family

3 Fabulous New Picture Books about Families

| Tasha

Everyday Bean by Stephanie Graegin (9781774886205)

In ten little stories, readers meet Bean, a very small hedgehog who lives with her Grandma. There is a story of Bean’s favorite blanket getting smaller as it is loved until it is finally a bandana. There are ghost stories that are entirely unscary. There is a tale of Clem, Bean’s favorite toy who keeps her safe from storms. Then there are stories of the delights of big boxes and jumping off of swings. 

Told with a winning simplicity that is entirely charming, this book is just right for other little ones with big imaginations and who love ghosts and strawberries. The illustrations are digital and are full of warmth and a timeless childhood feel. 

Terrific tales of a tiny hedgehog. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

The Family Tree by Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Fiona Lee (9781665948371)

Everyone in Penny’s family is always busy and never has time to slow down. They are always hurrying to the next thing until suddenly a tiny sprout appears on their kitchen floor. The sprout grows and becomes something they can’t ignore or rush past. Penny starts to water and care for the tree with help from her dog. Each day it gets more special and bigger with its roots going down into the earth. Soon it is a tree and everyone in the family makes room for it. But that’s not enough, and the house needs to be changed to accommodate the tree that is breaking through the roof. The tree has everyone in the family spending more time at home, slowing down and being together. Now they all feel at home, thanks to the tree. 

This book uses an astute way to speak to the rushing of modern life and families. The use of the tree as a form of physical connection and an invitation to slow down and be together with one another works particularly well. As it grows, it becomes a central feature, something to nurture, transforming their home. The illustrations are jaunty and playful, celebrating the tree, new connections and family joy. 

A picture book to savor with those you love. Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Beach Lane Books.

How to Grow a Family Tree by Bea Birdsong, illustrated by Jasu Hu (9780823453962)

Emmylou’s class is presenting their family trees. All of the others have lots of branches filled with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. For her, it’s just her and her mother. Her mother doesn’t like to talk about Emmylou’s grandparents or her father. Emmylou realizes that her neighbors are more like family to her. There is Mrs. Patel who shares her mango chutney, Mr. Li who taught Emmylou to ride a bike, and Rosa and her twins where they all watch out for one another. But those people don’t belong on a family tree, or do they?

Birdsong tells her story in brief text that captures Emmylou’s worry about class clearly. It also shows just as vividly her strong relationships with her neighbors, her found family. The illustrations, done in watercolor, are beautifully textured and deeply toned. They show Emmylou’s emotions roiling as her presentation comes closer as well as the warmth and connectivity of her neighborhood.

A brilliant picture book about how some families aren’t related to one another. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Edelweiss and Neal Porter Books.

3 Beautiful Picture Books Celebrating Black Lives

| Tasha

Fish Fry Friday by Winsome Bingham, illustrated by C. G. Esperanza (9781419766930)

In this companion book to Soul Food Sunday, a grandson gets to spend his day off of school with his grandmother fishing. She is known as a lucky charm at the pier and is one of the best fishers out there. Everyone cheers when she arrives and she waves like a queen. After the two catch all sorts of fish, each out declared his grandmother’s favorite, they head back home to clean and filet them. Next comes the batter and finally the real favorite, hushpuppies! 

This picture book is a celebration of how food brings people together and transcends generations. The joy of the two characters spending time together and loving one another is just as filling as the meal they create together. Children will love the time spent on the pier fishing as well as the time in the kitchen. Award-winning illustrator Esperanza captures the colorful characters and their cooking with energy and detail. 

A delicious addition to the soul food celebration. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Abrams Books for Young Readers.

The History of We by Nikkolas Smith (9780593619681)

This remarkably beautiful picture book tells the history of where human beings started, Africa. It is the story of where language began and where art started on cave walls and faces. It speaks to the creation of music and dance. It tells of survival, of invention, of building and planting. It was where people traveled from using their boats to cross watery divisions and to populate the world. It is our story, of our origins and the many gifts created in Africa.

