Hedgehog, Bunny, and Squirrel are best friends. One day, they each find a letter. But not just any letter… love letter. Someone loves them. But who? The answer may surprise you! This tale about a wonderful mix-up reminds us of the joys of friendship.
The Love Letter
This warmly-told story teaches us that love really does grow everywhere, in all shapes, forms, and sizes. Through gentle, rhyming text and vibrant illustrations, feel the love in a close-knit family who grow plants and sell them in their local market, and discover the types of love that exist in the many homes of their diverse community. There are kisses from Dad, songs with Grandma, charity from neighbors and playtime with friends. There’s old love, new love and everything in between! But there’s a new kid who is not quite so sure… Can the gardeners’ daughter be brave and extend the love to him?
Love Grows Everywhere
Henry likes Classroom Ten. He likes how it is always the same. But this week, Henry’s class will have a parade, and a parade means having Share Time on the wrong day. A parade means playing instruments that are too loud. A parade means this week is not like always. Join Henry as he navigates the ups and downs of marker missiles, stomach volcanoes, and days that feel a little too orange. From the creators of the Schneider Family Honor-winning picture book A Friend for Henry, this warmly funny book starring a child on the autism spectrum is a reassuring read for school-bound kids of all stripes.
Henry, Like Always
This novel maps one girl’s quest to remember her grandfather through his scavenger hunts; reconnect with her family; and fight for her community in her rapidly changing hometown. Thanks to her Ye-Ye’s epic scavenger hunts, thirteen-year-old Ruby Chu knows San Francisco like the back of her hand. But after his death, she feels lost, and it seems like everyone is abandoning her. After Ruby gets in major trouble at school, her parents decide she has to spend the summer at a local senior center with her grandmother, Nai-Nai, and Nai-Nai’s friends for company. When a new boy from Ruby’s grade, Liam Yeung, starts showing up too, Ruby’s humiliation is complete. But Nai-Nai, her friends, and Liam all surprise Ruby. Alongside Nai-Nai, who is keeping a secret that threatens to change everything, Ruby retraces Ye-Ye’s scavenger hunt maps in an attempt to find a way out of her grief—and maybe even find herself.
Ruby Lost and Found
Kara and Amanda are best-friend cousins. Then Kara leaves the city to move back to the Rez. Will their friendship stay the same? Kara and Amanda hate not being together. Then it’s time for the family reunion on the Rez. Each girl worries that the other hasn’t missed her. But once they reconnect, they realize that they are still forever cousins. This story highlights the ongoing impact of the 1950s Indian Relocation Act on Native families, even today. This story about navigating change reminds readers that the power of friendship and family can bridge any distance.
Forever Cousins
The story of a dog who unwittingly becomes a hero to a park full of animals. Johannes, a free dog, lives in an urban park by the sea. His job is to be the Eyes — to see everything that happens within the park and report back to the park’s elders, three ancient Bison. His friends — a seagull, a raccoon, a squirrel, and a pelican — work with him as the Assistant Eyes, observing the humans and other animals who share the park and making sure the Equilibrium is in balance. But changes are afoot. More humans, including Trouble Travelers, arrive in the park. A new building, containing mysterious and hypnotic rectangles, goes up. And then there are the goats who appear, along with a shocking revelation that changes Johannes’s view of the world.
The Eyes and the Impossible
After a series of adult owners, a set of puppets — a king, a wolf, an owl, and a boy (originally owned by a sea captain named Spelhorst) — wind up in the home where two sisters live. There, the puppets’ dreams and yearnings are ultimately fulfilled. Beautiful, spare prose is accompanied by black and white illustrations for a gentle fantasy.
The Puppets of Spelhorst
How does a girl stand out from the crowd when she has a braid and a fluffy, flowered sweater on picture day? Olivia (aka Viv) finds a way with unexpected consequences in this authentic, often humorous graphic novel.
Picture Day
A small dog and tiny cat are best of friends, playing all day, until one day Tao is hurt. George misses Tao very much until the friends are reunited, one with a bandage and gentler play. Simple but evocative illustrations complement the effective, brief narrative.
George & Tao
Ryan Hart loves her family and friends. She’s looking forward to summer vacation, spending time with loved ones, and her first trip to sleepaway camp! The Hart family is experiencing a lot of changes, and Ryan needs to grow her patience in many ways, find ways to share the love, meet new challenges, and grow into the leader her mom and dad named her to be. This summer and the start of fifth grade just might give Ryan the chance to show how she grows and glows! This is Book 2 in the Ryan Hart series.
