Reviews
Sadie and Ori and the Blue Blanket
“The realistic depiction of a contemporary grandparent – she not only teaches the children to cook but also gets down on the floor to play and runs alongside their tricycles – as well as the sensitive treatment of aging, make this a recommended addition to school and… View →
Hanukkah Is Coming!
“This is a nice, fresh addition for holiday board book collections, preschool classrooms, and for gift giving.” — AJL Newsletter View →
Nonna's Hanukkah Surprise
“Nonna is the perfect loving grandmother that everyone would hope to have, and Rachel’s parents are beautifully sensitive to her emotional needs. Lovely and softly colorful stylized paintings perfectly illustrate the story.” — AJL… View →
Just My Type: Understanding Personality Profiles
“Rosen’s slight and engaging text would make a fine unit in philosophy or life skills classes. . . . The tone is light yet serious, and the information is unexpectedly fascinating. . . . [An] exploration of the role of personality in science and pop culture.”—Kirkus View →
Are You the Pirate Captain?
“A job opening on a jolly pirate ship turns out to be unexpectedly hard to fill. . . . [One character] sapiently suggests ’You’ll need one who / will lead your crew / and not just look the part’. . . . A point worth pondering.”—Kirkus Reviews View →
Whose Hands Are These?: A Community Helper Guessing Book
“Rhyming verses and illustrations of hands working give readers the opportunity to guess what community jobs people do . . . [f]rom the commonplace to those that rarely appear in picture books. . . . A great addition to libraries’ and teacher’s shelves for units on… View →
Don't Call Me Grandma
“[A] tender story of an aging dragon of a diva and her great-grandchild. . . . Children will best appreciate this nostalgic journey when accompanied by a doting loved one.”—Kirkus Reviews View →
Space Junk: The Dangers of Polluting Earth's Orbit
“A great cover beckons readers inside what should be a fascinating tour of the space around Earth—and it is. . . . There is little else available for students about this important topic for future space engineers.”—School Library Journal View →
Just My Type: Understanding Personality Profiles
“Each point is countered with leading criticisms, encouraging readers to weigh information to draw personal conclusions. . . . Prompts and activities throughout make the content more relatable. . . . A helpful introductory resource to the topic.”—School Library Journal View →
Dead Zones: Why Earth's Waters Are Losing Oxygen
“[This] book covers a worrisome topic in more detail than readers will find elsewhere. . . . A significant overview for serious eco-activists or any students interested in our planet’s oceans and waterways.”—School Library Journal View →
Passover Is Coming!
“Well-crafted rhymes and cozy illustrations make this a solid choice for pre-Passover reading.” — Publisher’s Weekly View →
Don't Call Me Grandma
“Nelson (The Book Itch) sensitively conveys the complexity of intergenerational relationships while celebrating a grandmother whose individuality hasn’t diminished one iota over the years.”—Publishers Weekly View →
Blazing Courage
“With an accessible, straightforward first-person narrative, this high/low title will be a good selection for struggling readers. Annie’s heartening connection with horses and the nicely crafted narrative, however, would make this appealing for anyone who enjoys a good horse… View →
Wake Up, Spring: Book 1
“This French import features clearly drawn, detailed, and expressive full-color art with imaginative figures and an engaging adventure story.”—Booklist View →
The Mountain Jews and the Mirror
“Beautiful acrylic paintings in crimson, olive, fig, and umber illustrate the tale, with particular care given to the couple’s expressions as they navigate their emotions and new life together.” — Booklist View →
When the Sun Shines on Antarctica: And Other Poems about the Frozen Continent
“The gentle illustrations excel at balancing both the frigid iciness and the blossoming hope of spring. Though playfulness abounds, this is not a romanticized portrait of life in the polar south. . . . A tender, lively, and mostly thoughtful tour through summer on the frozen… View →
Stay in the Game
“Extremely short and written quite simply, they emphasize page-turning suspense . . . compelling readers, reluctant or not, to continue with the series. . . . Highly engaging, with more to come.”—Kirkus Reviews View →
Raise the Stakes
“A great choice for reluctant readers, this book, in presenting the transgender story, also delves into advocacy for equality. . . . Pages will turn right up to the cliffhanger.”—Kirkus Reviews View →
Beat the Odds
“All the novellas fit together like a well-crafted puzzle. . . . Compelling suspense delivered in a small dose.”—Kirkus Reviews View →
Talia and the Very YUM Kippur
“Assirelli’s acrylic folk-style illustrations feature soft, rounded shapes that signal coziness and the security Talia feels as she works through her many misconceptions.” — Booklist Online View →
The Colors of Israel
“This simple book offers several possibilities for sharing and viewing independently, as the photos are vivid and show everyday life, while the text is scant and serves merely to identify object names and color.” — Booklist Online View →
Game Changer: John McLendon and the Secret Game
“[T]he kind of story from which ‘inspirational’ movies are made. . . . This book adds new heroes to the pantheon.”—The New York Times Book Review View →
Out of Darkness
“[This] layered tale of color lines, love and struggle in an East Texas oil town is a pit-in-the-stomach family drama that goes down like it should, with pain and fascination, like a mix of sugary medicine and artisanal moonshine.”—The New York Times Book Review View →
Ada Byron Lovelace & the Thinking Machine
“Lovelace’s fascinating, overlooked story is just beginning to get the recognition it deserves, and this handsome picture-book biography does it justice.”—The New York Times View →