Smith has crafted such beauty on these pages with his art. The paintings are done in acrylic and offer a gorgeous textural experience to the reader that creates depth and wonder. This book is a clear response to the erasure of Black history and the origins of humans as reflected in the author note. Throughout the book both in text and image, there is joy and pride. There is a richness in both as well, a focus on the achievements, the impacts and the importance of that history.

Beautiful and impactful, this book belongs in all libraries. Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

When I Hear Spirituals by Cheryl Willis Hudson, illustrated by London Ladd (9780823453801)

In a glorious combination of verse and lines from well-known African-American spirituals, this picture book soars. A young girl expresses what hearing spirituals does to her emotionally and readers are along for the journey. From tears to joy to wanting to dance to acknowledging heroes and movements of the past, this book explores the power of music to connect and convey.

The incorporation of a verse of a corresponding spiritual is particularly effective, allowing the book to be not just read aloud but sung aloud. The illustrations add to the emotional journey, using deep colors, famous African-American figures, and a connection to church.

A great introduction to spirituals as a music form or a celebration for those already familiar. Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-Be Best Friend by Dawn Quigley

| Tasha
Cover image for Jo Jo Makoons.

Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-Be Best Friend by Dawn Quigley, illustrated by Tara Audibert (9780063015371)

Boozhoo! Welcome to a new chapter book series featuring an Ojibwe girl. Jo Jo has two best friends. There is Mimi, her pet cat, who may need to be saved from having to get shots. Then there is Fern, her school best friend, who has been acting a lot more distant lately. Jo Jo lives on the Ojibwe reservation with her mother and grandmother. Because Mimi must get shots soon, Jo Jo tucks her into her bookbag and takes Mimi to school with her. At school, they have to do a rhyming exercise that Jo Jo doesn’t get quite right. But when she tries to hide Mimi in her shirt and Mimi escapes, Jo Jo suddenly speaks in rhymes much to her teacher’s surprise. With Fern not being overly friendly, Jo Jo realizes she needs to start making new friends besides Mimi, so Jo Jo tries following her grandmother’s advice and being friendly to everyone. But its’ not that easy!

Written with a ton of humor that will have you laughing out loud, readers will immediately love Jo Jo with her unique view of the world. She’s a girl who thinks that her gym teacher’s name is “Jim” and doesn’t realize that words spelled alike sometimes don’t rhyme at all. Meanwhile, she is a great friend, a great artist, and just has to find her own unique way through life.

Quigley’s writing is just right for a chapter book. It pairs well with the illustrations which show Jo Jo and her series of misadventures through a few days in her life. From the chaos of Mimi in class to Jo Jo’s humorous art style to her attempts to be more friendly, all are captured in the images with humor and empathy.

A look the life of a modern young Ojibwe with plenty of giggles. Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Heartdrum.

Tune It Out by Jamie Sumner

| Tasha

Tune It Out by Jamie Sumner

Tune It Out by Jamie Sumner (9781534457003)

Lou loves to sing, but she hates to perform. Truly hates it, complete with panic attacks. A large part of it is that she doesn’t deal well with loud noises, so applause causes her real distress. But Lou’s mother insists that Lou is their way out of the financial problems they are in. Currently living in their truck, Lou and her mother look for her big break when Lou performs at a local coffee shop. Just as things seem to be going their way though, an accident leads to social services discovering how Lou and her mother have been living. Soon Lou is being sent across the country to stay with an aunt and uncle she hasn’t seen since she was a young child. Enrolled in a fancy school, Lou misses her mother horribly even though she now has her own room, plenty to eat and adults who love her. With a new friend who insists she joins theater, Lou starts to see a new future for herself, though she’s not sure where her mother fits in.

The author of Roll with It returns with another story about a child with special needs. Lou’s sensory processing disorder plays a large role in the story and in the way that she feels about herself, too. From riding on planes to appearing on stage to letting her voice be heard, it is all more difficult for Lou. Lou’s special need is portrayed with empathy as is the homelessness that Lou and her mother experience and the other struggles that her mother faces.

