(2) PS In this companion to Caldecott Honor Book Nana in the City (rev. 11/14), Nana comes out to the country to visit with her grandchild. The young narrator is excited to introduce Nana to the special things about rural living but is disappointed to find that "Nana doesn't seem surprised. Not even a bit! I can't show Nana how to do anything in the country." Castillo's detailed ink, watercolor, and pastel illustrations are as at home in portraying this small-farm setting as they were in conveying the hustle and bustle of Nana's beloved city. The art in both books honors the special relationship between grandparent and grandchild. A middle-of-the-night thunderstorm and a sheep on the loose rattle Nana -- and provide her farm-ambassador charge with an opportunity to show off some animal-husbandry know-how. This is a satisfying return visit with two engaging characters.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphrey. The plight of Black farmers takes center stage in this affecting picture book. A boy and his grandfather faithfully take their produce to a farmers' market every Saturday. Papa's stall is the only one occupied, but "it wasn't always this way." Just two years ago, there were five. The Pumphreys' expressive illustrations, created using handmade stamps and edited digitally, highlight the richness of the harvest, the deep purple plums, large orange pumpkins, and vibrant green bell peppers. Papa knows his customers well and even stops at Mrs. Brown's to deliver plums after the stand closes each week. When Papa is too tired to carry on this work, his customers come to him to share a meal consisting of the bounty from his land. The final spread reveals that even though Papa's days of harvesting are over, the family's connection to farming won't end. A bumper sticker on his pickup truck along with signs in his barn and stand promote the cause of Black farmers. An author's note provides information about the dwindling number of Black farmers due to discrimination.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Devon Holzwarth. As cold weather gives way to spring, the monarch butterfly migration begins, and Lucia's papa commences his own journey north. The forested region near the Mexican state of Michoacan is home to Lucia and her family (who are implied, from the back matter, to be Mazahua Indigenous people of the region) and to millions of monarchs, which hibernate there during winter months. Through lyrical text, Harmony describes the parallel journeys of the butterflies and migrant farm workers like Papa, who travel miles "across rivers and mountains" with a guiding sense of purpose; as he reassures his daughter: "When the weather turns cold and the monarcas return, our winged ancestors will guide me home." Lush greens of regional flora frame almost every page and ground the connection between nature and people. The illustrations -- rendered in gouache, watercolor, pencil, crayon, and digital elements -- capture the flitting motion of the monarchs, shifting viewpoints to allow readers to admire their patterned wings or marvel at the specks of orange flying en masse. An author's note detailing the monarch migration and the butterfly's cultural significance in the region; a Spanish glossary; and a "How Can We Help?" section are appended. Concurrently published in Spanish as Un aleteo de esperanza.

