Kid Lit News: Released This Week
Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color
By Julia Denos
In a place where color ran wild, there lived a girl who was wilder still. Her name was Swatch, and color was her passion. From brave green to in-between gray to rumble-tumble pink . . . Swatch wanted to collect them all. But colors don’t always like to be tamed. . . .
Crocodile Is Hungry
By Aurélia Higuet
Crocodile is hungry! What can he eat? The turtle? No, it is too hard. A hedgehog? No, it is too prickly. The other animals aren’t ready-to-eat either. But then Crocodile sees a little boy …
Moon's Messenger
By Virginia Kroll
Moon knew it was unusual to see a green turtle. Out of all the sea turtles in the world, they were the species that was most at risk. “What is it Turtle? Why are you here?” The turtle beckoned, Come, with its strong front flipper, and, as if it had actually spoken, Moon knew that it wanted to show her something. Many animals are in danger because of human activities. An animal at risk of extinction is a species that will only be around for a short while longer, unless steps are taken to save it. Moon's Messenger reminds us of the importance of conserving and respecting the environment, and that we can all help to protect nature and biodiversity.
Buddy and Earl Go Exploring
By Maureen Fergus
Buddy and Earl are safely tucked in for the night; Buddy on his blanket and Earl in his cage. But just as Buddy settles in for a nice, long sleep, Earl says it’s time to say “Bon voyage.” Soon these mismatched pals are at it again, exploring the wilds of the kitchen and defending a lovely lady hedgehog — who may or may not be Mom’s hairbrush — from imminent danger. When they’ve finally vanquished the greatest monster of all — the vacuum cleaner — it’s time for some well-earned shut-eye. This second book in the Buddy and Earl series reunites this odd and loveable animal couple: a dog who likes to play by the rules and a hedgehog who knows no limits.
I Want a Monster
Elise Gravel
Winnie wants a monster! Some monsters smell like pirate feet and some might read your diary, but they are so darn cute! All Winnie’s friends have one. But how much do Oogly-Wumps eat? Don’t they ever sleep? Can monsters get lonely?
A Hippo in our Yard
By Liza Donnelly
When Sally informs her mom that there is a hippo in the yard, Sally s mother is dismissive. I don t think so, dear, she tells her daughter, barely looking up from her lunch. I will give it some lettuce, Sally says, grabbing a leaf from her mom s bowl. Hippo is happy, but now the tiger in the tree is hungry. Sally's father is also disbelieving, so Sally just feeds the big cat some tuna. As with her parents, Sally s sister is unmoved by her tale of zebras in the garage, and even Nana refuses to set her knitting aside when Sally tells her about bears in the hammock. Meanwhile, the phone rings, and the family is in for a shock. Zoo animals are on the loose! A frantic search finds Sally atop a hippo in their yard, along with several other satisfied animal friends.
Surprise in the Meadow
By Anna Vojtech
When Little Chipmunk wakes from his long winter sleep, it is springtime and he is hungry. But Little Chipmunk finds no seeds in his hiding place. Instead, there is the shoot of an unusual plant. The plant grows taller and taller under the spring sun, finally sprouting a gigantic golden flower: a sunflower! Warm, rustic illustrations show Chipmunk watching the sunflower grow and change throughout the seasons. The flower turns from a brilliant yellow to a darkening brown, and sheds hundreds of seeds before wintertime. These seeds feed Little Chipmunk, but he is sure to bury some for next year, too. Backmatter includes a page detailing the life cycle of a sunflower.
Blanche Hates the Night
By Sibylle Delacroix
Every day ends the same. Night always falls. Blanche’s mom turns off the light and closes Blanche’s bedroom door. It’s time to go to sleep. There’s just one problem: Blanche hates the night. She does not want to go to sleep! She would much rather play. So she puts on a concert to chase away the moon and wake up the sun. She sings in rhyme and somersaults upon her bed, which she imagines is a trampoline. Blanche’s mother’s voice floats in: “Stop that racket!” and “To bed, my little songbird.” But Blanche continues to attempt to stave off sleep.
Skunk on a String
By Thao Lam
In Skunk on a String, we meet a skunk who has been tied to the tail of a balloon. Try as he might, the persistent critter can’t get anyone to untie him. In this wordless story, he is shooed and swatted through a bustling parade, past the windowpanes of the city’s apartment buildings with their diverse, busy inhabitants, then up to the construction cranes high above the city. He floats through the zoo, into traffic, under water, and eventually lands atop a Ferris wheel. When he finally unties himself, the skunk misses the aerial life — so he comes up with an inspired way to fly again.
