Meet the irrepressible Lolo, a good-natured youngster who loves gold stars and embellishing her paintings with glitter. Lolo lives with her mother and her grandmother in South Africa.
This girl has a mind of her own. She is not interested in the library book with the fairy wearing a frilly pink tutu. No. She wants the book featuring a terrible monster with horns and tusks.

Trim size of about 5” x 8” fits nicely into small hands. Book design features large font with plenty of white space as well as delightful grey scale drawing on every page.

​Daly’s illustrations capture the personality and unique idiosyncrasies of each character. 

Woolvin has done it again. Incorporating traditional fairy tale elements, she has created a marvelous little story with the unique plot twist that readers have come to expect from this talented picture book author.

Bo lives in the Alpine Kingdom filled with slimy sea monsters, scary cave beasts, and horrid forest monsters.  When her older brothers set off to catch a monster, Bo begs to come too.
The boys tell her no. "You're far too little."
Armed with her bow and arrow, she sneaks out of the castle, in search of a monster to slay. Readers can follow  Bo's travels with the map featured on the end papers
She encounters some strange and possibly fearsome creatures: a Griffin, a Kraken, and a dragon. However, each responds to Bo with kindness and concern.

Allie Abraham works on blending in. A Circassian with reddish-blond hair and hazel eyes, it is easy for this sixteen-year-old cheerleader, academic standout, and school choir member to ignore her Muslim heritage. Allie's non-practicing Muslim father believes that this will protect her from discrimination.
However, Allie is drawn to the culture and religion of her grandmother. She wants to learn Arabic, study the Qur'an, begin a habit of regular prayer, and dress modestly. She meets with a group of forward-thinking Muslim young women who practice their faith in modern America. She's an All-American Muslim Girl.
Publicly acknowledging her heritage is a challenge. She hides her newfound interest in Islam from her father, walks a fine line with her boyfriend whose father is a well-known and bigoted news personality. She deals with classmates who mock her faith and other Muslims who condemn her for not being Muslim enough. What to do?

​This collection of short stories paints miniature portraits of an assemblage of Eid-al-Fitr celebrations. While the practice of faith varies within the Muslim community, each unique Eid observance is memorable.
The anthology contains lighthearted as well as poignant glimpses into the culminating observance of Ramadan with descriptions of private prayer, public celebrations, distinctive clothing, special food, and gifts. Readers meet a recent convert to Islam who fasts and samples spicy fare for the first time. For others Eid is bittersweet, reviewing celebrations from years past and remembering absent family members. ​ Some stories follow the journey to be with family: taking the subway to the Bronx or sitting in the car’s back seat with siblings while traveling to Sydney, Australia. I loved the descriptions of clothing: choosing to wear a hajib for the first time or fashioning a unique gown from a thrift store purchase.

A possible solution presents itself. Jude loves theater and movies. She learns that the school is staging a production of Beauty and the Beast. Summoning her courage, she auditions for a part in this fairy-tale musical. Can a girl from Syria can make it onto the stage in Ohio?

​The dynamic duo Metaphrog have created a creeptastic reimagining of Bluebeard. Award-winning co-creators John Chalmers and Sandra Marrs have cast this traditional French folktale as a fantasy feminist story. Readers meet a girl who doesn’t wait to be rescued. She rescues herself.
Here’s how it happens:

Eve and her family live near an enchanted forest. Beyond the forest atop a high mountain is the castle of Count Bluebeard.

Eve's idyllic life with her family and her best friend Tom is disrupted when strange things begin to happen near the forest. Animals disappear. ​People can be trapped in the masses of dense vegetation. No one dares to enter this sinister wood.

After Eve reaches her eighteenth year, Bluebeard decides to select a bride from among the townsfolk. With a roll of the dice, Eve is selected to become his wife and live with him on the mountaintop. Following the marriage ceremony he takes her to his imposing, opulently furnished castle. Eve notices a long corridor leading to countless rooms. At the end of an extended hallway is a door opened only with a special golden key.

When Bluebeard leaves on urgent business he presents Eve with a ring of keys giving her access to all rooms in the castle. ​She is explicitly warned to never enter the door unlocked with the golden key. Alone and anxious, Eve roams throughout the castle, going from room to room.

Bluebeard returns to his home and finds that Eve has discovered the bodies of his murdered wives. In an intense climactic scene, Eve struggles to save her sister. Not waiting for Tom and her brothers, she courageously takes matters into her own hands, finishing off the count and setting both girls free.

Tension escalates with a series of panels that depict Eve gazing up a dizzying spiral staircase while Bluebeard stealthily inches nearer. Close-ups of razor-sharp teeth and talon-like extended fingers bring the terror into sharp focus.

Art is breathtaking. Intricately detailed dark silhouettes contrast against the soft jewel tone tints. The gorgeous backgrounds are enchanting.
Color plays an important part in the story. Some of the opening settings and coloring are reminiscent of the classic Disney fairy tales, such as Cinderella. Eve's world is a sparkling pink, while the appearance of Bluebeard is signaled with predominantly blue hues.

