(1) 4-6 In a first-person narrative, ten-year-old Ayla relates her special connection to her best friend, Kiri, beginning when they first reached out to each other as infants. Together they develop a keen interest in trees: caring for them, learning about them, and aspiring to be more tree-like. Their neighborhood plants trees to celebrate new babies, including a birch for Ayla and a pine for Kiri. With a hint of foreshadowing, Ayla notes that trees are also planted to remember those who have died. Her loose, dreamy narrative dances around current details, but she eventually confides she misses Kiri, insisting that her friend will be back soon. Meanwhile, an old telephone appears in her birch tree. Ayla finds it magical but refuses to attempt a call, though other people who have lost loved ones begin using it as a mechanism to talk to them. Ayla divulges small incidents and observations like a trail of breadcrumbs, allowing readers to piece together what she herself cannot admit: Kiri is not coming home. Ayla's voice as she comes to terms with what has happened, combined with the care and understanding of those supporting her while she grieves, create an intensely emotional reading experience. Interlaced throughout, the parallel world of the trees, with their mysterious methods of communicating and working together, provides a noble community model. An author's note pays tribute to Itaru Sasakai's phone booth in Japan, where people find comfort talking to those they have lost on an unconnected rotary phone.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) PS Illustrated by Sean Qualls. McGhee and Qualls present an exuberant celebration of dads and their babies. A recurring, multiracial cast of father-and-baby pairs enacts the fun, with McGhee's rhythmic, rhyming text backgrounding the mood: "Give me that tie / and I'll tie you a bow, // Give me your foot and I'll give you a toe. // Your drumming, my strumming. // Your beats. / My treats." In Qualls's illustrations, a baby plays with some neckties before their father fashions one into a bow for his little one; another one balances on their pop's feet while they dance together in the living room; yet another tot gleefully bashes pots and pans while their dad cobbles together a fruit cup. While there's nothing in the text to suggest that the narrative voice is male, all the parent figures present as such, and one sports a T-shirt that reads "SUPER DAD." Qualls's trademark bubbles and swirls decorate the pages, the mixed-media application--acrylic paint, colored-pencil, and collage--lending the compositions an improvisational DIY look that suits these dads' collective aspiration for their babies: "Wherever you are and whoever you'll be / just know that you're already perfect for me. // My baby, oh baby, oh baby, just...BE." In a market where the mother-child bond is still more prominently featured than that between fathers and their children, this bouncy outing, while not exactly unique, feels fresh.

Reviewer: Vicky Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) YA Micah and his parents have disappeared. Right before winter break they stepped into a white van, and Micah's girlfriend Sesame hasn't seen them since. Her only clues to Micah's whereabouts are a cryptic message on his kitchen whiteboard and what he shared before he was taken: his parents had joined a cult led by a man called The Prophet. In dual first-person voices in alternating chapters, Sesame and Micah harrowingly describe their experiences. While Sesame, living in an abandoned garage since her beloved grandmother's death, frantically searches the snowy streets of Minneapolis, distributing missing-person posters and trying to compel local authorities to take action, Micah suffers solitary confinement and starvation under The Prophet's rule in an underground bunker. The vital necessity of personal connection and questions of power and abuse underpin this compelling plot, with reverberations from the recent Nxivm cult revelations and convictions.

Reviewer: Jennifer Hubert Swan | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Joe Bluhm. A collection of handwritten notes and drawings from a brother to his younger sister documents their relationship. What starts with uncertainty at her birth ("I am not sure I love you yet") grows to an unshakeable bond and reassurance of his love when he leaves for college ("Everything changes. Almost everything"). Humorous and heartwarming illustrations help tell the moving story of siblings confronting challenges together and coming out stronger.

Reviewer: Jessica Bushore

(2) YA In one hundred brief chapters numbered in Chinese calligraphy, readers follow sixteen-year-old Will's stream-of-consciousness narration while he walks through his L.A. neighborhood. As Will ponders his father's suicide three years ago and his childhood friend's recent rape, his voice is philosophical and introspective, yet still realistic and conversational. Evocative, poetic writing effectively places readers alongside the protagonist as he works through his intense grief and confusion.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jennifer K. Mann. Percy's dog-park romp with his friends is interrupted by a face-off with a squirrel. Young readers will recognize and enjoy these familiar dog antics, though they may be puzzled by the title, which matches the text's tone but has little connection to the story line. Mann's illustrations, heavy on white space, are the perfect complement to the spare but effective text.

Reviewer: Ed Spicer

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Ana Juan. Nearly ten years after being blown ashore--as a baby in an inflatable pool, fiercely guarded by a lavender-feathered bird--Pablo wants to know why he was placed into the ocean and why "Birdy" doesn't fly. Readers will identify with Pablo's curiosity about his past and his love for his pet. Spanish phrases are scattered throughout the lyrical text; occasional imagistic black-and-white illustrations reflect the mood.

