(4) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Castrillón . This meticulously researched and dramatically narrated picture book tells the story of Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who at great personal risk and sacrifice saved thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi-occupied southern France. In "what may have been the greatest individual act of rescue in all of World War II," he defied his government and in a twenty-three-day period in 1940 issued thousands of forbidden visas, ensuring safe passage into Portugal. The text is thoroughly informative as well as immediate and suspenseful; illustrations are eye-catching and lively (although the use of flags rather than names to identify countries on the maps seems less than ideal in such a location-dependent story). Unusually for a picture book, this is appended with an extensive bibliography and detailed source notes, plus an author's note and timeline.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(1) K-3 The family from The Airport Book (rev. 5/16) and The Hospital Book (rev. 3/23) is back, here on the brink of moving—again. As always, there's plenty to take in, smile at, and relate to. Brother and younger sister, who is looking worried and apprehensive, sit on the front steps of their "sold" house while he reminisces about all the other places they've lived. From a tiny apartment she doesn't remember because she hadn't yet been born, to a "big apartment in [a] big building with three elevators" where they didn't even need to go outside to trick-or-treat, to their current house full of vivid memories, we are treated to an intimate portrait of a growing family and, in particular, these characters' childhoods. Lighthearted elements, especially regarding the unreliability of the brother's narration (he claims to be much more adventurous and uncomplaining than the art reveals), mix with more poignant ones (Grandpa, who will be living with them in the new house, now uses a walker). Brown's mixed-media illustrations feature their usual clear colors, clean lines, and wealth of detail. Sharp-eyed readers will note that this time the sister's beloved Monkey gets its own labeled box—no more getting lost!—and will be reassured to see that her smile has returned by book's end, as the family settles in happily to their new home.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

(3) PS Illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins. In this comical picture book, an offscreen unseen narrator becomes more and more frustrated with little dog Freddie, who is having a wonderful time with various articles of clothing. He wears three pairs of pants, then a shirt as pants, then no pants at all—and so on. A monkey friend adds to the silliness. The combination of Cummins’s expressive art and Daywalt’s tongue-in-cheek, exasperated text makes for an exuberant read-aloud.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gordy Wright. In fifteen verses, Elliott celebrates creatures who inhabit the Sahara Desert -- and, in one introductory poem, the desert itself. As always in this winning series (see At the Poles, rev. 9/23, and eight other titles), the poems are an enticing mix of the evocative and the witty, with haunting language characterizing some poems and light wordplay others. Many use an engaging direct address: for instance, for the desert horned viper, "Why do / they call / this place / the Land / of Fear? / Perhaps / because / they know / that you / are here." Wright employs a desert-appropriate palette, with warm browns and light oranges and greens dominating the mixed-media illustrations. The animals are often shown looking out at the reader, enhancing the book's arresting effect. Appended with extremely useful and illuminating "Notes about the Sahara Desert and the Animals"; the information that dung beetles navigate by the Milky Way is particularly "cool."

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2025

(2) PS Illustrated by Aliaa Betawi. The young girl who narrates this funny, affecting, and sensitive picture book adores her new goldfish, Frank. She observes his behavior closely (and decides his favorite color is pink), plays games with him, writes him a lullaby, dresses up like him for Halloween, and makes him a Valentine's Day card. "Fish friends forever!" Then, after almost a year (the text takes us through the calendar with dates on every spread), Frank sickens and dies. The girl is inconsolable -- and angry. She discovers things that make her feel better: planning a funeral for Frank, wearing a locket containing his photo, journaling. A few months later, Mama brings home another fish. "She said it might be time for a new friend." Our narrator is not ready for that, but when she realizes that this fish's tail is pink, it opens the door to a new friendship, with its own games and rituals. "I love her...and I bet Frank would too." The child-appealing, aptly watery art -- made with "a combination of traditional materials and digital finessing" -- imbues even the fish with personality and captures the girl's varying emotions through highly readable facial expressions and body language. The narrator's journey through grief is authentic and age-appropriate; her eventual ability to accept and love new fish Fern but bring Frank with her in that acceptance is a healthy and useful model.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2025

