Published by Roaring Brook Press

Summary:  A girl imagines what it would be like to have a horse.  At first, both she and the horse would be shy, but gradually they would become friends and learn to work together.  She pictures the horse helping her to make friends with other horses and their riders, but still keeping their own unique identities.  By the end of the book, the girl is visualizing herself standing on the horse’s back, fearless enough to do anything.  The illustrations are all in silhouette, with the dark figures of the horse and girl against a watercolor background that goes from the pink of early morning to the purple of twilight.  40 pages; ages 3-8.

Pros:  The unique illustrations are Caldecott-worthy, and the brief text is inspiring.

Cons:  Readers expecting a “horse-ier” book may be disappointed.

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Published by Schwartz and Wade

Summary:  A man living at the top of a steep hill is tortured by wind.  The shutters bang, the tea spills, and dust flies all around.  “What to do?” cries the man.  Fortunately, his neighbor at the bottom of the hill, a girl named Kate, has a solution.  Hauling a wagon filled with saplings, she helps the man plant the trees around his house.  Years pass, the trees grow, and so does Kate.  A grown-up Kate comes back to visit, and enjoys a peaceful cup of tea with the man, the wind no longer a problem thanks to the trees.  Includes an author’s note that tells the many ways trees help the earth, gives kids ways they can make a difference, and includes a few tree-related websites. 40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  A good choice for an Earth Day story time.  The poetic text would be fun to read aloud, and follow-up activities could help kids learn more about trees.

Cons:  It seemed like the man had a long time to wait before his wind problem was solved.

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Published by Dial Books

Summary:  “Every kid in Lola’s school was from somewhere else.”  When Lola’s teacher assigns the class to draw a picture of their country of origin, Lola isn’t sure what to do.  Unlike her classmates, she has no memory of the island where she was born. She asks her cousin, her mother, and her grandmother about the island, and they tell her about beautiful beaches, fun music, and delicious fruits.  The island sounds so idyllic, Lola can’t understand why her family left it.  Then she talks to Mr. Mir, the superintendent in her apartment building.  He describes the monster that terrorized the island for 30 years until brave men and women “got tired of being afraid and fought the Monster.”  By the time she’s done with her interviews, Lola has enough material to create a book of pictures, which she enjoys sharing with her classmates the following day.  48 pages; grades K-3.

Pros:  Apparently, Junot Diaz is some big-shot writer at MIT, which I didn’t know since I never read books for adults anymore.  His story of Lola is a beautiful meditation on immigration, memory, and the history of the Dominican Republic, which is the island that both Diaz and Lola come from.  The busy, colorful illustrations should be considered for a Caldecott.

Cons:  Since I am also ignorant of Dominican history, I didn’t recognize the Monster as dictator Rafael Trujillo, and I’m guessing many young readers won’t understand this part of the story either.

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Published by Balzer + Bray

Summary:  A young African-American girl asserts, “Like the sun, I’m here to shine./Like the voice, I’m here to sing./Like the bird, I’m here to fly/and soar high over everything.”  She goes on to make similar comparisons, showing her growing, studying, working, sometimes failing, but trying again until she succeeds.  She bands together with a diverse group of girls to proclaim, “And in the end, we are right here/to live a life of love, not fear…/to help each other when it’s tough,/to say together: I am enough.”  32 pages; ages 3-8.

Pros:  An inspiring message by actress Grace Byers, with beautiful illustrations of a group of girls of many colors and sizes.

Cons:  The rhyming text occasionally seems didactic.

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Published by Compendium Inc.

Summary:  A chance, looking like a golden origami butterfly, floats by a child who’s not sure what to do with it.  When it returns, he decides to try to grab it, but falls, missing the chance and feeling embarrassed when others laugh at him.  It takes him quite a while to recover from that experience, but after some introspection, he decides to be brave enough to try again.  Finally, another chance comes along, this one even bigger than the last one.  Feeling more excited than scared, he reaches out and grabs it, eventually climbing on board to soar through the air.  “So, what do you do with a chance? You take it…because it just might be the start of something incredible.”  44 pages; grades K-3.

Pros:  The team that produced What Do You Do With a Problem? and What Do You Do With An Idea? has created another discussion-provoking book that will encourage kids to try something new even when it seems scary.

Cons:  Those mean kids laughing when the narrator misses his chance.

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