Reviewer: Jessica Agudelo | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) YA Adapted by Andrew J. Rostan. Illustrated by Celia Jacobs. Jiménez's iconic, award-winning memoir -- an episodic collection of short stories published in 1997 -- receives a handsome graphic novel adaptation. Francisco's family leaves their small town on the outskirts of Guadalajara for the promise of a better life in California. Making their way to Mexicali, they dig under the wire fence to cross the border, finding employment in the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley as migrant farm workers. An early memory has a five-year-old Francisco watching his infant brother while his parents and older brother pick cotton. It's a hard life: constantly moving and uprooting themselves to find work; substandard housing, education, and medical care; and the entire family making sacrifices, both physical and emotional. Here, as in the original source material, Jiménez's plainspoken narration resonates with dignity, humility, and timelessness. The mixed-media illustrations convey both the time period and the mood of the piece with a limited color palette of olive green, lavender, and vermillion on a sepia background. (Francisco is drawn here with black hair and brown skin, rather than the fair skin and blond hair described in the original source and in the family picture that accompanies the author's note.) A glossary is also appended.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(3) K-3 Food Heroes series. Illustrated by Christy Hale. A market’s diverse offerings motivate Eva Sommaripa to explore gardening, growing unusual herbs and experimenting with new methods of composting. Her unique approach soon brings quality herbs and other plants to Boston-area restaurants, enhancing local cuisine and demonstrating how her work inspires communal pride and fulfillment. Collage and print illustrations alternate between double-page spreads of idyllic farmyards and vignettes of helpful garden inhabitants. Back matter includes an afterword by Sommaripa, information on women farmers in the United States, “Eva’s Recipe for Growing Pea Shoots,” glossary, and resource list.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gael Abary. "31If you want to ride a horse," the narrator assures the reader, "all you have to do is close your eyes." There follows a tour (in the imagination) of horses and horse ownership -- what color will your horse be, with what markings? How will you care for your horse, grooming it and cleaning its stall? How will you tack up your horse, and what gaits will you experience after you mount it? Although the text covers many of the topics explored in introductory horse books, the dreamlike nature of this gentle, occasionally rhyming picture book allows expansion into related areas: "Is your heart a wild horse, too? A secret: the scent of a barn is a balm. It will calm that galloping muscle inside you, I promise." The speckled mixed-media illustrations in muted tones of rose, peach, and champagne extend the imaginative atmosphere, seeming to float in space and transporting the reader, by book's end, to a deserted beach where horse and rider can run in untrammeled freedom. Back matter goes into greater depth on the subjects of horse colorings and markings, styles of riding, behavior, and equipment, and concludes with personal notes from the horse-loving author and illustrator. "Heels down, eyes up, smile. Yes, beam. You are sitting atop a dream."

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) 4-6 Since narrator Fern was six, she and her mother have lived on the Ranch, an isolated "sustainable futurist community" in upstate New York. Now twelve, Fern is completely accustomed to the unquestioned authority of Ranch leader Dr. Ben and his "ideals," which emphasize a reverence for nature. Readers may begin to realize long before the protagonist does that the Ranch's way of life has its flaws; as the story opens, a teen community member has died during a rite of passage. But still, when Mom recognizes those extremes and escapes to California with Fern, it's understandable that Fern finds the outside world scary and, even as she begins to reacclimate, is determined to find a way to go "home." As in Lasagna Means I Love You (rev. 3/23), O'Shaughnessy presents a high-stakes situation and zeroes in on a child narrator's believable emotions. That tight focus on the young narrator even when she is misguided or doesn't have all the facts allows readers to draw their own conclusions based on the gradually increasing information she has -- about the events that led her mother to choose the Ranch, and in separating what can sound like positive environmentalist values from the dangerous reality of a cult.

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

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Carl Angel. Born in 1896 under Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines, Pedro Flores immigrated to the United States as a teenager. It wasn't until years later -- after he had worked in Hawaiian pineapple fields, on steamships in the Pacific, and at a hotel in California -- that he produced the first Flores yo-yo. Though Flores did not invent the toy (Peñas traces its origins back thousands of years to China), his ingenious reengineering of it led to its rise in popularity (the word yo-yo means "come back" in Tagalog). Peñ as's straightforward text is well supported by deeply saturated images that illustrate Flores's experience as an immigrant: long hours of physically demanding labor and the dogged pursuit of education. It was with the help of a neighbor that Flores was able to start his business, and he committed to bringing his fellow kabayan into his success, as employees. Readers will delight in learning (or remembering) how to "Rock the Baby," "Loop the Loop," and "Walk the Dog." An author's note provides history about the Philippines, the yo-yo, and Flores's life.