(2) K-3 This picture book with old-fashioned appeal (think Zion's classic Harry the Dirty Dog) follows Rosemary, a low-slung pup with verrrry long ears, and her best friend/child owner as they head out for a walk. At each stop along the way, Rosemary's ears get her in trouble, dragging through a puddle, then a pile of leaves, then a field of fluffy dandelions, much of which ends up coming with them, stuck on Rosemary's fur. Next they meet up with a group of children eating ice-cream cones who pat her enthusiastically with their sticky hands. "Now Rosemary is...A MESS!" It's time for the pair to retrace their steps for home so that Rosemary can have a bath; she objects ("AWOOOOOOOO") until she realizes how much fun it is to play with the bubbles. The book ends with our protagonist "clean and fresh and bundled into a hug" but with the promise of more adventures tomorrow. Ghahremani's text is tailor-made for reading aloud, full of child-pleasing commentary ("OH NO!") and sounds ("Ahh...AHHH...ACHOO!"). Mixed-media illustrations in cheerful primary colors are imbued with personality and motion, as Rosemary's ears go flying out behind her. Adding to the book's already considerable child appeal are the endpapers tracing the friends' route through the neighborhood featuring all the mess-producing landmarks.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

(1) YA Operation Kinderspion series. This sequel picks up where Max in the House of Spies (rev. 3/24) ended, with just-turning-thirteen Max parachuting into Nazi Germany on a mission for the British ­government—although his own motives are primarily personal: to find and rescue his Jewish parents. The ­British have tasked Max with infiltrating the “Funkhaus,” the center of operations for Dr. Goebbels’s Ministry of Propaganda, which Max manages thanks to his prodigious radio-repair skills. From there, it’s a quick, suspension of disbelief–laden progression to meeting Goebbels and then Hitler himself; Max also draws the terrifying attention of two high-level Nazi officers. In between these high-octane situations, he interacts with ordinary Germans, learning the stories both of enthusiastic Nazi supporters and of reluctant collaborators. Throughout, he has illuminating conversations with the invisible “immortal hitchhikers” who occupy his shoulders: dybbuk Stein and kobold Berg. Is Max becoming a monster like the bullies in his Hitler Youth group when (to avoid being outed as a Jew) he bashes one of them with a rock? And, yes, it’s true that other countries have done much evil, but the Nazis have “created a whole nation committed to evil. Doesn’t that feel different?” Stein and Berg also feature prominently in the novel’s most moving scene, set in a concentration camp. This twist, and two more involving Max’s adoptive uncles, are brilliantly engineered by Gidwitz and feel entirely organic. Extensive back matter includes brief bios of the real-life Germans and Britons portrayed; more information about the Funkhaus, Hitler Youth, and Sachsenhausen concentration camp; and an annotated bibliography.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2025

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Tamaki. “A peach, like a story, needs time to grow.” Young Midori looks to her grandfather to instruct her about the peaches on their farm. She is impatient for them to ripen, but Jiichan tells her that “we have to wait.” When green, peaches crunch unpleasantly; later, they are yellow but still feel too firm; finally, at summer’s height, they are a deep golden color and smell sweet and “like the rich soil.” Jiichan weaves a story about their family into his teachings, equating green peaches with their Japanese ancestors when they arrived in America (“Things weren’t ready”), then describing how, despite adversity, they put down roots and thrived. Summer passes; Jiichan grows frail and, in winter, dies. Midori visits the cemetery, telling Jiichan that she understands now: “This peach is your story. This peach is our story.” Tamaki’s impressionistic mixed-media illustrations employ a palette that follows the seasons; the art evokes both setting and the close relationship between Midori and Jiichan exquisitely. Notable illustrations include one, in lush golds and greens, of the whole family working the peach harvest; an-other of bare trees, starkly black against a pale-blue sky, when they “say goodbye to Jiichan.” Coauthor Nikiko ­Masumoto’s endnote tells more about her family’s California farm, which the book is based on, and discusses in detail experiences alluded to in the story, including racial hostility faced by her immigrant forebears and the WWII incarceration of Japanese ­Americans.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2025

