John Coy & Phung Nguyen Quang The World Game – Soccer Circles the Globe Thwaack! Whummpp! Klangg! From a park in the United States to a pitch in India, from the seaside in Nigeria to a stadium in Uruguay, there’s one game that brings the world together. Whether you call it football, soccer, or any…
Shannon Hitchcock Wild Mountain Ivy Twelve-year-old Ivy is still sick months after catching a common virus. Hoping for a reset, Ivy and her mom spend the summer in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where Ivy’s uncle has converted an old house into a bed and breakfast. Ivy starts dreaming about a girl named Jessie Pearl, who…
Lupe Ruiz-Flores The Pecan Sheller In 1930s San Antonio, thirteen-year-old Petra dreams of going to college and becoming a writer. But with her beloved father dead, two younger siblings to care for, and with a stepmother struggling to make ends meet, Petra has to drop out of school to shell pecans at a factory. Hoping…
Ada Limón & Gaby D’Alessandro And, Too, the Fox Comes with its streak of red / flashing across the lawn, squirrel / bound and bouncing . . . U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón has a keen eye for the natural world. This poem pulses with the joyful energy of a fox bounding through backyards, piecing…
Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic & Chris Park Touch the Sky Vern longs to be one of the kids who swoop until their toes touch the sky. He heads to the swings and desperately tries to pump his legs, but he just can’t get it. A chance encounter with precocious (and hilarious) Gretchen gives him just…
Beth Mills No More Gnomes Herbert is the politest kid in town. He has a medal and everything! But when Ms. Goat, his neighbor and after-school babysitter, starts collecting garden gnomes, things take a turn for the worse. Those gnomes won’t stop staring at him. How rude! How can Herbert tell Ms. Goat the truth about…
Shafaq Khan Zeyna Lost and Found In 1970, twelve-year-old Zeyna has grown up in London but has never quite felt like she fits in. Her monotonous life is suddenly interrupted when Zeyna’s parents decide to visit their native Pakistan―where Zeyna feels she doesn’t fit in either. But then her parents disappear, leaving behind a string…
Beth Mills Ella McKeen, Kickball Queen In her debut picture book, Beth Mills offers a pitch-perfect look at recess, friendship, and being a good sport. First grader Ella McKeen is the undisputed kickball queen until a new girl named Riya shows up—and shows her up at recess. How does Ella handle losing? By throwing herself on the…
Sandra Nickel & Il Sung Na Bear’s Big Idea Every day that Bear and Fish spend together is a good day. Fish always has the perfect idea for what to do! One day, it’s Bear’s turn to make a plan. She promises Fish something BIG! But when Bear goes looking for her brand-new big idea,…
Kao Kalia Yang & Jiemei Lin The Rock in My Throat At first, no one noticed when I stopped talking at school. In this moving true story, Kao Kalia Yang shares her experiences as a young Hmong refugee navigating life at home and at school. Having seen the poor treatment her parents received when making…
Bob Raczka & Simone Shin Niko Draws a Feeling Niko loves to draw his world: the ring-a-ling of the ice cream truck, the warmth of sun on his face. But no one appreciates his art. Until one day, Niko meets Iris . . . This imaginative and tender story explores the creative process, abstract art,…