Vivian J Cohen is a typical eleven-year-old. She likes cheese sandwiches and pizza. She likes baseball. Vivy enjoys watching televised professional games with her dad. Her favorite player is VJ Capello.
In some respects she may be a not-so-typical fifth grader. She is a baseball (NOT softball) pitcher and can throw a mean knuckleball. She dreams of becoming the first female to play professionally. She is autistic, prone to meltdowns and flapping her hands when she gets anxious or excited. 

When she was eight years old, she met minor league pitcher VJ. He took her aside and taught her how to throw a knuckleball. She has never forgotten him. Three years later Vivy has a letter-writing assignment. She opts to write to VJ. They begin a lively correspondence, mainly via email.
​Kapit begins the epistolary novel on the first day of spring training and concludes with the league's final game for the season. Their emails include plenty of play by play baseball action.

Thirteen-year-old Julia keeps a deeply personal journal describing her life near the Mexico -United States border. Over the course of approximately two years she discloses her fears, her uncertainty, and the longings of her heart. Detailed lists and commentary reveal her life, her everything.
Living in Juárez with father, mother, and younger brother Willy, Julia’s life experiences a seismic shift when her father begins working for the mafia. She assumes that he is a courier. Suddenly the family has a new car, a new house, and many luxury items. But wealth has a downside.
Mamá is no longer her confidant. Her mother's primary objective is to protect and care for her husband. In an attempt ​to shield her children from the mob's influence and possible retribution, she sends Julia and Willy to live with family in El Paso: Aunt Tia, Cousin Jose, and their dementia- afflicted great grandmother.

This generously-sized picture book celebrates the life and legacy of the second woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.

Using her trademark format, biographical narrative interspersed with appropriate quotations,  Rappaport recounts important events in the life of this influential woman. 

The U.S Constitution serves as a backdrop for the cover’s close-up portrait of the Associate Justice. Looking directly into the faces of readers, Ruth is clear-eyed and resolute. ​Opening pages feature Ruth as a young girl, her childhood filled with books and school activities, music and traditional Jewish observances.

A variety of illustrators capture the individual’s essence in each of Rappaport’s beautifully presented biographies. The artist's style is appropriate to the subject. The realistic Frederick Douglass portrait is rendered in somber tones. Helen Keller is positioned in profile, rather than a direct full face. John Lennon’s glasses reveal the title in his left lens and a mirrored reflection of the words in his right lens. Each portrait could be a framed work of art. Discover this glorious series.

Captivating life stories. Memorable quotations. Gorgeous art. Stellar series.

Penny Rose is lonely. In the past, she has always enjoyed friendships with other children in her neighborhood. Now everything has changed. Her family moved and she can't connect with any of her new classmates. She spends her free time sequestered in the shed in her family’s backyard, creating a collection of tiny robots from found objects: outdated technology, broken bits and pieces, even a set of false teeth. She names each creation and fills her days tinkering with these mini-friends.

Then she meets her nerdy neighbor Lark. A budding ornithologist, Lark has a yard brimming with an incredible collection of birdhouses created from assorted curiosities that the birds leave for her,

​The girls want to dress up as robots for Halloween.
​Although their plans fall through, young readers can create a cardboard robot costume and make their own magic.

Zuri is preparing for a special day and wants to have the perfect hairstyle. Daddy is napping. She reasons that he deserves a rest and decides that she can handle styling detail. The task becomes more challenging than she envisioned.

Sequestered on a bathroom stool, she searches her tablet for hairstyle inspiration. When the tablet clatters to the tile floor, dad wakes up and comes to investigate.

He lovingly offers to help Zuri. "It'll be a piece of cake." Soon it is evident that this project is more difficult than he thought. Readers have the mirror’s perspective, viewing the reflected image of Daddy's repeated attempts at a variety of creative styles.

While this is his first picture book, Cherry is a well-known personality. He transitioned from career as an NFL wide receiver to director of music videos and filmmaker.
Hair Love is based on Cherry's direction of an animated short film.

​​Full disclosure: Initially I skimmed this book's  back cover and concluded that it was a remake of The Parent Trap. To be honest, I wasn't crazy about the movie. So, no. I wasn't interested. But... this middle grade novel was by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer.  I reasoned that two extremely talented authors would write something more than a warmed-over Disney movie script. Once I started reading I was hooked. 
​​Reasons why I loved this book:
Point one: The girls are interesting individuals, not plot contrivances. While they have a west coast vs. east coast point of view, they have enough unique traits to transcend the California and New York City stereotypes. 

Point two: The dads.  These men are neither good guys nor bad guys. They are guys.  They are dads. They make some good decisions, arrive at some conclusions based inaccurate assumptions. They make mistakes. They love their families.