If, after viewing this cover, you're not already half in love with this book and its topic, capybaras, then there may be no hope for your soul. Text ©Mike Allegra Illustration ©Jaimie Whitbread The rainforest was alive with squeaks, squawks, grunts, growls, hisses, harrumphs, and frenetic feather-and-fur-flying fury. It was quite the rumpus. No one … Continue reading Sleepy Happy Capy Cuddles – Perfect Picture Book Friday
I'm all for personification in picture books, be they lyrical or humorous, and especially when they involve a mix of STEM and social and emotional learning (SEL) topics, like this one. Acorn was a wild little thing, pointy on one end and capped on the other. Text ©Jen Arena. Illustration ©Jessica Gibson He was the … Continue reading Acorn Was a Little Wild – Perfect Picture Book Friday
I usually try to review the latest and greatest or upcoming picture books here, but someone told me about this book awhile back, and, well, it's published by Neal Porter/Holiday House, and that usually means the reader is in for a treat. I missed this one when it came out in 2019, so I'm rectifying … Continue reading Hum and Swish – Perfect Picture Book Friday
As a country kid at heart, I identify with city-living Frances and her itch to DO THINGS! The problem is Text ©Liz Garton Scanlon. Illustration ©Sean Qualls City walls aren't for climbing and city cats aren't for catching. (Don't you just love that alliteration and assonance?) Text ©Liz Garton Scanlon. Illustration ©Sean Qualls City rooms … Continue reading Frances in the Country – Perfect Picture Book Friday
Mirelle Ortega, one of our featured authors at Kidquake this year, is also an illustrator whose debut picture book mirrors its title. It's magic! Let me tell you about the place I'm from, a faraway land brimming with magia. Powerful magic that twists and turns and touches everything around you. Text/Illustration ©Mirelle Ortega With those … Continue reading Magic: Once Upon a Faraway Land – Perfect Picture Book Friday
What can I say about a book that is so lyrical, so beautifully (and classically) illustrated, and holds up to read after read after read that there is nothing left to say? Well, I do have more to say: This is a story about Ruth Krauss, a child who always finds a way to be … Continue reading A Story Is to Share – Perfect Picture Book Friday
Welcome to Fall! And a new batch of book reviews, starting with this engaging interaction between grandparents and grandchild: Ada loves the stars, but she lives in the city, where the night sky is ALWAYS washed out by light, so it's a treat when she finally gets to visit her grandparents, Ama and Poobah, on … Continue reading Ada and the Galaxies – Perfect Picture Book Friday
Our truck against Dune 45 in the Namib Desert. It's hard to believe I started my #KidLit journey in 2012, nearly ten years ago. So I'm thrilled to announce: My debut nonfiction picture book, RIVER OF DUST: How North African Nutrients Nourish the Amazon, is now scheduled for release in July 2023. The manuscript sold … Continue reading Down Time and Book Update
In this fun, heart-filled book, a child is missing a special person who lives very far away. Their missing isn't sappy or sentimental. No. No. No, it isn't. It's expressed in a childlike way. Text ©Pat Zietlow Miller Illustration ©Suzy Lee Someday soon,I'll see you.Even thoughyou are there. Text ©Pat Zietlow Miller Illustration ©Suzy Lee … Continue reading See You Someday Soon – Perfect Picture Book Friday
Let's take a trip with this exuberant girl as she crosses back and forth over the great divide of her two cultures, and figures out just who she is: not one or the other, but a product of both. Text ©Jyoti Rajan Gopal. Illustration ©Supriya Kelkar Festive henna, garnet redBindis, bangles, desi queenFantasy hair,seafoam green...Which … Continue reading American Desi – Perfect Picture Book Friday
Jilanne Hoffmann 