(1) PS Illustrated by Robert Neubecker. This spirited look at a range of mass transportation vehicles showcases some of the vital but less visible jobs involved in making them move. "Who makes buses rev and go / through detours, gridlock, storms, and snow? / Block by block, who smooths the journey -- / potholed, hilly, twisty, turn-y? / IT'S NOT JUST THE DRIVER!" The book goes on to celebrate the role of the mechanic who proactively inspects the bus for safety and keeps it running. Continuing in this pattern, the text and art feature the subway's signal maintainer as well as the operator, the train's ticket agent along with the engineer, the plane's air traffic controller in addition to the pilot, and more. Full of small, amusing details to notice, the bright digital illustrations clarify how a team of people works together to get a complex job done. The engaging pages are packed with vehicles, transportation workers, and passengers. The whirlwind of activity flows visually to demonstrate the efficacy of the busy system running smoothly. This distinctive transportation book with its chirpy, rhyming text appeals to a young vehicle-loving audience while capturing the complicated and often overlooked aspects involved in keeping systems moving. An author's note provides more for readers to consider, including several questions: e.g., "Would you like to work on a team that makes transportation go? Which important job would you choose?"

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

(2) 4-6 Julia on the Go! series. Illustrated by Julie Kim. The rec center is nine-year-old Julia Nam's second home: it's where her parents' restaurant, Sushi to Go, is located, as well as the library and the swimming pool where she is the youngest member of the swim team. Fiercely driven, Julia goes hard in warm-ups and doesn't let up until practice is over. She lives for time trials, which her coach calls Personal Best Day, or PBD. When an ear infection forces her to take a ten-day break from swimming, she goes stir-crazy at the thought of missing PBD and the chance to qualify to compete in a regional meet. Her parents advise her that she needs to be patient and "roll with it," punning on the sushi rolls they sell. But she just can't, and readers benefit from the often-humorous trouble she gets into. Kim's black-and-white illustrations bring the rec center environment to life. Ahn subtly fleshes out Julia's world, noting in passing how the young athlete sometimes went to school hungry when her Korean immigrant parents juggled part-time jobs. This spirited first book in a projected series delivers a meaningful message about resilience, the value of patience and flexibility, and the benefits of teamwork and community building.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) 4-6 Twelve-year-old narrator Morgan Turner and his older sister, Claire, used to be inseparable, even with their six-year age difference. They were a team: "She was my shoelace-knotter and jacket-zipper. She taught me how to pop my gum and Superman swing... She was always taller, faster, stronger, and smarter. Always better at everything." They abided by the Sibling Code: always there for each other, never hurting each other. But recent conflicts between Claire and their mother are disrupting the whole family and unintentionally causing pain to Morgan. The siblings are memorable characters with realistic motivations -- they aren't just set pieces moving through a plot. There's humor, too, when Claire takes her brother on a quest that includes spray painting an overpass, seeing a waterfall, and conducting a very funny driving lesson. Anderson (The Greatest Kid in the World, rev. 9/23) knows to let a big, complicated family story be complicated, to afford it the space it needs, and to allow a young boy to earn wisdom throughout the course of a powerful narrative.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(2) PS A child explores the outdoors on a sunny day, observing living things all around: a tall, verdant tree and animals on land, in the air, and underwater. Author Daniel gives voice to each of these living entities: "I'm afraid," says a leaf in the air. The tree from which the leaf fell tells it, however, that it's not alone. A bird nestled in the same tree notes: "I could fall," and the wind replies, as the yellow bird soars through the air: "I will lift you." And so it goes: the stream provides water to a thirsty skunk; a fish provides camaraderie to a lonely crab; the creek cools a hot bear; the grass comforts a worried deer; and more. Daniel stresses the interdependence of living things, stating in a short appended note that "every single living thing depends on another living thing" (such as, for instance, the story's "bored" mushrooms that accept a mouse's invitation to play). The illustrations in thick acrylics are inventive: in one spread, a butterfly's wing, adorned with a pupil-like shape, overlaps with the child's left eye as that eye looks at a snail needing encouragement, and in the final spread, the child sleeps under a full moon while dreaming of creatures. James personifies the animals, many of them with tears and frowns. It's an empathetic primer for the youngest of readers on the interconnectedness of all living things on our planet.

