(Photo by Steven Pings Rawley/use with permission only)

Welcome, welcome, to the long-running and always entertaining Wacky Mommy Book Review.

• My pick of the week is Gayle Forman’s latest, “Not Nothing.” This is a great title for a book that is not nothing, but most definitely something. This is one of the best titles I’ve read, not just this year, but in the past few years. It’s a new classic, in my opinion. Alex, age 12, is in big trouble and we don’t know exactly what happened. Just that it’s bad. Really bad. Bad enough for a judge to “sentence” him to community service, namely, volunteering at an eldercare facility, where his new boss is a peer, Maya-Jade Spears-Sandler, “But you can call me Maya-Jade.” She’s a lot. When Alex meets Josey, though, age 107 and giving up on life, everything changes. I don’t want to say much more about this book. It’s intriguing, it’s a mystery, it’s a love story and compassionate and I would go along anywhere these characters wanted to take me. Hugs and love and all of it. (Simon & Schuster, 2024, ages 10 (5th grade) and up, serious themes, 280 pages, $17.99.)
• Reading “Rise of the Spider” and eagerly awaiting “Threat of the Spider,” the second book in the new “Web of the Spider” series by author Michael P. Spradlin. Thoughtful and provocative book about brothers Rolf and Romer, set in Nazi Germany. Learn about history or repeat it, we all know this, but that saying hits differently now. It hits hard. (Margaret K. Elderberry Books/Simon & Schuster, 2024, ages 8 and up, 144 pages.)
• For something a little (lot) lighter, try “Theodora Hendrix and the Monstrous League of Monsters” (that’s a big ol’ title), by Jordan Kopy, with illustrations by Chris Jevons (Simon & Schuster Kids, 2024, ages 8 and up, 247 pages, $18.99). This one is being described on Amazon as “Addams Family meets Nancy Drew,” and that’s pretty cute, as well as accurate. Do monsters exist? No? Yes? Maybe? “Just ask Theodora Hendrix.” The illustrations are great, whimsical, creepy, lively and everything they need to be. Perfect title as we head into Halloween season.

All for now, cats and kittens. Disclaimer: All of the books reviewed today were sent to me free to review. Disclaimer here. See you next time!

WM

(Photo by Steven Pings Rawley/use with permission only, please)

• Here’s a sweet and funny new picture book: “Bookie & Cookie,” written and illustrated by Blanca Gómez (Rocky Pond Books/Penguin Random House, 2024, all ages, $18.99). The bright and colorful collage art (combined with digital art) really makes this book come to life. Bookie and Cookie get along great… until they don’t. Good story about conflict resolution and how cookies and bookies can bring us all together. (This has been my philosophy since birth, really. xoxo)
• Author Ariel Bernstein and illustrator Marc Rosenthal have an awesome new creation out, too: “Mabel Wants a Friend” (A Paula Wiseman Book/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; order now for Oct. 1st, 2024 release; ages 4-8; $18.99). The theme of the week is… friendship, y’all. Cuz you got to have friends, like the old song says. Mabel (a fox) wants what she wants, when she wants it, and she’s not too concerned about this affects other people. Until she meets Chester (the bunny), that is. A great story that deftly unfolds, and the art is bouncy and fun.
• “The Ship in the Window” is an engaging new book, written by children’s librarian (yay!) Travis Jonker and illustrated by Matthew Cordell. (Viking/Penguin Random House, 2024, $18.99, ages 3-7 but I’m gonna say… all ages! Because it’s that kind of book.) Wait a minute… we have another Mabel, friends. This one is a cute little mouse, and she lives “in a little cabin on a little lake. But she wasn’t alone.” There’s a boy. There’s a man. And there’s a model ship (“It was magnificent.”) Mabel, our Mabel, dreams of being a captain, and all she wants to know is: Will that ship sail? Great art, with tons of imagination and little details for the kids to notice.

The Pick of the Week is… “The Ship in the Window”! You know, it reminds of “The Mouse and the Motorcyle”? It does. Happy day.

Disclaimer: All of the books reviewed today were sent to me free for review purposes. Disclaimer here. See you next time!

WM

(“I Am La Chiva” cover art used with permission of author/illustrator)

• • “I Am La Chiva! The Colorful Bus of the Andes,” “Me Llamo La Chiva! El Colorido Bus de Los Andes”  by Karol Hernández (author), Lorena Alvarez Gómez (Illustrator… ooooh, she also illustrated “The Magical Yet,” another great book), and Isabel Mendoza (translator) is a sweet and whimsical new book. Love the rhymes, and the focus on Colombian culture. (Dial Books, 2024, 40 pages, all ages.)

• • “I Worked Hard on That!” by Robyn Wall, with art by A.N. Kang (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, all ages, $18.99) I’m a gardener, and someone who loves to knock down spider webs. I’m sorry, spider, but when you’ve stepped into one too many webs, or (blech) gotten one in the corner of your eye, it seems reasonable. I’ll be re-thinking this carelessness after reading this lovely and compassionate book about Kiara, a spider who has to keep starting over when her “works of art” are destroyed. Then she meets an orb weaver, and moves into a different stage of creativity. (I think we can all relate to that one.) Pre-order this one if you’re looking for a fun Halloween gift; the book is scheduled to be released Oct. 8th. Wall brought us the hip and arty “My Cool Family” board book series; Kang’s first work (as author and illustrator) was the sweet and dreamy “The Very Fluffy Kitty, Papillon.”
  • For more sweet humor, check out the new picture book, “How to Talk Like a Chicken,” written by Charlie Grandy, with illustrations by Alex G. Griffiths. (Flamingo Books — of course/Penguin Random House, 2024, all ages, $18.99.) Buh-gawk! Which I would have guessed meant bok-bok? But actually means “Bring me my slippers! My feetsies are cold!” LOL. But you can’t just talk like a chicken, dudes — you have to act like one, too. Heads up high, chests puffed out, etc. This book is hilarious. Also? I now have a nice little sub-collection, within my bigger collection of children’s books, of chicken-themed titles. Chickens do have a certain natural goofiness and charm, I can see why they’re a popular subject.

• • “I Like Your Chutzpah: and Other Yiddish Words You’ll Like” is a fun board book from author/artist Suzy Ultman (Penguin Workshop, 2024, for the babies and little kids, $9.99). “I like your mishpocha (whole big family)” is my fave new phrase, and that’s why this book is my Pick of the Week. Yiddish has been around for more than 1,000 years, by the by, and this is a great way to share the love with the kids you love! Kish’m! (Kiss!)

Disclaimer: All of the titles mentioned in this post were sent to me free for review purposes. Disclaimer here. See you next time! WM