(2) K-3 Young readers are introduced to the thirteenth-century poet, Islamic scholar, and Sufi mystic Rumi in this accessible picture-book biography that spans much of its subject's childhood and adult life. Rumi develops his love of birds at a young age, leading to his discovery of stories about the Smurgh, a large mythical bird composed of thirty smaller birds, which becomes important to his developing identity. As a young scholar, he befriends a mystic named Shams (sun in Arabic), who "was a sun, shining in Rumi's heart and mind." His jealous students run Shams off, and Rumi falls into a deep period of sadness. During this time, he turns to writing as a form of solace and a way to work through complicated emotions and personal loss. The book contextualizes some of Rumi's most well-known writing, the "Masnavi," inspired by his friendship with Shams (although it does not address what many now suspect: that the two were likely more than friends). Kheiriyeh's illustrations use bold colors and gold leaf, and incorporate Arabic and Farsi script, along with traditional geometric designs and shapes common in Islamic architecture. Flora and fauna are an important part of the illustrations: pages are adorned with flowers, pomegranates, and a variety of birds, including Rumi's beloved hoopoe. A gentle, visually engaging introduction to one of the world's most enduring poetic voices.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ishita Jain. In 1979 in remote northeastern India, sixteen-year-old Jadav Payeng is troubled by the way the river "goes wild" during monsoon season: it overflows, ravages islands, and decimates wildlife. Young Jadav proposes to plant trees on sandbars and islands as a way to anchor the soil against the river's raging currents. He starts by planting bamboo seedlings, and when those thrive, he experiments with additional species of trees and plants. Thirty years later, "a forest was born," drawing birds and wildlife including tigers, rhinos, and elephants, and "guarding the island" from future destruction. The illustrations make excellent use of color: vibrant shades of green accompany the many burgeoning forest scenes, but there are also visual surprises in a red dawn sky or orange flames that erupt from a blue-black night scene. Varied page layouts aid in the progression of the action, from Payeng's painstaking efforts to sow the seeds to an individual plant's growth. An inspiring true story of an environmental activist whose important work began in his teens and spanned a lifetime. An author's note provides further information about the "Forest Man of India."

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara. It's a beautiful morning, and even though Dad just wants to watch futbol, his full-of-energy daughter reminds him that he promised to go on a hike with her. "Annou ale! Off we go!" to the "tippy top" of their verdant Caribbean island. The adventurous duo encourages each other in Creole, and the accompanying English text makes for easy reading, as does its spacious, verse-like placement amid the lush full-bleed illustrations. The hike is more challenging than either one expected--"Mouté! Climb on!"--until finally, they make it to the top, from which they can see their whole town and the sea beyond. If only someone had brought a camera! Oh, well. "Chonjé. Remember." Fans of the creators' previous, futbol-centered collaboration, The Field (rev. 5/18), will cheer this very welcome addition, but this book also easily stands on its own. The endpapers encourage readers to go back through the book to find a variety of creatures hidden on the pages.

Reviewer: Maija Meadows Hasegawa | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(2) K-3 Translated by David Henry Wilson. From the start of this quirky and heartfelt German import, it is clear that there is something a bit mysterious happening. Endpapers show a child peeking out from between red stage curtains; these curtains set the scene for the drama that is the life of a performer's daughter. "My mother can be lots of different people. Sometimes she's nice. And sometimes she's nasty. Sometimes she's quiet, and sometimes she's loud. You see, my mother's an opera singer." The narrator knows that her mother is just acting as she dies onstage, but as the child explains, while sitting in a large theater seat with her knees up to her shoulders and tears streaming down her face, "every time it looks real." Happily, by the time the family leaves for home, the opera star is transformed back into Mother, arm-in-arm with her partner and flanked by the narrator and her smaller sibling. Haslbauer (whose own mother was an opera singer) employs smart pacing and dramatic page-turns as the narrator explains what it's like to be related to someone who is larger than life. Illustrations use unusual angles, exaggerated sizes, and long pencil and brush strokes to emphasize Mother's outsized personality and artistic impact.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(1) 1-3 Translated by Alistair Beaton. Over the course of the seasons, in more than sixty mini-narratives each consisting of six tidy panels, we hang out with Boris, a striped orange cat, and his forest friends. Each story presents a challenge, the solution for which involves creativity, lateral thinking, and kindness. Because Holly the hedgehog can't go skating due to a sprained ankle, for example, her friends attach skates to her armchair and push her around the lake. Some of the adventures include such tried-and-true folktale dilemmas as magic power gone awry and a series of ill-advised trades. Part joke, part puzzle, part poem, part koan, these tiny stories are reminiscent, in their quiet humor, of another European import, Coudray's Benjamin (or Bigby) Bear books (most recently rev. 3/19). For the apprentice reader, Boris provides the potential for two kinds of satisfaction--completing an entire story on a single spread and getting to know a whole world with its cast of characters as the stories accumulate. Here's Alex the frog again. Of course he'll be delighted with Boris's castoff bike; we already know he's a bit of a hoarder. And here's Holly with yet another new mechanical invention. This time it's a rocket sled powered by fireworks...uh-oh. An affectionate appendix by fellow Austrian picture-book writer Heinz Janisch introduces a new audience of readers to late author Moser.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) K-3 This lively picture book stars a Tom Thumb–sized protagonist, approximately six inches tall. The tiny child rises with the sun, searches the house for "little treasures" (a cat toy foreshadows events), cools off in a glass of water, climbs the houseplants, and more. Their routine is interrupted when a "scary shadow" appears. The child, wearing a thimble helmet and armed with a sewing-pin spear, courageously confronts the mysterious creature. After the shadow is revealed to be an affable pet cat, the new friends continue their escapades outside--where a canine shadow suggests another surprise to come. Straightforward first-person, present-tense text creates a sense of conversational intimacy. No human-sized humans are shown in the story, but their messes (books, toothpaste tubes, cellphone chargers, etc.) add layers to the visual narrative. The illustrations offer texture (from the woodgrain floors to the cat's fur), and abundant shades of gray contrast attractively with more vibrant hues (notably various greens and yellows). This imaginative exploration of scale and perspective should serve as a popular storytime selection.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