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

(2) 4-6 Ever since the plague three centuries ago, during which the Prince of Dantessa challenged Lady Death to a game of noctis for the lives of her people, inhabitants of the tiny magical island compete for wealth and standing by taking wagers in the Great Game, the magic system that oversees all games of chance. But when Pia's Gramps loses a final game and is banished, Pia will do whatever it takes to win the money it would take to recall him to play. Her opportunity comes when she is recruited by the Seafoxes into a tournament that carries a hefty prize. Their chief rival is the Krakens, captained by Renzo, once Pia's greatest childhood friend but now her enemy. Can the Seafoxes compete in an arena where the wealthy can afford magical boons that give them considerable advantages -- and can they find a way to break the Great Game so that wealth doesn't automatically equal winning? Befitting a society run by games, some of the magic is silly (one game involves dueling with swordfish; some boons involve being given zebra stripes or invulnerability while standing on one foot), but things become very serious when Lady Death herself appears in order to compete in the tournament. Inventive and unexpected, this creative fantasy will entertain readers while striking deeper notes of honor and teamwork in the face of peril.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) PS Illustrated by Brian Biggs. Hardhat-wearing pigs hurriedly build a road to reach the county fair. While Rosie stays up all night and "plans," "outlines," and "calculates," her peers -- Curly, Pinky, and Stinky -- sleep. At work, the pigs follow a predictable pattern. Rosie directs; the crew messes up; Rosie fixes the problem. When the trio stakes the road incorrectly, for example, Rosie "checks the GPS / and straightens out / their crooked mess." When their load of dirt and rocks misses the dump truck, "Rosie shows them how it's done." And so it goes. Until...poor Rosie needs a nap. Thankfully, Finison doesn't just give Rosie a leadership role in a male-dominated field. Sure, she casts Rosie as a smart, problem-solving construction worker. But when Rosie needs a break, the author gives her one -- and the crew works together to finish the job. Biggs's detailed, motion-filled scenes will delight building enthusiasts. Compositionally, the art also supports the text's theme of collaboration. Early on, Biggs offsets Rosie-in-charge from the others, framed or separated by the gutter, while in later more cooperative scenes, the four pigs occupy the same picture space. And, like any good construction story, this one's packed with opportunities to spot favorite vehicles.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by K-Fai Steele. Max's life can be more than a little hectic. Whether getting distracted and missing the bus, forgetting to do every item on various lists of important things, or careening across the playground like a whirlwind, the protagonist's differently wired mind is always working overtime, which can lead to a lot of fun, or a lot of trouble -- or sometimes both. When you're someone like Max, "that always happens sometimes." Then one day Max is assigned to a group project where each team competes to build the tallest index-card tower, and it becomes the perfect opportunity for Max's creative mind to shine. Frank's first-person narration makes apt use of run-on sentences packed with many clauses and sentence fragments to simulate the frenetic energy of racing thoughts that make constant connections and leaps. Steele's watercolor and ink illustrations add to the zany vibe by depicting the characters' googly eyes with exaggeratedly large whites and tiny beady pupils. The strategic use of visual elements such as the gutter, perspective, and speech bubbles with stylized text reinforces Max's unique personality, perspective, and social relationships. A humorous and empathetic tribute to the neurodivergent kids out there who march to the beat of their own drums.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jessie Hartland. Mr. Tony and his student, Nevaeh, plot during the winter months how to bring their community garden in Harlem into bloom with a spring cleanup and planting party. The nei7ghborhood shows up -- people of all backgrounds, with gardening tools and flowers and seeds and doughnuts for snacking on -- to work together and watch their garden grow. They add a small library, too, and just as they share their library of books, the group shares their library of knowledge, with members who have expertise in cooking, in raising chickens, in plumbing and carpentry. Hartland's illustrations burst with color and detail, a visual feast; keen-eyed readers will notice plants growing and changing from scene to scene. The daubs of paint and visible brushstrokes give the art a tactile feel that pairs well with the vibrancy and hands-on nature of the garden. Children will enjoy the art but also likely appreciate learning (from the back matter) that the book is based on a true story and written by Mr. Tony himself. Steps to start an urban school community garden and a recipe for vegetable soup are also appended. Perfect both for a lap-sit to pore over the details and for community-garden or farmers' market storytimes.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) YA Illustrated by Safiya Zerrougui. Like Tavares's Hoops (rev. 3/23), this inspiring graphic novel is based on a real-life girls' basketball team -- here, on the all-Muslim, all-hijab-wearing Salam School's 2018 2019 varsity team. Ninth grader Aliya has just moved from Tampa to Milwaukee and is finding the transition to a new city, climate, and much-larger school challenging. She joins Peace Academy's basketball team despite its reputation as being "pretty bad." With nuance, humor, and depth, Khan conveys Aliya's experiences as the team at first falters and then begins to win under the leadership of new coach Jessica Martinez. Coach Jess teaches the girls skills and teamwork, and the girls educate their (very respectful) coach about Islamic culture. It's not all rosy for Aliya: her co-captain is initially reluctant to share the spotlight; her grades suffer; and she focuses too much on her mistakes. At tournament time, the team is unfairly seeded last and must play the top team, but despite losing that game, they celebrate how far they've come. The team's story has attracted much media coverage, and the book ends with a proud Coach Jess stating on a Bleacher Report–like TV segment that the girls "shifted the conversation and what people think an all-Muslim team can be." Zerrougui's visual storytelling is highly readable and makes excellent use of varied panel sizes and placements to convey character, setting, and b-ball action alike.

