Where's Baby? by Anne Hunter - ADVISABLE

Where's Baby? by Anne Hunter. PICTURE BOOK Tundra (Penguin Random House), 2020. $22. 9780735264984 

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Papa fox is looking everywhere for baby fox, but he just can't find the baby! 

"Where's Baby" is a darling picture book that tells more in the pictures than it does in the text. Someone is in all the places papa looks, but none of them are baby (baby is nearby, Papa just isn't looking there). A fun example of prepositional phrases - up a tree, in a log, over the hill, around the bend etc. Super fun!

Lisa Librarian

Ty's Travels: Zip, Zoom! by Kelly Starling Lyons - ADVISABLE

Ty's Travels: Zip, Zoom! by Kelly Starling Lyons, 32 pages. EARLY READER Harper Collins, 2020. $17. 9780062951106 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Ty is learning how to ride a scooter. His family is at the park where Corey and Daddy are riding bikes, but Ty is imagining he's in a race. But one bad fall nearly ends this adventure, until a new friend arrives to show Ty how to really ride a scooter. 

The best part about this first reader was the illustrations. When Ty is imagining the race, the pictures look drawn and colored with crayon, but the real scenes in the park are realistically illustrated. A nice cue for readers that the scene is a bit different. The story is cute too.

Lisa Librarian

Robobaby by David Wiesner - ADVISABLE

Robobaby by David Wiesner. PICTUE BOOK. Clarion (Houghton), 2020. $18. 9780544987319 

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

The Robot family has received a new addition, but they are having trouble. Neither Mom nor Uncle Manny will listen to older sis Cathy when they are building the new baby. It is only with a little help and distraction from Sprocket, the family pet, that Cathy will be able to assemble baby Flange the way she should. 

Kids who can’t seem to get their parents’ attention, parents who think they can do things without following direction (IKEA furniture, anyone), will see themselves here. The robot family and neighbors’ antics are surely funny – even as they do things that humans will recognize. 

 Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS 

The Midnight Fair by Gideon Sterer and Mariachiara Di Girogio - HIGH

The Midnight Fair by Gideon Sterer, illustrated by Mariachiara Di Girogio. PICTURE BOOK. Candlewick, 2020. $17. 9781536211153 

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

After the carnival shuts down for the night, the woodland animals come out and enjoy the space for themselves, leaving just in time to not be seen by the night guard. 

Wordless, author and illustrator convey much on each page. There is so much to explore, to laugh at, to wonder over. And keep an eye out for the wolf – what will he do at the end? I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the animals riding the carousel animals! 

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS 

Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Cozbi Cabrera - ADVISABLE

Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Cozbi Cabrera. PICTURE BOOK, BIOGRAPHY Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2020. $18. 9781419734113 

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

From a very young age, Gwendolyn Brooks loved poetry. At 7 her mother compared her to Paul Laurence Dunbar! She wrote poems about everything. At 11 she was published in the newspaper, but then the Great Depression slowed her momentum. She did well in school, attended college and married, writing poetry was never enough to pay the bills, but she kept writing and submitting her poems. Eventually she published several books and won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. 

This is a nice picture book biography. Slade's text is also poetic, a great nod to Brooks. I loved that she quotes the poet's own work as well. Cabrera's illustrations are wonderful. Colorful and realistic, there's plenty to get lost in looking at the pictures. Oh, to see those skies. Magnificent.

Lisa Morey

Sincerely, Emerson by Emerson Weber, and Jaclyn Sinquett - ADVISABLE

Sincerely, Emerson: A Girl, Her Letter, and the Helpers All Around Us by Emerson Weber, illustrated by Jaclyn Sinquett. PICTURE BOOK 2020. Harper Collins, $18. 9780063066960 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Emerson really enjoyed writing letters. She liked everything about letters, and sent them to friends and family all over the world. One day, she decided to write a letter to her postman, Doug, thanking him and telling him how important he is. Soon, letters started arriving for Emerson from all over - Doug had shared his letter with other mail carriers and they were writing Emerson back!

Based on the real-life experience of the author, this is a cute story about all the people who are helpers, not only letter carriers, but farmers, grocers, nurses and lots of others. This would be a nice kick off to a letter writing unit, or when talking about helpers.

Lisa Librarian

Where Does My Poo Go? By Jo Lindley - ESSENTIAL

Where Does My Poo Go? By Jo Lindley. PICTURE BOOK, NON-FICTION DK , 2021. 9780744021479 

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Where does your Poo go when you flush the toilet? Through some great illustrations, a bunch of arrows and simple explanations the reader learns all about sludge, the sewer, bacteria, settlement tanks and treatment plants. Follow the path from flush to clean water coming back to your toilet. A fascinating journey. 

With a title containing “Poo” readers will be excited to see what’s inside. Not gross at all, smells are addressed and what happens to everything is covered in both text and illustration. Bacteria are illustrated so cute - bad bacteria have angry faces, while the good bacteria are wearing bibs. Although there are a few pictures of people sitting on toilets, this is a humorous look at poo that even early elementary students will enjoy.

Lisa Librarian
 

Catherine's War by Julia Billet and Claire Fauvel - ADVISABLE

Catherine's War by Julia Billet and Claire Fauvel, 166 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL Harper Alley (Harper Collins), 2020. $13. 

Content: G. 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE, MS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Rachel Cohen lives in the Sevres Children's Home near Paris. She loves photography and has learned how to use the dark room from one of the teachers they call Penguin. Penguin has given her a beautiful camera. Rachel is Jewish, and the school, faced with endangering the children gives Rachel and the others false papers and new names and distribute them to other orphanages in France. Rachel, now called Catherine, is allowed to take the special camera and records her experiences over the next 4 years as she is one step ahead of being discovered by the Germans. 

Translated from French and based on the experiences of Julia Billet's mother, this is a hopeful WWII story about a Jewish girl hiding in plain sight. Fauvel's full color illustrations are great. The story flows well even though characters go in and out of her story quickly. Tension and peril without war scenes make this appropriate for even upper elementary, although Catherine seems to be older. Contains photographs and a Q&A at the end. 

Lisa Librarian

Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration by Samara Cole Doyon - ADVISABLE

Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration by Samara Cole Doyon. PICTURE BOOK Tilbury House, 2020. $17. 9780884487975 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

So many different browns! A little girl recounts all the different shades: Her eyes, the shadows in the mountains, eyelashes, honey, hair, castles, skin, caramel, autumn leaves, hot cocoa, and more - all the things she loves, all different browns, but she especially loves something her grandmother makes

What a beautiful way to celebrate self, family and culture.  Samara Cole Doyon's poetry is so alliterative, it would make a delightful read aloud to a class. 

Lisa Librarian  

I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith - ADVISABLE

I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith.  PICTURE BOOK Neal Porter Books (Holiday House), 2020. $18. 9780823445592 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

A young boy knows all the words, but often, when he tries to say them, they get all tangled or mumbly in his mouth. At school he hopes to not speak in front of the class, but on an especially "bad speech day' his dad picks him up from school and take him to the river, to unwind. At the river dad compares it to the boys speech bubbling, churning and crashing. The boy speaks like a river. 

What a sweet story! I love picture books that represent children with differences, letting them see themselves in a story as well as helping others to build empathy and give them perspective. The illustrations are a beautiful, there's a fold out illustration in the center that is like opening your eyes - amazing comparison. Loved it!

Lisa Librarian

A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart by Zetta Elliott and Noa Denmon - ESSENTIAL

A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart by Zetta Elliott, illustrated by Noa Denmon. PICTURE BOOK Farrar Straus Giroux (Macmillan), 2020. $18. 9780374307417 

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

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

A young boy thinks about his emotions: joy, sorrow, fear, anger, hunger, pride, peace, compassion, hope and love, many of them relevant to Black Lives Matter. 

This powerful poem by Zetta Elliott is empowering and relevant. Oh, the illustrations! We see the faces of people like Louis Armstrong, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Mae Jamison, and others who made meaningful and lasting contributions. Some full page illustrations, others in panels that tell a story of their own. From the boy skateboarding alone, and playing with friends, or  interacting with his community to heartbreaking scenes of protests and of a candlelight vigil, this timely picture book is highly recommended!

Lisa Librarian

All the Way to the Top by Annette Bay Pimentel and Nabi H. Ali - ESSENTIAL

All the Way to the Top: How One Girl's Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimentel, pictures by Nabi H. Ali. PICTURE BOOK Sourcebooks, 2020. $18. 9781492688976

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL, MS - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

6yo Jennifer is so excited to start school, but there are physical barriers because she is in a wheelchair.  Curbs and stairs make her feel like she doesn't belong. So, her mom helps her join a group of activists, disabled adults, who are working for change. Jennifer learns to speak up for herself, and even though she is a kid, she joins protests all over the country.  But it's still hard at school.  She can't even eat in the cafeteria. When she is 8, she's excited about a new law proposed called the "Americans with Disability Act", but when Congress isn't acting on it, Jennifer and her family decide to go to Washington to join a march and speak for themselves.

What an inspiring story! The illustrations are great, and there's a forward by Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins herself.  I loved that there were lots of "Stops" and "Gos"  I loved Jennifer's supportive parents. She's so young, makes this a great introduction to the disability experience and a chance to build empathy with even our youngest students. Includes extra material at the end - more info for further study, a timeline and bibliography. 

Lisa Librarian