Reviews
The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim
“The promising ‘Story of Owen’ is a clever first step in the career of a novelist who, like her troubadour heroine, has many more songs to sing.” —The New York Times Book Review View →
The Whispering Town
“Rounding out this literary threesome of resistance and escape is ‘The Whispering Town,’ a picture book written by Jennifer Elvgren and illustrated by Fabio Santomauro. The setting is a Danish fishing village, but one of the book’s charms is how little context you View →
Mumbet's Declaration of Independence
“Alix Delinois’s illustrations beautifully balance the intensity of this history lesson. . . . Woelfle’s narrative and her appended notes and references offer opportunities for discussing nuances in the history of American slavery.” —The New York… View →
The Scar Boys
“Playing and touring demand creativity and commitment, forcing the Scar Boys — actually three guys and a girl — to come of age in this wry, stylish tale.” —The New York Times View →
Don't Spill the Milk!
“Corr’s intensely colored gouache paintings are an appealing mixture of simple figures and detailed patterns.” —New York Times Book Review View →
Rifka Takes a Bow
“Vividly capturing a bygone New York, ‘Rifka Takes a Bow’ also celebrates the enduring pleasures of childhood…Written in English, it offers a charming tribute to the droll cadences, reassuring logic and irrepressible humor of Yiddish itself.” —The New… View →
My Happy Life
“For young middle grade readers, a new chapter book, ‘My Happy Life,’ takes up the subject of resilience in such a natural and powerful way, children won’t remotely feel like they’re reading a manual….If only all early chapter books were this… View →
Cookie, the Walker
“Told in a bright and fun comic-book style with plenty of illustrations that will hold readers’ interest upon repeated viewings, ‘Cookie, the Walker’ is the rare picture book that actually questions the value of standing out.” —The New York Times… View →
Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball
“There’s a bit of Otto Dix in Morse’s distinctive paintings, with their angular contours and somber, blue-tinted skin, which lends an incongruous, though not displeasing, coolness to the notably hot-blooded sport.” —The New York Times Book Review View →
Thank You, Trees!
“This charming celebration of Tu B’Shevat marries Jewish tradition with contemporary environmentalism in a celebration of trees, reflecting the way the winter holiday is celebrated today in much of Israel. ‘On Tu B’Shevat/We thank each tree/For all it gives/To you and… View →
Emanuel and the Hanukkah Rescue
“Light performs multiple roles in this fascinating glimpse at a little-known slice of Jewish American history, beautifully rendered in chalk pastels.” —The New York Times Book Review View →
A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return
“The book’s strengths are myriad. Abirached is a lovely artist, and her characters’ faces are remarkably expressive. There is much humor, a welcome relief from the chaos and heartache of the human stories within.For young readers, ‘A… View →
The Day Louis Got Eaten
“The art is cartoony, in pen and ink with bright watercolors, and the book’s layout borrows from comic strips as well; the narrative is cleverly visualized in a succession of softly edged panels teeming with delightful action words, like ‘raar,’… View →
Little White Duck: A Childhood in China
“‘Little White Duck’ isn’t Communist propaganda. It is at once more innocent and more sophisticated. What Liu and Martínez do is convey a child’s-eye view of a country in transition. Politics, culture and history play into their stories, but the… View →
Infinity and Me
“Swiatkowska’s Victorian-style drawings are vaguely reminiscent of Edward Gorey, and Hosford effectively reflects the ways in which young children might grapple with, and come to some understanding of, such an impenetrable notion.” —The New York Times Book… View →
Mendel's Accordion
“Mendel had a simple life in a small village, and though he did not have much, he was content. He played the accordion beautifully, and people often asked him to play for them, which he was happy to do. As he travelled from village to village performing, Mendel made friends with… View →
Beep and Bah
“Beep, who resembles a truncated, malfunctioning pogo stick, and Bah, a somewhat querulous creature with a perpetually concerned expression on his face, try to track down the sock’s rightful owner, traveling from one animal to the next, with lots of slapstick and… View →
A Leaf Can Be . . .
“Dabija, a Moldovan illustrator, saturates her pictures with lush color. Of course, there is lots of green but also dusty orange, misty lavender and deep mustard, in what is as much an exploration of the variation of color as it is of nature’s changeability. . . . Grown-up… View →
Lily Renée, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer
“This is a smart little biography that will appeal to history buffs, comic book fans and anyone who likes a gutsy, pioneering heroine.” —The New York Times Book Review View →
“Far more visually arresting is ‘Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime,’ which showcases the atmospheric mixed media artwork of Manon Gauthier, a finalist for the Governor General of Canada Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Caldecott for illustrators. While the art and… View →
The Lonely Beast
“Judge, based in Dublin, tells a familiar tale but illustrates it with uncommon style and verve. Readers will want to know where the Beast ends up next. Friends, after all, like to keep in touch.” —The New York Times Book Review View →
Gracie the Lighthouse Cat
“This true story of a double rescue in 1838, in which Grace Darling, a lighthouse keeper’s daughter, alerts her father to a storm-struck ship at the same time the lighthouse cat, Gracie, discovers one of her kittens is missing, is illustrated with lush, expressive paintings.… View →
“Darkly imaginative illustrations by Josée Bisaillon, a Canadian artist, lend the story a tinge of social commentary. Using a mix of drawing, collage and digital montage to depict both the fantastical upright ‘moon beaver’ as well as the gritty urban terrain of life… View →
Everybody Cooks Rice
“Nifty neighborhood, Nifty book” —The New York Times Book Review View →