Bitsy Bat, Snow Star by Kaz Windness. - ADVISABLE

Bitsy Bat, Snow Star by Kaz Windness. PICTURE BOOK. Beach Lane Books  (Simon and Schuster), 2026. $20. 9781665963664

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: MANY

Bitsy Bat wakes up to see her first-ever snowfall.  She's excited to go to school and try out wintry activities with her friends.  She doesn't like being cold and wet, but she tries out making snow angels, sledding, and making snowmen.  She pretends to have fun until a snowball fight pushes her over the edge.  She retreats inside worried that her friends won't like her anymore.  Inside the school a surprise awaits her.  Enzo Owl and Mo are inside too. Will she get the courage to be honest with her friends outside?

Bitsy Bat, Snow Star is a cute story told from an autistic perspective, and celebrates emotional honesty and how individual differences make everyone shine.  I love the adorable, expressive illustrations.

PGPowers

I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea by Janice Milusich and Chris Raschka - ADVISABLE

I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea by Janice Milusich, illustrated by Chris Raschka. PICTURE BOOK Random House, 2025. $19. 9780593308172 

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

APPEALS TO: SOME 

A young girl experiences the seasons with her mother, and without the sense of sight. The air smells cold in winter, and everything is quiet. In the spring, she smells flowers and hears birds. A summer day at the beach brings cold waves and warm sun, and in the fall, the wind has changed, and she can hear geese. 

I really enjoyed reading about all the senses we take for granted, and how this young girl appreciates her world. The author teaches the visually impaired and blind, and they inspired her to write this book. Chris Raschka's illustrations were marvelous - although his illustrations are oil and watercolor, they look like crayon drawn on a textured surface. The characters are white. 

Lisa Librarian 

Ode to Grapefruit: How James Earle Jones Found his Voice by Kari Lavelle, illustrated by Brian Collier. - ADVISABLE

Ode to Grapefruit: How James Earle Jones Found his Voice by Kari Lavelle, illustrated by Brian Collier. NON-FICTION PICTURE BOOK. Knopf (Random House), 2024. $20. 9780593372760

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SOME

Standing in front of the kids at school, the words never come to James. It isn’t until high school and with poetry that James is finally able to work through his stutter and start expressing himself to the world.

Lavelle takes time at the end to talk through what parts are exactly as presented and the few things she had to take some license with. Kids might not know him as the voice of Darth Vader, but his story will resonate with kids who have their own problems. I plan on sharing it with our speech therapist.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS