Morag Hood is back with another inventive tale of friendship. She still manages to spend some time in at the grocers where Carrot and Pea hang out. However, for this book broccoli and cheese play a supporting part.

Starring roles belong to two aardvarks. Aalfred and Aalbert. Name spelling is a playful nod to the species nomenclature.

Although the two aardvarks have neighboring burrows, they have never met. Each has a very distinct lifestyle, one active during the day and the other nocturnal. They seem destined to remain apart.

Until an observant bird decides to intervene.

A note about the primarily blue and orange color palette. These are traditionally referred to as complementary colors. This color scheme emphasizes contrasts between the two mammals.

​Charlotte Brontë Before Jane Eyre is an insightful and well-researched portrait of young Charlotte Brontë.

Following the death of her mother, Charlotte is sent, along with her three sisters, to an austere boarding school. Both of her of older sisters die from "consumption" and the two younger girls are withdrawn from the school.

The four surviving Brontë children remain at home, where their imaginations take flight as they create an elaborate world based on a set of toy soldiers. They call their fantasy world Glass Town. It becomes the basis for their early ventures into writing.

Eventually Charlotte and Emily return to school and prepare to become teachers. Both girls find the life of a teacher and governess to be distasteful. They want to write. Assuming constant care of young charges leaves no time for these accomplished siblings to pursue their passion for writing. They receive this advice: women cannot support themselves as authors.

Eventually the sisters determine that they will find a way to see their work in published form. All three women submit novels for consideration. Anne's Agnes Grey and Emily's Wuthering Heights are accepted. Charlotte's The Professor is rejected. Fortunately Charlotte receives this encouraging response: perhaps she might write another novel for consideration. She gets to work on a story set on the moors. The main character is neither wealthy nor glamorous. She has endured a painful childhood. Despite difficulties the heroine is determined to succeed. Her name is Jane Eyre.

Brontë writes, pouring her life and her heart into the work. When she is ready to submit her final clean copy of Jane Eyre she learns that if the publisher rejects the novel she must pay both sending and returning shipping fees. She risks a double payment if the novel is rejected. She decides to send the manuscript.

Fawkes line drawings and ink wash are an excellent medium for the pastoral British Isles ​setting.

Meet Glynnis Fawkes as she discusses two of her recent projects.

Sorell's cumulative verse begins beneath a hickory tree at the base of a mountain. The scene zooms in to reveal a cabin beneath the spreading branches of the tree. Stepping inside the cabin, readers see a simple yet welcoming home. Generations of Cherokee women watch as a grandma picks up fibers and weaves a pattern. She is intertwining more than strands of colored wool. She is weaving together a family, bound by love and tradition. 
Her threads extend beyond the walls of the cabin and encompass a family member far away.
A pilot flying far away in war-ravaged skies senses the influence of her grandma's songs and prayers. It is a prayer is for peace and a safe return.

An Author's Note explains that while this story fictional, it is based on the service of one Native American woman, Ola Mildred "MIllie" Rexroat an OgLaLa Lakota pilot. 

In 1939 Germany invaded Poland, creating ripples of conflict throughout Europe. Hostilities intensified when the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany and the Germans began relentlessly bombing London. British parents sought to protect their families from these attacks. One option was sending children out of the country. Children’s Overseas Reception Board (CORB) arranged to transport youngsters ages five through fifteen to relative safety in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. A luxury ocean liner, the SS City of Benares set sail on September 12, 1940 departing from Liverpool and bound for Canada. The ship carried 406 people. Passengers included 90 CORB children along with their chaperones. Terror struck five days into the journey when a German U-boat fired a torpedo, sinking the City of Benares.
​Torpedoed: The True Story of the Sinking of “The Children’s Ship” chronicles this catastrophe and the fate of its few survivors.

It is interesting to view the cover art for the three books in Tracey Baptiste's Jumbies series. The Jumbies, features a frightened young Corinne moving cautiously through a dark wood, ominous-looking eyes following her. Rise of the Jumbies depicts Corrine submersed in water, body entangled in the coiling tail of Mama D’Leau.

Corinne’s island is experiencing a rare occurrence: torrential rains accompanied by vicious lightning strikes. This is not normal. Corrine suspects that jumbies are the cause of this destruction. She learns to her surprise that this is not the work of Mama D’Leau.  

Huracan, a Mayan mythological entity, is the force behind the devastating storms. This god of lightning, wind, storm, and fire is out for revenge and is intent on destroying all of the island’s inhabitants.

It is up to one girl to save everyone on the island.
​She must negotiate mountain rockslides, avoid underwater volcanoes, and face a killer whale. She resolves to free Mama D’Leau who is trapped underwater. She must find her aunt Severine and return her to the island.   Several of these tasks require Corinne to take mermaid form. In the process, she risks losing her memory and even her life in order to save her family and friends.