Focusing on mostly picture books, we have a lot of interesting proposals for March.
Doris by Lo Cole (Author)
This lovely red elephant doesn’t want to stand out and hates the attention, so she will romp from page to page, saying aloud: Stop looking at me! and trying to diffuse herself among the colorful fish, flowers, and colors she encounters.
I loved the layout, it is not as easy as you would think to play with inks and blend a red elephant from sight. I think toddlers will undoubtedly spot her and be proud, or you may discover your kid is struggling with color! That could also happen, as we discovered with our baby brother when he started shooting targets from his team on a computer game.
By the end of the book, Doris will discover what is it like to disappear completely, and the extrication of herself from anonymity (complicated words but visually presented simply) she will very much like to be noticed.
Doris is on sale since March 05, 2024
Publisher: Boxer books
Pages: 32 / Hardcover
EAN/UPC: 9781915801289
Up next, this kid wants to launch a paper plane:
Ready to Soar by Cori Doerrfeld (Author)
Riley wants to make his paper airplane soar, but all sorts of birds won’t let him!
They all have an opinion based on their various features: long wings, cute plumage, fancier trimmings… and, as bird after bird offers advice, you get it, the paper plane is wound to fail.
I think that this is one of the few examples of well-meaning unasked-for advice on a children’s book I’ve encountered lately. (There is a famous fairy tale story about a boy, his father, and a donkey and all the weird advice about riding it they get until they end up carrying the donkey on their backs, but apart from that…).
When the plane crashes to the ground after all these changes, Riley will find a surprisingly supportive friend and set his plane ready to soar.
Ready to Soar is on sale since March 12, 2024
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Pages: 40 / Hardcover
ISBN 9780593696729
Up next, are a couple of new releases by Lantana:
The Great Henna Party by Humera Malik (Author), Sonali Zohra (Illustrator)
These picture books are not for toddlers, but can be enjoyed from an early age read out loud by parents, or can be shared in class. Noor’s cousin is getting married tomorrow, and tonight, Noor’s family is holding a henna party in her honor.
Inspired by the traditional Indian and Asian customs, Noor will trawl around the house observing all of the joyous gatherings: the singing of traditional songs, and the delicious treats, and she will be instantly drawn to the henna decorations.
Henna is a traditional dye made of plants and, once painted on the skin, can last for a couple of weeks, it is a pastime, an elegant skin décor akin to jewelry, and a custom that has many meanings, including hiding the name of loved ones on the designs.
Noor should choose the most beloved, but she realizes that she loves all of the members of her family, how can she choose?
I would love to pair this book with a Henna artist or discuss a bit more about the patterns and designs, they seem so beautiful. Of course, Noor in the end will choose just right.
The Great Henna Party is on sale since March 5, 2024
Published by Lantana Publishing
Hardcover | Pages: 32
ISBN: 978-1915244604
My Momo-La is a Museum by Mamta Nainy (Author) and Violet Kim (Illustrator)
There is an exercise we seldom do but that our grandparents did a lot, which was sharing stories through objects. It requires time, and patience to explain to young kids why you treasure such trinkets, and of course, it also requires a trinket box.
I love the fact that the child leads on this one, and notices subtle things thanks to her tradition of sharing trinket’s stories with Momo-La, her grandmother.
Momo-La is a collector of unusual things. Little porcelain teacups, small pebbles of her Tibetan land, and her memories as a refugee. The conversation they have around them evolves when she takes them on a trip around the museums of the city.
Grandma wants to point out that there are stories hidden in each object of the museum, but the granddaughter is far more delighted when she can identify things in the Museum that remind her of her grandmother’s history. Maybe the best Museums are at home, with our loved ones and the keepsakes they carry.
My Momo-La is a Museum is on sale since March 05, 2024
Published: Lantana Publishing
Hardcover | Pages: 32
ISBN: 9781915244635
This is a sweet story about mending things and broken hearts:
Small Things Mended by Casey W. Robinson (Author) Nancy Whitesides (Illustrator)
A sad man called Cecyl lives alone with his dog and has a melancholy about him that is hard to pinpoint.
Through a little accident, he starts mending small things from the kids from his neighborhood: old watches, a music box, an elephant… and in doing so he begins to heal himself, although the connections are not very obvious.
Somehow the stuffed elephant is key because it invites him to open up, share the produce from his garden, accept little things to mend, and open himself to his community until he can mend a broken heart.
It is a story about togetherness that expects the best of people.
Small Things Mended is on sale since March 19, 2024
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Pages: 40 / Hardcover
EAN/UPC: 9780593529812
Now, the next books are nonfiction and are each special in their own way:
What’s Inside a Bird’s Nest? And Other Questions about Nature & Life Cycles by Rachel Ignotofsky (Author)
I’ve been a big fan of Rachel Ignotofsky ever since her first project: Women in Science, she has a distinct style and many books that are scientific and interesting in design at the same time. Last year we reviewed What’s inside a Caterpillar Cocoon and now comes the turn of birds and their nests.
The nests are so different, and the development of the eggs can be so varied, it must have been really hard for Ignotofsky to choose from so many species.
First, the nest, there are countless types of nests and all try to keep eggs inside safe, be it on top of a branch, on a cliffside, or in the ground. Then comes the hatching, learning how to fly, and developing as fully fledged birds, a lot of information is presented in a very entertaining way.
What’s Inside a Bird’s Nest? is on sale since March 05, 2024.
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 48 / Hardcover
EAN/UPC: 9780593176528
The Great Lakes: Our Freshwater Treasure by Barb Rosenstock (Author) Jamey Christoph (Illustrator)
This is a masterclass on nonfiction. The images are stunning, the text is poetic and scientifically accurate, and it invites you to take stock and take care of one of our most treasured resources: fresh water.
The biggest source of fresh water for America is The Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.
Described here as five blue jewels, the Great Lakes hold 21% of the world’s fresh water.
The journey starts with snow and the incredible giant icebergs that roamed North America before the continent was formed and continues following the stream and their interconnectedness until the present day. A single drop of water would require 100 years to travel from lake to river to lake, over Niagara Falls to lake and river again, and finally into the Atlantic Ocean.
The great question (and the suggestions listed in the afterword) is how to preserve this incredible source and the habitats it creates along its hydric system.
It is an invitation to fall in love with the lakes and a challenge to protect them, it even references how contaminated they were in the 70s.
The Great Lakes is on sale since March 19, 2024.
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 40 / Hardcover
EAN/UPC: 9780593374351
Lastly this lovely biography:
She Persisted: Pura Belpré by Chelsea Clinton (Author), Meg Medina (Author), Marilisa Jiménez García (Author), Alexandra Boiger (Illustrator), and Gillian Flint (Illustrator)
The tone and intention of the She Persisted books is geared towards middle grade and place a big emphasis on how different women persisted and overcame different hardships, making their lives an example to follow, the tone is colloquial and directed to the reader.
Pura Belpré is very important to Latino writers, she has a prize named after her that is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
She grew up in Puerto Rico surrounded by stories. When she moved to New York and was offered the chance to work at the New York Public Library, she jumped at the opportunity to share her stories with children, especially multilingual and multicultural children.
She wanted to bring Spanish and bilingual storytelling into the mainstream, and she succeeded by bringing books to libraries across the city and the country, she also wrote books and stories of her own to bring even more of her culture to people in North America.
The chance for Spanish speakers in New York to read in their language or to read bilingual books has much to do with her efforts, she changed the way libraries reach readers to this day.
She Persisted: Pura Belpré is on sale since September 05, 2023.
Publisher: Philomel Books
Pages: 96 / Hardcover
EAN/UPC: 9780593529096
