(“Neskowin/Proposal Rock on Ocean Side”; photo by Rawley/use with permission only, please)

Good afternoon from the Willamette Valley, where it is a glorious Monday. I need to turn off the news and read instead. Highly recommend this technique for de-stressing, for kids and grown-ups alike. And here are this week’s reviews:

• “Hap-Pea Easter,” kids! Keith Baker’s new picture book is here just in time for the spring holiday. (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster, 2025, all ages, $9.99.) (Quietly asking, are we going to be able to afford eggs this year, those of us who don’t raise our own chickens? Just substitute chocolate eggs, it will be OK.) These holiday peas are sure cheerful little guys. They popped by for Halloween and Valentine’s Day, it’s nice to see them for Easter, too. Get ready for “gentle showers, blooming flowers, longer sunny daylight hours.” This one is a treat.

• The kids are ready to crack their second case in “The Sherlock Society: Hurricane Heist,” James Ponti’s latest. Add it to your list: it’s due to be released in early September. (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster; kids ages 8 and up; $18.99.)

• And whoooooosh… here comes “Let’s Fly! Barrington Irving’s Record-Breaking Flight Around the World,” by the one and only Mr. Irving himself. Brave, cool, inspiring story. (Chana Stiefel co-wrote the picture book, and Shamar Knight Justice provided the great illustrations; Dial Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House; 2025; all ages; $18.99.) Kids who like to fidget with hands-on projects will love this book, and it may even inspire them to do great stuff when they grow up. How great? How about becoming a pilot, at age 23 (this was in 2007) and flying solo around the world? Irving broke records as the youngest person to do this, and the first Black man to undertake the feat, too. Pretty cool.

• Author and illustrator Katie Mazeika is another brave and cool one. She writes about her childhood experiences after losing one of her eyes to cancer in “Maybe Just Ask Me!” Great title, and pretty intense story about what she went through. A lot of time, energy and thoughtfulness went into making this colorful, sweet, joyful book. (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster; scheduled for release April 22, 2025; ages 4 and up; $19.99.) My motto has always been, Talk to me, not about me. (A friend was once hashing through a problem with me, about another friend. Stopped and said, “I should be talking to them, not about them,” and that sentiment has stuck with me.) This is Mazeika’s philosophy, too. Good starting point for kids, and adults, about how to have some of those difficult conversations, which perhaps do not need to be so difficult.

• “Goat is the G.O.A.T” is a sweet and funny new picture book from Bea Birdson, illustrated by Kelly Murphy. (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Young Readers, 2025, all ages, $18.99.) Goat hears that his name stands for Greatest of All Time… which means, maybe they’ll have a parade for him, or toss confetti his way, that would be awesome awesomeness. But what is he the greatest at? There has to be something. There will be something.

My pick of the week is… “Let’s Fly!” cuz there is nothing like the freedom of the skies.

Disclaimer: All of the books included in today’s post were sent to me free for review purposes. Disclaimer here. See you next time!

WM