Published by Clarion Books

Summary:  When Dr. Glockenspiel escapes from his cell and demands one billion, trillion dollars, even the top secret agents prove ineffective.  Glockenspiel threatens to unleash giant moths to eat the world’s books if his demands aren’t met, so it’s up to Lyric McKerrigan, secret librarian, to parachute in to the rescue.  Posing as a custodian, a plumber, and a prison warden, McKerrigan surreptitiously matches the right books up with the people around Glockenspiel. Not only does she bring them to her side, but when the giant moths are released, she tames them with a story.  They turn their attention from books to the doctor’s woolly sweater, and he ends up shivering in his underwear before heading back to jail, a large red “Returned” stamped on his forehead. 48 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  Sometimes books with a pro-book, librarian hero(ine) message can sound a little desperate, but this one is pretty funny.  Lyric has some good disguises, and the message that there’s a book for everyone is delivered with a light touch.  Kids will enjoy the cartoon-style illustrations.

Cons:  Lyric is a bit stereotypical, with her glasses, hair in two buns, and shown reading with her cat and a cup of tea on the last page.

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Published by Roaring Brook Press

Summary:  The first spread in this companion book to Green shows a boy and puppy lying together with a blue blanket and the words “baby blue”.  The two grow up together, first a preschooler pulling his dog in a wagon entitled “berry blue”, later an older boy walking his dog in the woods: “chilly blue”.  At least a scrap of the blue blanket appears in every illustration, and a die-cut shape gives a peek to the next picture. Prepare for heartbreak on the pages “true blue”, “old blue”, and “so blue” as the boy deals with the aging and death of his beloved dog.  There’s a wordless page where the boy meets a girl and her puppy, and the last page shows them grown up, walking hand-in-hand, while a dog frolics in the ocean: “new blue”. 40 pages; ages 3-7.

Pros:  I dismissively thought I had “gotten” this book after the first few pages, but the real power of it comes at the end.  Seeger has already won two Caldecott medals, but the gorgeous acrylic illustrations so perfectly tell this touching story that it would be worth considering her for a third.

Cons:  Blue dies.  I choked up just writing this review.

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Published by Candlewick

Summary:  “In the dark,/in the dark,/in the deep, deep dark, a speck floated, invisible as thought, weighty as God.”  Then BANG! and the universe was born, a cloud of gas stretching and expanding into trillions of stars. When some of those stars exploded, the ash formed the planets circling other stars, including our sun.  And one of those planets, Earth, was at just the right distance from the sun for life to begin: mitochondria, jellyfish, sharks, dinosaurs, and finally, humans. And after many, many generations came YOU: “You,/and me/loving you./All of us/the stuff of stars.”  40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  An amazing book that traces the history of the universe through a brief, lyrical 40 pages, all illustrated with phenomenal collages on hand-marbled papers.  A multi-award contender for sure.

Cons:  It’s a book I appreciate more than love.  I’m not sure how wide the appeal for kids will be.

Note: I recently received a box of books from Candlewick, which I assume were meant for me to review on my blog.  This was one of them, and I will make note of others as I get to them. Thank you, Candlewick!

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Published by Greenwillow Books

Summary:  “Look! Elephants!” So begins this brief (about 80 words) book showing a group of five elephants on parade.  Kids can pick a favorite and follow it from page to page: they are blue, green, purple, pink, and yellow. The page that introduces them shows them on a graph, with numbers counting from one to five, and a new elephant added on each line.  The elephants go up, down, over, under, in, and out, reinforcing those concepts. At the end, they are ready for sleep, but first they raise their trunks and trumpet, scattering stars across the sky.  40 pages; ages 3-8.

Pros:  The usual Kevin Henkes masterpiece, this is a deceptively simple story that introduces colors, numbers, concepts like up and down, and even introduces graphing.

Cons:  I found the pink and purple elephant a little too similar in color to be distinctive.  Fortunately the pink one was also smaller than the other four.

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