The nominees for the 2025 Harvey Awards have been announced. These awards recognize the best in comics in the previous year in a variety of categories. Here are the nominees in the juvenile categories:
A little girl enjoys early morning because it’s so quiet. But soon it’s getting busy and noisy even in their house. Outside more noises are added as the city wakes up. Happily, she has some quiet places around the house to retreat to and spend time alone. She even has a spot at school. The world, especially a city, can be a lot of noise and people, but even then she can find ways to find quiet. It could be a hand to hold or a song to hum. So when she finds another child at a birthday party who can’t take the noise, she knows just how to help.
Told in the first person, this picture book shares proactive ways that children and families can help when someone is experiencing sensory overload. The little girl does not share a diagnosis, keeping the story focused on her personal experience and ways she finds her quiet place throughout the day and in various settings. The illustrations show the noise as red lines coming from various parts of the room. The little girl’s emotions are shown clearly and help share her experience.
A little quiet book just right for those who need some space. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Chronicle Books.
My Abuela Is a Bruja by Mayra Cuevas, illustrated by Lorena Alvarez Gómez (9780593480632)
A little girl’s Abuela is magical in everything that she does and the girl wants to grow up to have the same magic and learn her secrets. Her grandmother is an island bruja, knowing all the secret paths and hidden waterfalls. Her grandmother is a garden bruja, able to get plants growing happily in sun and shade. She is a dancing bruja and a kitchen bruja, making savory and sweet. The little girl wishes for her own bruja magic and her grandmother assures her that she comes from a long line of magical women and already has magic of her own.
I particularly enjoyed the idea of a grandmother being a witch turning into the beauty and knowledge of an older woman taking care of a child. This book celebrates that there is magic in small things like dancing, exploring nature, eating good food and spending time together. The illustrations are lush and colorful, evoking Puerto Rico with a delightful playfulness.
A magical and down-to-earth read perfect for grandmothers to share. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers.
CeeCee was first called Cecelia, then Celia and finally CeeCee, but she remembered the name her mother had given her. She was a slave on a plantation in Maryland, working constantly though the daughters of the house never worked. CeeCee longed to learn to read and when she was caught looking at books was punished by being locked in the attic. It was after one of those incidents that she learned from the plantation cook about Moses, who could lead her to freedom. After months of preparation and planning, CeeCee put her plan in action.
Told with simple frankness, this picture book demonstrates the power of names, the way changing names was used to dehumanize enslaved people, and the importance of connection to one’s family even when pulled apart. Using the structure of the Cinderella story works particularly well. The digital illustrations capture the emotions of each moment on the page, inviting readers to experience them too.
This adult science fiction novella tells the story of a crew of robots who awaken from being turned off to find that the restaurant they had been working in has been abandoned. The world around them has changed too with more destruction and fewer other stores in the area. As the four robots begin to think about what they want for themselves and their own future, they decide to open a biang biang noodle shop. Along the way, they face more than their share of anti-robot hatred but they also learn that they have created a larger community willing to stand with them.
With its focus on robots and found family, this novella will resonate with an older YA or new adult audience. The length is enticing and the cover is a colorful riot of noodles, San Francisco and robots. The book has lots of heart, almost no violence and is set in a vivid world of conscious legal contracts, sentient robots with limited civil rights, and a colorful cast of human and robot characters.
A cozy SF novella food, family and San Fran. Appropriate for ages 16+.
The 2025 shortlists for the Wainwright Prizes have been announced. The UK awards encompass both adult and juvenile titles that celebrate nature, conservation and environmental writing. In 2025, the awards expanded, particularly in children’s publishing. Here are the shortlists for the juvenile categories:
This wordless picture book shares a day in the life of a mother and son who are unhoused. The boy goes to school and is picked up afterwards by his mother. They live in an unnamed city and he shares his news of his day as they walk to get dinner. After dinner, they spend the rest of their evening together in the library doing homework and reading. Once the library is closed, they head to a park where the boy sleeps on the bench, his head in his mother’s lap as she keeps watch through the night. The boy brushes his teeth in a drinking fountain, changes clothes and then is off to another day at school.
This book is immensely moving and powerful. There is such dignity to their day together, such effort in keeping her son safe and such a strong connection between the two of them. All of that is shared in images alone, speaking from the page through their interaction, their body language and their time together. It is haunting, beautiful and a call to action. Ransome is one of our greatest picture book creators and this one is one of his best.
Powerful and full of heart, this picture book doesn’t let you look away from those in need of housing. Appropriate for ages 5-9.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Nancy Paulsen Books.
Count upwards in Spanish as a family gathers to eat menudo, a Mexican soup, together. The counting grows from 1 small casita to 7 warm tortillas to a theft of treats that leads to a chase by the dogs. Just as the food is being carried to the table, the dogs and children run through and there is a terrible crash. No one is hurt, but the platter is shattered into 15 pieces. After 1 deep breath, it is time to fix the damage and start again, counting upwards as they all work together to get dinner on the table.
So many counting books don’t have a storyline, but this one does. It’s a story of a family that works together even when things get tough to support one another, fix problems and share food. Every page brims with their love for one another. A Spanish glossary is offered at the end along with some tips for hosting your own menudo gathering. The illustrations capture the same warmth as the story itself, using merry bright colors in pinks, yellows, oranges and blues.
A comforting culinary counting book. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Penguin Young Readers.
Waking Brain Cells 