(3) K-3 Illustrated by Karine Jaber. When "the world changed overnight. Schools were closed. Restaurants were emptied," everyone's lives went on pause. Sadik's gentle text evokes that strange and unsettling time in the spring of 2020: "hugs were forbidden! Kisses were illegal." Jaber's child-friendly illustrations feature a red-headed child whose experiences of lockdown will resonate with many young readers. Scenes of empty parks and lines outside stores are uncomfortably familiar; the mood brightens as we learn to live with the new normal and appreciate the gifts of this forced worldwide slowdown. An appended page of questions encourages children to reflect on how the pandemic affected them and on what changed in their own lives.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn