(2) K-3 Illustrated by Keisha Morris. This joyful depiction takes readers throughout the creative design and construction processes, from imagining and planning all the way up to large-scale buildings. Simple, rhythmic text features girls developing skills with small projects before moving on to the big and complex, adding knowledge and hands-on experience with new tools and materials as they go. Setbacks happen, frustrations and failures are acknowledged--and then seen as opportunities, "because failure isn't final. / It's where new ideas are made." Morris's cheerful, inclusive art was created with digitally collaged tissue paper. The contrast between the textured paper and the projects' sharp lines is eye-catching and adds another layer of connection to the text. The girls of this story imagine, learn, try, and persevere until they've built something new, beautiful, and useful. This ode to girl power should inspire tinkerers and future builders alike.

Reviewer: Laura Koenig | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Suzy Lee. "Someday soon, I'll see you. Even though you are there. And I am here. So very far apart. I want to see you now, of course. Right this minute. In a childlike first-person text, a young person describes to a loved one the feeling of missing her and yearning for a reunion, touching on imaginative ways of doing so (rocket ships, jetpacks) along with real-life solutions (sending letters back and forth, video chatting). Lee's warmhearted illustrations--coupled with the book's ingenious design--provide terrific enhancement to the story line. Frequent die-cuts ("used to show how the characters could be physically closer together through the pages"); variations in background colors; ­different-size pages; and changes in font, style, size, and text placement help pace the events and offer literal windows into the characters' feelings of impatience, frustration, longing, and love. One particularly timely--and humorous--image shows the characters not-quite-centered on their respective computer screens. The end of the book brings unadulterated joy in the form of a tightly held, sunshine-y embrace. While this reassuring picture book is particularly apt for the COVID-19 era, it will be welcomed by anyone suffering separation and seeking comfort.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Crowton. Feeling homesick after moving "more than an ocean away" to America, Millie suggests to her class that they build a garden on the school's roof. After gathering supplies, planting seeds, and lots of waiting ("good things take time," their teacher tells them), the children's efforts are rewarded with the first sprouts' appearance. Then the garden takes off, and everyone harvests vegetables and celebrates their success. When Millie takes her first bite of carrot, "it tastes like home." The calm mixed-media illustrations, which feature a diverse and determined group of students tending to the garden, enhance this uplifting story about finding belonging and purpose somewhere new.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Kerns

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Katie Kath. Some junior rock collectors are budding geologists, interested in the origins and classification of rocks. Some have that completist gene and are hot on the quest for the perfect geode. Others just want to arrange their rocks into families, or learn to skip them, or use them for crafts. Author and illustrator of this joyful book give equal respect to every kind of rockhound, following a jaunty blue-haired girl with a sidelong grin who collects, sorts, paints, makes mosaics, pitches, and contemplates. Some of the similes are a bit clichéd ("People are like rocks. Some sparkle right away, while others seem ordinary at first, but have treasure deep inside"), but the energetic illustrations, with their mini-subplots (see the startled fish and grumpy raccoon), keep it all grounded and child centered. Gorgeous colorful endpapers introduce us to such delicious rock words as feldspar, banded gneiss, and actinolite. Up-to-date suggestions for further reading include both fiction and nonfiction. This offering joins such titles as Reid's Picture a Tree (rev. 5/13) and Tamaki's They Say Blue (rev. 7/18) in the category of appreciative musings about the natural world.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Daniel Wiseman. When Stella's dad remarks that Stella's pregnant mom is walking with a waddle, young Stella begins to develop her hypothesis that the new baby will be a duck. Like a budding research scientist or nascent detective, Stella considers this theory after the birth of her brother. She uses observation (he has a yellowish tinge), inference (her parents have named the baby Drake), and logic (he has a loud squawk). Finally, she consults an expert, the school principal, who, of course, must know everything. The principal airily declares, "If it looks like a duck..." Stella considers her hypothesis proven until further experience (also known as coming to accept the new baby) forces her to abandon that hypothesis. Undaunted, her rigorous scientific mind still fully engaged, she begins to see her father in a new light. Wry cartoony illustrations, making effective use of primary colors, especially bright yellow, render this romp slightly more plausible (there's a big duck-decorated bath towel involved). It's all very jolly and absurdist, an original take on the new-baby "problem" and a lighthearted introduction to the scientific method and critical ­thinking.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

