Riot New Media

Hey Kid Lit friends,

Interestingly, there are a few new picture books featuring cats coming out today. Also, books with Halloween themes and scary stories. Check out these new releases, all fresh on the bookshelves today. The book descriptions are from Goodreads, but I’ll add a  if I particularly loved a title.

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Picture Book New Releases

 Cat Wishes by Calista Brill, illustrated by Kenard Pak

There’s no such thing as a wish.

Or is there?

In this playful fairy tale, ever-skeptical Cat learns that wishes can come true—and not always in the ways we expect. After all, true magic lies in our connections with others, not just in the wishes we make.

 The Orca Scientists by Kim Perez Valice, with photographs by Andy Comins and the Center for Whale Research

Orcas have a reputation for being bloodthirsty, but that myth is being debunked as scientists learn more about these “killer” animals. Readers follow scientists in the Pacific Northwest who study the nuanced communication patterns, family structure, and socialization of orca whales, from marine biologists to specialists in the study of sound. With stunning photography and attention to field-based detail, The Orca Scientists paints a vivid picture of the individuals who have made it their life’s work to better understand orcas, as well as the whales they are helping to avoid extinction.

 Big Box, Little Box by Caryl Hart, illustrated by Edward Underwood

Big box, little box
Shoe box, hat box . . .
Perfect for a cat box!

Join one cool cat and lots of fun boxes in this charming take on curiosity and friendship.

Bear’s Spooky Book of Hidden Things by Gergely Dudas

On Halloween night, Bear is hoping for all treats and no tricks. And he’d like lots of his very favorite treat: honeycomb! Bear is off on an adventure—through a pumpkin patch and a haunted house and a corn maze—to search for this sweet. Can YOU help Bear sort through all the tricks to uncover where his treat is hidden?

Lots of Cats by E. Dee Taylor

Margaret the witch is about to find out that taking care of a bunch of lively cats sounds like lots of fun…but it could turn out to be lots of trouble! In her debut as author-illustrator, E. Dee Taylor brings this magical book to life with humor, lots to spot in the art, and a great read-aloud rhythm.

Creature vs. Teacher: A Book of Rhyme by T. Nat Fuller, illustrated by Alex Eben Meyer

Playing on the popularity of benign monsters and mad scientists, Creature vs. Teacher is a gently irreverent book of rhymes with a deft narrative and a theme that is perfect for Halloween.

Middle Grade New Releases

 Next Best Junior Chef: The Winner Is… by Charise Mericle Harper

Two talented junior chefs have sliced and diced their way into the finale of Next Best Junior Chef. This week’s theme: innovation. Which junior chef will rise to the top and earn the title of Next Best Junior Chef? And whose goose is cooked? Two contestants compete on- and off-camera, but only one will win the whole enchilada. This is a finale you won’t want to miss!

Babymouse Tales from the Locker: Miss Communication by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

Ping! Ping! The sound of texting is in the air. Everyone at middle school has a cell phone. Babymouse just has to get one, too. But having a phone is a lot of work! Building up a following on SoFamous, learning text lingo, keeping up with all the important koala videos . . . Babymouse is ready to tear her whiskers out. Why does it suddenly feel like she has no friends? Somehow, Babymouse needs to figure out how to stop worrying and love her smartphone . . . if Locker doesn’t eat it first.

Denis Ever After by Tony Abbott

Denis Egan is dead.

He’s okay with that. It’s been five years since he died, and the place where souls go is actually pretty nice. Sure, there are some things about his life and how it ended he can’t quite recall, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. Remembering could prevent Denis from moving on to whatever’s next. However, something is standing in his way. His twin brother Matt can’t let go of him, and as long as the living are holding on to his memory, Denis can’t rest in peace.

R.L. Stein Presents Scream and Scream Again! Spooky Stories from Mystery Writers of America

Read it if you dare! With twenty never-before-published scary stories from some of the most popular authors today—including Chris Grabenstein, Wendy Corsi Staub, Heather Graham, Peter Lerangis, R.L. Stine, Bruce Hale, Emmy Laybourne, Steve Hockensmith, Lisa Morton, Ray Daniel, Beth Fantaskey, Phil Mathews, Carter Wilson, Doug Levin, Jeff Soloway, Joseph S. Walker, Alison McMahan, Daniel Palmer, Tonya Hurley, and Stephen Ross—it’s sure to leave readers screaming for more.

