(2) 4-6 This story of shifting friendships follows two seventh graders: Lily, who feels left out now that Maddie and Sasha are on an elite soccer team together; and Will, who has a crush on Lily and whose every move is fodder for his dad's podcast. There's a dance coming up, and questions of who will ask whom are on everyone's mind, aided by gossipy Sienna, who takes out her own insecurities on both Lily and Will. Entanglements and misunderstandings ensue, largely because, to its credit, the novel allows friend-group dynamics to be complicated. Maddie and Sasha seem to be closer to each other than to Lily, but Lily is the one Maddie tells about her crush on another girl. Sasha and Sienna have a secret of their own, and when it's revealed, so are more aspects of Sasha's inner life. Some of the many characters in the ensemble beyond Lily and Will are touched upon only briefly, but we learn enough about them to understand what they're all learning: that each of them is the main character in their own life.

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

(1) K-3 Eddy the fish lives by himself in a little glass bowl. He wants a friend. "Someone who could swim and blow bubbles. Someone like him. Eddy peered out, wondering if such a friend would pass by." Meanwhile, a pair of black, feline-shaped ears in the frame indicates that he is less alone than he realizes. This tension builds through digitally collaged watercolor illustrations and smart page design, but the text uses our protagonist's limited, naive perspective to tell the story. Bright-orange Eddy pops on the rich cerulean background, while the black cat recedes into it with the exception of the two yellow eyes that are about the shape and size of the fish himself. He first mistakes one eye for a potential fishy playmate and then the second eye for another. "It was the little yellow fish again, and this time he had brought along a friend!" Eddy and his two new "friends" have a terrific time dancing and playing hide-and-seek, until Eddy propels himself right out of the protective glass bowl and onto the table in an effort to join them. It is in that precarious position that he finally sees the bigger picture (including many sharp teeth) that likely will have been troubling readers all along. Mercifully this dramatic, visually appealing friendship tale takes a surprise final turn, avoiding the anticipated grim conclusion. New friends are sometimes not who we imagine them to be; they can even be better.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) PS Illustrated by Laura Dronzek. This adventure of discovery kicks off on the title-page spread with an adult and child walking a dog. The story's second-person voice immediately engages readers: "If you found a little ball on the grass and it was there for days, you could take it home." What about a flower? An empty box? A kitten? Each one ends up at the child's home. Henkes constructs the text conditionally, which will spark many conversations with young children about what is fair for the taking: if the ball was there for multiple days; if the flower sprung forth from a crack in the sidewalk; if the box was on the curb as garbage; and if the kitten was scared and "didn't belong to anyone and it didn't have a mother and you got permission from everyone," you would be "lucky" to take them home. The story taps into the inherent caretaking tendencies of many young children: the kitten is safe in a new home, sleeping in the warm box, playing with the red ball and dog. In nearly every spread, Dronzek's brightly colored illustrations in multicolored borders appear on the recto; the text, perfect for emerging readers, is placed on the verso. Tableaux, dominated by simple square shapes, are reduced to their essentials: ball, flower, box, kitten -- all "happy" in a warm home because the child took the time to notice them.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(2) PS This hybrid accordion board book gives babies the best of both worlds. To many of the iconic images from Hoban’s classic board books Black on White and White on Black (both published in 1993) have now been added color photos of ­adorable children wearing or holding one of the objects shown in the black-and-white images. A baby drinks from a bottle (on a page ­abutting the original silhouette of a bottle), a young child holds a flower, another baby wears a bib, etc. Sure to keep the very youngest book-users enthralled during “tummy time.”

