A rabbit and a squirrel are alone and lonely, each wishing for a friend. Obviously they’d be perfect friends for each other. But as they go through their day, they keep missing each other, each totally oblivious to the other’s presence. When they finally—and literally—bump into each other, each has found a friend at last. Young children will enjoy being smarter and more observant than these silly characters and will also rejoice at their success.
Picture Book
I Wait
The simple story, written in Cree and English and accompanied by rich acrylic illustrations, shows the patience, love and humor involved as three generations accommodate one another on a family outing.
Esteban De Luna, Baby Rescuer!
With whimsical illustrations by Alex Pardo DeLange that depict a kind and compassionate boy, this charming bilingual picture book for children ages 4-8 will generate dialogue about what it means to be a boy while broadening the definition of masculinity to include tenderness and caring.
Carrot And Pea: An Unlikely Friendship
Colin is tall. He’s orange. He’s a carrot! He’s nothing like Lee, a round green pea. He can’t do any of the things Lee and his pea pals can do. How can Colin and Lee ever be friends? A charming celebration of embracing differences and standing out in a crowd.
The Fox Wish
This charming story follows two children who go looking for their jump rope and discover that a group of foxes have claimed it as an answer to their wish. With beautiful, classic illustrations and lyrical text, here is a subtle, sensitive piece of magic that proves to sisters, brothers, and foxes alike that the trusted familiar often lives right next to the truly extraordinary—if only you have the eyes to see it.
The Language of Angels
In 1885, few Jews in Israel used the holy language of their ancestors, and Hebrew was in danger of being lost—until Ben Zion and his father got involved. Through the help of his father and a community of children, Ben modernized the ancient language, creating a lexicon of new, modern words to bring Hebrew back into common usage. Historically influenced dialogue, engaging characters, and colorful art offer a linguistic journey about how language develops and how one person’s perseverance can make a real difference.
The Little Doctor
In this engaging bilingual picture book for children ages 4-8, a young Salvadoran boy dreams of becoming a doctor who speaks both English and Spanish so that patients like his beloved grandmother aren’t afraid to visit the doctor. Paired with lively, colorful illustrations by Victoria Castillo, this book will encourage children to think about their own futures as well as the role their culture can play in helping the community.
Welcome to My House
First words are everywhere you look, especially in a house! This visually striking picture book catalogs an impressive array of household items, naming the delightful miscellany that comprises a life. The charming collections are creative and unexpected, providing the sweetest of visual snapshots that reinforce word recognition and understanding. In addition to the everyday kitchen, living room, and garden items, there are surprising and smart illustrated spreads featuring “everything for resting,” “everything for warming up,” and “everything that gets lost.” Plus, a seek-and-find element (a hiding cat!) offers bonus amusement. Children will savor the delicate illustrations of things they are learning to recognize, things they are discovering every day, and things they will cherish and use as they grow.
The Curiosity Cabinet
Ian Wallace, one of Canada’s best-known children’s book creators, invites us to look inside his cabinet of curiosities, which contains treasures from his decades of traveling the country from sea to sea to sea, sharing stories with young readers.
Only In My Hometown
The northern lights shine, women gather to eat raw caribou meat and everyone could be family in this ode to small-town life in Nunavut, written in English and Inuktitut. Sisters Angnakuluk Friesen and Ippiksaut Friesen collaborate on this story about what it’s like to grow up in an Inuit community in Nunavut. Every line about the hometown in this book will have readers thinking about what makes their own hometowns unique. With strong social studies curriculum connections, Only in My Hometown introduces young readers to life in the Canadian North, as well as the Inuit language and culture.