(1) 4-6 Thirteen-year-old Rachel feels the pressure of several issues at once: her parents' money troubles; her best friend Micah's romantic feelings (though she's told him she doesn't think she likes boys); her job tending her dilettante "farmer" neighbors' menagerie. The novel's tight focus on time and place--everything happens within the range of a bike ride, in the beginning of summer--magnifies the intensity of Rachel's circumstances and her emotional response.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) 4-6 Eleven-year-old December, who unwaveringly believes she will fly, is changing foster houses. Again. But maybe new foster mother Eleanor's house will be different. December befriends a classmate in gender transition, withstands mean-girl abuse, and reluctantly grows to depend on Eleanor, who offers her space without expectation. December's complicated bird-identity coping strategy feels genuinely childlike, and Stark-McGinnis weaves it through the story with such consistency that it makes equal sense to readers.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) K-3 Transparent cat Silvring appears to a girl who longs for a real pet. Together they venture into the city night, Silvring growing with the girl's imagination as they encounter other people and their "pets." Lush watercolors in saturated blues, pinks, and greens complement the straightforward text. The combination of precise figure work with sweeping, atmospheric washes of color echoes the dynamic union of a real girl and her fantastical companion.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) PS Words with double ls tell the story of the siblings from Look now at a seaside amusement park. Hand-crafted lettering incorporates many of the ls into the pictures themselves: the ls in spill are straws tumbling from an overturned cup; those in marshmallow are toasting sticks over a campfire. Bright, ebullient images feature open composition with lots of movement, and heavy buff paper stock enhances their tactile, textured richness.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) K-3 Translated by Annie Prime. Two siblings embark upon a night in a tent in the backyard in this charming Swedish import. Their adventure is indeed grand until darkness falls, accompanied by mosquitoes, sharp rocks between shoulder blades, and the "need to poop." So the children return inside to their father and find happiness. Soft illustrations--clear, spare pencil sketches overlaid with loose washes of watercolor--establish a gentle, slightly offbeat family scene.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(2) K-3 Translated by Elisa Amado. Illustrated by Rafael Yockteng. An owl, a frog, and a mouse lead city girl Isabel into the garden on her first night at her grandmother's country house. There she discovers small truths about her new environment and larger truths about her family situation. Buitrago's first-person narrative, full of sensory details, works with Yockteng's illustrations (scratches of white on a blue background that blossom into full color) to establish a profound sense of mystery and quietude.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Van Thanh Rudd. A child in an unnamed village "where we live inside our mud-for-walls home" describes the diversions of daily life, including zooming about with "my crazy brothers" on a "patchwork bike" built of scrap. Clarke's spare, mellifluous language is hand-lettered on Rudd's rough, tactile paintings composed of heavy acrylic paint on recycled cardboard. The illustration choices reflect the book's theme--exposing the harsh reality of life while acknowledging the resilience that comes from homemade joy.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(1) K-3 Illustrated by James E. Ransome. The wife-and-husband team celebrates tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, focusing on their formative childhoods and the way their preparation and talent fundamentally changed the game. As Cline-Ransome's chronological account progresses, the sisters are positioned farther apart, eventually on opposite sides of the net, in Ransome's illustrations. A final spread, showing them holding hands after Serena bested Venus in the 2002 French Open, communicates the sisters' ultimate devotion to each other. Reading list. Bib.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(2) YA In this paean to listening, many of Nye's ninety-five original poems speak to historical and contemporary figures, from storied poets to a trusted hairstylist and a nine-year-old victim of gun violence. The poems themselves are plainspoken, direct, and saturated in meaning, building connections between the world and the ways it's interpreted. Taken in sequence, the poems lead the reader through a natural and profound emotional progression. Ind.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2018