Throughout the book there is a sense of hope, a feeling that there are adults around to help. Whether it is social workers, school counselors, teachers or relatives, Lou is surrounded by adults willing and able to help her move forward and make big decisions about her life. Still, while they lend a supportive hand, it is Lou who makes her own decisions, challenges herself, and finds her own unique path.

A deep look at a child with a disability, poverty and community. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Big Papa and the Time Machine by Daniel Bernstrom

| Tasha

Big Papa and the Time Machine by Daniel Bernstrom

Big Papa and the Time Machine by Daniel Bernstrom, illustrated by Shane W. Evans (9780062463319)

When a child doesn’t want to go to school because he’s scared and nervous, he talks with his grandfather. His grandfather understands exactly how his grandchild is feeling and takes him on a ride in his car which is also a time machine. It takes them both to see when he left his mother back in 1952 and had to be brave himself. They stop in 1955 to see him working up high on buildings, needing to get beyond being so scared. In 1957, Big Papa had to get over his fears to ask a lovely girl to dance, a girl who would eventually marry him. They then head to 1986 when the child was left with Big Papa. He wasn’t sure if he could take care of a baby all on his own. All about bravery in spite of being scared and nervous, this book shows that it is those moments that define a life.

Bernstrom takes readers on a real ride through history through the eyes of this African-American family. Generations appear and their clear love for one another is evident. Even with a baby being left behind for a grandparent to raise is shown as a chance to save a life and find a new way forward. Children in smaller non-nuclear families will recognize the connection between a sole adult and their child in these pages. It’s particularly lovely to see an African-American man in this role.

Evans makes the pages shine with light as he uses bright yellows and mystical swirls and stars to show the passing of time. Every page is saturated in color, glowing with the connection of the two characters. The child is never declared to be a specific gender in either the text or illustrations, making the book all the more inclusive.

A bright and vibrant look at why to be brave. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang

| Tasha

Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang

Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang, illustrated by Charlene Chua (9781534411333)

Amy can do a lot of things like brush her teeth and tie her shoes. But the one thing she can’t do is make the perfect bao, a steamed dumpling. So she sets out one day to make the perfect bao. It’s an all-day effort by her entire family. Her father makes the bao dough, and Amy helps him pound the dough and let it rise. Her mother makes the filling, and Amy helps her too. Then everyone sits down at the table to form the bao, including Amy’s grandmother. When things don’t go right for Amy, everyone offers her advice on how to do it. That’s when Amy realizes that the dough has been cut for adult hands. When her grandmother cuts the dough into smaller pieces for Amy, suddenly she too can make perfect bao! In the end though, all of the bao, perfect or not, taste delicious.

Zhang takes the universal story of a young person not being as good at something as they want to be and wraps it in a delicious bao package. Readers are invited into Amy’s Chinese-American home and she leads readers through the process of making bao. The frustrations of learning and perfecting a process are openly shared. The discovery that Amy makes that solves the problem is nicely portrayed as well and I appreciate that the child is the one who realizes her own solution.

The art by Chua is wonderfully bright and vivacious. Amy is shown as an optimist throughout, even as she is trying to brush her teeth and tie her shoes at the same time. The backgrounds in the illustrations suit the mood of the moment, moving from gold to orange to blue.

A tasty treat of a book that will leave readers hungry for more. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Aladdin.

Review: Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh

| Tasha

Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh

Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh (9780062447814)

Plum could not be more different than her excitable sister, Ginny. Ginny has a group of friends at their private school, while Plum doesn’t have any at all. She’d much prefer to do advance reading for her classes than engage with others her age. Ginny is about to graduate from high school and longs to get accepted into her university of choice, but it’s not that simple. First, she has to be accepted and then she needs enough financial aid to attend. While they may live in a large home, it’s filled with clutter and day-to-day life rather than being a show piece. Feeling more and more distant from her ever-more-agitated sister, Plum finds herself in a position to help, but only because of a secret romance. Now Plum has her own life, but it may take her away from her family right when they need her.

