“My mother has two tongues. With one tongue, she speaks Malayalam. With the other, she speaks English.” Young Sumi (Indian American) explains that her mother changes the language she speaks depending on who she’s with and what she’s doing.
Picture Book
Jimmy’s Rhythm and Blues: The Extraordinary Life of James Baldwin
“Home is brick brown, / Harlem, uptown, / trains rumbling by.” An exquisitely composed picture book biography of James Baldwin illuminates his interest in the arts and development as a writer from a young age.
Boyogi: How a Wounded Family Learned to Heal
A young boy’s father has returned “from far away,” where he was a soldier, changed. Daddy used to be fun, but now he’s angry and sad and spends a lot of time in his room. The boy’s mother explains that Daddy’s mind is hurt by bad things that happened while he was gone, and she assures the boy that they are trying to figure out how to help Daddy feel better.
Darwin’s Super-Pooping Worm Spectacular
Charles Darwin’s belief that worms were amazing contributors to the natural world was not shared by the public, who considered them nothing more than garden pests. Determined to prove his opinion scientifically, Darwin tested worms’ vision, learning they didn’t have eyes but used sensors in their skin to detect light.
All the Faces of Me
A young girl fascinated by her Nana’s set of traditional nesting dolls notes that they all have identical smiles. Deciding the dolls shouldn’t be stuck with the same smiles, the girl “fixes” them, adding a range of expressions to their faces.
What If I’m Not a Cat?
A farmer’s goodnight to the many cats in her barn has led to some confusion on the part of the donkey who also lives there. Donkey “knew he was a cat because Farmer had said so.”
Red & Green
This tall, narrow book features a bisected green tree studded with boldly colored “ornaments” on its red cover. Inside, a rhyming text riffs off Clement Moore’s poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (“It was a cold, wintry night, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring … except a small mouse!”) …
Sorry, Snail
Ari is mad, and dancing her feelings out isn’t helping. A snail in the yard provides an outlet for her anger as she furiously whispers, “Look at that slimy body … That silly shell.” She gets right in its face and adds, “Those tentacle eyes! I just can’t look at you anymore, snail.”
On the Edge of the World
Vera lives on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, with the Pacific Ocean stretching out beyond the coast. “My mom says we’re on the real edge of the world.” Lucas lives with his family in a small town on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Chile. “It’s the real edge of the world!” his grandmother tells him.
Gertie: The Darling Duck of WWII
In April, 1945, a duck laid eggs on a high piling in the Milwaukee River, near a drawbridge in the heart of the city’s downtown.