Reviewer: Alma Ramos-McDermott | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(2) 4-6 One morning, eleven-year-old Jules's older sister Sylvie takes off running in the woods and never comes back. At the same time a fox kit, Senna, is born, with the instinct to protect Jules. At book's climax, the human, animal, and (most affectingly) spirit worlds converge. This story offers up comfort through nature, family, community, and the interconnectedness among them.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2016

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Eliza Wheeler. After his son asks to see his tattoos, a father explains each piece of art on his body and how it reflects a moment in his life; Wheeler's fine India ink, dip pen, and watercolor illustrations replay the anecdotes. A bit precious and lacking the child's voice, this book is an ode to--and an item for--the new generation of hipster parents.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Christopher Denise. Vole dreams of sailing downriver to rejoin family and friends lost in a flood; Firefly dreams of flying to the moon; and baseball-loving Cricket yearns to be the best catcher since Yogi Berra. Affectionate third-person narration follows the friends' preparations for these quests. The entwined fates of the three characters (and human friend Peter) will move readers with their rightness.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2015

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Harry Bliss. Witchling (A Very Brave Witch) chases her sugar high to a human neighborhood on Halloween night. Older sister cluelessly attempts a rescue mission--"free the hostage!"--while the friendly cartoon drawings make clear that Witchling is on this trick-or-treat adventure of her own free will. The visual treats and dead-funny wordplay in Bliss's autumnal illustrations extend to the endpapers.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014

(3) PS Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. An angel ponders what to give a soon-to-be-born baby, deciding on "the best gift of all"--she can provide a comforting "light in the darkness" by becoming a star (the Star of Bethlehem, in fact). McGhee conflates the Christmas and Epiphany stories, with the Magi already in attendance at Jesus' birth. Those willing to overlook that will enjoy the sweet text and endearing illustrations.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2014

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Tony Fucile. Just as in the first two series entries, Bink and Gollie's wildly different sensibilities--and their interests, both shared and disparate--tumble out through personality-filled dialogue and digital illustrations of barely contained chaos in three stories. Details from previous books (Bink's preoccupation with pancakes; both girls' love of roller-skating) will reward the BFFs' existing fans while bringing new friends into the fold.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2013

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Isabel Roxas. In a crime caper for the picture book set, a boy ("the sheriff") and his dog ("the deputy") must escort a box of a dozen donuts home from the bakery. One donut goes missing. The snappy text plays it straight, while the illustrations, drawn with graphite and colored digitally, hold the evidence that allows the reader in on the joke.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2013

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Tony Fucile. The odd-couple besties (Bink & Gollie) star in three new stories that take place at a state fair. Though all three are discrete, the well-paced adventures form a satisfying arc, each story rewarding in different ways--for slapstick humor, poignancy, or affirmation of camaraderie. Black-and-white illustrations, with frequent, strategic pops of color, use copious motion lines and cinematic views.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2012

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Marc Rosenthal. A lonely boy becomes very attached to his snowman. When the snowman disappears in warm weather, the boy takes comfort in seeing his friend as the rain, fog, and frost throughout the year. In winter, he lovingly restores his friend to proper snowman form. The delicate digitally manipulated pencil illustrations tenderly depict the boy's patient vigil.

Reviewer: Sethany Rancier Alongi

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Tony Fucile. Three short stories star Bink, petite and excitable, and Gollie, lanky and unflappable. The pals agree about many things, but there's also some real friction (e.g., Gollie disapproves mightily of Bink's rainbow-colored socks). DiCamillo and McGhee successfully portray the bumps in the road that can come with friendship. Fucile's unfussy digital illustrations with lots of white space perfectly highlight this odd couple's particularities.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2011

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Drazen Kozjan. In her third book, Julia Gillian navigates middle school while sparring with her third-grade "reading buddy," an anti-reader. Meanwhile, Julia Gillian's dog, Bigfoot, is growing frail; a moving sketch by Kozjan shows the two curled together on the vet's table, girl singing to dog about their life together. McGhee adeptly braids these plot strands together, and the result is tender and lovely.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2010

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Taeeun Yoo. Empowering statements ("You are braver than you know") and an existential refrain--"Who will you be and where will you go?"--track a child (of indeterminate gender) as he or she, dog in tow, walks through the woods then navigates the wider world. The abstract text, ostensibly parent-to-child pearls of wisdom, may bore young readers, but any age can appreciate the delicate digitally manipulated linocuts.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Drazen Kozjan. An amalgamation of minor lies becomes a major weight for Julia Gillian--Julia Gillian (and the Art of Knowing)--who struggles with trumpet lessons, her mysteriously distant best friend, and a new school cafeteria monitor. McGhee's affectionate, humorous portrayal of her protagonist's emotional state reveals a keen perception of elementary-school worries. Kozjan's pen-and-ink drawings animate the characters' high and low notes.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2009