Ways to Grow Love
Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she’s ever going to succeed. Her mother tells her to take advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. And Jade has: every day she rides the bus away from her friends and to the private school where she feels like an outsider, but where she has plenty of opportunities. But some opportunities she doesn’t really welcome and she’s tired of being singled out as someone who needs help, someone people want to fix. Jade wants to speak, to create, to express her joys and sorrows, her pain and her hope. Maybe there are some things she could show other women about understanding the world and finding ways to be real, to make a difference.
Piecing Me Together
Jordan is on an 8th grade trip to Paris, an exciting prospect for an aspiring artist like Jordan. But the adventure with his friends takes unexpected, often humorous turns with a new adult chaperone. Jordan’s story which starts in New Kid, continues in Class Act is sure to engage young readers and remind adults of the pitfalls of adolescence.
School Trip
Two tweens are suspended for fighting in school. Their story is told in verse from two points of view: Ebony (aka Eb) and Flow (real name De’Kari). Their lives gradually unfold in readable free verse and as readers come to understand them, and both Eb and Flow begin to realize they share a lot in common, ultimately reaching détente in this plausible and moving novel.
Eb & Flow
Starla Jean, self-proclaimed chicken expert, and her neighbor Nate, solve the mystery of a bunch of beads they find while walking in their neighborhood. This third book about Starla Jean and her pet chicken, Opal Egg, stands alone. Young readers may want to find other books about this endearing if somewhat quirky character. (She debuted in Starla Jean with a continued adventure in Starla Jean Takes the Cake.
Starla Jean Cracks the Case
A girl’s time with her grandfather, Papa, is always special. One day while playing music together in the park, they meet one of Papa’s old friends. Mr. Blue lives outside which concerns the girl. Ultimately, they invite Mr. Blue home for a meal and a memorable musical jam session. Textured illustrations are detailed, creating a gentle tone that accompanies the moving story.
Hello, Mister Blue
Evergreen is a timid young squirrel who is frightened to take soup to ailing Granny Oak. But as Evergreen confronts and overcomes each obstacle, her confidence grows. Line and wash illustrations by a Caldecott medalist and short chapters are humorous but with more serious themes of kindness and bravery.
Evergreen
Doggo and Pupper try to help their housemate, cat, adjust to the new bed. But change isn’t easy and “finding cozy” can be tough, too. Each generously illustrated short chapter provides a glimpse into this trio’s friendship and relatable experiences — and a chuckle or so. Although this is the third book in the Doggo and Pupper series, it stands alone and is just as engaging as the first books.
Doggo and Pupper Search for Cozy
Though he enjoys music and company, Walter, a crocodile, is painfully shy and prefers staying just below the surface. Until one day, he finds his voice to help his friend turtle from being tossed around by big birds. Expressive illustrations, almost translucent, evoke Walter’s watery world and the joy in finding one’s voice.
Walter Finds His Voice: The Story of a Shy Crocodile
A large rotund creature (an owl?) awaits a visitor. The arrival of a thin salamander-like visitor toting a shopping cart offers the big guy a cake, a bouquet of flowers, and a wrapped box, each of which are consumed in one gulp. When the gift giver is picked up — gasp! — surprisingly, he is given a big smooch and a cup of peppermint tea. Few words are needed in this quirky, unique, and very funny tale of friendship.
Perfect Presents
Meet Frank, a small alien from Xob. Frank is small, square, and green just like all of those from Xob. Frank is astonished when he visits Earth and finds such differences in the small creatures. Readers will enjoy what Frank learns and takes back to Xob in staccato text and simple but expressive illustrations that appear to be watercolor on textured paper.
Meet Frank
A kind crocodile roars to help animals from a small mouse to a huge rhino when they’re chased by a fierce enemy. They in turn help it when the croc is threatened the critters come together to help it. Humorous, textured illustrations on horizontal pages highlight the croc’s tale.
Kind Crocodile
Princess Lina isn’t like other girls. She is a Windtamer who controls the wind and lives in a palace in the clouds. But she isn’t like other Windtamers, either, since her dad is a Groundling (a human) and her wind powers have a knack for turning icy cold. When Lina convinces her parents to let her go to her best friend Claudia’s human school, her powers really get out of whack, creating icicles in the classroom and snowdrifts in the gym. Written as Lina’s diary, this book touches on issues of feeling different, making friends and coming into your own and embracing what makes you special.
Snow Place Like Home
When Ping admits that he is the only child in China unable to grow a flower from the seeds distributed by the Emperor, he is rewarded for his honesty.
The Empty Pot
A fairytale about a boy who meets a fairy who can’t hear very well. He learns the importance of clear communication and the golden rules for talking to someone who is deaf or hard of hearing.