Although Bernard Waber passed away in 2013 (at 91!), he's left quite the literary legacy – most especially his beloved, readily recognized Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile! series with almost a dozen titles. This, his latest, pubbed posthumously, invoking his signature gentle, emotive style, starring a young girl and her...
Just look at that cover! Clearly, the emergency room beckons! Even as you already know what not to do as a parent, these things ...
A mother and her toddler son, cuddled together in a cushy chair, are surrounded by soft summer breezes and warm fading light. Together, they read their bedtime book, as the boy is about to drift off to slumberland. While the mother reads aloud, her heart promises...
Grace Lin’s 'not exactly the same’-twins debuted in 2010, then 'shared a birthday’ a couple of years later, and had 'twice as silly’ adventures together. Five years since they arrived on bookshelves everywhere, they're still Together in All Weather – and yes, they're as whimsically captivating as...
Today is the third title by Canadians Eric Walters and Eugenie Fernandes that captures real-life events from Walters' The Creation of Hope complex in Kenya. Together, Walters and Fernandes have become quite the dynamic duo in developing an effective series showcasing the inspiring, courageous stories of resilient, caring children...
Winter is quickly settling around us ...
I'm warning you right up front: get the tissues ready. A tweenage boy forced to live away from his family just after his father's death, a baby bear who has lost his mother, evil-doers bent on suffering and destruction, complicit everyday people made desperate by circumstances – yes, Moon...
I admit it: I'm not much of a dinosaur fan – on the page, anyway. Far too many books starring these behemoth beings seem to loom over my desk. That said, every once in a (long) while, I discover an irresistible prehistoric beast with a story that...
*STARRED REVIEW Says a grateful admirer to Joseph and his unlikely traveling companion, “You boys. You got some kind of courage.” In the Wild West of 1890 Washington State, Joseph, not yet 13, has lost his mother and sister to typhoid and his father to a...
One fine Saturday a father and son visit a new library together for the first time. While his father explores “the grown-up shelves,” the boy enjoys story hour, makes a new friend, and discovers today’s library is even more than a treasure trove of books....
Within mere months, four memoirs – including Stars – by North Korean women hit U.S. shelves: Hyeonseo Lee’s The Girl with Seven Names and Eunsun Kim’s A Thousand Miles to Freedom debuted in July; Yeonmi Park’s In Order to Live hit in September; and Stars...
New Yorker-by-way-of-Texas Kate Gavino goes to a lot of book readings in and around NYC's boroughs, "and even [in] New Jersey." While some might go seeking "an autograph ...
Oh, oh, oh. What a perceptive, thoughtful, gorgeous gift are these pages. Yes, if books have a soul, this would be it – not to mention history, context, and universal appeal bound in as well. Guyanese British poet/playwright/children's writer John Agard 'transcribes' the story of Book over the centuries and...
"SHHHH! Quiet." Because Roger is not only reading, he's reading a book. A book. Oh, for the love of books, this is the perfect book for book lovers of all ages. Yes, Roger is reading. Or trying to, anyway. He's got a spotlight illuminating the pages just so,...
Sweden's Stieg Larsson died of a heart attack in 2004, but his internationally famed, mismatched hacker/journalist duo are proving to be immortal. Yes, Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are back in a fourth installment of what is now the Millennium series (a 'trilogy' no more) with a new writer, Swedish journalist and...
Google "meditation health benefits" pretty much any time and you'll always get news articles just a few hours old touting improved mind/body results. We've all seen the headlines, heard about the latest reports, and yet SOME of us remain stubbornly resistant, especially those concerned about...
*STARRED REVIEW Suzy and Franny met in a pool back when "making a friend, and having one, seem[ed] like the easiest thing in the world." But just before seventh grade, Franny – who could already swim underwater at age 5 – is dead by drowning. Smart, logical, full-of-facts...
Davis knows that every kid will "get boiled down to only one adjective…. It's decided. There. Permanent." Among his closest friends, Ellen is Mean, while Sophie is Pretty. Davis is "the Fat one, but everyone calls [him] husky." He hopes to escape his adjective, but being...
*STARRED REVIEW "The word fat makes some people uncomfortable," Willowdean Dickson remarks. Called Dumplin’ by her mother, Will insists that fat is "not an insult." She's comfortably self-aware, buoyed by her late aunt, whom she still deeply mourns, and her picture-perfect best friend. When she introduces herself...
*STARRED REVIEW Nicola Yoon’s superb debut begins and ends with books. Stories are how 18-year-old Madeline has survived with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency – "you know it as 'bubble baby disease’" – in her sanitized world that includes only her doctor mother and a nurse. She's been content...