The Turning by Emily Whitman

Aran has never truly fit in with his selkie clan. He was born in his human form, without a pelt to transform him into a sleek, strong seal. Each day he waits, left behind while his selkie family explores the deep ocean. What if his pelt never comes? Does the Moon even see him? Is he putting his clan at risk? When his mother undertakes a journey to the far north to seek help, Aran is left in the care of a reclusive human woman on remote Spindle Island. Life on land is full of more wonders—and more dangers—than Aran could have ever imagined. Soon Aran will be forced to decide: will he fight for his place on land, or return to his home in the sea?

Nightbooks by J.A. White

Alex’s original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping the witch Natacha happy, but soon he’ll run out of pages to read from and be trapped forever. He’s loved scary stories his whole life, and he knows most don’t have a happily ever after. Now that Alex is trapped in a true terrifying tale, he’s desperate for a different ending—and a way out of this twisted place.

City of Islands by Kali Wallace

In a foggy archipelago called the City of Islands, twelve-year-old Mara has always been fascinated by the magic that drifts on the air as songs. But as a servant for the powerful Lady of the Tides, Mara must earn her keep by searching for magical treasures deep in the murky ocean. Then Mara finds the skeletons of strange hybrid creatures that haven’t existed in the city for centuries—all humming with a powerful spell-song. Convinced her discovery will earn her the opportunity to study magic, Mara shares them with the Lady. But instead of a reward, the Lady gives Mara a new challenge: to sneak into the island fortress, the Winter Blade.

Backlist Book Recommendations

Picture Book Recommendation: The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth

Young Nikolai is searching for the answers to his three questions:
When is the best time to do things?
Who is the most important one?
What is the right thing to do?
But it is his own response to a stranger’s cry for help that leads him directly to the answers he is looking for.
This profound and inspiring book is about compassion and being engaged in each moment.
With his stunning watercolors — and text that resounds with universal truths, Jon J Muth has transformed a story by Leo Tolstoy into a timeless fable for readers of every age!

Note from Karina: I heard my daughter and her teacher read this out loud to each other the other day, and I loved revisiting this old favorite. It’s a beautiful story about what it means to be alive and to do good in the world.

Middle Grade Recommendation: Drawing from Memory by Allen Say

Drawing from Memory is Allen Say’s own story of his path to becoming the renowned artist he is today. Shunned by his father, who didn’t understand his son’s artistic leanings, Allen was embraced by Noro Shinpei, Japan’s leading cartoonist and the man he came to love as his “spiritual father.” As WWII raged, Allen was further inspired to consider questions of his own heritage and the motivations of those around him. He worked hard in rigorous drawing classes, studied, trained–and ultimately came to understand who he really is.

Note from Karina: This is packaged like a picture book, but it is geared more for middle grade readers and up. Part graphic novel and part picture book, this memoir is gorgeous and tells so much about the life of the gifted artist and children’s book maker Allen Say.

I’d love to know what you are reading this week! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at karina@bookriot.com.

Until next week!
Karina

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Dear Kid Lit friends,

I have been thinking a lot about freedom lately. I came across this poem in the wonderful anthology, Poems to Learn by Heart, edited by Caroline Kennedy, illustrated by Jon J Muth.

This poem had me thinking about freedom and our shared responsibility for this earth. Which led me to think about books about freedom. Have you read any of these?

Sponsored by Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic.

Graphic novel star Kazu Kibuishi creates a world of terrible, man-eating demons, a mechanical rabbit, a talking fox, a giant robot—and two ordinary children on a mission.

After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous. Before long, a sinister creature lures the kids’ mom through a door in the basement. Em and Navin, desperate not to lose her, follow her into an underground world inhabited by demons, robots, and talking animals.