A Dog Day for Susan
By Maureen Fergus and Monica Arnaldo
Spencer and his family are expecting a visit from Great-Aunt Alice and her dog, Susan. All Spencer knows is that she’s dignified and graceful, with long, beautiful hair — the dog, that is. Spencer and his own pup, Barney, are excited to have another dog to play with and decide to give her a chance. But it soon becomes clear that Susan is no regular dog. She eats cake off a china plate, takes scheduled naps, and needs an umbrella held over her in the rain. Spencer and Barney decide to teach Susan how to be a real dog. With Barney as a role model, they take her to the off-leash dog park to develop skills like barking at buses, cyclists and squirrels, eating garbage, resisting grooming, and refusing to come when she’s called. Susan returns from the park covered in burrs, having shed her dignity and grace enough to fully embrace her inner dog. Mixed-media illustrations support the humorous text in this story about embracing who you are.
Hooray for Kids
By Suzanne Lang and Max Lang
Every kid is a one-of-a-kind kid! Suzanne and Max Lang (Families, Families, Families!) bring us another joyful ode to diversity in this zippy rhyming celebration of kids of all stripes. Whether you’re a play-a-lot-of-ball kid, a hang-out-at-the-mall kid, a bake-delicious-pie kid, or an always-asking-why kid . . . when you read this book, you’ll be a laughing-till-you-cry kid! Children can find themselves in the hilarious menagerie and recognize their friends and classmates. The subtle anti-bullying message will make this a welcome addition to classroom libraries.
A Hungry Lion or A Dwindling Assortment of Animals
By Lucy Ruth Cummins
Once upon a time there was a hungry lion and a bunch of adorable animals…what do you think happened next? There once was a hungry lion, a penguin (Well he was just here…), a little calico kitten (I could have sworn I just saw him…), a brown mouse (Now wait a second…), a bunny with floppy ears and a bunny with un-floppy ears (Okay this is just getting ridiculous), a frog, a bat, a pig, a slightly bigger pig, a wooly sheep, a koala, a hen, and also a turtle. Hey! What’s going on here… The very hungry lion is all set to enjoy an exciting day with his other animal pals. But all of a sudden his friends start disappearing at an alarming rate! Is someone stealing the hungry lion’s friends, or is the culprit a little…closer to home? With sharp wit, adorable illustrations, and hysterical twists galore, this debut picture book asks—what do you think happened to the hungry lion’s friends?
Listen to our World
By Bill Martin Jr., Melissa Sweet, and Michael Sampson
A celebration of the animals all around us! Squawk! Hiss! Grr! Roar! Big, small, black, brown—all kinds of animals make their home in our world. From the jungle to the mountains to your own backyard, listen and you just might hear the sounds they make!
Wake Up, Island
By Mary Casanova and Nick Wroblewski
Wake up, little one, a soft voice beckons, the world around you is already stirring. As Wake Up, Island gently rouses the sleepy child, it summons a world of nature coming to life on a summer island in the magical North Woods. Sunlit fingers touch the shores, pine trees stretch their limbs, and lichen warms on ancient rock. Doe and fawn rise from their grass bed and pearls of dew bead a spider’s finely woven web. Mallards skim the water’s surface. Ravens perch and gargle greetings, chickadees call dee, dee, dee, and a heron swoops—minnows flee! The moose and her calf wade, munching on plants. The red squirrel chatters. The black bear lazily scratches her back against a tree.
Albert's Almost Amazing Adventure
By Marty Kelley
Albert's vacation was amazing or so he thought. To his friends, his time in Maine was boring. Dull. Lame. They ve got a much more vivid idea of what Albert could, and should, have done on his trip. But Albert might just have a surprise for his friends, after all. Marty Kelley tells this wonderful read-aloud story in a fresh and imaginative way, contrasting panels of black-and-white charcoal drawings of dull old Albert with bursting-with-color spreads of what Albert s friends imagine for his summer adventures. Just what did Albert do during his trip to Maine?
Noodlehead Nightmares
By Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, and Mitch Weiss
Mac and Mac, who love pie and hate making their beds, are hollow-headed. "See in here? Nothing! Zippo! Nada!" Mac explains. That s why they get duped by their friend Meatball and fooled out of their fair shares of apple pie. Slapstick humor, puns and wacky fun abound as the empty-headed duo comes up with outlandish solutions for everyday problems, such as sleeping under their beds to avoid ever having to make them again. Written in a comic-book style, this book will have young readers rolling on the floor, and educators rethinking their approaches to folklore.
Phil Pickle
By Kenny Herzog
Phil Pickle aspires to be--of all things--an actor! Join him in his sweet and sour adventures as he attempts to become an inspiration to pickles everywhere
Of Mice and Magic (Hamster Princess #2)
By Ursula Vernon
Princess Harriet has absolutely no interest in brushing her hair, singing duets with woodland animals, or any other typical princess activities. So when a fairy tells a very bored Harriet about twelve mice princesses who are cursed to dance all night long, she happily accepts the quest and sets off with a poncho of invisibility and her trusty battle quail. But when she arrives at the Mouse Kingdom, she discovers there's more to the curse than meets the eye, and trying to help is dangerous business . . . even for a tough princess like Harriet.
