(4) K-3 Adapted by Genie MacLeod. Created by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. Elinor’s friend Ari wants to spend the day butterfly-watching, while her friend Olive would rather look for caterpillars. The friends decide to look for butterfly babies instead. Why can’t they find any? Using their observation skills, they discover that Ari and Olive actually like the same insect. This book is an effective, if bland, introduction to the concepts of metamorphosis and using science to answer questions; the cartoon art and story are based on an episode of a TV series.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Kerns

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gabriela Larios. "The nipa hut is family too." Yelena Mendoza lives in a traditional nipa hut in the Philippines with her family. Made from palm leaves and bamboo, the structure has stood for many generations, lovingly cared for and repaired by its inhabitants when it needs "a change of clothes." During a big storm, the nipa hut "sways," "shakes," and "flinches." A gust of wind pushes the windows open, bringing in rain and cold; are "Yelena and the nipa hut...no match for the storm"? With Papa's help, they make it through -- though afterward the nipa hut is in need of repairs. "'You will be okay,' [Yelena] says. 'Thank you for taking care of us.'" Abalos's warm text is true to a child's perspective; Larios's color-saturated illustrations, teeming with wildlife and plants native to the Philippines, have a compellingly naif quality. Details in the art enhance the story: Papa has a prosthetic leg; a framed portrait on the wall might be Yelena and baby brother Marco's mother, whom the story doesn't mention. An author's note dives deeper into the history and architectural influence of the nipa hut (its structural flexibility inspired the first skyscraper), the Philippines, and climate change and includes a glossary of Tagalog words.

Reviewer: Gabi K. Huesca | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Izzy Evans. A lesbian couple thinks that “everyone is celebrated” in their community, but a hateful act leaves them distraught until their young neighbors rally everyone behind them. Three kids bring unity by getting rainbow flags for all of their neighbors, who proudly display them. Illustrations featuring vistas of the neighborhood and community and thought-provoking questions in the text draw the reader into the story, which was inspired by a real-life event in Massachusetts (detailed in the back matter). A guide to being an “LGBTQ ally” is also appended.

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(2) K-3 Illustrated by James E. Ransome. This poetic picture book tells the inspiring tale of a young enslaved man, "a compilation of many of the real-life stories of the people who resisted, fought, demanded, and seized every opportunity at their disposal to gain the freedoms that literacy provided." Nicknamed Teach, he has secretly learned to read, write, and do arithmetic, bravely sharing his skills despite the great risks involved. The narrative follows Teach through the week, escalating to one of his most powerful acts of rebellion: a Sunday sermon in a concealed cabin, where he draws poignant parallels between the plight of the biblical Israelites and the hardships endured by his fellow captives, empowering them through his words. Cline-Ransome's engrossing first-person storytelling style, which features rich dialect reflecting the historical setting, brings out the character of Teach and the significant impact of his actions. Ransome's watercolor illustrations perfectly complement the narrative, offering detailed portrayals that vividly convey the challenges and dreams of Teach and his community. The skillful use of light and shadow heightens the emotional intensity of each meticulously rendered scene. An author's note underscores the importance of literacy and education as tools for freedom and resistance as well as the risks they entailed during slavery; further reading is also appended.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Pablo Pino. A legend about a “fearsome, ferocious, frightening creature” in a campsite lake and a warning not to feed the ducks go unheeded in this picture book. A young boy feeds the birds, unleashing the Quacken, a gigantic duck whose “wings were so wide they blocked out the sun.” The beast eventually picks up the boy and gives him a big lick, leading to the realization that “children taste terrible.” Pino's digital illustrations emphasize absurdity of an enormous menacing duck and include some minor gross-out humor, while Colón’s funny text makes for a good summer vacation read aloud.

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(2) K-3 Fleeing war, a mother and child leave their country, city, and cheerful apartment with a star-shaped cardboard lamp in its window. In the new country everything is different: apartment, language, food, view, even the mother and the narrator. "It's not like home here," the child says, looking at the characterless, bleak apartment and the streets with their incomprehensible signs. But then the two create a new star lamp just like the one in their old home, "and after that, everything around us became a little less different." In verbal and visual counterpoint, Desnitskaya illuminates the storyteller's spare, potent remarks. For example, on the left of one spread is the old, comfy window seat and view, suffused with the star lamp's golden light; on the right is the new place, stark under a bare lightbulb. (One old-life illustration shows a second adult, now missing.) The quality of light -- golden warmth versus blue-screen coldness -- makes visible the sense of alienation and displacement and, in turn, the child's growing familiarity with their new home. Desnitskaya offers no quick, false transformation, but rather an adaptation, an adjustment. That one familiar thing, the star lamp, can't bring home back, but it can make things "a little less different." This succinct, effective story with its clear lines, compact figures, and visual language is as much an appealing graphic tale as it is a picture book.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Rachelle Baker. On a rainy November day, a young girl goes with her mother to their neighborhood polling place. Along the way, the girl's mother explains that voting is "a mission / that, by definition / no one can do for us." The two enter a curtained-off booth where the girl pushes the buttons that correspond to the names her mother chooses on the ballot. The rhyming text, which eschews capitalization, is composed in a singsong meter (not surprisingly written by a well-known folk lyricist and composer) that will make for an enjoyable read-aloud. Digitally created illustrations show a Black mother and daughter walking to the polls in a culturally and ethnically diverse city setting. Illustrations emphasize relationships the girl and her mother have within their community and the civic values that voting symbolizes. For them, voting is about caring for and preserving a community; it's a sense of belonging, and "a job" that everyone's "got to do" in order to do their part and take care of one another. A thoughtful and rousing conversation starter.

