My Thoughts Have Wings by Maggie Smith; illus. by Leanne HatchPreschool, Primary    Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins    32 pp.2/24    9780063214583    $19.99“Not-so-good” thoughts flutter and flap around a child’s head at bedtime: “What if there are spiders in the house? What if I have a scary dream when I fall asleep?” Mom senses...

While it’s not without its callbacks to the original young adult trilogy, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes — adapted from Suzanne Collins’s bestselling 2020 prequel — intentionally feels worlds away from the version of Panem that fans are used to. Set sixty-four years before Katniss volunteers...

The Christmassy Cactus by Beth Ferry; illus. by A. N. KangPreschool, Primary    Harper/HarperCollins    40 pp.9/23    9780063039643    $18.99e-book ed.  9780063334342    $10.99Christmas trees get all the attention—why shouldn’t cacti get their own tinsel? Ferry inspires empathy for protagonist Tiny Cactus through a mutually adoring relationship between the plant and her young owner....