Happy Sunday, kidlit friends! Tonight I’m celebrating my birthday at a silly restaurant with my family. I hope you’re having a great day, too!
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Today I review four fantastic new chapter books, plus two great new releases.
Bookish Goods
New Releases
Sour Cherries by Dezh Azaad, illustrated by Nan Cao
This is a lovely, rhyming picture book about Afghani immigrants picking cherries on a summer day for three dishes. The child’s favorite day of the year is when he picks cherries with his mother. The entire family participates, dividing the picked cherries into baskets for jam, tea, and dinner. As the family drinks the cherry tea on a picnic blanket, the mother tells stories of her mother, the narrator’s Bibi, and how she taught the mother the recipes for the cherry dishes they’re making today. The child hopes he can visit Afghanistan one day. A recipe for cherry tea is included in the back.
Aqua Boy by Ken Wilson-Max
Aaron and his sister love going to the ocean, but while Aaron’s sister swims in and out of the water, Aaron is afraid of getting his head wet. His parents gently encourage him, saying that one day he’ll be ready. After a storm, Aaron and his sister help clean up trash from the beach. Aaron spots an octopus on the sand and his dad helps it back into the ocean. Aaron wants to follow, but to see the octopus, he’ll need to put his head in the water. My daughter has this same fear of getting her face wet, so I really appreciate a picture book about just that topic! This will be a great summer read, especially for reluctant swimmers.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
There have been so many excellent chapter books lately. My 6-year-old reads chapter books primarily now, and we have both enjoyed all of these. A few weeks ago, I reviewed The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class, so I won’t review them again here, but I wanted to give the series another shoutout because they’re so great.
Hocus and Pocus and the Spell for Home by A. R. Capetta, illustrated by Charlene Chua
This adorable magical chapter book releases on Tuesday. Even though my daughter is a cat lover, she adored this one! It’s about two cute pups at the Shelter for Slightly Magical Pets who need to find a home. The other pups in their litter have already found homes, but these two wanted to find a home together, so they’ve been intentionally causing a bit of mayhem whenever someone comes to adopt a puppy but only wants one. When they accidentally cause a magical mess in their search for a home, Jinx, the witch who found the litter of the puppies, plus her three young apprentices, jumps in to help. This is so much fun, and I love the diverse range of pronouns used by characters. It’s the first in a planned series.
Seashell Key by Lourdes Heuer, illustrated by Lynnor Bontigao
This is another first book in a lovely, diverse chapter book series. It follows the children of three families who call the beach-side town of Seashell Key home. Each act follows a different family, and the last act includes them all. In the first act, Mateo starts his own kite shop at the beach. In the second act, sisters Sasha and Sophia, who are complete opposites and disagree about everything, find something to agree on. In the third act, siblings Eli, Ezra, and Elana decide to pretend to be tour guides for their lighthouse home. It’s a perfect chapter book to bring along to beach trips!
Puggleton Park by Deanna Kizis, illustrated by Hannah Peck
This first book in a new chapter book series is so sweet and charming. It takes place in Regency-era England and is about a pug named Penelope who loses her Lady in a park when she chases after a squirrel (the dog, not the Lady). After weeks of searching for her Lady, the kind Lady Diggleton takes her home in the hopes of finding her proper owner. But the longer Penelope stays with Lady Diggleton, the less she wants to find her previous beloved Lady. I was surprised by how much we loved this one! I was worried about it being a bit hard to get into for younger readers given the time period it’s set in, but it is very accessible and fun. Also check out the second book in this series, Penelope and the Curse of the Canis Diamond.
Legendarios: Wrath of the Rain God by Karla Arenas Valenti, illustrated by Vanessa Morales
This is the first book in a new fantasy chapter book series. Twins Emma and Martín are not enthusiastic about moving from their home in Cuernavaca, Mexico, to Chicago. At their going-away party, their abuela gifts them a book of Mexican legends to help them remember home. Once in Chicago, the twins realize the book is magical. It transports them to Texcoco, where the rain god refuses to stop the rain until his missing lightning bolt is returned to him. This is an action-packed read!
On a hike, we came across this goose with her gosling babies. So cute!
If you’d like to read more of my kidlit reviews, I’m on Instagram @BabyLibrarians, Twitter @AReaderlyMom, Bluesky @AReaderlyMom.bsky.social, and blog irregularly at Baby Librarians. You can also read my Book Riot posts. If you’d like to drop me a line, my email is kingsbury.margaret@gmail.com.
All the best,
Margaret Kingsbury