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

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Christopher Weyant. Boobies are birds that live along the coasts of the Eastern Pacific. In this book, the red-footed boobies live on one rock in the sea; the blue-footed boobies live on a rock across the way. The groups vie for dominance and taunt each other (shouting "BEST!" and blowing raspberries), frustrating the hermit crab that lives on the rock between them. A Shakespearean drama unfolds when a blue-footed booby and a red-footed booby meet and fall in love. Ink and watercolor cartoon illustrations with heavy lines contrast with gently shaded colors, creating a sense of character and whimsy while also depicting realistic flourishes such as accurate booby courtship behaviors. Plentiful white space focuses the eye and presents opportunities for oversize text in expressive type to bring the words and art together. The text is a mix of straightforward and comical, with asides to make adults smile, as when readers learn that the hermit crab can perform the lovers' wedding ceremony "thanks to a certificate he got on the internet." As is the case in many families nursing an ancient grudge, the emergence of a baby makes everyone reconsider their antagonistic positions. "And finally, all the boobies actually agreed!" Back matter provides facts about boobies. Humorous lessons on life and animal behavior make this a memorable offering.

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lorena Alvarez Gómez. “Me llamo La Chiva. That’s me! Beep, beep, beep!” But this chiva is not a goat, it’s a bus (helpfully explained in an author’s note) decorated with bright patterns that travels through a town in the Andes. Cheerful rhyming text follows the bus on its way to a market in town, including a stop for a flat tire that the passengers help fix. Painterly digital illustrations in vibrant colors feature a smiling bus, diverse community, and playfully exaggerated steep mountain roads. Also available in Spanish as ¡Me llamo la Chiva!: El colorido bus de los Andes.

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(2) K-3 Two children create happy messes throughout their imaginative day, with each activity offering a whimsical answer to the question "What can a mess make?" There's potential in each one. "Kitchen clatter. / Milk and juice. / Syrup splatter. / Chocolate mousse" transforms into "a meal for two." "Rubber bands and cardboard box. / Coffee tin and shiny rocks" form instruments for a marching band. Even a quarrel ("A mess can make us scream and shout") leads to a positive resolution ("Timer ticking. / Sorrys swapped"). Johnson's rhythmic and rhyming text celebrates the joy found in spontaneous play and reinforces the message that creativity can often spring from disorder. The energetic illustrations, featuring minimal adult presence, amplify the sense of independent play. Warm red and orange tones infuse the story with a cozy and affectionate atmosphere, making it visually inviting and resonant with the themes of familial love and imaginative exploration. This story is an excellent read-aloud choice for families seeking a narrative that inspires creativity and celebrates sibling bond

Reviewer: Weileen Wang | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Meneka Repka. With her cousin Zoe, Marianne tries to solve the mystery of why many of the ripe, delicious mangoes keep disappearing from her family’s tree. Neighbor Mr. Cruz suggests it’s a mango monster (“They’ve been stealing from mango trees since before I was born”), leading the girls to set some humorous traps before the truth is finally revealed. Energetic, warm-toned digital illustrations highlight a South Asian family, featuring two high-spirited, creative-problem-solving, and community-minded cousins.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) K-3 When a mischief of mice goes missing, a scurry of squirrels decides to investigate, with varying amounts of help from other animal groups, including a cauldron of bats and a prickle of porcupines (really!). Luckily, a sleuth of bears shows up to solve the mystery. The unusual collective nouns, introduced in loosely rhyming text, are charming; cozy watercolor illustrations depict a wintry forest setting at night. Back matter gives additional facts about the referenced animals.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Kerns

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Sara Palacios. Julieta struggles to add an item honoring Abuelita to her family’s Día de Muertos ofrenda. Nothing seems right, until she thinks outside the box and reflects on what made Abuelita—and herself—happiest. The text offers a realistic-seeming and gentle experience of a child’s grief, buoyed by the rest of the holiday celebrations. Jewel-toned digital illustrations are sprinkled with marigolds, and ochre-tinged pages indicate memories. An author’s note, glossary, and breakdown of common ofrenda elements are appended.