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) 4-6 It's the summer of 1999. Twelve-year-old Delawarean Michael has worries, chief among them the approach of Y2K. What if everything falls apart? Family finances are precarious, so he's amassing a stash of groceries acquired through shoplifting. Then he meets an odd new kid. Ridge appears disoriented, as well he might, as he has time-traveled there from two hundred years in the future. In transcripts of conversations and documents from that future, we discover that Ridge went rogue and time-traveled without permission, putting himself and possibly the whole history of civilization at risk. There's a technical blip that might trap the traveler at the end of the twentieth century. A time-travel plot always involves logical conundrums, and Kelly (Those Kids from Fawn Creek, rev. 3/22) neatly grounds the mind-bending what-ifs of cause, effect, and the nature of time with real, present relationships and situations, kids with a secret, and a major problem to solve. It's a well-crafted adventure surrounding a big philosophical idea with a side of middle-grade romance. The non-dystopian (although still fragile) vision of the future is tantalizing: cures for allergies and the common cold, progress on plastic pollution, women taking the lead in science and technology. (But apparently teens and tweens will still drive their parents up the wall.)

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(2) PS Brushy watercolors in sunny pastel tones illustrate a meditation on change in the form of a paean to the daylily. Raschka's big blue text (which looks hand-lettered) guides readers through the rhyme: "Monday's lily / blooms // for the baby. // Tuesday's lily blooms / for the cat. // Wednesday's lily blooms for Mommy. / Thursday's lily blooms // just like that." Each double-page spread zooms in on a lily in bloom; viewers will notice that yesterday's shriveled-up blossom droops from a different stem in nearly every composition, emphasizing the flowers' evanescence. Bugs, rabbits (one "the baby," the other "Mommy"), a gray tabby, a turtle, and other critters happily explore the greenery surrounding the lilies. In structure and rhythm, Raschka's verse recalls the nursery rhyme "Monday's Child," but its intent is far lighter (nobody is "full of woe" here) and less deterministic. "Sunday's lily blooms for her and him," we learn, and "Tomorrow's lily blooms for them"; readers are free to interpret this in multiple ways, including as an affirmation of gender diversity. Likewise, lines that address lilies' mortality do not dwell on death but touch on coming and going, and on lasting memories. Even as the verses' focus expands, the illustrations never lose their gentle sweetness, with the bugs, ants, and butterflies that inhabit this garden providing visual counterpoint. Whether read literally or metaphorically, this lilting ode gifts little ones a dollop of seasonal sunlight.

Reviewer: Vicky Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(3) PS Illustrated by Shamar Knight-Justice. When Daddy, an emergency medical technician, departs for work each day, time seems to drag on “forever and ever and ever” as Olivia, a young Black girl, and her mother count the hours until his return. They “always” miss him, and fears for his safety prey on their minds, but a grounding daily routine -- fixing breakfast together, completing chores, styling Olivia’s hair, making a forever bracelet that will “protect [Daddy] always” -- boosts their morale. Hugs, laughter, daddy-daughter dances, and cozy family dinners mark the trio’s end-of-day reunions, feelingly portrayed in the pattern-rich digital-mixed-media illustrations. An author’s note reflecting on the heightened, everyday endangerment of Black lives adds context to Thurman’s heartening narrative about love’s perennial power in the face of life’s precious fragility.

Reviewer: Summer Edward

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Hawlii Pichette. A Native (Nation not specified) boy named Bineshii excitedly attends a powwow with his mother. The rhythmic text conveys the sights (including a firework display), sounds (onomatopoeia abounds), and tastes of the experience. Bineshii enjoys traditional Indigenous foods (bannock and strawberry juice) and watches jingle dancers perform until, moved by “the heartbeat of the drum,” he joins them. Woodland style-inspired illustrations capture personal aspects of the public event and the uniqueness of each’s dancer’s regalia. Back matter includes a rudimentary overview of the powwow tradition.