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

(2) YA Eighth grader Arnie Yashenko hits a lot of home runs playing for the high school's JV baseball team. Problem is, he's been missing middle-school gym classes to practice at the high school, and now the state has changed the rules: if he doesn't take summer school PE, he won't graduate and can't start high school in the fall. But if he does the class, he'll miss the workouts necessary for pitching for the JV Comets. Besides (and Yash knows he sounds like a "stuck-up jerk" here), he can't mingle with the uncoordinated unfortunates who attend summer school PE. "There's a name around here for the people who end up in that class -- slugs! That's why they call it Slugfest!" Chapters alternate between Yash and other reluctant summer school attendees, including Cleo Marchand, who's there because of incompletes for missed time due to a skiing accident. (The others' first-person narratives save readers from an overload of Yash's self-absorption.) Star athlete and local legend Yash starts the season playing tag; duck, duck, goose; and musical chairs and, by the end of the term, is part of a team he loves. The team's musical-chairs experience even serves them well in a city-wide seven-on-seven flag football tournament. Yash learns the value of friendship and teamwork in this big-hearted novel.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) PS Illustrated by Julie Paschkis. A mischievous crow spends his day getting into and out of trouble. He steals a button, bullies some songbirds, snatches a cat's kibble -- and he's just getting started. Each double-page spread is devoted to one of Crow's antics; taken all together, his busy day demonstrates a broad array of documented crow behaviors. Lord's text rollicks along with the avian mischief, variations on the titular phrase acting as a refrain. In one scene Crow hops on a peanut-jar lid and slides down a barn's roof: "He steps onto the lid and pushes off the edge. / Crick, crack, WHOA! / Slippery as snow! / Crow rides his sled to the edge of the roof / and flutter-flaps to the ground. Nice ride!" Paschkis's ink and gouache paintings incorporate her signature folk art–like details, embellishing flowers' petals and birds' feathers with stylized designs not found in nature. But not Crow -- rendered in an inky black with little-to-no individuation of feathers, his matte form draws the eye with its textural simplicity. Young listeners will notice that Crow's exploits lead him into ever greater danger, until he finds himself facing a massive hawk. Happily, one crow behavior is "mobbing" (the term is introduced in the back matter), and with the aid of his friends and family, Crow drives the hawk away before settling for the night. Clever, fun, and informative.

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

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Santat. In this entertaining picture book, the duo behind Drawn Together (rev. 7/18) explores friendship and resilience through imaginative play. The two main characters first meet as toddlers after bumping into each other while playing with blocks. As they grow older, their friendship and their creations evolve: the ever-more-elaborate structures incorporate Asian mythological motifs and use a variety of materials, including cardboard, tape, wood, and paint. Each time, their project fails. An argument over the collapse of a creation leads to an important epiphany: "Some things are too important to give up on. Some things deserve to be repaired, no matter how many times they break." Lê's succinct, expressive storytelling and Santat's vivid colored-pencil, watercolor, and digital illustrations are both energetic celebrations of these particular, fictional projects and friendships and a possible metaphor for all such creative collaborations (and those characters do bear some resemblance to their creators).