(2) K-3 Translated by Sarah Ardizzone. In this French import, an offbeat cast of human and animal characters takes turns telling the story. Each character expresses some worry about his or her place in the world, and each affords some comfort to someone else. The intersecting narratives move toward a message of togetherness. The warm paintings on oversize pages combine the personality of Steig's drawings with the saturated color and free gesture of Raschka's work.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(2) K-3 This sensitive follow-up to The Journey describes the young daughter's apprehension as she adjusts to life in a new country and school. Her fear is astutely abstracted as a puffy, white, somewhat amorphous character, whose size fluctuates according to circumstances. The final pages depict a classroom full of children and their fears--who appear small, soft, and smiling, suggesting their presence is something to be understood and embraced, not overcome.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(1) K-3 A girl considers the wondrousness of the world around her, prompted by the colors she encounters throughout her day. The text moves effortlessly between prosaic description and poetic contemplation, making of color something both familiar and extraordinary. Tamaki's rich acrylic paintings combine scratchy ink line work with watery brushstrokes, establishing a visual tension that echoes this paradoxical sense of things being just at hand yet frequently astonishing.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(1) K-3 In this wordless story, a young girl finds a book on the sidewalk, takes it back to her monochrome, nondescript apartment complex, and is transported by the explosive color and energy she finds inside. When the girl finishes the book, her apartment now thrums with its own vivid geometric display, exuding happiness. This book simply and persuasively speaks to the power of art to brighten and illuminate our lives.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Sualzo. When a new boy keeps to himself and doesn't speak, a girl classmate tries to reach out. Nothing works until, on a science museum field trip, she encounters an interactive exhibit with telephones that allow listeners to hear fish sending messages. The girl suddenly understands: the boy feels like a fish in an aquarium. Sualzo's scratchy illustrations are a clearly intelligible platform from which to consider Vecchini's more abstruse story for mid-to-upper primary grades.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(2) PS A child with a harmonica encounters a rabbit playing piano at the park. With successive page-turns, more animal musicians arrive, leading to a concert. Cleverly, right-side pages physically increase in width, reflecting the increase in the instruments' sound. Yamada's deliberate telling lays out the story with matter-of-fact clarity. Sweet, blocky paintings, with cuddly-looking animals playing more realistically rendered instruments, capture the essential fantasy in their insouciant tone.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) K-3 Greta the goat thinks herself a masterful knitter. When Greta accidentally knits a hungry wolf who swallows Mrs. Sheep whole, Greta knits a tiger to take care of the wolf; when the tiger threatens Greta, she knits an enormous monster... Spare, gestured line drawings depict the cloven-hoofed characters and richly textured painting shows the needlework in this ebullient Dutch import, a winning take on the traditional cumulative story.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Carlin. An elderly Welsh miner and a boy unwillingly transplanted from Rome bond over homing pigeons in this atmospheric and hopeful tale of immigration and friendship. The narrative follows the pair as they train Mr. Evans's pigeons, including one the boy names King of the Sky. Davies's poetic language includes moments of precise description; Carlin's smudgy, near-transparent mixed-media illustrations capture the essences of the old and new homelands.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(1) K-3 Illustrated by M. Sarah Klise. As Astrid's dog Eli ages, Astrid creates a bucket list for them; in the end, the best friends come to understand that it is the togetherness that really matters. A tender tension between the ebullient text and the touching acrylic paintings suggests the inevitability of loss. This poignant picture book captures the special child-dog relationship and the precious value of caring for loved ones.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2017

(2) K-3 In this offbeat existential exploration of what it means to be a someone, a second-person narrative speaks directly to readers: "You are a boat." The boat, with cavernous rooms and one big "furnace-heart," sails some perilous seas, but strength, smarts, and an eye to the horizon see her through. The scratchy, cartoonlike illustrations are by turns ominous and reassuring in just the right places.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2017

(2) K-3 Translated by Julia Marshall. Every day a girl takes Mouse the dog out for a walk. At story's end, we learn that Mouse belongs to someone else ("I wish Mouse was mine"). Longing for a pet is a common picture-book theme; less common is one that concludes with the disappointment of such yearning. Throughout this Swedish import, Lindström's subdued, naive-style paintings emphasize the girl's devotion to Mouse.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017