Here is a small selection of titles dropping on September, from Board Books to Middle Grade, I am very glad to say that there are several nonfiction books about nature, I love those!
10 Dogs by Emily Gravett (Author)
We recently reviewed a colorful count-to-ten board book by the same author, featuring cats.
I have to say that his one is way more interesting in its development: all dogs are different shapes, from Dachshund to Dalmatian, they vary in both color and sizes and they hilariously romp around fighting for ten sausages in a great big, colorful mess that can entertain toddlers by pointing out the details and expression on their faces.
10 Dogs is on sale since September 19th, 2023
Publisher: Boxer Books
Pages: 32
EAN/UPC: 9781914912597
For the Dragons Love Tacos lovers here is a board book about the delicious food:
Dragon’s First Taco by Adam Rubin (Author) and Daniel Salmieri (Illustrator)
Little Dragon doesn’t know where to start to make his first taco, luckily, the authors of this book will show him that:
1 Everything starts by folding a tortilla
2 There are myriads of ways to go about making tacos
3 Of course, this means that they are going to be delicious, and, when the dragon takes his very first bite, he will wholeheartedly agree.
Dragon’s First Taco is on sale since September 26, 2023.
Published by Dial Books
Hardcover | Pages: 16
ISBN: 9780593533178
How about some Dim Sum for early readers?
Dim Sum Palace by X. Fang
Tacos or Dim Sum? It’s a hard choice, one, luckily, no one has to make, as these delicious foods are now appreciated worldwide.
X. Fang has managed to homage to Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen and make it perfectly Asian, I think it is a lovely choice for a picture book.
Lily, as Mickey does, is asleep when she falls through a kitchen and ends up not –baked-in-a-cake but inside a dumpling, a dumpling so delicious looking that it is fit for an Empress.
Here are dumplings, baos, buns, and more delicious treats than one girl can possibly eat, all cunningly depicted in the endpapers.
Dim Sum Palace is on sale since September 12, 2023
Published by Tundra Books (NY)
Hardcover | Pages: 48
ISBN: 9781774881989
Now, nonfiction field guides and interesting books about bugs, fungi, and trees:
What’s Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon?: And Other Questions About Moths & Butterflies by Rachel Ignotofsky (Author)
Rachel Ignotofsky is the author and illustrator of Women in Science and Women in Art, both treasures of mine.
In this profusely illustrated book, infographics meet art, and the differences and similarities of butterflies and moths come to light.
Metamorphosis is the same but cocoons and chrysalis differ, and the munching caterpillars are delightfully drawn. As obsessed as I am with the Caterpillar Lab, I would say this is very basic information, but OK to start with.
What’s Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon? is on sale since September 05, 2023.
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 48
EAN/UPC: 9780593176573
Fungi come next:
Hello Fungi: A Little Guide to Nature by Nina Chakrabarti (Author)
This pocket guidebook for children is lovingly illustrated and has tons of information.
Fungi are very important in the biosphere, and they are unique organisms, in a kingdom all of their own. The sheer variety and functions they fulfill in Nature is outstanding, and the precious illustrations come accompanied by their correct nomenclature.
They include glow-in-dark fungi, strong smelly fungi, and the most colorful, randomly shaped ones. The activities are well thought out, and they correctly advise to never pick one in the forest, as many are poisonous and it requires a lot of training to be able to spot the right ones.
Hello Fungi is on sale since September 19, 2023.
Publisher: Laurence King
Hardcover Pages: 48 pages
EAN/UPC: 9781510230460
From the same author comes a book about Northern trees:
Hello Trees: A Little Guide to Nature by Nina Chakrabarti (Author)
This is another pocket guidebook for kids, aimed at Western kids for the most part, as the cycle described and the portentous trees you can find are mostly found in the Northern Hemisphere.
The descriptions are pretty accurate, from seed to sapling, how trees come together to support each other in forests, and how seeds fly away or have spiky thorns in order to disperse. There are a few non-western trees, such as coconuts, ginkgoes, and baobabs, but I would have loved more Amazon rainforest trees, for instance.
Leaf gathering is also Western-oriented. In fairness, some of the oldest and the tallest trees from around the world are represented and I loved the detailed illustrations up-close of different seeds.
Hello Trees is on sale since September 19, 2023.
Publisher: Laurence King
Hardcover Pages: 48 pages
EAN/UPC: 9781510230484
Finally, a lovely translation from Japanese, geared to Middle Grade:
The House of the Lost on The Cape by Sachiko Kashiwaba Illustrations by Yukiko Saito Translated from the Japanese by Avery Fischer Udagawa
Last year I discovered this author and was fascinated by her. Think Diana Wynne Jones, and as famous as she was, but with a firm grip on storytelling and Japanese folklore, interspersed with contemporary mystery fiction, it is a powerful combination.
The idea of assuming another identity and escaping your destiny is one that has always fascinated me, and it is what happens to Yui, -fleeing her violent husband-, and Hiyori, a young orphan-, in the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
They are taken in by a kind old lady named Kiwa in the small town of Kitsunezaki.
The weird new family finds refuge in a mayoiga, a lost house, perhaps a dainty and supernatural place, filled with the same magic Kiga knows from the local folktales, delightfully retold inside the book. Yokai abound in these as well.
Soon, sinister events start happening around town, and it is up to the three of them to fight the supernatural, with magic helpers of course!
I would love to get to watch the Anime adaptation as well.
The House of the Lost on the Cape is on sale since September 19, 2023.
Publisher: Yonder
Hardcover Pages: 224 pages
EAN/UPC: 9781632063373
