(2) K-3 Illustrated by Josh Cochran. "Some letters can't be delivered in the usual way. But I have a plan." Sylvester­ misses his grandmother, G.G., and attempts to send her a letter, in this tender and imaginative book about longing. Where is G.G.? The answer is ambiguous. Sylvester speaks of sending skydivers into the jungle "where the rare pink dolphins wait," so perhaps G.G. is a scientist in a remote location. Or maybe this is a child trying to understand an absence that is beyond his reckoning. Cochran lets Sylvester illustrate his own story--a couple of double-page spreads show him drawing the very pictures we’re looking at--and the whimsical images created with bold colors and thick brushstrokes have a kidlike energy and charm. Wordless spreads, including a gatefold that opens up to show everything in this child's mind and heart, give readers the opportunity to digest the magnitude of his emotions. He ultimately sprawls on the lawn under the moon feeling his feelings, when a butterfly lands on his nose. G.G.? Coincidence? The specificity of Sylvester's experience gives this book a wistful note, and the ambiguity allows for the opportunity to consider many types of absence.

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Evan Turk. On her eighth birthday, Maude buries a red tin box under a dogwood tree (only she knows what's inside), making a promise to herself. Decades pass. Maude, now an older woman, remembers the box but not its contents. One afternoon she is "seized with a feeling" and invites her granddaughter on a long drive to her old home. The granddaughter is filled with questions ("what's inside the box?"), and they both wonder if they'll be able to find it. They do indeed, and Maude is overcome with emotions as she explores the box's contents and then shares stories from her childhood on the drive back home. Burgess's (Drawing on Walls, rev. 1/21) detailed text is filled with evocative sensory descriptions: "At the foot of the flowering dogwood, in a soft spot where she once discovered a fallen nest, the earth seemed to whisper, 'Here.'" A vivid coppery-red and brilliant golds dominate Turk's (Hello, Moon, rev. 9/22) palette, and he fills the book with intriguing perspectives and distinctive textures. Burgess's warm intergenerational tale leaves Maude's specific memories, the meaning of each item in the red tin box, and Maude's promise to herself a mystery to readers, thereby inviting them to imagine the contours of her childhood and perhaps even consider what they'd put in their own red tin boxes.

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

(2) PS Illustrated by Cátia Chien. A wide-eyed bear--a furry stand-in for toddlers learning to manage strong emotions, as well as readers of all ages dealing with sorrow--spots a red balloon on a string. The smitten bear plays with it, believing that this "small red moon" is a gift from the sky. When he attempts to hug it, the balloon pops. The bear fails to fix it, grieves the loss, and takes the blame: "Bad bear," he thinks. When the shimmering moon rises that night, it speaks: "Good bear. Kind bear. Don't worry, bear." The bear, absolved of his guilt, relies on memories to sustain him, and he dreams of dancing with his departed balloon friend. Burgess's unassuming language is endearing (bear wakes from a "snooze" and gives the balloon "a tour of his whereabouts"), and there are sweet moments of humor ("This is the spot where I sit on the pot," the bear tells the balloon near a waterfall). The pacing is flawless: shortly before it happens, readers anticipate the plot's tragic turn by spotting bear's sharp claws as he lovingly grips his friend. Chien's hazy, atmospheric illustrations, which employ playful perspectives, feature splendid vistas with rich washes of color, though she also knows when to let the bear take the focus in crisp white space. This one packs an emotional punch, and not just for preschoolers: it's about no less than loss, self-forgiveness, and the ways in which memories can serve to mitigate grief.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Josh Cochran. Two colorful picture-book biographies celebrate the life and art of Keith Haring. In Drawing on Walls, much of the focus is on Haring's art-making as a child and the connection he felt with children throughout his career. Art Is Life is more concerned with his inspiration and process, focusing on a few of the artists who influenced him and the effect he had on New York City's creative scene. Burgess includes more biographical information in his longer text, while Brown favors a shorter and more lyrical style that conveys the feeling of Haring's work rather than details of his life. Negley's mixed-media approach is more graphic, while Cochran uses a childlike cartoonish scrawl, but both illustrators emulate the energy of ­Haring's style in dynamic spreads with bold colors and lines. Both include additional biographical information, with Brown's author's note filling in much of the detail of Haring's life. The illustrators' notes discuss Haring's outsized influence, with both illustrators describing very personal connections to his work. These two books complement each other, with Burgess's the more traditional picture-book biography and Brown's perhaps better suited as a first introduction to Haring or an energetic read-aloud. Review covers these titles: Art Is Life and Drawing on Walls.

Reviewer: Lauren Kim | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Fiona Woodcock. "How do you budge an unbudgeable curmudgeon...?" Such is the challenge for a girl at home with her apparent brother (they're both redheads), who resembles the Muppets' Animal and won't relinquish her backpack. She tries politeness, food, and distraction, but an unlikely strategy yields his change of heart--and face. Assonance, unpredictability, slapstick-tinged art--it's a picture book triple play.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. This lyrical biography emphasizes the poet's formative years and keen observation of the world around him. Clever design choices, homey mixed-media art, and well-chosen quotes and sample poems offer a compelling representation of cummings's experimentation with language, imagery, and style. However, the flat presentation of connective details creates neither narrative momentum nor adequate report material, and biographical sourcing is vague. Author's note. Timeline.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross