Julie Roach
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Review of One Dark Bird
One Dark Bird by Liz Garton Scanlon; illus. by Frann Preston-Gannon Preschool Beach Lane/Simon 40 pp. 7/19 978-1-5344-0443-4 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5344-0444-1 $10.99 A small paragraph on the title page defines a murmuration (“a single-seeming mass [of birds] that performs coordinated acrobatic dances in the sky”) before using a counting-book...
Review of Sweeping Up the Heart
Sweeping Up the Heartby Kevin HenkesIntermediate, Middle School Greenwillow 184 pp. g3/19 978-0-06-285254-0 $16.99Library ed. 978-0-06-285255-7 $17.89e-book ed. 978-0-06-285257-1 $9.99The elegiac spirit of Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Bustle in a House” (from which this book’s title is taken) reverberates throughout Henkes’s story of people struggling to cope with love, loss,...
Board Book Roundup: Treasure Hunting in the Public Library
The parents, caregivers, and babies who visit the main branch of my public library love board books. They eat them up — sometimes literally. We keep the books jumbled in a long wooden bin that sits low to the floor on a cozy rug. Pre-walkers use the bin’s edge to...
Review of Friends and Foes: Poems About Us All
Friends and Foes: Poems About Us Allby Douglas Florian; illus. by the authorPrimary Beach Lane/Simon 48 pp.7/18 978-1-4424-8795-6 $17.99e-book ed. 978-1-4424-8796-3 $10.99This collection of twenty-five poems teases out many of friendship’s fundamentals, as well as its more nuanced complexities. Along with jealousy, bullies, and new and imaginary friends, the punchy...
Review of The Princess and the Pit Stop
The Princess and the Pit Stopby Tom Angleberger; illus. by Dan SantatPreschool, Primary Abrams 48 pp.7/18 978-1-4197-2848-8 $16.99With one lap to go in this fast-paced mashup of fairy tale and auto race, the Princess finds herself in last place after a pit stop. Undaunted, she once again takes off around...
Review of Bigger! Bigger!
Bigger! Bigger!by Leslie Patricelli; illus. by the authorPreschool Candlewick 32 pp. g5/18 978-0-7636-7930-9 $15.99In her previous picture books (Higher! Higher!, rev. 3/09; Faster! Faster!, rev. 3/12), this pigtailed adventurer has taken readers on wild and imaginative rides — swinging high into space; moving as fast as a cheetah. Here the...
Review of Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship
Rescue & Jessica:A Life-Changing Friendshipby Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes; illus. by Scott MagoonPrimary Candlewick 32 pp. g4/18 978-0-7636-9604-7 $16.99Rescue is disappointed to learn that he will not become a Seeing Eye dog. "That was hard for Rescue to hear. Helping people who can't see was the family business."...
Review of This Is the Nest That Robin Built
This Is the Nest That Robin Builtby Denise Fleming;
illus. by the authorPreschool, Primary Beach Lane/Simon 32 pp. g3/18 978-1-4814-3083-8 $17.99e-book ed. 978-1-4814-3084-5 $10.99A celebration of bits and pieces, of
process, and of creation, this picture book describes how a robin builds a nest, shown through collage art that mirrors...
Review of Buster and the Baby
Buster and the Babyby Amy Hest; illus. by Polly DunbarPreschool Candlewick 32 pp. g12/17 978-0-7636-8787-8 $15.99In a rhythmic text and lively art, a classic friendship story plays out through an extended game of hide-and-seek between a baby and a small white dog named Buster. Buster carefully determines the best hiding...