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

(2) K-3 In a story centered on the collection, care, and digestion of excrement, Weber has crafted a contemporary fable that reads more gracious than gross. After a pile of steaming green-brown poop lands on an appreciative dung beetle ("SPLAT!"), the arduous work of forming it into a ball and rolling it safely home is interrupted by a leopard. The leopard asks the beetle why he works so hard for so little, to which he thoughtfully replies, "I don't have much. But the forest always provides enough." But when the beetle loses his ball of dung, he becomes discouraged and sets off on a journey to a (for him) distant farm. Sterile and disconnected from the surrounding environment, the farm produces a steady supply of dung -- so much so that the now-greedy beetle orders his fellow bugs to build him a huge "empire" of poop. An inevitable avalanche of feces leaves the beetle down and dung-less, but he heads back home with a renewed sense of gratitude for all that nature provides. Weber's lush pencil and digital illustrations feature plenty of atmospheric effects and eye-catching perspectives. While character illustrations are cartoonlike, the settings are more realistic, and the animal characters are full of personality. The efficient text and strong page design result in a briskly paced story, yet subtle narrative flourishes throughout the illustrations will surely be discovered and appreciated through unhurried viewing. Back matter includes a short list of dung beetle facts, from navigation to strength to diet.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) YA Seven years ago, Sena's mother moved their family from a big city -- and an abusive husband -- to Tovime, a remote village in Ghana, where Sena's grandfather, Togbe, resides. A positive male presence, Togbe works the land to provide for the family, with Sena helping as much as possible in between his studies. Togbe educates, encourages, and entertains Sena through stories about his childhood, teaching his grandson about the geography and history of the land; one memorable tale concerns the time he was saved from the river by Mami Wata -- a water goddess who "only comes to the rescue of good people." While rich in love and support, the family struggles financially, and when tragedy strikes, Sena feels it is up to him to provide for his mother and two younger siblings. An immediate solution seems to present itself in a charismatic visitor who promises riches to those who come to work for him. Accepting the offer, Sena finds himself in a situation more dire than ever before, and it will take everything in him to survive -- and possibly the divine intervention of Mami Wata herself. Intertwining the historical tradition of West African storytelling with the very present issues of environmental injustice and child trafficking, Wolo brings a vivid and intense narrative to life.

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Kris Aro McLeod. The tart green apple is a relatively recent variety, and we have one unsung woman from culinary and agricultural history to thank. Fortson's picture-book biography introduces the woman whose combination of skill, determination, and luck produced the Granny Smith apple. Maria Ann Smith's journey begins as the Industrial Revolution in England takes away migrant farm labor opportunities for her to support her family. Immigrating to Australia as a skilled laborer, Smith eventually buys her own orchard, where a strange new apple grows out of a compost pile. The narrative of Smith's life story is interspersed with inset text boxes addressing topics such as apple grafting and Australian history (some of which may be hard for readers to follow). Detailed watercolor illustrations provide glimpses into the life of a migrant farm worker and orchardist. Back matter includes a timeline of Smith's life and an author's note on the effects of British colonization on Australian Indigenous communities.

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

(2) 4-6 On Higuera's barren post-apocalyptic Earth, Pocatels rule over the Spanish-speaking Cascabels, refugees from the San Joaquin Valley, forcing them to live in squalid tent cities, endure long hours harvesting potatoes, and subsist on next to nothing. Thirteen-year-old Leandro and his younger sister, Gabi, impoverished and orphaned Cascabels, plan to escape the Pox, as their settlement is called, but when Gabi is caught stealing a strawberry from a fruit seller, their scheme is thwarted. Leandro takes the blame, and he's sent to the Center of Banishment for the theft. He's given a choice: banishment or have his consciousness transferred to an alebrije, an Old World animal drone. He chooses the alebrije: as a drone hummingbird, he's free to fly from the confines of Pocatel, but his choice comes with conditions. For one, he's tasked with finding the daughter of one of the ruling directors and returning her to Pocatel. On his quest, Leandro uncovers the lies of the government; finds La Cuna, a legendary verdant paradise of the Cascabels; and discovers what it means to be a hero. With its social and environmental commentary, this fast-paced and imaginative novel tackles issues of deception and control and leaves one with a sense of wonder that a single flap of a wing or a solitary voice can bring about unimaginable change. An epilogue gratifyingly ties this book to Higuera's Newbery Award winning The Last Cuentista (rev. 9/21).

