A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard SelectionFrom critically acclaimed artist Elizabeth Zunon, a picture book about one boy on a journey to deliver salt across the desert-a journey that will reveal the precious rock’s true value.In the Sahara, salt is worth its weight in gold. When Malik is finally old enough to join his father’s caravan, transporting salt across the long trade route to Timbuktu, he can’t wait to prove himself worthy of this big responsibility.Over the long and difficult route, the boy will discover that salt does far more than just preserve and flavor food. With its essential roles in trade, ritual, civilizations, and even our bodies, salt sustains life. Most important of all, Malik discovers his own self-confidence as he grows from a novice to a future leader of his salt caravan.This gorgeous, awe-inspiring picture book celebrates the remarkable journey that salt takes, the connections forges, and its power to nourish us.

Salish people followed a seasonal calendar that is reflected in their names for each month. Activities marked the resources and gifts of each season. Many of these traditional activities continue today among families and in the community. Author Jennifer Greene celebrates the cultural activities of each month through sonnets that share reverence, delight, and joy.Complementing the monthly sonnets is the extraordinary original art of Antoine Sandoval. Choosing to make each month unique, Antoine chose a different style and medium for each separate illustration. The result is magical!An illustrated glossary at the end of the book provides meaning and explanation.

A boy, his family, and other resort guests must fight for their lives after the animals around them turn feral, in this fast-paced adventure survival story!Experience paradise, reimagined.When 17-year-old Femi Fatona and his older brother are forced to accompany their dad to an island resort, Femi is not looking forward to it. After all, he hasn’t exactly been getting along with either of them lately. Not much is known about the resort they’ll be staying at, as it’s on a newly-discovered island and shrouded in nondisclosure agreements, but at least it promises to be full of all the extravagant luxuries they’re used to.Once they arrive, Femi is thrilled to find that the island is bursting with new and spectacular species of plants and animals. But he soon realizes that sometimes pretty exteriors hide ugly truths―truths that are begging to come to light.But those truths come with a price. And, when the island is thrown into chaos from animals suddenly becoming feral, what was meant to be a peaceful bonding experience quickly becomes the stuff of nightmares. Femi will have to put aside tension with his family and work with other guests, in order to escape the animals, the island, and his own guilt at the part he may have played in all of it.

A girl discovers a connection between her home in the Philippines and her new home in the U.S. through a special garden in this middle grade novel that celebrates nourishment and growth.Twelve-year-old Isabel is the new kid in her San Francisco middle school. It’s the first time in many years that she’ll be living with her mother again. Mama’s job in the US allowed Isabel and her grandparents to live more comfortably in the Philippines, but now Isabel doesn’t really know her own mother anymore.Making new friends in a new city, a new country, is hard, but joining the gardening and cooking club at school means Isabel will begin to find her way, and maybe she too, will begin to bloom.In this beautifully rendered novel-in-verse, Mae Respicio explores how growth can take many forms, offering both the challenges and joy of new beginnings.

From the PW Flying Starts creative force, Gracey Zhang, comes a touching and beautiful story about community, finding your own voice, doing what you love the most, and expressing your passion with FORTE!Rubin loves the beautiful sounds that are played by the orchestra. He wants to learn to play the violin and make his own music. But when Rubin plays, it doesn’t sound like he imagines it should. Rubin goes into the forest to practice alone and despite only getting the violin to screech, he finds an unlikely audience that loves his unique style.In another inspiring and lyrical picture book that deftly dives into the psyche and heart of a child’s viewpoint and experience, the creator of Lala’s Words, Gracey Zhang, offers confidence to everyone who longs to master something that can be difficult and shows that there is only one way to do something right: that is to do it your own special way.This is the next book from one of today’s most gifted young creators. Zhang is a Publishers Weekly’s Spring 2021 Children’s Flying Starts creator and her debut, Lala’s Words, was the 2022 EJK Award Winner, with endless praise: “Little Lala helps the weeds in the vacant lot blossom into full, gorgeous plants just by talking to them and showing them a little love. This picture book is breathtaking, and Zhang’s use of color really helps the story come alive. It’s like a modern inverse of The Giving Tree.” — Paul Swydan, The Silver Unicorn Bookstore

For young bird-watchers and enthusiasts of the natural world comes a beautiful, eye-opening picture book about the familiar but ever-surprising crow.Crows may not have flashy feathers, beautiful songs, or fancy flying skills, but if a crow looks at you with its small, round eye, you can be sure that it’s thinking, as these birds have very big brains. Did you know that crows will use a stick to poke into a crevice to tease out tasty bugs? Or that they like to play like kids by tumbling down a snowy roof? Or that they remember where they hide their food—but sometimes only pretend to bury a treat to fool other birds? Original and accessible, with Chris Butterworth’s welcoming text and gorgeous, expressive artwork from Olivia Lomenech Gill, Clever Crow is sure to generate newfound respect for these unassuming creatures that young readers come across every day.

On the eastern plains of Taiwan, a young girl and her mother pick wild greens before a rainstorm drenches them and their garden. When she goes to pull at the roots of a spiky, stalky weed, she learns that the plant is not what it seems. A lyrical story that shows young readers how to appreciate the bounty of nature and the beauty of identity.Chinese and Pinyin translations are included in pages and backmatter features additional information on the indigenous Amis people of Taiwan. An Own Voices, Own Stories award winner and Junior Library Guild Selection

When Manny Wolf sees an ad in the paper announcing “Wolf Wanted” he responds right away, only to realize the company is looking for a real wolf. Luckily for Manny, so many wolves respond to the ad that he is hired to answer all the letters. As Manny reads between the lines of the wolves’ letters, with their glowing descriptions of themselves, he realizes that all the applicants are famous fictional wolves! Finding no suitable candidates, Manny finally rewrites the ad, clarifying that a real wolf is needed so that a documentary can be made to show people what real wolves are like and how different they are from their big, bad fictional counterparts. Mixing fantasy and reality with zany illustrations, this hilarious story highlights the very serious risk of the extinction of wolves worldwide.

Three cousins venture through time to 1862 where they must deliver their aunt’s mysterious sword to General Ignacio Zaragoza in time for the Battle of Puebla in Mexico.