Reviewer: Michelle Lee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(1) 4-6 Brinkley Yearbooks series. This addition to the Brinkley Yearbooks graphic novel series (Picture Day, rev. 9/23) stands on its own. Alexandra Olsen -- or Al -- loves baseball. Her middle school's team has won nine back-to-back championships, and they are shooting for a "full decade of baseball dominance." With encouragement from the new coach, Al tries out and makes the cut; she becomes the only girl on the team. When the school's attention-obsessed athletic director calls in a news crew to report on the gender-inclusive baseball season, Al's teammates end up resenting her for hogging the spotlight despite her best efforts to share it. Meanwhile, the school's girls' basketball team is crushing it on the court, but their record-setting season is all but ignored. As Al tries to rebuild teamwork and trust on and off the field, her best friends are also branching out, joining the art club and resurrecting a retired school mascot (a goose called "The Brinkley Beak"). These friends are part of Al's stellar support system, which buoys her spirits as she reclaims and reframes her story. With bold black outlines, striking color work, and dynamic layouts, the art adds further depth to the well-paced plot, memorable characters, and well-realized setting. In one impressively delineated scene, characters converse clearly while playing a chaotic game of dodgeball. Rollicking and tender, this comic knocks it out of the park.

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

(2) K-3 Alligator Bob (Chez Bob, rev. 9/21), proprietor of his bird friends' favorite restaurant, is blindsided when an energetic young alligator rolls into town with an exciting new business: Chez Ryan "delivers pizza while doing cool bike tricks!" Bob doesn't handle the competition well and falls into a funk fueled by sad music, snack food, and self-pity. With Chez Bob's shuttered, the birds flock to enjoy the convivial atmosphere at Ryan's, while Bob follows his jealous thoughts to a dark place: the "internest." Posting under various pseudonyms ("smartbirdwhoisnotbob," "trustworthybird226"), he relieves his anxiety by slandering Ryan and pizza -- and expressing those "very bad things made Bob feel very good." Lest readers think this is an endorsement of internet troll-dom, Shea's comical illustrations turn dark and shadowy as Bob wages his online smear campaign by the light of his laptop. Skilled use of color and perspective throughout effectively conveys mood and plays up the overall silliness. Ryan is understandably furious when Bob confesses, but Bob's heartfelt apology helps Ryan forgive him. In the "sappy ending" that the two chefs agree is "gross," they team up to run a new fusion restaurant serving birdseed pizza. This satisfying second course will be a crowd pleaser.

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

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Joseph Erb. A boy with “a towering body” has trouble keeping up with his teammates in this story about stickball, a popular sport in Cherokee communities that resembles lacrosse and basketball. Despite Vann’s lack of speed, encouragement from his coach and fellow players gives him the confidence to assist in the winning play. Sorrell’s lively text is paired with Erb’s cartoonish digital illustrations with stylized proportions. A glossary of Tsalagi (Cherokee) words and author’s notes about the language and stickball are appended.

Reviewer:

(2) K-3 Many people can relate to the worry that strikes when a pet goes missing. Staake (Bluebird, rev. 3/13) brings empathy, camaraderie, and humor to a familiar experience in this wordless picture book. As a child searches for a missing cat, they discover that other people are missing pets all over town: some common animals and others...not so much. As they go about their pursuit, a series of chain reactions results in surprising twists, newfound friends, and eventually lots of happy reunions. Staake's illustrations invite readers to join the search party. His creatively varied and detail-packed panel sequences keep the plot moving forward, but readers won't want to flip through the pages too quickly. Each spread holds clues as to how the pets and owners will eventually reunite. The judicious use of bold colors over black-and-white backgrounds allows viewers to follow each character through sometimes-crowded scenes, emphasizing their actions and range of emotions (from fear to determination to relief) throughout the entire tale. The entertaining payoff reflects the power that can come from neighbors -- and even their pets -- banding together to assist one another.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) 4-6 Friendship, self-confidence, and the physically demanding art of Chinese lion dancing are the focuses of this engaging debut graphic novel by Australian author Tse. Skinny, short, glasses-wearing Wei grew up idolizing his father, a champion lion dancer. After his dad's sudden death, Wei abruptly quits, only to return two years later after a chance encounter re-ignites the tween's passion. Wei initially struggles to keep up with the Southern Phoenix Junior Team. Worse still, he discovers that school bully (and his former dance partner) Hung is the star. The ex-friends constantly argue while preparing for several upcoming Lunar New Year performances. Tempers flare, and dancers are pushed to their limits, culminating in one difficult show that forces the students to work together and reconsider the team dynamics. Tse's action-packed, manga-style art shows how grueling yet exhilarating lion dancing can be while deftly explaining its technical and cultural aspects. Hard work, dedication, and collaboration are ultimately rewarded, and Tse even manages to humanize Hung's behavior. Hand this to readers who enjoy sports/martial arts adjacent stories.

