach how drones mate with the queen.

Rachel, elementary school librarian 

Little Snail Goes House Hunting by Bia Melo - ADVISABLE

Little Snail Goes House Hunting by Bia Melo. PICTURE BOOK. Happy Yak (Quarto), 2025. $19. 9780711292338

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

Little Snail is feeling a little bored with the same-old-same-old environment, so she heads out to try out different types of housing environments, traveling all over the world. When she visits the sea slugs, there she finds the inspiration she needs to create the home to reflect her personality.

Melo’s illustrations are colorful and inspiring - so much fun to gaze at. And I really liked how Snail realized it wasn’t the physical environment that mattered the most, but how she felt about herself.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS