(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