Reviewer: Michelle Lee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) K-3 In this story set in an (unspecified) African village, a brother and sister find a creative solution to circumstances preventing them from attending school. Baba has to leave home to work in the mines, so he cannot accompany Shaka and his younger sister, Nandi, on the long, hot walk to school. It is too dangerous for the kids to walk alone, so they have no choice but to stay home and miss school. One afternoon, while playing outside, they discover a toy school bus. Their mother's explanation of the vehicle's purpose stimulates Shaka's imagination. His first two ideas (buying a bus or building one) are (unsurprisingly) unsuccessful; he is close to giving up when it occurs to both kids: "We'll walk together like a moving bus--except there is no bus! It's just us." A week later, the plan having spread to neighboring villages, Shaka and Nandi lead fifteen children to school, excitedly walking and singing. Inspired by true stories, Friedland and Mandela (granddaughter of Nelson) have written an uplifting tale about the determination of global children to get an education. Obol deftly brings this story to life through colorful and expressive cartoonish illustrations that speak to themes of perseverance and pride.

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(1) 4-6 During their first year attending middle school in New Orleans, Greer, Joya Mia, and Kiki become inseparable friends when they collaborate on a project interviewing neighbors and family members about the impact of Hurricane Katrina. A year later, that friendship appears to fade as Greer withdraws, blaming herself for her sister's disabling accident; the girls "were like a tricycle with one loose wheel." Kiki, ever the one with the big (but often haphazard) ideas, decides that to rebuild the friendship the three should participate in a local relay triathlon, even though they are ill-equipped to compete: Joya Mia, the designated cyclist, rides a rusty old two-wheeler; Kiki, the swimmer, needs to learn how; and Greer, the track star, has given up running. Although the race, and preparations for it, provide the novel's main arc, it is the girls' slowly deepening understanding of themselves that gives this book its heart. Like their rebuilt city, this friendship cannot reconstitute as an exact replica of what they had before. The simple passage of time generates new circumstances; family relationships mature and new friends expand the boundaries of their once-exclusive group, resulting in thoughtful self-examination. Holt takes time developing these characters, allowing readers to see both their individual and collective growth in this appealing and sensitive novel.

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

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Claire Keane. This story spans decades, introducing two artists separately until Nancy Schön (born 1928) begins work on her sculptures of Robert McCloskey's (1914–2003) beloved duckling characters for Boston's Public Garden. Kunkel (­Digging for Words, rev. 1/21) dips into and out of each creator's story line smoothly and effectively, advancing the narrative to get to the heart of the book: how an illustrator's drawings were re-envisioned by a sculptor as three-dimensional public art. Keane's digital illustrations on sepia-tinted backgrounds have an appropriately vintage look; her loose lines and energetic compositions are a good match for the conversational (and lengthy) text. After some brief background about each artist's early years, three double-page spreads neatly outline McCloskey's path to the publication of Make Way for Ducklings in 1941. Schön's artistic career is more circuitous (raising a family is her priority), and she receives less recognition; once she conceives of the duckling project, Kunkel focuses on the sculptor's meticulous process, along with the added pressure of interpreting a living artist's iconic characters. Scenes of meetings between McCloskey and Schön reveal how the two navigated a potentially tricky collaboration. An author's note and timeline provide more detail about the subjects and the sculptures. For more on McCloskey and the creation of his Caldecott Medal–winning book, read Smith's Mr. McCloskey's Marvelous Mallards (rev. 11/22).

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023