Reviewer: Yesica Hurd | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. A fairly standard retelling changes course quickly when Cinderella storms out of the ball ("What a disaster!") declaring that the prince is a snob and her feet are killing her ("Seriously? Glass high heels?"). As her horse turns back into a mouse and the pumpkin coach cracks open on the road, "Ella" blithely kneels on the ground, picks out the seeds, and pockets them. "I'll find my own destiny, thank you very much"--and she does, with mouse pal Fred witness to it all. Zelinsky's humorous illustrations have fun with Cinderella's clown-like stepfamily and their ridiculous attempts to squeeze large feet into the tiny glass slipper. Ella, on the other hand, is depicted as a down-to-earth pumpkin farmer who soon finds true love with another like-minded farmer. The two women (yaaas!) marry and move to a small farm, where they grow spectacular pumpkins, in a truly satisfying fairy-tale ending. Hopkinson's enhanced retelling even adds a small pourquoi tale: "And that, dear readers, is the story of how fairytale pumpkins got their name." Sorry, Prince Charming--this revisionist tale ends quite happily without you.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(2) K-3 First published in 1969. When the farmer puts the cat out for the night, the cat doesn’t sleep; he goes exploring. Double-page spreads alternate between dark scenes showing silhouettes of objects, animals, etc., and those showing what the cat can see with his night vision. The guessing-game nature of the story (“Where do you think the cat is walking now?”) encourages interaction, and Ipcar’s trademark simple but modern illustrations have great child appeal. Children will enjoy the joke at the end: in the morning, with the cat curled up in an armchair, the farmer says, “What a lazy cat. He sleeps all night and he sleeps all day, too!” Appended with an illuminating afterword by Ipcar scholar Carl Little.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(2) PS Should Wuddles the sheep worry? Well, yes. A little yellow duckling who insists that the big, woolly sheep needn't be concerned is literally fleecing its barnmated--with the best intentions, however. Winter is coming, and the duckling needs a bit of wool for a scarf: "Mind if I take this, Wuddles? You have plenty of wool." Indeed Wuddles does have plenty; the sheep's placid face peeks out from a cloud of white. Next the duckling notices that the rooster needs a hat, the rabbit some earmuffs, the goat a pair of leg warmers, and so on. Readers will quickly catch on and enjoy guessing what the duckling decides to make for each successive­ animal. The text consists entirely of the busybody duckling's reassuring­ monologue­ as it sets out to ensure that the denizens of the barn are suitably equipped for winter. Wisp by wisp, the fleece is pulled from Wuddles's coat and fashioned into fluffy accessories--and the sheep's expression­ becomes more and more worried. Inevitably, the final pages display the result of the duckling's handiwork: wool-clad animals and a near-naked sheep. Never fear, Wuddles: a group hug will keep everyone warm. Though this barnyard outing­ lacks the sublime physical comedy of Judge's nearly wordless romps (such as Red Sled), her mastery of the expressive animal face is on full display. No worries here.