Reviewer: Summer Edward

(2) K-3 Cushman combines clear, cartoonlike digital illustrations with a lucid and humorous narrative to introduce young readers to wombats. After outlining features of their genus of marsupials (e.g., the young are called joeys like all marsupials, but unlike others the mother's pouch faces backward), she introduces the three species: the Southern Hairy-Nosed, the Northern Hairy-Nosed, and the Bare-Nosed wombats. As a snake kibitzing throughout the pages states, these names are right "on the nose." The chatty text covers wombats' herbivorous diet, their cube-shaped poop, the fact that their teeth never stop growing, and their burrow homes. Conversational balloons add information with a touch of humor: "Guess what? I'm making BARK for dinner tonight." Appended with basic scientific facts, such as the size and weight of all three species; a glossary; and suggestions (primarily internet) for further inquiry. A visual game asking readers to identify additional Australian animals completes this entertaining and informative volume.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) PS "There are big things and little things in the world." Here Henkes meditates on the world and our place in it. There are tiny things (kittens, ladybugs, flowers), and there are enormous things (the sea, the sun, the moon). "Most of the things are in-between. Like you. And me." At heart, this is a concept book about size, but also perspective. Short declarative sentences sit alongside spare ink and watercolor illustrations contained in panels on spreads with ample white space. Encased in the square trim size that has become Henkes's trademark, the complexity of existence becomes something even a three- or four-year-old can consider. One image shows huge ocean waves, but a few pages later we see that a child can hold some of the ocean water in their hands. A kitten sits in a small child's lap on one page; a few pages later, the same kitten basks in the light of the sun, one of the largest objects a child can see. Henkes's strength is in the poetry of the everyday and finding the profound in ordinary moments, and that strength is on full display in a book that is simultaneously soothing and mind-blowing. "Everything is in the world." Shelve this somewhere between concept and philosophy--and get it into kids' hands.

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

(1) 1-3 In her third adventure, Marisol (Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey, rev. 5/21, and sequel) helps her friend Felix learn to ride a bicycle, navigates her best friend Jada's jealousy that Marisol is spending so much time with Felix, and worries about a neighbor's scary-looking German shepherd, who has gone missing. (At bedtime, after learning that the dog has escaped, Marisol "wonders where he is. She wonders if he will be waiting for her in the morning with all his teeth.") Marisol is an anxious second grader, and her concerns are emotionally spot-on. The limited omniscient narration means that readers know what the protagonist is feeling and thinking while still viewing the world from outside of her head. The book design is approachable for young readers, featuring wide margins, plenty of white space, and an abundance of line drawings. Give this to fans of Dominguez's Stella Diaz Has Something to Say (rev. 5/18) or those ready to move on from Faruqi's Meet Yasmin!

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) K-3 An enchanting look at a child's quest for belonging. Nari is a quiet, dreamy sort of girl, and at times her bustling, multigenerational Asian American household is a bit too raucous for her liking. As she peers out her apartment window and hears the rumbling of an elevated train, she imagines hopping on and riding to someplace beautiful and a bit more serene. She is soon transported to a magical forest with a treetop nest, then a lovely beach with a sea breeze, a coral reef under the waves, and a magnificent library full of books. Nari's musings take her on a prehistoric jaunt with some dinosaurs and even into space, where she makes a wish on the brightest star. After a while, she longs to share her discoveries with her family and finds that she misses her parents' laughter, her grandparents' stories, and her sister's singing. She decides to catch the next train home, "where her favorite people in the world are gathered." Korean American author-illustrator Kim's (The Grandmaster's Daughter, rev. 1/22) mixed-media art is dynamic, subtly blending realism with touches of whimsy and lush naturalistic detail. The palette is equally pleasing, with just the right distinctions between cityscapes and dreamscapes. This understated and creative picture book takes on the theme of being true to oneself and ends with the realization that "there's no place like home."

