Pigeon & Cat by Edward Hemingway

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Published by Christy Ottaviano

Summary:  Cat lives alone in a box in a vacant lot, only leaving home to scavenge for food.  If another cat tries to enter the lot, Cat hisses and shows his claws.  One day, he finds an egg, which, much to his surprise, hatches into a pigeon.  For the first time, Cat cares about another animal, feeding her and letting her sleep with him in his box.  Pigeon grows up and starts flying around the city.  Cat worries about her leaving the safety of the lot, but when Pigeon brings back bits of chalk, Cat passes the time by creating art on the walls around him.  One day, though, Pigeon doesn’t come back.  Cat is so heartbroken that he decides to venture out into the city to find her.  He’s so anxious to track down his friend that he starts to reach out to other animals for help.  He draws pictures around the city, hoping Pigeon will recognize them and find him.  One day, a flock of birds unexpectedly leads him back to his own lot where Pigeon is waiting for him.  Pigeon has opened up the lot to other strays, and it becomes a beautiful place that is welcoming to everyone.  40 pages; ages 4-8.  

Pros:  A heartwarming story about the transformative powers of love, friendship, art, and community.

Cons:  Too bad humans aren’t better at learning some of those lessons.

Cookies & Milk by Shawn Amos

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Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Summary:  Ellis’s hopes for a fun and relaxing summer are dashed when his newly divorced dad informs him that they’re going to spend the next six weeks getting ready for the grand opening of Sunset Cookies.  As Ellis reluctantly begins to help clean up the filthy building and perfect the chocolate chip cookie recipe (with more than a few mishaps), he also starts to connect with people in the community.  Handing out free bags of cookies goes a long way toward making friends, and before long everyone is pitching in to get the store up and running in time.  When Ellis discovers that one of his new friends is his father’s estranged brother, he’s determined to help the two men put their differences aside and reunite the family.  New friends, family reunions, and plenty of chocolate chip cookies help make the summer of 1976 a memorable one for Ellis.  Includes a cookie recipe.  320 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  Written by the son of cookie entrepreneur Famous Amos, this is a funny, light-hearted story that doesn’t shy away from heavier topics like divorce and racism.  It’s a fast-paced read that a wide range of elementary school kids are sure to enjoy.

Cons:  Don’t even think about opening this book without a plate of warm cookies and a tall glass of milk by your side.

I Forgive Alex: A Simple Story About Understanding by Kerascoët

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Random House Studio

Summary:  Recess begins with different groups of kids doing different things: running, stomping in puddles, and hanging out with friends.  One boy pulls out his artwork and displays it for his friends. Alex is bouncing a basketball around the playground, teasing other kids who are trying to get it away from him.  When he throws it, it bounces on the bench where the art is set up, sending the papers into a nearby puddle.  The artist is sad, and his friends take his side, ostracizing Alex.  This continues until the next recess, when Alex tentatively smiles and waves at the boy, who walks over to him.  The two of them talk, then shake hands, and everyone joins in a friendly game of basketball.  The next day, Alex greets his new friend and gives him a drawing of the boy dunking the basketball while Alex cheers him on.  Includes a page with tips for handling similar misunderstandings for kids who have hurt someone, kids who have been hurt, and adults who are helping them.  40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  The creators of I Walk With Vanessa (look for Vanessa and her friend in the illustrations) have produced another wordless masterpiece perfect for SEL education.  Kids will enjoy figuring out what’s going on in the story, and the backmatter makes it a useful tool for parents and educators.

Cons:  The title is kind of didactic.

One Boy Watching by Grant Snider

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Chronicle Books

Summary:  At 7:00 a.m., one boy boards school bus number 4 to begin his 50-minute journey to school.  Along the way, he sees things out the window: one tree, three deer, four cars, seven sunflowers.  Gradually, the 28 seats in the bus fill up until there are 48 kids “packed like crayons in a crayon box.”  Finally, they arrive at school.  The day passes, and at 3:00 p.m. the boy stares out the classroom window, daydreaming about what he will see on his journey home.  60 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  A quiet story of kids not often represented in picture books–those who live in rural communities.  There are lots of numbers in the story, which would make it a fun one to read to children who are just learning how to count.  The beautiful colors make for eye-catching illustrations from orthodontist-by-day-artist-by-night Grant Snider.

Cons:  100 minutes on a school bus every day.

If You’re a Kid Like Gavin: The True Story of a Young Trans Activist by Gavin Grimm and Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by J Yang

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Katherine Tegen Books

Summary:  There are some choices kids get to make and others they don’t.  Gavin Grimm didn’t choose to be a boy or a girl, but as a transgender kid, he chose to talk about it, to tell his family he was a boy, and to start high school as a boy with a new name.  At school, though, he didn’t have a choice about what bathroom to use; he had to use the bathroom in the nurse’s office.  As months went by, and no one seemed to care, Gavin started to use the boys’ room.  A teacher objected, and kids started bullying.  So Gavin decided to speak up.  When this didn’t work at his school, he went on the news and to the ACLU and has continued to fight for his rights and those of other trans kids.  And “since you’re a kid like Gavin Grimm, you can always decide to believe in yourself and fight for what you believe in.”  Includes notes from both authors and a link to the ACLU’s webpage for students about their rights.  40 pages; grades 2-5.

