New & Noteworthy

Be a Tree

Abrams Books for Young Readers | 9781419744228   It’s spring now in the northern hemisphere and the trees are leafing out, bright and green. If you’re like me, you look forward to these months of new growth, birds chirping their morning and evening songs. Spring also means books. New books! I’ve been a fan of both Maria… Read more »

TINY BIRD: A Hummingbird’s Amazing Journey by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Wendell Minor

Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt | 978-1627793698   Whir! Zip! Zoom! Today is the day the Ruby-throated hummingbird will begin its amazing journey. As the protagonist of Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor’s newest book, TINY BIRD: A Hummingbird’s Amazing Journey, notices the change of season, so too, readers will feel a pull to leave the small, yet comforting northeastern… Read more »

THE STARKEEPER, written and illustrated by Faith Pray

Random House | 978-1984892706   “The world had been dark for a long time… Every morning, the girl fed the fish and waited for things to be different. But every morning, the world stayed the same.”   So begins THE STARKEEPER, written and illustrated by Faith Pray. Could there be a more perfect book for… Read more »

LOOKING FOR SMILE by Ellen Tarlow, illustrated by Lauren Stringer

LOOKING FOR SMILE  by Ellen Tarlow, illustrated by Lauren Stringer Beach Lane Books/S&S  | 978-1534466197   Each morning, Bear awoke to find his friend Smile nearby. They liked the same things – nuts and berries for breakfast, honey from a hive, splashing in a waterfall. They enjoyed the same adventures – “as long as they weren’t too… Read more »

BECOMING A GOOD CREATURE by Sy Montgomery, pictures by Rebecca Green

HMH Books for Young Readers | 978-0358252108   Two years ago I had the good fortune to hear author Sy Montgomery speak at the Charlotte Huck Children’s Literature Festival. I had read her picture book, KAKAPO RESCUE: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot (and included it in a RKZ post HERE), as well as other books, including INKY’S… Read more »

WOODLAND DREAMS by Karen Jameson, illustrated by Marc Boutavant

Chronicle Books | 978-1452170633 I’ve known author Karen Jameson since the mid-90s when we were both teachers at Peachland School in Newhall, California. The summer I moved from teaching upper grade students down to first grade, Karen took over the incoming class. Over the next 15 or so years, with each of us teaching different grades,… Read more »

“Princess Cora, are you being a good girl?”

  Who says being a princess is so great? Not Cora, the heroine of the silly, delightful book PRINCESS CORA AND THE CROCODILE (Candlewick Press), written by Laura Amy Schlitz and illustrated by Brian Floca. Cora’s tired of being good. Her nanny makes her take three baths a day and her mother makes her read… Read more »