This is a contemporary tale with a classic heart. Riffing on Sense and Sensibility, this  novel for teens takes one rather old-fashioned young lady and her sister who is her opposite and flings at them the trials of modern life. There are the costs of living when their mother loses her royalty payments, the grueling college application and financial aid process, bullying, and of course, kissing too. It’s a book that offers two great female characters. Plum is introverted, wildly funny and wise. Ginny is anxiety-ridden, loud, dramatic and loving. The two together make an ideal look at sisterhood.

Thornburgh writes with a specific style here. It even more tightly ties the story to classic literature and also reveals Plum’s thoughts and her own way of thinking. The story never drags, instead it is filled with drama and disasters large and small. The writing is a delightful mix of classic and modern with plenty of humor too.

A deep look at sisterhood that is funny and rich. Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by HarperTeen.

Review: Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

| Tasha

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (9780062747808)

Jude lives in Syria with her beloved older brother and her parents. As her older brother gets involved in the political battles around them, her parents decide that it is too dangerous for Jude and her pregnant mother to stay in Syria. So Jude and her mother move to Cincinnati to live with Jude’s uncle. America is very different than Syria, much louder and faster, and filled with a language that Jude barely understands. As Jude gets acclimated to living in the United States, she steadily makes new friends along the way. Her love of movies and desire to perform lead her to audition for the school musical. But when the attacks of 9-11 occur, the country that Jude has grown comfortable in changes to be more hostile to Muslims. Jude needs to rediscover what she loves about both Syria and the United States, her two homes.

This novel is written in verse, making for a very readable work. Told in Jude’s voice, the poetry allows readers to see how she feels about leaving Syria, how lost she feels when she comes to Cincinnati, and how she starts to find her way. The importance of English Language Learner classes are emphasized, both in learning the language but also in finding a group of friends. Jude also finds friends in other ways, connecting over shared cultures and shared interests.

Jude’s voice is vital to find in a middle grade novel. My favorite chapters are where Jude gets angry and voices her pain at the injustice of being labeled in a certain way, feared because of her religion, judged because of her headscarf. Those moments are powerful and raw, ringing with truth on the page.

Beautifully written with an amazing Syrian heroine at its center, this book is a great read. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Balzer + Bray. 

Review: Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn

| Tasha

Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn

Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn (9781681197432)

Cat and Chicken live in San Francisco with their mother who works several jobs, but one is to be a children’s book author with books that feature Cat and Chicken as a caterpillar and chicken. When they head across the country for a summer job, their plans suddenly fall through. Now Cat and Chicken must stay with grandparents they have never met before while their mother works in Atlanta. Their grandparents live on Gingerbread Island, a place their mother hasn’t returned to since before Cat was born. Lily, their grandmother, is warm and maternal, quickly adapting to Chicken’s special needs. Macon, their grandfather, is more distant and gruff, working in his workshop and going on long walks alone. As Cat and Chicken get to know them, they find a wonderful pair of grandparents who love them immensely, so Cat tries to figure out how to bring her family back together again. She hopes that entering a fishing contest, a sport her mother used to love, with give them an opportunity to bond. But things don’t quite work out as planned, just like in her mother’s books.

McDunn has written the ideal summer read. It has a lightness to it that is pure summer sunshine, one that invites reading with sand between your toes or a flashlight in a tent. At the same time, the characters and story wrestle with larger issues of what family means, how a family can form a rift, and how the pressure of having a little brother who is neurodiverse can be challenging for an older sibling. I deeply appreciated Chicken as a character. He is not labeled in any way in the story but shown as having specific challenges that make looking after him different from other children.

Cat herself is a very strong young woman who holds her family together. Her grandmother recognizes that and helps Cat understand better what she is doing. As her grandparents step in to allow Cat to have a summer as a child, she fights them, trying to retain her role as Chicken’s caretaker. That process of letting go is beautifully shown, given time and patience. Throughout the book, nothing is simple, not even Cat’s enemy on the island, whose own story provides reasons for his actions.

Richly drawn and yet still summer light, this novel is a delight. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Bloomsbury.