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Charlie Mylie. A young ghost sets off into the world to find "a place to haunt of my own," but every location is already occupied by unwelcoming specters who tell our hero to "get lost!" A helpful bird eventually leads it to an abandoned, empty garden shed. "It's perfect!"—until there's a knock on the door: an even younger ghost looking for a home. The palette of dark purple and black is appropriately creepy; the depictions of the established ghosts can be frightening, but the emphasis is on the endearing, unscary protagonist, with its “weird little” brown hat and small suitcase.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(4) YA Voices in Poetry series. This brief overview captures the mostly tragic life of the nineteenth-century poet and author of macabre short stories. A busy layout features atmospheric art reproductions, period photos, and excerpts from several of Poe's most famous works, including "The Raven" and "The Fall of the House of Usher," interspersed throughout the readable text. Useful for reports; appended with a list of selected works and an index.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(2) PS Daniel (Daniel Finds a Poem; Daniel's Good Day, rev. 7/19) is back in another open-hearted, child-friendly picture book. It's spring, and Daniel is meeting his grandfather in the park. When Grandpa asks him what's new, Daniel heads off to find out. He learns that his favorite rock is soaking up the sun, the redwing blackbirds are back, ducklings have hatched, a snake has shed its skin, tadpoles are growing legs. Daniel reports his findings and then updates Grandpa with his own news: he can whistle like blackbirds; he "can run fast 'cause [his] legs are growing, just like the pollywogs'"; and he has a new tooth, just as the snake has a new skin. The book ends with our thoughtful hero turning the tables: "Now it's your turn, Grandpa...what's new with you?" Archer's expertly composed double-page-spread illustrations, in "acrylic inks and collage, using patterned collage papers created by the author," portray a world bursting with life and vivid color: the deep blues and greens of the ducklings' pond; the light green of new leaves; the bright spots of red on the blackbirds. (Red is also the color of Daniel's hoodie, surely a call-out to The Snowy Day.) From the spectacular illustrations to the warm relationship between Daniel and Grandpa to Daniel's curiosity about the natural world, there's much to savor here; and the question of "what's new?" may elicit a wealth of reader response and interaction.

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

(1) K-3 Picture books about imaginary play can be belabored or overly precious. Not so Blackall's brilliantly constructed latest. The opening setting is a living room (just a suggestion of one -- we mostly see an ocean-colored rug). Here we meet a child gathering items needed for a pretend sea voyage while an adult vacuums. As the child exhorts the adult to join in, we begin to see intimations of the coming seascape: the cat, poking its head under the rug, creates swelling waves; patterned pillows evoke shark fins; etc. Then, with a page-turn, we are plunged into the book's make-believe world -- child and adult aboard a fully rigged multi-masted schooner on the high seas, about to encounter a storm (and sharks!). The mixed-media and digital illustrations are alternately gorgeous and rich in character and humor. For example, on one spread the adult's cell phone rings ("blah blah blah..."), temporarily returning us to real life ("we are in the doldrums," bemoans the discouraged child). Blackall excels at setting the stage for the imaginary play with one-to-one equivalents (the vacuum, with its long cord, easily transforms into a giant squid; a paper-towel roll becomes a spyglass) and then making us forget all that, immersing us in the book's imaginary world, wholly capturing the experience of imaginary play. "ANCHORS...AWEIGH!" Glossary of sailing terms included.

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

(1) PS In a brief picture book whose impact is greater than its size, a series of gorillas demonstrates the concept of opposites. On twelve double-page spreads, they gaze directly out at the viewer with arresting expressions. The first spread is a portrait of a kindly looking, grizzled gorilla. "What's the opposite of old?" A page-turn reveals the answer: "Young." And now we see, alone against a field of white space, a big-eyed, pinkish-haired, baby gorilla sucking its thumb. This pattern continues ("What's the opposite of sad?" "Happy") until the final pairing, which disrupts the pattern in a funny and original way. "What's the opposite of opposite?" "The same!" And here the illustration -- this time of a gorilla scratching its head and bearing a quizzical expression -- is repeated, humorously and perfectly. Readers will want to linger on each compelling watercolor and gouache portrait and spend some time communing with the creatures.

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

(2) PS Illustrated by Wendell Minor. This picture book employs a first-person voice to enumerate the joys of winter. The rhyming text claims the identity of everything from snowmen to hot cocoa. "I'm a skater flying across the ice -- flash! / I'm a sled zooming down the hill -- dash!" Two of the season's holidays, Christmas and Hanukkah, are referenced in the text and/or the gouache, watercolor, and digital illustrations. The palette is appropriately cool, with pops of warmer colors, including bright red for mittens and the jacket of a boy making a snow angel (in perhaps a subtle nod to The Snowy Day) and glowing yellow for a cozy fire. The repeated refrain "I am Winter..." is completed at book's end with "I am Winter Magic!" An uplifting celebration.