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(4) K-3 Illustrated by Joseph Erb. A boy with “a towering body” has trouble keeping up with his teammates in this story about stickball, a popular sport in Cherokee communities that resembles lacrosse and basketball. Despite Vann’s lack of speed, encouragement from his coach and fellow players gives him the confidence to assist in the winning play. Sorrell’s lively text is paired with Erb’s cartoonish digital illustrations with stylized proportions. A glossary of Tsalagi (Cherokee) words and author’s notes about the language and stickball are appended.

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(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lian Cho. The refrain “today, I will dare to be daring” is repeated as children complete activities that make them nervous (going down a slide; trying a new food). Wallace sensitively handles these concerns and acknowledges that some fears are harder to face than others. One child contemplates heading down into a dark basement three times throughout the book; Wallace’s playful rhyme scheme is absent from those pages, giving the child's fears heft. It takes them three times before accomplishing it. Cho’s dynamic gouache and colored-pencil illustrations capture both the children’s apprehension and eventual relief and joy.

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(2) K-3 Illustrated by Hatem Aly. Our narrator was proud to have written a book in rhyme...and then little sister came along with her crayon and ruined it. Or did she? Frustrated, the narrator tries to tell the story aloud, with frequent sisterly interruptions that usually add positivity but disrupt where the rhyme seems to be going: "'She tagged along to join the action, / but mostly was a huge distrac -- ' // 'A HELPFUL NEW PERSPECTIVE!'" Between the sibling dynamics and the element of surprise that eventually becomes a recognizable pattern, the story is funny throughout (though its meter has some missteps). But the real payoff comes with a revelation at the end, which will likely prompt readers to go back and look more closely at the sister's contributions, aided by the differentiated font colors for each speaker. The illustrations, "developed digitally with some use of scanned traditional media textures, ink washes, and patterns," match the do-it-yourself imaginativeness of the text; the casual depiction of siblings with different skin tones is another plus.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Alona Millgram. “Fingers crossed it turns out right. / Challah for Shabbat tonight.” Singsong rhymes take readers and listeners step by step as the narrator bakes challah with Grandma, including the fun of waiting together and, later, of Shabbat dinner with family. Illustrations are appealingly varied, from insets showing details of baking to flighty spreads with ingredients and smells dancing across the page. A welcome, warm portrayal of the Jewish Sabbath and of an intergenerational relationship.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(2) K-3 A young protagonist with a deep internal life shares a personal memory in this intimate and indelible picture book. The unnamed redhead recounts tripping face-down on the cobblestone ground. As a scab develops on their injured knee, the child experiences fear, disgust, wonder, and impatience. They name the scab Pepper, and one day Pepper -- drawn with a stylized face -- speaks to the child. The child engages with the scab, telling stories and sharing thoughts during lonely days in the country spent with grandparents (and without a dog). Over time, Pepper shrinks and gets softer, and the protagonist gets used to its presence. ("She was just doing what scabs do.") Then one day, the scab falls off. The child finds Pepper in the bedsheets and says goodbye by gently dropping it outside among the poppies. The once-injured knee, now smooth, inspires reflection on the child's past: about how it felt having the scab, about visiting with grandparents, and what life was like before their cuddly pet dog joined the family. Illustrations rendered with gouache, oil, collage, and wax pencils fill colorful spreads with emotive angles and textures. Words and images are portrayed with rhythm and sensory details, which bring depth to character and illuminate the comforting settings. This exploration of pain, healing, change, wonder, and time can also serve as an educational mentor text for lessons about personal narratives.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Natalia Rojas Castro. Since arriving from Havana, Magaly’s talented abuela has “whipped up one Cuban dish after another.” It’s all new and tasty—but when Magaly hears about ropa vieja, literally “old clothes,” she starts to grow concerned...and to hide her favorite garments. Lively, warm-toned digital illustrations display abuela’s “zesty” dishes and Magaly’s funny misunderstanding. Useful and entertaining back matter includes author and illustrator notes, two recipes, brief “Facts About Cuba,” examples of “recipes with imaginative names” from various cultures, and a glossary.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Zahra Marwan. Daisy wins a fish at her beloved fair and names him October after the month the fair takes place. He’s odd-looking, “but he was her fish, her very own.” When October grows too large for his bowl, then for the bathtub, and finally for Daisy’s house, she must make a difficult choice. This bittersweet story (with a happy ending) of showing love by letting something go is accompanied by distinctive, loose-lined illustrations created in pen, ink, and watercolor and finished digitally.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax