Dear Substitute by Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick; illus. by Chris Raschka Primary Disney-Hyperion 40 pp. 6/18 978-1-4847-5022-3 $17.99 With her regular teacher out sick (we glimpse a feverish Mrs. Giordano on the copyright page), a little girl in brown pigtails writes a series of letters throughout her school day, beginning: “Dear Substitute, / Wow. […]
Reviews of 2018 Mind the Gap Award winners
July 26, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Not all deserving books bring home ALA awards. Our annual Mind the Gap Awards pay tribute to our favorite books that didn’t win. Here’s how we reviewed our 2018 winners. Windows by Julia Denos; illus. by E. B. Goodale Preschool, Primary Candlewick 32 pp. g 10/17 978-0-7636-9035-9 $15.99 “At the end of the day, before […]
Review of Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams
July 25, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams by Lesa Cline-Ransome; illus. by James E. Ransome Primary, Intermediate Wiseman/Simon 48 pp. 7/18 978-1-4814-7684-3 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-1-4814-7685-0 $10.99 Wife-and-husband team Cline-Ransome and Ransome celebrate tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, focusing on their formative childhoods and the way their preparation and talent fundamentally changed […]
Review of Look at the Weather
July 18, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Look at the Weather by Britta Teckentrup; illus. by the author; trans. from the German and adapted by Shelley Tanaka Intermediate Owlkids 152 pp. g 4/18 978-1-77147-286-9 $19.95 “We have such a strong connection to weather, we can’t help but wonder about it.” Across the next 150-plus pages, Teckentrup’s words and illustrations embody this connection, […]
Review of The Party and Other Stories
July 17, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Party and Other Stories [Fox + Chick] by Sergio Ruzzier; illus. by the author Preschool, Primary Chronicle 46 pp. 4/18 978-1-4521-5288-2 $14.99 In a volume with a picture book’s trim size but plenty of graphic-novel elements (simply structured panels, dialogue balloons, sound effects), Ruzzier delivers three stories well suited to both reading newcomers and […]
Review of They Say Blue
July 16, 2018 by Leave a Comment
They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki; illus. by the author Primary Abrams 40 pp. 3/18 978-1-4197-2851-8 $17.99 A girl considers the wondrousness of the world around her, prompted by the colors she encounters throughout her day. While at the beach, she gazes across the water (“They say the sea is blue…But when I hold the […]
Review of The Book of Boy
July 11, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock; illus. by Ian Schoenherr Intermediate, Middle School Greenwillow 278 pp. 2/18 978-0-06-268620-6 $16.99 e-book ed. 978-0-06-268622-0 $7.99 Secundus is a pilgrim. A child, known simply as Boy, is a goatherd. Together they travel, master and servant, from France to Rome in the Holy Year of 1350. Each […]
Review of A Big Mooncake for Little Star
July 9, 2018 by Leave a Comment
A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin; illus. by the author Preschool, Primary Little, Brown 40 pp. g 8/18 978-0-316-40448-8 $17.99 Little Star and her mother bake a mooncake, the sweet treat associated with the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. The ingredients for their super-sized mooncake cover a mammoth table, because these two make their […]
Review of Rebound
July 5, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Rebound by Kwame Alexander; illus. by Dawud Anyabwile Intermediate, Middle School Houghton 414 pp. 4/18 978-0-544-86813-7 $16.99 In this prequel to Alexander’s Newbery Medal–winning The Crossover (rev. 5/14), it’s the summer of 1988, and twelve-year-old Charlie Bell would rather roller-skate with his two best friends or escape into the pages of his beloved Fantastic Four […]
Review of Water Land: Land and Water Forms Around the World
June 27, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Water Land: Land and Water Forms Around the World by Christy Hale; illus. by the author Primary, Intermediate Porter/Roaring Brook 32 pp. 5/18 978-1-250-15244-2 $17.99 Die-cuts serve both useful and playful purpose in this introduction to Earth’s various meetings of water and landforms. A boy idyllically fishes on a small pond while a girl plays […]