(3) K-3 Translated by David Henry Wilson. In this handsome volume, Swiss artist Fischer's sprightly line-and-wash illustrations accompany well-translated Grimms' tales. "The Musicians of Bremen," "Riff-Raff," and "Puss in Boots" (the Grimm version of the Perrault classic) are fully illustrated; "Rum-Pum-Pum" is a section filled with drawings from several stories; the last six tales each sport a single full-page illustration that highlights the whole story's actions. A short biography of Fischer is appended.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Translated by Tara Chace. Illustrated by Svein Nyhus. Sometimes Boj's daddy turns into "Angryman." Boj and Mama must survive the dangerous outbursts until, finally, Boj tells "the king" that "Daddy hits" and he gets help. This Norwegian import is an emotionally powerful child's perspective on domestic violence. The sharp angles, dark colors, heavy lines, and distorted perspectives effectively convey the child's experience.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) K-3 This story, translated from the Spanish, is a fictionalization of the early-twentieth-century incident when young cousins Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths took photos of (what they claimed were) fairies in the woods of Yorkshire, England. Fanciful multimedia illustrations catch the mood of the story, engagingly (and a bit unreliably) narrated by Frances. An endnote discusses the historical event.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Watts creates a Hansel and Gretel who truly look touched by hardship, with big eyes and muted clothing against backgrounds saturated with color. Snow White focuses more intently on scenery, using intricate lines to create abundant texture for everything from wildflowers to textiles. The texts of these classic tales is in the spirit of the Grimms' originals; however, some transitions are choppy. Review covers these titles: Hansel and Gretel and Snow White.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) K-3 Watts creates a Hansel and Gretel who truly look touched by hardship, with big eyes and muted clothing against backgrounds saturated with color. Snow White focuses more intently on scenery, using intricate lines to create abundant texture for everything from wildflowers to textiles. The texts of these classic tales is in the spirit of the Grimms' originals; however, some transitions are choppy. Review covers these titles: Hansel and Gretel and Snow White.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) K-3 Translated by David Henry Wilson. When an egg falls on tiger Herman's head, he builds a nest for it in his zoo enclosure. After it hatches, Herman teaches his "little tiger bird" how to be tough--an attribute that the bird employs when he squares off against a much-bigger pelican. This dynamically illustrated tale about the malleability of identity ends anticlimactically, but the book's endearing stars could support a sequel.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 "The Smon Smon live on the planet Gon Gon." The ensuing story, about sharing resources, teems with double "-on" words ("The Smon Smon hangs its last ron ron next to its won won on a lon lon and floats away in a ton ton"). Readers patient with the gimmick will see that the fabulous, Bosch-evoking illustrations illuminate the nonsense words' meanings.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Sloppy, a muddy tree dragon, wants a hug but resists fairy child Dewdrop's suggestion that beforehand he should take his "first ever bath." Sloppy's hesitant plunge into the pond encourages five scared ducklings, and, unsurprisingly, they all enjoy the water. Crisp, clean illustrations and a cheery tone express the value of cleanliness without didactic overtones, thus conveying a satisfying tale for bathers everywhere.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) K-3 Translated by Henry David Wilson. In this lengthy picture book (translated from the German), two adventurous mice build a miniature submarine to find a sunken treasure referenced in an ancestor's letter. They discover a sealed book of inventions in the shipwreck and realize their ancestor helped create the light bulb. Immersive illustrations with occasional wordless spreads highlight the scale of the tiny undersea explorers. More about "The Invention of the Electric Light" and Thomas Edison is appended.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara. In a rural Caribbean community, children gather for a pickup game of futbol (soccer); it starts to pour, but the players and fans are unfazed. The staccato text, a mix of English and Creole, perfectly captures the intensity and forward propulsion of the action, culminating in an ecstatic cry of "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!" Vibrant illustrations, full of movement and saturated with color, match the vigor of the text. Glos.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(3) K-3 Translated by Audrey Hall. Illustrated by José Sanabria. A sentient newspaper offers a day's worth of impressions: it experiences loneliness after its peers are purchased ("One by one, everyone's life story began"), pride when someone uses one of its pages to clean a window, etc.; emotionally attuned collage art enhances these observations. The newspaper is so sympathetic that readers won't think twice about the odd premise of this Swiss import.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 An orphan drummer boy gives the gift of music to the newborn king. This version of the Nativity story isn't set in Bethlehem, however, but in what looks like a Germanic village in winter. The snow-dusted landscape in a pastel palette evokes a picturesque scene, but the winter setting for the well-known story seems incongruous. Information about the Grimm brothers is mistakenly appended.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Francesca Filippucci. This traditional portrayal of the Brothers Grimm version of the tale has dense, small-print text that tends to crowd the page. Italian illustrator Filippucci's delicate ink lines and watercolors are precise but airy and rich in color. A balance of detailed full spreads and spot images makes the book enjoyable to explore; better for quiet at-home reading than group sharing.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) K-3 A Monty Python character ultimately proves an apt subject for a children's book. Forgoing a narrative, Merveille takes a graphically flat rendering of John Cleese's famous high-stepping suit-and-tie man and inserts him into various wordless contexts: he's a Christmas tree, Jesus on the cross, a Minecraft character, etc. Too silly? More like too funny.

Reviewer: Nell Beram