Pros:  Kids will relate to Gavin’s personal story which lays out his choices in terms that are understandable for an elementary audience.  An excellent resource for trans kids and those who work or go to school with them.

Cons:  A list of resources (besides the ACLU site) would have been useful.

Fibbed by Elizabeth Agyemang

~ Janet Dawson ~ 2 Comments

Published by Razorbill

Summary:  Nana’s in trouble again for lying, even though she swears her story about how her teacher’s toupee disappeared is true.  Her parents have had enough, however, and they decide to send her to stay with family in Ghana for the summer.  There she meets relatives and learns about the trickster spider Ananse who exchanges favors and magic for stories.  When Nana, her cousin, and a classmate discover men who are destroying a local forest by stripping it of magic, they end up working with Ananse to defeat the villains and save the forest.  As a reward, Nana gets a wish granted and is happy that her stories are finally believed by family members in both Ghana and the U.S.  Includes four pages of additional information about Ananse.  256 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  This graphic novel cleverly weaves together a realistic family story and folklore. The artwork is gorgeous, particularly the wordless pages that show the Ghanian countryside.

Cons:  There’s a lot going on in the story, and I was a little confused about some of the details.

Rosie and the Pre-Loved Dress by Leanne Hatch

~ Janet Dawson ~ 2 Comments

Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Summary:  Rosie falls in love with a dress while visiting the thrift store with her mom.  When she gets home with it, she discovers a name on the tag: Mila.  Imagining what Mila might be like, Rosie shows readers a lot about herself: she likes purple nail polish, mismatched socks, skateboarding, origami, and tortilla chips on her tuna sandwiches.  Rosie wears the dress every day until one day it feels too tight.  She considers other uses for it, like decorating her room or putting it on her stuffed giraffe, but ultimately decides to let it go.  Before she takes it back to the thrift shop, she adds her name to the tag.  The last few pages show Rosie falling in love with another thrifted item and another girl looking happy to discover the dress.  32 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  A sweet story about a girl with many interests and passions who also learns a lesson about passing on something she loves when it no longer is right for her.

Cons:  As the mother of a daughter who just returned from hiking 300 miles of the Appalachian Trail in one shirt, I can vouch for the fact that it’s good to change your clothes once in a while.

Pineapple Princess by Sabina Hahn

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Published by Roaring Brook Press

Summary:  “I am deeply, deeply misunderstood,” says the narrator, standing in front of a wall “decorated” in red crayon.  “I know I am a princess, but no one believes me.”  A crown is in order, she decides, eyeing the top of a pineapple.  One messy kitchen later, she’s outside with her pineapple crown, which is soon surrounded by her subjects…flies.  She tries being kind and compassionate, then moves on to imprisoning some “subjects” with a glass jar and executing others with a flyswatter.  Finally, she gives up, tossing the crown into the garbage.  “I never wanted to be a princess anyway.”  Soon she has moved on to become a warrior queen, with her unsuspecting cat about to be lassoed.  “My queendom for a horse!”  40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  Those who enjoy Fancy Nancy and Ladybug Girl will get a kick out of the pineapple princess and her attempts to rule her subjects.  I’d love to see another story about the warrior queen.

Cons:  Wearing part of a sticky pineapple and all those flies.

Let the Monster Out by Chad Lucas

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Harry N. Abrams

Summary:  Bones is struggling to adapt to his new home in a small Nova Scotia town.  He’s one of the few Black kids, and he’s trying to put some past trauma behind him.  Kyle has never received an official autism diagnosis, but it’s becoming increasingly clear to him that his brain works differently from most other people’s.  Although the two are baseball teammates, they seem unlikely to become friends until they both are affected by the strange happenings going on in their town. Kids are having the same nightmares, and the adults around them are acting like zombies.  Everything seems to be connected to Fluxcor, the giant tech company that has an outsized influence in town.  After somewhat reluctantly joining forces with teammates Marcus and Albert, Bones and Kyle race against time to defeat the company and its evil CEO before it’s too late.  320 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  This isn’t typically my favorite genre, but I got sucked into the story pretty quickly and polished it off in three days.  I saw Netflix’s Stranger Things referenced in several reviews, and this would definitely appeal to fans of that show.  But it’s not just a scary story; Bones and Kyle are dealing with real issues in their lives and fighting the evil forces around them helps them to move ahead with those situations as well.  It’s also a nice celebration of boys’ friendships.

Cons:  I got kind of tired of Bones and Albert’s constant bickering, and my hopes that Albert had an interesting backstory never really materialized.