Keep an eye out for these highly anticipated titles!
We’re excited to launch some really beautiful picture books into the world this fall. From fictional stories of unlikely friendships to true tales of heroism and upbeat calls to inclusivity, there are inspiring pages here for every reader. Take a look at our upcoming fall picture book releases you won’t want to miss.
By Irene Latham and Charles Water, illus. by Nabila Adani
In this upbeat picture book, acclaimed authors Irene Latham and Charles Waters bring key themes from their earlier collaborations (Can I Touch Your Hair? and Dictionary for a Better World) to a young audience.
Rhyming verse describes different ways in which readers can “be a bridge,” from welcoming a new student and listening respectfully when someone else is talking to standing up to a bully and comforting a classmate who is upset.
Nabila Adani’s cheerful illustrations depict a diverse group of students, including young versions of Charles and Irene. Scan a Page Plus QR code at the end of the book to download a Bridge Builder Pledge. An ideal book to share with students in the fall to set the tone for the whole school year!
*Available 8/2/22
Africa Is Not a Country, 2nd Edition
By Margy Burns Knight and Mark Melnicove, illus. by Anne Sibley O’Brien
Enter into the daily lives of children in the many countries of modern Africa.
Countering stereotypes, Africa Is Not a Country celebrates the extraordinary diversity of this vibrant continent. This edition includes updates to the text, statistics, and illustrations to reflect Africa in the 2020s.
“A lovely book about Africa that gets the issue of its enormous diversity right.”
—Barbara Brown, Director, Africa in our Schools and Community Program, African Studies Center, Boston University
“A book every school must have as we emerge into the global village. Gives good insights into Africa’s many cultures, with a balance of the contemporary and traditional that is the way of life now.”
—Oscar Mokeme, Director, Museum of African Tribal Art, Portland, Maine
*Available 8/2/22
By Sandra Nickel, illus. by Il Sung Na
At the carnival, Bear wants a teddy bear. And not just any teddy bear—she wants the biggest one of all.
But instead she gets a fish. A very small fish. Bear is so very big and Fish is so very small that Bear worries they have nothing in common. Can they possibly be friends?
Gentle, accessible prose by Sandra Nickel is paired with richly textured illustrations by Il Sung Na in this sweet story of unexpected friendship.
*Available 9/6/22
A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn
By Patricia Newman, illus. by Natasha Donovan
A mighty river. A long history.
For thousands of years, the Elwha river flowed north to the sea. The river churned with salmon, which helped feed bears, otters, and eagles. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, known as the Strong People located in the Pacific Northwest, were grateful for the river’s abundance. All that changed in the 1790s when strangers came who did not understand the river’s gifts. The strangers built dams, and the environmental consequences were disastrous.
Sibert honoree Patricia Newman and award-winning illustrator Natasha Donovan join forces to tell the story of the Elwha, chronicling how the Strong People successfully fought to restore the river and their way of life.
*Available 9/6/22
By Diane Wilson, Sun Yung Shin, Shannon Gibney, and John Coy; illus. by Dion MBD
In this unique collaboration, four authors lyrically explore where they each come from—literally and metaphorically—as well as what unites all of us as humans.
Richly layered illustrations connect past and present, making for an accessible and visually striking look at history, family, and identity.
We come from stardust / our bodies made of ancient elements. / We come from single cells / evolving over billions of years. / We come from place, language, and spirit. / And each of us comes from story.
*Available 10/4/22
Ice Cycle: Poems about the Life of Ice
By Maria Gianferrari, illus. by Jieting Chen
Pancake ice, floebergs, glaciers, icicles . . . cold temperatures create an astonishing variety of ice forms!
From Maria Gianferrari, award-winning author of Play Like an Animal!, comes a beautiful collaboration between verse and science. Brief poems and ethereal illustrations introduce readers to the many different types of ice on land and at sea. Fascinating back matter provides additional information about water as a solid, liquid, and gas, as well as more details about the unique forms of ice mentioned in the poems. Celebrate winter with this evocative and atmospheric exploration of ice!
*Available 10/4/22
Yuck, You Suck! Poems about Animals That Sip, Slurp, Suck
By Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple, illus. by Eugenia Nobati
Warning: this book sucks! It bites, slurps, and sticks too.
Dare to open these pages and you’ll find ticks, mosquitos, stingrays, elephants, jellyfish, and the particularly sucky lamprey. Sixteen slurpy poems from Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple introduce a suction-filled selection of animals, and spectacularly sticky illustrations from Eugenia Nobati spotlight these stupendous suckers.
Ready to find out more? Prepare to get sucked in and read on . . .
*Available 10/4/22
By Lisa Wheeler, illus. by Barry Got
Will you be mine, Dino-Valentine? Dinos of all shapes and sizes make cards, munch on treats, and find romance at the Valentine Dance!
Cheery rhyming text from Lisa Wheeler and delightfully goofy illustrations from Barry Gott invite readers to celebrate Valentine’s Day in true dino style. Raptor and Leso decorate card boxes at school, the Ptero twins shop for the perfect box of chocolates, and Maia has crushes on . . . everyone! There’s something for everyone to enjoy in this humorous and heartwarming look at the sweetest holiday of the year! This is the second book in the Dino-Holiday series.
*Available 11/1/22
Not Done Yet: Shirley Chisholm’s Fight for Change
By Tameka Fryer Brown, illus. by Nina Crews
Shirley Chisholm was a natural-born fighter. She didn’t like to be bossed and she wanted things to be fair.
Brooklyn-born Shirley Chisholm was smart and ambitious. She poured her energy into whatever she did—from teaching young children to becoming Brooklyn’s first Black assemblywoman. Not afraid to blaze a trail, she became the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first woman to seriously run for US president. With a vision of liberty and justice for all, she worked for equal rights, for the environment, for children, and for health care. Even now, her legacy lives on and inspires others to continue her work . . . which is not done yet.
Stirring free verse by Tameka Fryer Brown and evocative illustrations by Nina Crews provide an inspirational look at changemaker Shirley Chisholm.
*Available 11/1/22