ROAR LIKE A DANDELION by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier. Harper. $17.99. Ruth Krauss was the beloved author of many children’s classics, including The Carrot Seed, illustrated by her husband, Crockett Johnson, and A Hole is to Dig, illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Roar Like a Dandelion was not previously published. It is an...
THE SCARECROW. Written by Beth Ferry and illustrated by the Fan Brothers. Harper. $18.99. “Autumn sunshine. Haystacks rolled. Scarecrow guards the fields of gold.” Ferry uses terse verse to tell this story of a lonely scarecrow who has done his job a little too well. Through the seasons, the animals stay away from him in...
THE FARMER. Written and illustrated by Ximo Abadia. Holiday House. $17.99. Ximo Abadia is a Spanish author and illustrator of children’s books, graphic novels, and comics. This simple book features a joyous farmer as he goes about his chores to bring forth a new crop. Dressed in a black top hat, a blue and white...
MUSIC FOR MISTER MOON. Written by Philip C. Stead. Illustrated by Erin E. Stead. Neal Porter Books. $18.99. Harriet Henry loves to play her cello, but not for audiences. Just the thought makes her hot and sweaty. Instead, she imagines her room into a cozy house with a table, chair, fireplace, and her teacup—a perfect...
BIG CAT. Written and illustrated by Emma Lazell. Pavilion. $16.95. A little girl and her grandmother are busy looking for Grandma’s lost glasses when a new cat arrives on the scene. Grandma, who can’t see without her glasses, thinks the new cat is “the cutest, prettiest, most handsome kitty cat,” not realizing that the cat...
SEE GLASS SUMMER. Written by Michelle Houts. Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. Candlewick Press. $16.99. This lovely collaboration of illustration and text opens with a boy named Thomas staying with his grandmother at her island cottage. Grandmother gives Thomas a magnifying glass that used to belong to his grandfather. Together, they scour the shore looking closely...
THE MAGIC OF LETTERS. Written by Tony Johnston. Illustrated by Wendell Minor. Neal Porter Books/Holiday House. $18.99. “We’re learning letters, but what do they do?” was the question author Tony Johnston’s grandson asked on the first day of kindergarten. This germ of an idea became THE MAGIC OF LETTERS, a lovely tribute to the power...
CELEBRATE YOU. Written by Sherri Duskey Rinker. Illustrated by A. N Kang. Balzer + Bray. $17.99. On this special occasion, we’re just so filled with pride, and we’re thrilled, and we’re grateful, to be at your side. So we’ll pause for a moment to look back and ahead, to say a few things about YOU...
CHICKEN TALK. Written by Patricia MacLachlan. Illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Katherine Tegen Books. $17.99. If you like CLICK, CLACK, MOO: COWS THAT TYPE, you’ll get a kick out of this new picture book by Patricia MacLachlan, author of SARAH PLAIN AND TALL. Farmer Otis, his wife Abby, and their children, Willie and Belle, love...
I’LL LOVE YOU TILL THE COWS COME HOME. Written by Kathryn Cristaldi. Illustrated by Kristyna Litten. Harper. $17.99. “I will love you till the cows come home from a trip to Mars through skies unknown in a rocket ship made of glass and stone. I will love you till the cows come home.” Thus, Cristaldi...