Reviewer: Vicky Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(2) PS "When Max was a kitten, he was the only one." Young Max was born to Gooseberry, both of whom readers of the Provensens' Maple Hill Farm books will recognize. Readers are privy to Max's life during the daylight hours, in which he explores the barnyard, teases other animals, drools over the baby chicks (though he knows better than to bother Goat Dear or Rebel the horse); and leaves squirrel tails for his humans (as the "mighty hunter" he is) in his "room and bed" on the family farm. But as the sun starts to set, "You would not know him. He looks like a tiger. Now...his real life begins." Off slinks Max to mysterious nocturnal escapades. Provensen fans will be thrilled that this "never-before-published picture book," complete with hand-lettering, has seen the light of day. It closes with a note from the couple's daughter, Karen Provensen Mitchell, who recalls growing up with the real-life Max on Maple Hill Farm. Via translucent watercolors, distinctive lines, and their singular style, the Provensens capture the riddles that are cats--and the thrill of being one who roams a family farm.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(2) PS Illustrated by Emilie Gill. Because Hen is determined to do things herself ("I'm not a baby chick anymore!"), she declines invitations from Cow, Horse, and Pig to help her carry a bag of flour to her home, where she plans to bake some bread. Fox sits waiting in the forest's ferns and butters her up when they meet ("You are undoubtedly fabulous at everything you do"), so Hen invites him to join her. But never fear: Gill's detailed illustrations indicate that smart Hen is on to him. The side-eye and scowl she directs at Fox show she won't be fooled. After Fox dramatically lunges at her and her pot of soup, Shaw returns readers to Hen's three friends, who suspect trouble. They race to Hen's intending to save the day but discover that she has everything under control. Hen serves as a sympathetic stand-in for this satisfying story's audience. Gill's fine-lined illustrations rest on a palette of muted earth tones with a vivid copper that brings a visual pop to the pages. There's much playful humor ("Hen appeased me with the peas!" says Fox in the end) in this entertaining take on the classic "Little Red Hen" story.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(2) 4-6 Because of a (fictional) traditional rhyme that claims--or threatens--six motherless sisters' destinies according to birth order, their violent, often-drunk Dadder trades the beautiful eldest, Grace, as wife in exchange for a horse. When Grace escapes to avoid her fate and disappears with the seasonal fair, Willa, the second sister, sets off to fetch her back. Pursued by Dadder and his nasty fiancé, Willa and the horse traverse marsh and mire to retrieve Grace and, somehow, persuade Dadder to undo her betrothal. But Willa can't find Grace with the fair: could it be she has become prey to the fabled Marsh King? Strange (The Ghost of Midnight Lake, rev. 3/22) draws on the horror of folktales of Britain's Romney Marsh in this quasi-medieval gothic fantasy. Girls are at the mercy of their fathers; reading is suspect; clever, articulate elders are punished with the ducking stool or murdered as witches. The story has a strong "and then" quality, as Willa rides off now here, now there; there's a certain ebullience (vigorously enhanced by the irrepressible youngest sisters), a handful of mysteries, and plenty of mire-y, marsh-lit atmosphere to keep readers immersed.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(2) K-3 Based on a Scandinavian folktale, this lesser-known d’Aulaires’ picture book, first published in 1943, recalls Aesop’s fable “The Milkmaid and Her Pail.” An old woman walks into town to sell a basketful of eggs laid by her one reliable hen. Along the way, she speculates how she might turn the profits into, first, a few more hens, then a whole henhouse full, and so on until she has become a wealthy lady who turns her nose up at everything--and as she turns her own nose up while she imagines, the basket of eggs on her head crashes to the ground. She laments her lost future for a moment but then heads home grateful­ for all she has already. Not unusually for its time, the book’s pages alternate between full-color art (in what looks like pastels) and black-and-white (in pencil). Both hold viewers’ attention­ with their homey details, appealing farm animals, and apple-cheeked, upbeat protagonist.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(1) K-3 Blackall brings herself and her artistic process into this (imagined) story of twelve siblings who grow up in a real-life farmhouse that was situated on a property Blackall owns. The text is one long sentence with the cadence of a chant, giving the story a propulsive feeling while the family goes about the many repetitive chores required to keep a large household running in a time before electricity. Blackall's illustrations are everything here, incorporating wallpaper, fabrics, and other items scavenged from the house melded together with ink, watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil to create vibrantly layered compositions with a tactile quality. Landscape spreads echo the curves and patterns of Virginia Lee Burton's similarly themed classic The Little House, and interiors are depicted in cross-sections, as if readers are peeking inside a dollhouse. Eventually the children grow up and move away; the house, now empty, deteriorates, and new life--raccoons, a tree, a bear--moves in. Blackall devotes the last few pages to her own discovery and exploration of the dilapidated structure and how she created the art that shapes this story of a place "where twelve children were born and raised...where they'll live on, now, in this book that you hold, like your stories will, so long as they're told."

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2022