growing up

Finding My Dance

“In her debut picture book, professional Indigenous dancer Ria Thundercloud tells the true story of her path to dance and how it helped her take pride in her Native American heritage”–

Love Makes A Garden Grow

A young girl observes the bugs and blooms and the rich smell of the soil of her grandfather’s garden. Her grandfather hums as he waters his treasured plants. And when he gives the girl a flower of her own, caring for it teaches her to feel her grandfather’s love. Even as time passes and her grandfather’s garden grows smaller and the girl grows up, she never forgets what she learned or loses her closeness with her nurturing grandfather.

Brand New Boy

From the boundless imagination of David Almond comes a thought-provoking question, packaged in a lively illustrated chapter book: what if a robot went to school? When a new boy joins their class, everyone thinks he’s . . . odd. George doesn’t behave like other kids. He doesn’t think like other kids. But he’s great at football and snacking, and that’s what matters to Dan and Maxie and friends, who resolve to make George feel welcome. Over time, they learn that he’s just like them, in most ways, except one: George is a robot, part of an ambitious new experiment, with sinister people bent on destroying him. When his lab pulls him out of school, can George’s new friends recover him—and set him free? Told in David Almond’s signature rollicking narrative style, this poignant tale about what it means to be human, paired with warm and funny black-and-white illustrations, will inspire children to think and giggle in equal measure.

Dragonfly Eyes

Ah-Mei and her French grandmother, Nainai, share a rare bond. Maybe it’s because Ah-Mei is the only girl grandchild. Or maybe it’s because the pair look so much alike and neither resembles the rest of their Chinese family. Politics and war make 1960s Shanghai a hard place to grow up, especially when racism and bigotry are rife, and everyone seems suspicious of Nainai’s European heritage and interracial marriage. In this time of political upheaval, Ah-Mei and her family suffer much-and when the family silk business falters, they are left with almost nothing. Ah-Mei and her grandmother are resourceful, but will the tender connection they share bring them enough strength to carry through? This multigenerational saga by one of China’s most esteemed children’s authors takes the reader from 1920s France to a ravaged postwar Shanghai and through the convulsions of the Cultural Revolution.

The Gift

A warm, charming story is a perfect introduction to the joy of writing. Like Leo, young readers will discover how a simple utensil can express all the words in the world even one’s own name.

The Secrets Of Cricket Karlsson

Eleven-year-old Cricket Karlsson is a warm and complex character with an artistic soul. Written as a diary, tween readers will fall in love with Cricket’s tough yet charming voice as she shares her secret thoughts about her best friend break-up, her Aunt’s breakdown and experimental chewing gum sculptures. Punkish and surprising comic-style illustrations perfectly compliment this coming of age story

Bailey And Blanket

A heartwarming read-aloud about the special relationship between a child and their best friend in all the world . . . a soft, cozy blanket.

Everywhere Bailey goes, Blanket goes too. They love to adventure together. Until an uninvited guest joins the family picnic, and . . .disaster strikes.

What will life be like without Blanket? Determined to keep the duo on their path of adventure, Dad crafts a plan.

Lilting, lyrical text and comically detailed illustrations tell an uplifting tale about resilience, ingenuity and love.

The Family Tree

When her teacher gives her class a simple family tree assignment, Ada is stumped. How can she make her family fit into this simple template?

Ada is adopted. She can see where to put her parents on the tree, but what about her birth mom? Ada has a biological sister, but her sister has different adoptive parents — where do they go on the tree?

With the help of her friends and family, Ada figures it out. She creates her family tree . . . and so much more.