In her children’s picture book, The Very Best You, author and illustrator Angela Panayotopulos offers encouragement to “young warriors of rare diseases and abilities.” Her messages include the recognition that everyone is unique, that some need special tools to flourish, that there are loving people...

M. L. Woodward’s Tianna and the Mystery of the Beale Treasure is a fast-paced adventure centered on family ties and historical secrets. The story begins when twelve-year-old Tianna Howard is forced into action after her parents vanish during an overseas project. A research journal arrives,...

With The Robe Squad: A Charlestown Tail, Arthur Russell Smith brings us right into his cozy neighborhood along Boston Harbor. There are no wild action sequences here; instead, the picture book centers on simple, comforting routines, like going for a cool evening walk wrapped up...

The Long, Lazy Summer by Michele L. Sayre is a story of life and death, told through the eyes of a young boy. Ray’s mother plans to spend what will be her last summer at home with her husband and son. Through physically and emotionally...

Tower in the Stars (Torre en las estrellas) by Laura Carolfi is a children’s illustrated picture book about life and death. Tower is an older dog, and he is there when Tiny is born. I liken Tower to a grandfather figure, in his later years...

Mark Binder’s The Worst centers on an ordinary eighth-grader who navigates the awkward world of a small New England middle school along with his tight-knit group of friends. Calling themselves Team Bomb Shelter, these clever middle schoolers use an ironic scale to rank their daily...

The Moon and Me is a dreamy, magical, read-aloud counting book for young children. The gentle rhythms of the text by Nielle P Marques track nighttime animals in the sky, on trees, on fences, on land, in the woods, and in the creek. Flying herons,...

The Girl Who Makes a Million Mistakes: Dance Practice by Brenda Li is a children’s picture book about a high-spirited girl named Millie who rose to the occasion. When Miss Julianna announces that the class has an exciting dance recital coming up, Millie is absolutely...

M.M. Hart’s The Empty Lot centers on Marco Rivera, a young boy living in an old East Los Angeles apartment. Marco doesn’t have a club, a coach, or any proper soccer gear. Instead, he spends his evenings practicing footwork behind his building, kicking a plastic...

There’s a difference between tattling and telling. Do you know what this difference is? In Stacy Byous’s Tattle Tails, siblings Skylar and Brodie are constantly tattling on each other. When they take their tattling to school and start tattling on their classmates, the tattling really...