(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Kate Slater. April's widowed father is a scientist who has taken a temporary job at Bear Island's weather station, above the Arctic Circle. Her initial hope that moving to a remote location would lead her dad to pay more attention to her quickly disappears when she realizes that, just as at home, he will be working all the time. April wants to meet a polar bear on the island, although she knows it's unlikely, since melting sea ice has kept bears away from the island for some time. Nevertheless, she spends weeks on the lookout for bears--and she does find one, trapped and injured by garbage from the ocean. She feels an immediate connection to the creature, eventually getting close enough to cut off the debris and treat its wound. As her relationship with her father becomes more strained, she grows closer to the bear. After she figures out how it became trapped on the island (the bear doesn't speak, but April is able to understand it on an emotional level), she decides to take it home to Svalbard, more than two hundred miles of open ocean away. Gold has an ear for descriptive language ("April could feel the power of it, the way sound travels invisibly through the air and shifts the membrane of the universe somehow"), and the close narration of April's story keeps readers intimately engaged. The book's environmental message is clear without being overpowering, and the combination of internal and external conflicts allows the story to be quiet and dramatic at the same time.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kate Slater. Different species of birds use their beaks for different purposes, this book explains. Right-facing pages show the silhouette of a bird with a beak shaped like a common tool, asking the question, "What kind of bird has a beak that works like a...pair of needle-nosed pliers? ...pair of tweezers? ...sharp knife?" Turn the page to find the enthusiastic answer (a sandpiper! a wren! a hawk!) along with a description of what the beak looks like and how the bird uses it. The rich mixed-media illustrations, full of gentle pastel colors, showcase each bird in its habitat; an explanation of evolution and resources for further reading are included.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Kerns

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kate Slater. This classic tale usually ends with a comeuppance: the lazy animals get not a morsel of food because they didn't help the hen make the bread. In this retelling, they're given a second chance, and at book's end everyone is noshing. The writing is bland, but the collage art gives the familiar scenes dimension and depth. A bread recipe is appended.

Reviewer: Nell Beram