Diggers, Dozers & Dumpers

Fourteen microstories starring anthropomorphic animals introduce readers to various types of construction and farming vehicles. Amanda Crocodile, for example, is fed up with having to ride her bike to work along a bumpy dirt track. “Want to learn some swear words? Try biking to work with Amanda sometime! / One day, Amanda has had enough. She gets herself a bulldozer.”

Just in Case: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault

On a Norwegian island not far from the North Pole, deep inside a mountain, more than 580 million seeds are stored in three temperature-controlled vaults. The seeds originate around the globe and are sent to Svalbard as a backup: “Just in case.” There they are preserved and carefully protected, available to be withdrawn and planted at any time, even centuries from the time of deposit.

A Pocket Full of Rocks

“You can do a lot with a pocket full of rocks.” There is repetition and constancy but also variation and surprise in this picture book as the young narrator (brown-skinned) collects rocks in winter, flower petals in spring, shells at the beach in summer, and acorns in fall.

How to Reach the Moon

In the summer, Emilio (Latino) leaves the city and travels past a landscape of pointed mountains to the forest, where his abuelo lives in a house among the trees. There they eat dinner outside by lantern light, and afterward, in the dark, Abuelo treats Emilio to fantastical stories. Seeing the moon in the sky one night, Emilio asks whether it is “true that the moon has a face we never see.” In fact, it “has many faces!” says Abuelo.

Picking Tea with Baba

Joining Baba in picking tea leaves on the mountain near their Chinese village is “a special treat” for this book’s narrator and his brother. Mama joins them, too. After a steep trek, the family reaches a “serene” garden striped with orderly rows of green tea shrubs.

Raven’s Ribbons

“Boom-boom. Shuffle-shuffle.” Raven loves taking part in round dances, holding his grandma’s hand as “round and round they go” with other members of their Indigenous community. Raven especially admires the vibrant ribbon skirts worn by girls and women. Many of them were sewn by his grandmother, the colors carefully chosen for each individual.