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Spring books, part 2…

April 14th, 2024

Mt. Hood (view from University of Portland, North Portland, Ore.)
(Mt. Hood, as seen from the University of Portland, North Portland, Oregon, USA. Photo by Rawley/use with permission only, please and thank you)

Now where were we? Ahhhhhh… spring time books! Ready for the new titles? I have a big stack of them. All info provided with permission by the authors and illustrators.

  • “Los Monstruos: Rooster and the Dancing Diablo,” a new young adult novel from author Diana Lopez (Kokila/Penguin Random House; scheduled for release May 7, 2024; middle grade readers; 240 pages; $18.99). This new twist on Mexican folklore is something really different and inspired. Tres Leches, Texas, is a magical, loopy place for kids (and readers) looking for adventure. This one picks up where “Los Monstruos: Felice and the Wailing Woman” left off.
  • “Tell Me About Oceans,” an awesome sweet little board book by Lisa Varchol Perron, with illustrations by Jennifer Falkner. (Little Simon/Simon & Schuster, 2024, for the babies and little kids, $8.99.) Learn all about why the waves crash, how useful seaweed is, find out facts about huge blue whales and more. Lovely art and lots of science facts.
  • “Caged,” by Hmong American writer Kao Kalia Yang, with illustrations by Hmong American artist Khou Vue (Kokila/Penguin Random House; scheduled for release May 28, 2024; all ages; $18.99). This one will make you cry and make your heart soar at the same time. Based on the author’s youth, a young girl born and raised in the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, hoping for escape and freedom. It’s important for kids to hear these stories.
  • “Lost Stick,” written by and illustrated by Anoosha Syed (Viking/Penguin Random House, 2024, ages 3-7, $18.99). Louise and Milo are playing fetch at the park, but things go sideways when Milo goes after the stick and can’t find it! Bright, cheerful art and a happy little story.
  • “Jam, Too?” is a lively new title from author JaNay Brown-Wood and illustrator Jacqueline Alcantara (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House, 2024, all ages, $18.99). “Out on the shore/in warm brown sand/walks one lone man/with a conga in hand.”
  • “Nothing Special” was recommended to me by my friend Anne. Great suggestion. (Wayne State University Press, 2022, all ages, $18.00.) This extraordinary title from author Desiree Cooper and textile art by Bec Sloane came out in October, 2022, and is a big, big award winner (Top Ten Children’s Book of 2022, the New York Public Library; a selected title from Social Justice Books (a Teach for Change project); Winner of the 2023 Paterson Prize Books for Young People; a 2023 Summer Reading List book, selected by the Association for Library Service to Children; and a Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist. Kids will learn about the Great Migration and reverse migration taken by many African American families. Words do not do this book justice — it’s perfect and something special.
  • “Neat Nick’s Big Mess,” is a colorful, messy, gorgeous new picture book, written and illustrated by Chad Otis (Rocky Pond Books/Penguin Random House; scheduled for release May 7, 2024; all ages, $18.99.) Our hero, Neat Nick (get it? Neatnik? Cute) likes his surroundings to be thus and so. But the new big puppy in his life has some different thoughts on housekeeping.
  • “Would You Dare Put a Diaper on a Bear?” written and illustrated by Lillias Kinsman-Chauvet (Boxer Books/Union Square Kids, 2024, ages 3-5, 32 pages, $18.99). Goofy and sweet book for the potty training crowd.

Talk soon, xo

WM

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