Reviewer: Luann Toth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Sylvia Bi. This energetic and optimistic graphic novel overflows with collectivism and an activist spirit. In the fictional world of Siannerra (inspired by Italian city-states of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance), Mestra Aronne prints and distributes avvisi--news-filled pamphlets--for her community. She also serves as mentor and caregiver for apprentice Cinzia, who walks using a cane. When one of the pamphlets informs the community that their magistrate is lying and stealing, guards show up to arrest both printer and apprentice. Cinzia escapes, aided by Contessina Elena, the daughter of the principessa and niece of the corrupt magistrate. Rumors about Elena abound (people say she is "odd" and unfit to rule), but Cinzia and Elena become fast friends. When the magistrate announces that Mestra Aronne will be hanged for treason, the girls--alongside like-minded allies--race to locate the evidence against the magistrate and distribute the truth to the people. Friendship, family, home, and political risk-taking are thoughtfully presented through well-paced dialogue and inset boxes showcasing characters' inner thoughts. Line work is clear and consistent, especially in jam-packed spreads and in sun-drenched red-orange hues of chaotic city scenes. Atmosphere is further delineated through swirling song lyrics and chants, spread in cursive across expertly placed panels. This lively, inclusive, and engaging story is also a timely reminder of the value of a free press.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(3) 4-6 In this enigmatic novel, the narrator, Red, is a young girl who lives with a very old woman she assumes is her mother, Yakaka, in the mountains. Most days, they engage in everyday tasks—cooking, cleaning, and mending. Some days, however, they travel the world to heal the Earth with Yakaka’s stories. One day, Yakaka and Red are tasked with another healing mission, but a terrible storm knocks them out of the sky and onto a deserted island. Oddly, Yakaka leaves Red there with no food or fire to keep warm, which confuses and hurts her. After days of loneliness, Red meets Rubos and his mother, the only people left on the island. Through this friendship, she learns more about who she is and who she is not. But even though she learns to enjoy island life, there is one question that haunts her: where is Yakaka? Lyrical prose explores themes of identity, family, resilience, and belonging. A heartfelt coming-of-age story, the short and powerful novel will draw readers into the everyday life of a young girl who longs to find herself.

Reviewer: S. R. Toliver

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Kirbi Fagan. Sky is a wild mustang, at home in the Virginia Range of western Nevada. From his earliest days, Sky learns to live as part of a herd. During a time of drought when Sky must leave his band to search for water, he is captured by humans. He is used by the Pony Express and then is captured by silver miners. There, faced with horses and donkeys who are suffering from poisoned air and water, Sky leads a rebellion to free the captured animals. Sky's first-person narration of his adventures is engrossing and fast-paced. His vocabulary is appropriate to a wild horse; human hands are grabbers, corrals are traps, and mountain lions are claw beasts. Parry weaves historical and environmental information smoothly into the narrative. Sky's life depends on water and the healthy plants and animals in his surroundings, so readers finish the book with a strong sense of the impact of human choices on animal and plant life. As she did with A Wolf Called Wander and A Whale in the Wild (rev. 1/21), Parry writes a convincing fictionalized life of one wild animal while addressing issues of community, survival, and care for our environment. Fagan's realistic black-and-white illustrations convey the windswept mountain terrain and the movement of the horses. Extensive back matter includes detailed information about the historical and environmental context of the story.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) K-3 A young Black girl cherishes her time with her papa. They have their routine; and "after breakfast, [they] make music." One day, they are joined by Mister Blue. Papa explains that he and Mister Blue go "all the way back," through some "just-gotta-keep-pushing days," and music has always been his friend's outlet. Inspiring people to "RISE! MARCH! AND...BOOGIE!" with his makeshift drum set, Mister Blue is what Papa refers to as a "get-up-and-go kind of brother." But the girl still has questions. She notices that Mister Blue lives outside, and as the weather turns rainy, she asks, "Is he safe? Is he cold? Is he lonely?" Her compassion for Papa's friend leads to an act of kindness--and a new friendship of her own. The text is spare; Peoples's (America My Love, America My Heart, rev. 5/21) bright and lively oil-paint and graphite illustrations adding greatly to the overall story, with small, contained frames occasionally giving way to double-page spreads. When Papa tells the girl that he and Mister Blue go way back, for example, the colors fade to a gray-toned war scene. The memories also include a few of the "weary days" Papa and Mister Blue experienced. The last image is a brilliant spread of the ultimate jam session, with all the joy that music and friendship can bring. An author's note explains Peoples's experience with her own Mister Blue and offers a reminder to adults to let children ask "hard questions."

