Photo by Nancy Rawley/use with permission only, please and thank you I really do love books, can you tell? I’ve been writing reviews here for years now. It’s kind of funny, the years and books just keep rolling along. More coffee, please. Presenting… more new releases, just in time for the winter holidays. All of the books included in this post were sent to me free for review purposes. Disclaimer here. Thank you for reading and see you next time! WM

1. 1. Simon & Schuster Kids has come out with a cool paperback collection of Christmas books for kids. The covers are engaging, the art jumps off the front. And the stories inside are as good as ever. Classic, really. (Smiles.) It’s like I used to tell my students, “You don’t have to love books as much as I do, that’d be weird. But if you love them even half as much as I do? That would be enough.” Srsly these kids don’t want to read. Maybe they’ll be won over by this new “vintage” set that includes “The Nutcracker,” “A Christmas Carol” and “Twelve Classics of Christmas,” including works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the Brothers Grimm and other writers. Happy gift-giving, folks. Think inside the box. (2025, ages 8 and up, $7.99 per title.)

1. 1. My early Christmas gift arrived in the shape of the 100th anniversary edition of A.A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh and the House at Pooh Corner.” I can’t find this exact version online, I’m sure you will, though. So that’s a link to a super cute Piglet and Pooh “rain puddle print” umbrella that you may like. (I’m all, hey, Wacky Mommy is a gift guide now.) The cover is beautiful, yellow and black, soft and fuzzy like Pooh. I’m in love with this edition, it’s perfect. It was originally released in 1926, followed by the release of “The House at Pooh Corner” in 1928. This book contains both titles, with original artwork by Ernest H. Shepard. His line drawings contain so much detail and warmth. (Aladdin, all ages, 361 pages, $10.99.)

1. 1. “Keeping the Light: A Story About Letting Your Light Shine,” is a new book from Ali Gilkeson, with lively and bright pictures by Lee Wildish. I like this little guy, Fynn, he makes the day happier. “He lives with his family in a lighthouse by the sea. (I mean, all lighthouses are by the sea or near a body of water. I’ve never seen a lighthouse in the middle of a city or at the end of a cul-de-sac. Have you?” the author begins.) And a fine story it is. (Waterbrook/Multnomah/Penguin Random House, ages 3 and up, $14.99.) (I reviewed Gilkeson’s last title, “My Lighthouse: A Story of Finding Your Way Home,” last year.)

1. 1. And now for “Little Monsters,” a playful spoof by Maire Roche, wherein the March sisters from Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” became, yep. Monsters. Not sure how I feel about this twist, but I know the kids will get a kick out of it, so there you go. It’s not scheduled for release until next summer, so we have some time to puzzle it over. Oh-ho! Roche’s other new title, “Bromantasy,” a “cozy, queer fantasy” about young people and love, is scheduled to hit the shelves in May. Ahhhhh… this is a whimsical, creative author. Thanks, Maire. (Aladdin Books/Simon & Schuster.)

1. 1. Speaking of monsters and magic… (see how nicely I segued there?) “A Mastery of Monsters,” by Liselle Sambury, is out now. This is the first book in what’s being described as a “dark academia fantasy series” for teens. August’s mother has gone missing, and now her brother, right before his sophomore year. She knows something is wrong and vows to find the truth and save her family. Great read. (Margaret M. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, 2025, high school and older, 580 pages, $24.99.) Sambury is a Trinidadian Canadian author whose works covers a lot of genres, including fantasy, horro and sci-fi. Rock it.

“Whitaker Ponds, Portland, Ore.” Photo by Rawley, use with permission only, please.

Hey, I was thinking about ways to get kids reading. Then I decided I needed to clean house and never got back to it. Then I made a cup of tea, gulped it down and didn’t get back to it. Then I worked on the leaves in the yard (there are a lot) and… you get the idea. I’ll do practically anything to avoid writing, avoid thinking, avoid doing something I don’t know how to do. Kids and their grown-ups are just not reading as much as they used to.

It’s a challenge, ya? Ya. How to encourage others to read is a huge challenge. So here I am, listening to old Elton John songs from the ’70s and thinking about music, reading and writing. If you have kids, your own, someone else’s children, students, whoever, model for them. Put on some music and pick up a book, instead of staring, eyes glazed over, at your television, your laptop (that’s me, right now), a tablet, or that little computer you call a phone. Don’t put on YouTube, just please skip the reels and the videos, and read a book. Turn off the news and read to the old folks, read to the young folks, buy books and more books for the babies and toddlers, spread those titles around like they’re sprinkles on ice cream.

I think what I’m actually trying to avoid here is the bigger world, or as we called it in school: Current Events.

Let’s have a great fall and winter, in spite of it all. These are not the easiest times in the world, anywhere on Earth. “Oh, he’s my brother/let us live in peace…” — “Border Song,” Elton John

So peace, love, and Bobby Sherman, and Elton, of course, xo WM

All of the books included in this post were sent to me free for review purposes. Disclaimer here. Thank you for reading and see you next time!

1. Baby Ballena, hello friend! This new picture book swims up courtesy of author Ben Gundersheimer (Mr. G) and illustrator/illustrado por Marcos Almada Rivero. (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House, 2025, $18.99.) To be a baby gray whale (my favorite of all the whales), born as big as a boat and drinking more than 50 gallons of mama’s milk daily. But the many dangers Juana, our hero, faces traveling north and south and north again with her pod. So many hazards. They go between Mexico and Alaska, dealing with fishing nets, vessels, orcas and other threats. This is a beautiful, educational read-aloud for all ages, really, with text in Spanish and English. The illustrations are precious, and so are my grays. Safe travels, family.

2. You don’t need words to show you love someone is the theme of “My Dog Smudge,” a sweet new picture book from author/illustrator Sujean Rim, and dedicated “to the real-life Smudge.” Aw. (Caitlin Dlouhy Books, 2025, ages 4-8, $18.99.) There are flaps! Flap books are excellent. And a page of chickens for me. Chickens are excellent, too! Fun way to practice “speaking like the animals” with the kids. Enjoy.

3. “Cocodrilos Por Todos Lados/Crocodiles Everywhere” is another great Spanish-English picture book for young readers. Estelí Meza did a beautiful job with the art and words for this one. (Rocky Pond Books/Penguin Random House, 2025, $18.99.) A young girl’s best friend moves away, and we know that sometimes imaginary friends find their way to kids who are struggling. But crocodiles? “The crocodiles arrived so quietly, I didn’t even notice at first.” And that, dear readers, is what we call a “perfect sentence.” Crocodiles as imaginary friends, and the art is perfect, too. Great title for helping kids with grief and problem-solving.

4. Are you a fan of visiting the doctor, the clinic or the hospital? How about your kids? It is not, to be honest, one of my favorite things. But you gotta do what you gotta do, eh? “What Medicine Can Do” is a great how-to picture book from author Gabrielle Balkan and illustrator Alberto Lot. (RISE x Penguin Workshop, 2025, all ages, $19.99.) It explains “symptoms,” “diagnoses,” “vital signs,” “medicine” and all kinds of other terms. Handy book, with kid-friendly descriptions.

5. And now… a great little new board book version of an Eric Carle classic: “The Very Lonely Firefly/La luciérnaga muy solitaria.” “As the sun set a little firefly was born. It stretched its wings and flew off into the darkening sky.” Lovely, happy story and in Spanish and English, both. Perfecto. (Penguin Random House, 2025, ages newborn and up, $11.99.)