Published by Candlewick

Summary:  Lily is a little sailboat who is excited to be greeting a visiting fleet of tall ships.  To get to the harbor, she needs the lift bridge to raise itself and let her through.  She calls out to the bridge, but bigger, louder ships get ahead of her.  She finally makes it through and meets up with the tall ships: a sloop, a schooner, a brig, and a barque.  But none of them has any way to alert the bridge that it needs to let them through again, and it’s up to Lily to find a solution to their dilemma.  Includes an author’s note about lift bridges and her personal experience with sailboats and bridges.  32 pages; ages 3-7.

Pros:  Budding engineers will enjoy seeing all the different types of bridges and ships, and all kinds of kids will appreciate that Lily is the heroine of the story, despite her small size.

Cons:  Some of those big ships were kind of obnoxious.

Published by Greenwillow Books

Summary:  Asa feels big when he’s allowed to go outside by himself.  He’s also big when he compares himself to his dog, his cat, his rabbit, the birds, a bee, and especially an ant.  He could crush the ant with his foot but decides he’d rather watch it carry a big crumb instead.  Asa loves being big, but when his mom comes out to tell him breakfast is ready, he is happy to go back to being small and let her carry him inside.  32 pages; ages 3-6. 

Pros:  Preschoolers will relate to Asa’s observations about size and the natural world.  The illustrations, described as “digitally drawn and collaged…incorporating photographs and textures created by the artist,” are unique and beautiful.

Cons:  A scary bee.

Published by Harry N. Abrams

Summary:  “Unicorn is perfect.  Everybody thinks so.’’ His best friend Kitty-Corn agrees and decides to paint his picture.  Unicorn stands like a statue, “the way everyone thinks he should,” but Kitty-Corn feels like something is missing.  Unicorn tries a variety of poses, but nothing is quite right until finally, “That’s it! It’s perfect!” exclaims Kitty-Corn.  When Unicorn takes a look, he’s horrified to see that he has apparently sat in some paint and has been painted with paint bum.  Worried that Kitty-Corn won’t want to be his friend if he’s not perfect, Unicorn sits in a corner feeling like a big, ugly goof.  Kitty-Corn assures Unicorn that she likes him the way he is, then proceeds to sit in some paint herself, and the two friends enjoy a messy romp together.  48 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  With its purple, pink, and glitter cover portraying a unicorn and kitty, this book will sell itself, AND it has an excellent message about friendship and self-acceptance.

Cons:  I felt like the title should have been Pretty Perfect Unicorn.

Published by Holiday House

Summary:  The narrator describes how she and her two older siblings spent a summer helping Uncle John in his garden, a plot of dirt in the middle of the city’s projects.  Each one chose their own vegetables to plant: okra for the narrator, tomatoes and onions for her sister, and corn and lima beans for her brother.  Their mother told them they were growing succotash, which they loved.  As the summer went on, the garden grew, and even a big thunderstorm couldn’t stop it from flourishing.  Right before school started again, Uncle John had a big barbecue, with the best succotash ever to go along with the ribs and burgers.  Each family member got to take home a bag of vegetables, and Uncle John and the kids looked forward to working in the garden again next summer.  Includes an author’s note telling about her childhood inspiration for the story and a recipe for succotash.  32 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  A simple story that shows how a garden–or a person–can thrive in even the most unlikely setting.  As always, Frank Morrison’s illustrations are delightful and should be considered for some sort of award.

Cons:  I was sorry to learn in the author’s note that she never actually got to spend the whole summer helping her Uncle John.

Published by Chronicle Books

Summary:  The three sections of this book describe things that are big, small, and in-between, but they are not necessarily the first things you think about for each concept.  Big: “The SUN and its SHINE when it asks you to rise, the DONUT your brother got because you picked last and only got the hole.”  In-between things include “the TEETER-TOTTER not when it’s up or when it’s down but when two smiles meet in the middle,” and an example of small is “the PLIP of a raindrop and the PUDDLE where it falls for a butterfly to sip.”  Chapter 4 is “Everything”, and consists of a foldout page that reads, “the bluest SKY, the bittiest BUG, and you in the middle of it all.”  98 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  This beautifully illustrated concept book could serve as inspiration for kids to expand on what they think of as big, small, and in-between.

Cons:  The 3-D foldout papers that begin each chapter will likely not last long in a library book.

Published by Nancy Paulsen Books

Summary: Jacqueline Woodson looks back on her childhood summers in Brooklyn where kids played freely on the streets all day long.  Children of all ages and races gathered for playground games, frolicking through the water from an open fire hydrant, and enjoying treats from the ice cream truck.  People were kind, the older kids helping younger ones who got hurt, and everyone pooling their money for ice cream.  When suppertime came, mothers called their children home in a variety of languages, and the kids made plans for the next day as they left.  Jacqueline ran home, already excited about tomorrow “and the many tomorrows to come.  Not just in Brooklyn, not just in the summer…but everywhere I’d ever go and always.”  32 pages; grades K-3.

Pros:  Turns out Jacqueline Woodson and I were born the same year, so I really grooved with the 1970’s vibe which is perfectly portrayed by Leo Espinosa.  This would make an excellent mentor text for memoir writing.  Anyone who has ever pondered the question, “Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?” will feel like they’ve arrived with the Brooklyn streets portrayed here.

Cons: Could lead readers to some unfortunate fashion choices like plaid bell bottoms and white tube socks.

Published by Brown Books Kids

Summary:  As the sun goes down in the desert, the armadillo emerges.  “Armadillo, armadillo, armadillo, run.  Romp and play till the night is done.”  As the night goes on the armadillo, leaps, digs, eats, and finally returns to its burrow where it settles down to sleep as a new day begins.  Includes a page of armadillo facts.  32 pages; ages 2-6.

Pros:  Michael Sampson collaborated with the late Bill Martin, Jr. on many picture books including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  The beautiful illustrations of this one are reminiscent of Eric Carle and Lois Ehlert, who illustrated some of Martin’s best-loved books.

Cons:  In general, I find that books published posthumously aren’t quite the caliber of the ones published when the author was alive.