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) 1-3 Plum, a "peppy little purple peacock" at the Athensville Zoo, is the only animal in his enclosure one rainy day when Scratch, a bossy, greedy raccoon, and his gang invade the zoo. The subsequent chaos disrupts what had been a bucolic home. Plum and his friends--including a domestic cat named Jeremy, a ningbing named Itch, a family of chipmunks, and a bear who lives in the nearby woods--work together to solve the problem. The comic sequel to Leave It to Plum!(rev. 9/22) is heavily illustrated with Phelan's movement-filled black-and-white drawings. Plum sports expressive curly feathers that stand at attention when he is happy but crumple when Scratch is demanding something. At important points in the story, wordless spreads convey the drama of the moment. As he did in the previous book, Phelan weaves ideas important to elementary-school students through the story. Plum accomplishes his goal by working with others; Scratch realizes that family can be made from those who care about you, even if they are not the same species; and all the zoo animals learn about leadership and problem-solving.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) PS Each element of this playful battle of wills between two best friends exudes joie de vivre. Otter spots sticks and branches and sees them as toys. Beaver, however, sees them as tools to build a dam, and so the pair spends a happy day jostling over who gets the twigs. The patterned, rhythmic dialogue between Otter and Beaver makes for a musical read-aloud: "Give me those branches. I need those branches. Please give me give me give me those branches right now!" The illustrations reinforce that this is all in good fun: frolicking, not bickering, without any moralizing over the value of work over play. Exuberant Otter is shaped like a smile, and stalwart Beaver is sturdy and strong. The two mirror each other in spread after spread, set against sunny, impressionistic backdrops made of swoops and swirls in glowing yellows and cool aquas. While this book is bound to become a storytime favorite, the word repetition, straightforward plot, and clear images make it a fine choice for new readers too. Please give us give us give us more Otter and Beaver.

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

(2) YA In 2015, lawyer Julia Olson filed Juliana v. United States on behalf of twenty-one young plaintiffs from across the country, all of whom were affected in some way by climate change (e.g., health effects, threats to their homes). The suit alleged that the government was violating their constitutional rights by promoting the fossil fuel system that was wreaking havoc on their lives, and that the government had known about these dangers for decades. The still-pending case wound its way through the legal system with dramatic twists and turns; most recently (as of this writing), a judge ruled that the plaintiffs could amend their complaint and go to trial. Rusch does a marvelous job of weaving together multiple strands into a compelling and timely narrative: an inspiring and empowering story of youth activism, a primer on the role of the judicial branch in our democracy, and a cautionary tale about the mounting dangers of climate change. It's no small task to distinguish the twenty-one young people, but Rusch liberally quotes them throughout the book, and an annotated list of characters at the beginning is paired with an update at the end (there are also sixteen pages of black-and-white photographs gathered in the middle). Additional scientific information, websites, a timeline, source notes, a glossary, and an index are also appended.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Matt Schu. With a refrain of "snip, snip, snip!" the story introduces readers to German film pioneer Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981). Lotte's adolescence coincided with the dawn of cinema, a time when movies "were silent but filled with magical sights." She utilized her Scherenschnitte ("scissor cuts") skills to create her own paper-cut puppet shows, eventually seeking the guidance and partnership of cinema professionals. Success with early stop-motion experimentation, along with acclaim for a groundbreaking four-minute animated film, led to a wealthy patron. Reiniger, assisted by her husband and a small crew, worked for nearly three years to complete a sixty-five-minute animated movie titled The Adventures of Prince Achmed, which mesmerized audiences. Schu's exquisite digital illustrations possess a strong sense of illumination and depth, often suggesting a tactile quality, as if constructed from paper. Visually, much of the book is shadowy and dark, particularly around the perimeter of pages, simulating the experience of watching a shadow puppet play; however, bursts of radiant color spotlight (literally and figuratively) key areas of interest. A helpful author's note identifies the Chinese origins of paper cutting and Reiniger's specific contributions to filmmaking (some of which are often incorrectly accredited to Walt Disney). Additional back matter includes a timeline, a bibliography, and a glossary. See also Robinson's Out of the Shadows: How Lotte Reiniger Made the First Animated Fairytale Movie (rev. 3/22).

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023