Free Verse
By Sarah Dooley
When her brother dies in a fire, Sasha Harless has no one left, and nowhere to turn. After her father died in the mines and her mother ran off, he was her last caretaker. They’d always dreamed of leaving Caboose, West Virginia together someday, but instead she’s in foster care, feeling more stuck and broken than ever. But then Sasha discovers family she didn’t know she had, and she finally has something to hold onto, especially sweet little Mikey, who’s just as broken as she is. Sasha even makes her first friend at school, and is slowly learning to cope with her brother’s death through writing poetry, finding a new way to express herself when spoken words just won’t do. But when tragedy strikes the mine her cousin works in, Sasha fears the worst and takes Mikey and runs, with no plans to return. In this sensitive and poignant portrayal, Sarah Dooley shows us that life, like poetry, doesn’t always take the form you intend.
A Dragon's Guide to Making Your Human Smarter (A Dragon's Guide #2)
By Laurence Yep, Joanne Ryder, and Mary GrandPre
Three-thousand-year-old Miss Drake has arranged to send her dear pet Winnie to The Spriggs Academy, an extraordinary school for humans and magicals alike. Winnie is particularly excited about magic class and having Sir Isaac Newton for science. She’s also making new friends—and frenemies. . . . When a plot to snatch Winnie from her San Francisco home is uncovered, Miss Drake is ready to use all her cunning and magic to thwart it. Not that feisty Winnie needs the help. . . . As a team, the intrepid duo you first met in A Dragon’s Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans is unstoppable!
The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle
By Janet Fox
Something is not right at Rookskill Castle, a rundown Scottish manor shrouded in mystery. The castle is a temporary boarding school for children escaping the Blitz, but soon it’s clear there is something terribly wrong. There are clues hinting that a spy is in the house, and there are undeniable signs of a sinister magic. When the children in the castle’s temporary boarding school begin disappearing one by one, it’s a race against the clock for twelve-year-old Kat Bateson, her two younger siblings, and their new best friend.
The Storyteller (The Riverman Trilogy #3)
By Aaron Starmer
Keri Cleary is worried about her brother, Alistair. As the one witness to a shooting, he has been shocked into near silence. But Keri--and everyone else--needs to know the answers to three questions: Who shot Kyle Dwyer? Where is Charlie Dwyer? What does this all have to do with the disappearance of Fiona Loomis?Perhaps the answers lie in stories. As Alistair makes strange confessions to his sister, Keri becomes inspired. She tells stories, tales that may reveal hidden truths, fiction that may cause real things to happen. In the concluding volume of the Riverman Trilogy, readers are asked to consider the source of inspiration, the borders of reality, and the power of storytelling.
Dragons vs. Drones
By Wesley King
Marcus Brimley was just four years old when his CIA analyst father went missing and the world branded him a traitor. Eight years later, searching for clues to find his father and prove his innocence, Marcus breaks a complex code that sends him shooting through a storm into an alternate realm . . . but he didn't travel alone. When Marcus lands in this new world, Dracone, he finds that he has been followed by government drones. And they're out to destroy Marcus and all of Dracone. While fleeing the drones, Marcus meets Dree, a 12-year-old Draconian girl who comes from a family of dragon riders. Dree explains to Marcus that while humans and dragons used to be friends, Dracone's new prime minister has turned them into enemies, with humans hunting dragons for sport and dragon-riding families like Dree's pushed to the poorer outskirts of the city. But the drones are firing on both the dragons and the people of Dracone. Soon, Marcus and Dree discover that they must get help from the dragons if they want to stop an all-out war that will leave the incredible realm of Dracone decimated.
The Girl in the Well is Me
By Karen Rivers
Newcomer Kammie Summers has fallen into a well during a (fake) initiation into a club whose members have no intention of letting her join. Now Kammie’s trapped in the dark, growing increasingly claustrophobic, and waiting to be rescued—or possibly not.As hours pass, the reality of Kammie’s predicament mixes with her memories of the highlights and lowlights of her life so far, including the reasons her family moved to this new town in the first place. And as she begins to run out of oxygen, Kammie starts to imagine she has company, including a French-speaking coyote and goats that just might be zombies.
Everyday Hero
By Kathleen Cherry
Alice doesn't like noise, smells or strangers. She does like rules. Lots of rules. Nobody at her new school knows she has Asperger's, so it doesn't take long for her odd behavior to get her into trouble. When she meets Megan in detention, she doesn't know what to make of her. Megan doesn't smell, she's not terribly noisy, and she's not exactly a stranger, but is she a friend? Megan seems fearless to Alice--but also angry or maybe sad. Alice isn't sure which. When Megan decides to run away, Alice resolves to help her friend, no matter how many rules she has to break or how bad it makes her feel.