(3) PS Illustrated by Alea Marley. Loretta anxiously awaited the birth of her baby cousin. Before she knows it, Gabe's first birthday is approaching, and Loretta becomes increasing worried because she doesn't have the perfect gift. However, from showing Gabe lots of affection ("Who's the best baby on the block?") and being helpful, Loretta discovers that she is Gabe's greatest gift. A sweet, emotively illustrated story of a tight-knit African American family.

Reviewer: Monique Harris

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch. According to legend and the old tar himself, in 1847 Captain Gregory made history when he used a pepper canister to remove the hard-to-cook centers of indigestible cakes known as "sinkers." The playful, cartoony illustrations, a game of cutout circles themselves, match the folksy telling, and both author and artist clearly had fun with their sweet subject. An author's note contains additional quirky facts. Timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Frank Morrison. In this engaging, lively story, Alta's self-proclaimed "quickest kid in Clarksville" title is challenged by new-girl Charmaine. But on the day of the parade celebrating their hero, 1960 Olympic track star Wilma Rudolph, the girls collaborate. The text hints at the remarkable fact that Rudolph insisted that the celebrations be integrated; an author's note provides fuller mention and further information about Rudolph's life and achievements.

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2016

(2) PS Illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf. Unhappy about starting school, Sophie (Sophie's Squash) insists her squash Bonnie and Baxter are "all the friends I need." Over time, cracks appear in Sophie's resolve to keep all nonsquash at arm's length, to the benefit of tenacious Steven Green. The text and loose-lined watercolor and ink illustrations treat quirky-kid behavior respectfully, rooting the story firmly in a child's world of small dramas and big feelings.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2016

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Eliza Wheeler. A young rabbit and companions travel to many locales along a winding road. The rhymes can be a bumpy ride, and the book's message and its use of the road metaphor are too abstract. Exquisitely detailed illustrations--done with dip pens and India ink, and colored with watercolors and gouache--turn down winding roads, through swinging cities, across great expanses of water, etc.

Reviewer: Breanna J. MCDaniel

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jill McElmurry. Everyone in this industrious nineteenth-century family takes part in preparing for the feast. The little-boy narrator, meanwhile, checks in on all the preparations until the family is finally seated around the table. McElmurry's gouache illustrations are imbued with quiet energy. Miller's patterned rhyming text has the cadence of a folk song and captures just how joyful (and exhausting) Thanksgiving feasts can be.

Reviewer: J. Alex Mazariegos | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2015

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf. Sophie loves her friend Bernice. But Bernice is aging, and it's clear her life is nearing its end. Sophie is sad. What saves this from being saccharine is a single, brilliant narrative stroke: Bernice is a squash. It's a good joke, fully supported by Wilsdorf's disheveled, lumpy, personality-rich characters and rooted in kids' loyalties to their stuffed animals and other endowed objects.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2013

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kathi Ember. As Squirrel tries to think of her own New Year's resolution, she runs into others who need help with theirs. Having lent a hand to so many friends, she unwittingly makes her decision: to help someone every day. Bland acrylics show anthropomorphic woodland creatures. The borderline preachy plot is nevertheless a decent introduction to the New Year's tradition.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kathi Ember. When Groundhog gets the flu the day before Groundhog's Day, he has to find a substitute. The book's illustrations are bright and cheery, and children are likely to enjoy the story in spite of some minor logical inconsistencies (for instance, the substitute audition process seems much more arduous than popping out of a hole to forecast the weather).

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman