Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Farm (Ask Me About) by Rebecca Atkinson and Susie Hammer - OPTIONAL

Farm (Ask Me About) by Rebecca Atkinson and Susie Hammer. Happy Yak (Quarto), 2026. $13. 9781836009986

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

Using a slider on the side, the reader answers a simple question on each page about what the animals are doing around the farm.

The pictures are vibrant and the animals are adorable. It's that slider on the side that worries me the most. I can see my 2yo grandson tearing that off first thing. Board books that you have to guard from little hands are lass desirable for me. 

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS



Dad by Christian Robinson - ESSENTIAL

Dad by Christian Robinson. PICTURE BOOK Balzer/Bray (HarperCollins), 2026. $20. 9781250397041 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL 

APPEALS TO: MANY 

Animal dads interact with their young. Human fathers do too. 

What a sweet book about fathers. An appendix describes the fathering skills of the different animals. The illustrations are beautiful. I loved when it shifted to human children and their dads. Easy read for an early reader. Not only informative but poignant. The human dads and kids are mixed races. 

Lisa Librarian 


Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Little Hare Finds a Gift by Oleksandr Shatokhin - OPTIONAL

Little Hare Finds a Gift by Oleksandr Shatokhin. BOARD BOOK. Red Comet Press, 2026. $9. 9781636552071

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

Little Hare was sleeping soundly when she was awakened by a giant present falling on her house. She stumbles onto Santa Claus who needs some help cleaning up the spilled presents.

Sweet, but not compelling. This is a board book reprint of the original picture book from 2023.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS



Suki Cat: Firefighter by Grace Holub - ADVISABLE

Suki Cat: Firefighter by Grace Holub. BOARD BOOK. Nosy Crow, 2026. $10. 9798887772431

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

Suki cat is off to fight fires today. Help her drive the engine, slide down the pole and other things on her journey.

5 sliders and tabs will withstand a lot of abuse. 

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS



A Family of Readers by Rob Sanders, illustrated by Gabbie Benda - ADVISABLE

A Family of Readers by Rob Sanders, illustrated by Gabbie Benda. PICTURE BOOK Charlesbridge/Imagine, 2026. $18. 9781623546472 

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

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

The public library can be a busy place, so from the moment the family arrives there's always something going on. Old men reading the newspaper, women in a book club, cooks and mechanics discussing their latest project, even a group of actors who have come to put on a show for pre-schoolers. The family finds a quiet place just perfect for them. 

Told in verse, I found this story delightful. It's just like my local library with so much going on no matter when you arrive. I love how all the things somehow floated back to the family and their needs. I'm not sure kids will love this as much as I do but for a librarian, this was a perfect read. Buying a copy for myself and a couple of friends, too. The family was white, but the library was full of a mix of cultures and races. 

Lisa Librarian 


Sound Explorers Space Adventure by Anna Claybourne and Teo Georgiev - ESSENTIAL

Sound Explorers Space Adventure by Anna Claybourne and Teo Georgiev. NON-FICTION PICTURE BOOK. Quarto Publishing, 2026. $20. 9781805702757

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

APPEALS TO: MANY

You cannot hear sounds in space because there is no air for the sound waves to travel. Sometimes, sound from space can be collected due to some atmosphere or air in an astronaut's helmet. Other space sounds are created from data from telescopes or space probes which computers interpret into sound. This is known as sonification. You can hear the sounds of the following space bodies: shooting stars, satellites, whistlers, zapping of space rocks, solar sun bursts,  comets, Saturn's aurora, asteroids, and pulsars. 

This battery operated book comes with sound dots that emit the sounds in space. These sounds bring space to life. The information pages that accompany the sounds are informative and astounding. The  bright illustrations depict the galaxy clearly so young children can understand. All ages will enjoy reading and learning from this book.

MOMMAC


Monday, July 27, 2026

Snowfall by Park Sun-jung - ADVISABLE

Snowfall by Park Sun-jung. PICTURE BOOK. Floris Books, 2026. $19. 9781835750049

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

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

Little snowflakes are drifting to earth.

The anthropomorphized snowflakes in this wordless picture book are so sweet. Together with the evening colors, I felt the sleepiness that could come with slowly looking over each page. Probably more for home use than school use, however.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS



How to Scare a Mouse and a Bear by Ross Collins - OPTIONAL

How to Scare a Mouse and a Bear by Ross Collins. PICTURE BOOK. Nosy Crow, 2026. $19. 9798887771731

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

Mouse and Bear are trying to scare each other for Halloween. 

This time I didn’t find the rhyming really helping the scary factor of the book.  It was too sing-songy and cheerful. The illustrations are still spot on.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS


What a Small Cat Needs by Natalia Shaloshvili, translated from Russian by Lena Traer - optIONAL

What a Small Cat Needs by Natalia Shaloshvili, translated from Russian by Lena Traer. PICTURE BOOK Enchanted Lion, 2026. $18. 9781592704774 

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

APPEALS TO: SOME 

There are a lot of things a small cat needs - eyes and ears and a tail and the ability to catch food and a place to live, but there is so much more than just those basics. 

What a sweet story - not a conflict resolution so much as a long description of a sweet cat and how it gets by. Maybe not for everyone, there's not a lot of story to it. 

Lisa Librarian



Haircut Day with Dad by Monica Mikai - ADVISABLE

Haircut Day with Dad by Monica Mikai. PICTURE BOOK. Crown Books (Random House), 2026. $19. 9798217027545

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SOME

A young boy is so excited to go to the barber shop with his father.  It is a special time for the two of them to bond and take care of themselves.  As they wait their turn, the boy takes in the sights and sounds of the barber shop. The father tells the boy that barbers are magic because they create a new you.

Haircut Day with Dad encompasses the joy of fathers and sons spending time together.  It shows that it doesn't matter what you do, the important part is being together. Mikai turns a mundane event into a special and exciting one.  Haircut Day with Dad is a celebration of black culture and love between a father and a son. Miaki also wrote a book about mothers and daughters called Wash Day with Mama.

The boy and his dad are black.

Tracie, Elementary School Librarian


Sunday, July 19, 2026

On Our Bikes by Dan Saks and Joao Fazenda - OPTIONAL

On Our Bikes by Dan Saks and Joao Fazenda
. PICTURE BOOK. Rise X (Penguin Workshop), 2026. $19. 9798217142798

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

APPEALS TO: SOME

A community finds joy in riding bicycles, from young kids on big wheels to adults pulling trailers. The book is a colorful celebration of the outdoors, fresh air, caring for the earth, and building relationships. Young kids gain independence and confidence and learn to navigate their neighborhood alongside family and friends. Ultimately, the book captures the magic of a childhood day spent outside with friends, biking adventures, and the plan to repeat it all the next day.

The rhyming prose would be a fun read-aloud for younger kids with short rhyming verses and vibrant illustrations. I like the throwback to a time when kids would take off with neighborhood friends on bicycles and not come home until dinnertime. The nostalgia for a simpler time when neighbors all knew each other brings to mind a community bike bus where adults and kids all ride together just for the joy of it. The book's viewpoint is pretty young, which is the only reason why I didn't rate it higher, but it is a fun and joyous book. A diverse community is portrayed, all coming together for a shared ride.

Heather Robinson 

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 

Welcome to Kiss the Book Jr.!

Welcome! Kiss the Book Jr. is for board books, picture books, early readers, and chapter books.  Also, any novels and non-fiction that we ag...