Book Room

Cooler Than Lemonade

‎ Source Books Jabberwocky | 978-1728254296   Eva has no end of ideas. She’s a problem-solver, a solution-finder, and a maker. “One summer day, when everyone seeks relief from the scorching sun, a new idea SNAPS into Eva’s head! It SIZZLES with possibilities and SPROUTS into something bigger until… it LAUNCHES!”   CLICK TO ENLARGE ©… Read more »

Anzu the Great Listener

Roaring Brook Press | 978-1250776136 A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to attend and present at one of the largest book festivals in the country – the Tucson Festival of Books. There, I met the kind and wonderful Benson Shum, who is both an author/illustrator of picture books and an animator for… Read more »

nell plants a tree

Balzar + Bray | 978-0062865779   Before a grip on a branch and a fall to the ground and a scrape and a leap and a reach for the top, before anyone finds out how high they can climb, Nell picks up a seed.    So begins Anne Wynter‘s beautiful story of the love, care,… Read more »

A Llama Is Not An Alpaca: And Other Mistaken Animal Identities

978-0762478781 | Running Press Kids Learning the names of familiar animals is a skill young kids develop over time. “This is a dog. That’s a cat. This is a lion. That’s a tiger.” Year by year, as children move from toddlerhood through preschool and beyond, they come to know more and more about the animal… Read more »

In Every Life

Beach Lane Books/S&S | 978-1665912488   There’s a truth about picture books that those who haven’t tried writing them have no experience with. It’s this: Picture books are mysterious, elusive things that settle somewhere in our hearts. They are both deeply felt, and are like wisps that are barely solid enough to find their way… Read more »

Woven of the World

Chronicle Books | 978-1452178066 WOVEN OF THE WORLD by Katey Howes, illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova is a masterpiece of art and text, woven together into a beautiful exploration of the ways that we, as humans, are threaded in and out of one another’s lives. “With clack and swish, with heart and hand, we layer row on row. Our loom… Read more »

The Love Letter

HarperCollins | 978-0062741578   Hedgehog is frazzled. He’s running late and he doesn’t like it one bit. In mid-grumble, he spots something on the ground. It is not an acorn or anything else he’d expect to find on his way to meet his friends in the meadow. It’s a letter: “Friend, You are a joy,… Read more »