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

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Shelly Swann. According to an end note, “All Souls’ Day...is commemorated around the world...each year on November 2.” In this moving picture book, young Mara accompanies her grandmother (Nene) on their annual tradition of serenading their neighbors, for the first time since her beloved grandfather Popi’s recent death. Deep in grief, Mara at first minimizes others’ losses (deaths of pets; a death five years earlier) compared to her and Nene’s. Nene tells Mara that grief can’t be measured or ranked, but she becomes sadder with every house. Mara takes Nene home and heads back out to finish the task. Heartwarmingly, when she returns, the neighbors have gathered outside and are now serenading them. The illustrations, with echoes of Eastern European folk art, use a palette of grays and purples to reinforce the wintry setting and somber tone.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(2) K-3 A wee, goggle-eyed alien lands on Earth one night, on a mission to collect soil samples and move on to the next planet. The titular spaceman finds Earth rather ordinary, but then a crow flies off with his spaceship and he must follow the crow "into the unknown." As he journeys, he discovers more and more fascinating plant life, and when the sun comes up, even more flora is revealed, plus strange but adorable animals such as snails and beautiful ones such as butterflies. One butterfly drops the spaceman into a lily pond, where he floats happily until retrieved by a new friend, a small spotted dog (at first deemed a "hideous beast"). Then comes the conundrum: should he recover the spaceship, now seen to be perched on a tree branch, and continue the mission? After wrestling with his conscience, he slyly pushes the spaceship off the branch, and it sinks into the pond, "never to be seen again." The spaceman now must remain on Earth: "In this extraordinary place. Laughing and playing. And enjoying the gentle breeze with my friend." The book's appeal stems from the interplay of the formal narration with the extreme cuteness of the protagonist and the other creatures, including highly expressive faces and body language. The soft palette, in apt greens and blues, reinforces the charm of the bucolic landscape.

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

(2) K-3 The diminutive hero from Denise's Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl returns in this sequel, which introduces a new character, wannabe knight Early Bird. The tiny, big-eyed creature keeps Knight Owl, now captain of the castle's night watch, awake with her incessant chatter. After several days of interrupted sleep, he finally snaps: "PLEASE GO AWAY!" But when she doesn't return by nightfall, worried Owl heads out into the cold, dark forest to look for her. Peril ensues in the form of a pack of menacing wolves, and who should arrive (accompanied by many knights) to rescue him but Early Bird -- wearing a metal cup as a helmet and brandishing a wooden spoon. All ends happily with the two friends sharing pancakes: breakfast for Knight Owl, dinner for Early Bird. As in the first book, the art varies from personality-rich vignettes to dramatic, atmospheric double-page spreads, with a palette of warm golds for the cozy indoor scenes and smoky grays and blues at night. The text uses repetition effectively ("Early Bird kept herself busy in one way...or another"); a veritable barrage of different font sizes and styles conveys Early Bird's overly enthusiastic prattle; and frequent use of onomatopoeia (particularly the "awoooooooooo" of the wolves) encourages listener participation. An appealing picture book, tailor-made for storyhour.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2025

(1) 4-6 Operation Kinderspion series. From the moment eleven-year-old Max Bretzfeld arrives in England as a Jewish evacuee from WWII Germany (accompanied by two immortal, opinionated, and invisible-to-others creatures, a kobold and a dybbuk), his overriding desire is to return to Berlin. The preternaturally clever, resourceful Max has always protected his gentle parents, practiced as he is at anticipating the actions of bullies and staying ahead of their next moves. Who now will protect his parents from the Nazis? When he realizes that one of the men in his Jewish foster family works for British Naval Intelligence, he resolves to find a way to use that connection to be accepted as an undercover agent and sent back to Germany. Clearly, Gidwitz's (The Inquisitor's Tale, rev. 11/16) story calls for a great deal of suspension of disbelief, but the unlikely and fantastical elements are balanced by a rich and realistic depiction of WWII London, from the snobbery of life at an elite boys' school (including entrenched antisemitism) to the Blitz. Max's training as a spy is described in riveting detail, with readers rooting for the determined boy even as we know the dangers awaiting him if he passes the test. A cliffhanger ending (a sequel is promised) adds even more tension. An author's note gives more background on the historical and folkloric figures, settings, and events of the novel; an annotated bibliography is appended.

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

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Matt James. In this quietly affecting and beautifully illustrated book, young Belle's drawing of an owl draws praise from her teacher, but the child doesn't want to reveal why it's so good. Belle once had a home but now lives with her mother in their car. Every night in the wooded park where they sleep, Belle hears the hooting of an owl, but it stays out of sight. Then one night it appears; comforted, Belle thinks the owl is saying, "I like sharing my home with you." And just as the owl helped her, when a new boy arrives at school whose circumstances are similar to hers, Belle offers him friendship and reassurance. Atmospheric paintings, with their almost palpable thick brushstrokes and deep, cool colors, memorably depict the ethereal nighttime woods and the majestic owl.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(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