Eventually, they enlist the help of a small mechanical rabbit named Miskit. Together with Miskit, they face the most terrifying monster of all, and Em finally has the chance to save someone she loves.

Picture Books

Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie is a book my kids and I take off our bookshelves and read frequently. R. Gregory Christie’s stunning artwork combined with Carole Boston Weatherford’s sparse and lyrical language tell the story of Louisiana during slavery. In his speech accepting the Coretta Scott King illustrator honor award for this book, Mr. Christie commented on the use of black on the cover, depicting the cruelty and darkness of slavery.

Freedom Over Me, Ashley Bryan’s most recent illustrated book, is based on real slave-related documents related to the Fairchilds’ Appraisement in 1828. In that document, the Fairchilds estate was auctioned off, including cows, hogs, cotton, and eleven slaves. In his book, he not only gives voice to each slave but vocalizes their dreams for a better life, for marriage, for land, and for freedom. With stunning illustrations, Mr. Bryan brings a humanity to each person, breathing life into a long ago document and letting us into their imagined lives.

Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine and illustrated by Kadir Nelson is the story of Henry Brown, a slave who as a boy was taken from his family and sold to work in a warehouse. When Henry grows older and gets married and has children of his own, his family is sold off. After this event, Henry plots his way to freedom using an improbable method: shipping himself up north.

Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus and Kadir Nelson is one of my favorite picture books. It is about the celebration of the American flag and all it stands for. The text is spare and has multiple meanings, and the gorgeous paintings by Kadir Nelson makes it truly a work of art and a must-have in your personal library.

Middle Grade Books

This is Our Constitution: Discover America with a Gold Star Father is written by Khizr Khan, a lawyer who grew up in Pakistan with few of the fundamental rights that are enshrined in the Constitution. He immigrated to America and became a citizen, raising his family to appreciate and honor all our nation has to offer. Khizr Khan is deeply passionate about the Constitution: the guarantees and protections it provides for each and every person and the beacon of light it shines throughout the world.

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed is set in Pakistan and is about Amal, who one day wishes to become a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when–as the eldest daughter–she must stay home from school to take care of her siblings. Amal is upset, but she doesn’t lose hope and finds ways to continue learning. Then the unimaginable happens–after an accidental run-in with the son of her village’s corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family’s servant to pay off her own family’s debt.

Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai begins on December 17, 2010: Nadia’s twelfth birthday and the beginning of the Arab Spring. Soon anti-government protests erupt across the Middle East and, one by one, countries are thrown into turmoil. As civil war flares in Syria and bombs fall across Nadia’s home city of Aleppo, her family decides to flee to safety. Inspired by current events, this novel sheds light on the complicated situation in Syria that has led to an international refugee crisis, and tells the story of one girl’s journey to safety.

I found Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad by Ann Petry a very gripping book that I read in one sitting and then passed on to my two daughters to read. I found the writing very vivid and felt like I learned a lot about her as a person and her life. I cannot believe all of the journeys she made to help others travel to free states – what a strong, courageous person!

Path to the Stars (HMH, 9/4) is the autobiography of Sylvia Acevedo, former rocket scientist and who now serves as the CEO of the Girl Scouts of America. She grew up in poverty, but found opportunities to cultivate her leadership skills in the Girl Scouts, becoming the first Latinx to graduate with a master’s in engineering from Stanford University and going on to become a rocket scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This is a fascinating and inspiring biography about an extraordinary woman.

Deep Underwater by Irene Luxbacher (Groundwood Books, 8/7) is a gorgeous book about a girl exploring the depths of the ocean. The words and illustrations are beautiful.

Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts, is a new chapter book series based on the NYT bestselling book Rosie Revere. I think young readers will love this book!

I’d love to know what you are reading this week! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at karina@bookriot.com.

Until next week!
Karina

I recently made a poetry vending machine with my daughters with recycled materials. We used instructions from Kazoo Magazine. Watch their instructional video here!

*If this e-mail was forwarded to you, follow this link to subscribe to “The Kids Are All Right” newsletter and other fabulous Book Riot newsletters for your own customized e-mail delivery. Thank you!*