Reviews
Talia and the Passover HUG-gadah
“. . .Talia’s creative ears transform a Passover-related word into something entirely different in this amiable picture book from Elovitz Marshall. . .”—Publishers Weekly View →
The Miracle of Matzah Pizza: A Biblical Tall Tale
“Koffsky concocts a comically far-fetched origin story for matzo-crust pizza in this punny picture book. . . . Miracles come in many forms, including culinary ones, this playful Passover tale suggests.”—Publishers Weekly View →
Beyond Seven Forests
“It’s a complex narrative rendered in the protagonist’s measured voice and filled with references to Polish class distinctions and history.”—Publishers Weekly View →
Revolutions Are Made of Love: The Story of James Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs
“A painterly approach distinguishes exemplary portraiture from multimedia artist Barlow, making a picture book debut; the characters’ expressions convey both their connection and their fervent passion for fighting for equity across a work about ‘a true/ collaboration,/… View →
Lullabies for the Insomniacs: A Memoir in Verse
“Foutz conveys a tender embrace of her whole self in all its permutations. This perceptive collection offers insightful and, at times, uplifting revelations.”—Publishers Weekly View →
The Museum of Shapes
“Spare text has a pleasing clarity as well as a playfulness. . . . Blocky, clean-edged artwork with occasional spatter textures energizes narration through unexpected design composition.”—Publishers Weekly View →
Liftoff!: How the Apollo Moon Missions Made Alma Thomas's Art Soar
“With the help of sprightly digital illustrations—rendered in bright colors with thick brush strokes, redolent of its subject’s work—the stories crescendo with the conclusion of the mission and Thomas’s acclaimed painting, its confluence of art and science creating an… View →
Wolf in the City
“[A] heartening picture book [with] the classic realization that there’s no place like home.”—Publishers Weekly View →
The Writing Room
“Over the course of the smoothly wrought narrative, Maya encounters immigration issues challenging individuals in her new neighborhood, expands her literary leanings beyond her beloved classics, and pursues a relationship with Jake.”—Publishers Weekly View →
The Big Empty: A Sagebrush Survival Story
“Poetic lines establish the barren quality of the environment, but just as the hardy plant calls this place “home,” so too does it represent a dwelling place for the many critters who rely upon the flora for shelter, nourishment, and cover. . . Featuring pastel, colored View →
The Library in the Woods
“Christie’s rich acrylic illustrations employ smudgy textures across town and country landscapes in this personal-feeling work about adult illiteracy that ends with a moving reflection on intergenerational connection and different kinds of knowledge.”—Publishers… View →
The Mouse Who Loved Latkes
“Watercolor- and ink-style illustrations lend a homespun, coloring-book warmth to a congenial cat-and-mouse picture book that honors Judaism’s tradition of holiday hospitality.”—Publishers Weekly View →
The Monster in the Lake
“Children who get their hands on this oversize, glossy delight, filled with made-to-linger details, will be lucky ducks indeed.”—starred, Publishers Weekly View →
A Card for My Mom
“Yellow highlighting lends Kapur’s digitally painted pencil drawings a sunny look that suits the child’s bright-eyed appreciations. Though a store-bought card with Mom’s ‘happy brown face smiling sweetly at me’ never materializes, a DIY… View →
Saif's Special Patches
“Past successes sewn into a precious quilt help a boy to work through self-doubt in this reassuring picture book about growth taking time. . . In smudgy, pastel-textured illustrations, Sader portrays key moments past and present alongside Saif’s unreservedly earnest… View →
String Ball
“Crafting meets cat curiosity in this purr-fectly elegant, nearly wordless story from Monroe.”—Publishers Weekly View →
Dreams to Ashes: The 1871 Los Angeles Chinatown Massacre
“Fire-oriented metaphors that hint at the coming conflagration describe growing tensions, while Xu’s thick-lined ink and digital media illustrations incorporate images of fire, smoke, and sparks.”—Publishers Weekly View →
The Black Mambas: The World's First All-Woman Anti-Poaching Unit
“An earnest, enthusiastic tribute to the world’s first all-woman anti-poaching unit.”—Publishers Weekly View →
The Girl Who Couldn't Lie
“While Priya’s desperation to remove the bangle drives this rollicking read by Sanghani the protagonist’s loved ones’ understanding of her feelings and willingness to offer their own truths adds a layer of introspection and warmth.”—Publishers Weekly View →
The Pecan Sheller
“Using short chapters with quick pacing, Ruiz-Flores (Piece by Piece) unveils intimate and well-researched depictions of the Pecan Shellers Strike of 1938 and its impact on Mexican descendants and beyond.”—starred, Publishers Weekly View →
The Big Tournament: Book 1
“Gheluwe pairs imaginative depictions of alien ingredients and futuristic kitchen tools with expressive character designs; dynamic compositions heighten both the tension of time-bound cooking challenges and the joy of artistic expression, while color shifts underscore the… View →
The Red Car to Hollywood
“Centering female perspectives—such as Ruby’s ruminations on her mother’s own marriage, her witnessing Anna’s attempts to break Hollywood glass ceilings, and her recovering from sexual assault at the hands of a powerful individual—serves to showcase myriad… View →
Ellis Island Passover
“The book is as much about the importance of family stories as it is about Passover, underscoring how personal narratives can deepen and sustain heritage.”—Publishers Weekly View →
Passover on Everest
“Orback’s drawings, which combine the feel of documentary photographs with a comics-style digital effect, capture both the grandeur of the setting and the deep human connections that define the holiday.”—Publishers Weekly View →