Reviews
Oy, Santa!: Or, There's a Latke to Learn about Hanukkah
“Cheerful cartoony illustrations . . . include seasonal motifs and clever details. The Jewish family’s varied skin tones, along with other non-Christmas observers and diversity among the elves, are added pluses for representation.”—The Horn Book Magazine View →
The Doll Test: Choosing Equality
“Cooper’s visuals enhance Weatherford’s assured storytelling, creating a harmonious blend that amplifies the story’s impact. Weatherford’s elegant and relatable explanation of the significance of the Clarks’ work is more than a recounting of facts;… View →
Charley and Seymour's Hanukkah Miracle
Young readers and listeners will enjoy the silliness, and possibly the knowledge that they have better memories or deduction skills than Charley. The solution Seymour suggests (don’t try this at home) is reminiscent of the Hanukkah legend of the oil miracle. View →
Hanukkah Hippity-Hop
A jaunty introduction to Hanukkah activities for the toddler set. View →
Can I Sit in the Middle?
“Strasser’s droll text and cartoons make for a humorous, self-referential read-aloud.”—The Horn Book Magazine View →
The Mailbox Tree
“. . . [T]he climactic scenes should motivate eco-minded readers to plant their own gifts for a hopefully less dystopic future.”—The Horn Book Magazine View →
Touch the Sky
“Readers of all ages will relate to Vern’s experience of mastering something new, all the stops and starts included. Lucianovic’s vigorous text captures the joy of soaring high into the sky on a swing . . . Park’s illustrations are magnetic, drawing viewers’ View →
The Color of Sound
“An emotionally moving story about the ways that generational trauma can affect parent-child relationships and how the past persists into the present.”—Horn Book Magazine View →
Cruzita and the Mariacheros
“Cruz’s inner conflict and search for identity are sensitively drawn, and Granillo weaves a believable sense of community pride into the heartfelt and enjoyable story.”—Horn Book Magazine View →
The Rock in My Throat
“Tenderly told in first person, Yang’s lyrical autobiographical picture book depicts her childhood struggle with selective mutism. Her descriptions of how selective mutism presents at school are vivid and authentic. . . Lin’s earth tones and muted colors reflect… View →
A Better Best Friend
“Through a distinctive first-person narrative voice that sometimes verges on stream of consciousness, this book explores the question of what makes a best friend and whether it’s possible to have more than one. . . The characters’ simply drawn faces are evocative, their View →
To the Ice
“Whether imagined or not, the survival tale is entirely engrossing and memorable in Ida’s detailed, matter-of-fact, smoothly translated telling. The illustrations are equally successful at showing the children as small figures against vast icy backgrounds and close-up and… View →
Things That Shimmer
“A tale of friendship dynamics that doesn’t reach for easy resolutions or immediate forgiveness.”—The Horn Book Magazine View →
Look: A Tummy Time Book
“Here, accordion-fold binding makes the book a perfect engagement tool for infant tummy-time sessions, when little ones lie on their bellies to build up core muscles.”—The Horn Book Magazine View →
Small Shoes, Great Strides: How Three Brave Girls Opened Doors to School Equality
“Bostic’s evocative illustrations add tenderness to a narrative of real terror. . . An important addition to civil rights movement literature with which readers can connect on a human level.” —starred, The Horn Book Magazine View →
Letters in Charcoal
“[A] quietly empowering ode to literacy.”—The Horn Book Magazine View →
I Ship: A Container Ship's Colossal Journey
“Readers follow every step of the (fictional) container ship Carolina, which is carrying freight from a port in Asia to delivery in France. Carolina acts as narrator, initially providing details about the process of docking and loading, while informative cutaway… View →
The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women's Suffrage, and Jujitsu
“The cartooning, beautifully rendered in muted, old-timey hues, presents information about jujitsu, the inner workings and tensions of the WSPU, and everyday indignities faced by the subjects . . . While enduring themes such as resisting oppression and… View →
The Power of Snow
“The beautifully textured illustrations create visual interest, while the snowflakes, a combination of smudge-style dots and the delicately articulated, folded papercut versions familiar from grade-school arts and crafts, offer a counting opportunity for budding… View →
Hidden Creature Features
“Page layouts are designed to first hint at the featured adaptation. When the page is turned, an intriguing body part is revealed, accompanied by an accessible explanation of how that part is used by the animal to eat, maneuver, defend, or attack.”—The Horn Book Magazine View →