(“Local Hero,” photo by Nancy Ellen Row Rawley/use with permission only, please)

Good afternoon, cats and kittens! Are you ready for some book reviews? First up:

• Poor Joan. She’s stuck in the cone of shame, the darling. “Joan in the Cone” (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2025, ages 3-7, $18.99) is a sweet, playful, rhyming picture book from Billy Sharff, author, and Hala Tahboub, illustrator. It’s scheduled for release July 15, 2025, and is super cute, friends. The art is great. Puppy! It will be OK! Our hero Joan is a star.

• “It Simply Can’t Be Bedtime” is a new picture book from Pamela Paul, writer, and Steven Salerno, illustrator. The team did an excellent job with the story and art of a little girl, her favorite stuffie, Lady Pigsworth, and her drive to avoid bed and get her stuff done! (G.P. Putnam’s Sons/Penguin Random House, 2025, all ages, $18.99.) Just a cool book, and the art brings the story to life.

• “Mustafa’s Mithai” will probably make you hungry, hungry, hungry for sweets, so be ready! Sana Rafi wrote this delectable story, and Nabi H. Ali provided the detailed, bright and happy drawings. (Viking Books for Young Readers, 2025, all ages, $18.99.) There is probably no one who loves mithai (sweet treats) more than Mustafa. But Baba’s birthday is over, it’s not Eid, his Nani and Nanu already visited, and he can’t come up with more reasons for yummy surprises. Can his friends help? Great way for readers to learn about South Asia culture and traditions.

• “Ruby René Gets Her Way” is the sequel to the delightful “Ruby René Had So Much to Say,” by author Ashley Iman, with illustrations by Gladys Jose. (Kokila/Penguin Young Readers, 2025, ages 4 and up, $18.99.) She’s the funniest and cutest kid, little Ruby René. When we last saw her, she was learning new ways to not… blurt. Let’s just say it. And I’ll admit it, I blurt/interrupt/talk over people, um, occasionally? So this book hit home for me, ouch. But we, all of us, need to be allowed to express ourselves, am I right? Yes. Ruby learns a little more about sharing and working with others in this thoughtful and educational picture book.

• “Amina Banana and the Formula for Friendship” and “Amina Banana and the Formula for Winning” are titles one and two, respectively, in a cool new chapter book series, illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel. Author Shifa Saltagi Safadi did a great job with our third-grade hero, who has recently moved from Syria to Indiana. Little bit of culture shock. Good stories, and a thoughtful way of introducing kids to the topic of immigration, STEM, missing old friends, meeting new friends, and fresh starts. (Penguin Young Readers, 2025, ages 6 and up, $6.99.)

• “Threat of the Spider,” is the second title in “The Web of the Spider” series, by writer Michael P. Spradlin. (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, 2025, ages 8 and up, 159 pages, $7.99.) The books, set in Germany, while Nazism is on the rise at the beginning of World War II, introduces us to Ansel. His father, a journalist who opposes the regime, is kidnapped and Ansel and his friends unite to find him. A timeline and glossary in the back of the book will be helpful to readers.

• “This Book Might Be About Zinnia” is an intriguing new novel from author Brittney Morris. Zinnia Davis, an adoptee, is trying to write a thoughtful essay for college entry, and is gifted a book about a girl with a heart-shaped birthmark on her forehead, separated from her mother at birth, and that is exactly like Zinnia. The author deftly handles the weaving of the chapters, back and forth between perspectives, and time (modern day and 2006), to give readers a complex and emotional story. (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025, ages 12 and up, 340 pages, $19.99.)

The pick of the week is… “It Simply Can’t Be Bedtime,” because it’s a sweet and funny picture book about love, family, and the challenges of sleep, sleep, beautiful sleep. Really adore this one.

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

WM