(2) K-3 Daisy, a quiet warthog, is named for her mother's favorite flower: "They seem plain, but when you look closer you see their beauty." Daisy knows a thing or two about finding beauty in what appears ordinary. Saddened by being called "Thistle," with her head hanging down, she finds a "magical world" of forgotten treasures. She collects these things--old teacups, buttons, empty jars, and the like--in her own hidden outdoor fort. When she finds objects in the woods that seem placed there just for her, she also makes a happy discovery--and a new friend. In a sunny, vivid palette dominated by green in nearly every shade, Bagley creates a detailed world of school-going forest creatures and myriad lovingly rendered discarded items. Readers will enjoy examining each object in Daisy's collection as they cheer her newly flowering friendship. With her yellow crossbody bag (for collecting) draped over her shoulder and her shy demeanor, Daisy is a memorable character. One for the misfits, this story is an ode to the art of paying attention and honoring and appreciating not just overlooked objects but also overlooked classmates for their "special beauty."

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(1) PS Cooper brings readers the sweet tale of a cat and a dog, different as can be, illustrated in the same unfussy, ­minimalistic style as his Caldecott Honor–­winning Big Cat, Little Cat (rev. 3/17). The story kicks off in the morning, during which an unseen narrator talks to the pets, who are yin and yang opposites. Their short responses are printed next to each pet (italic type for the cat, roman type for the dog), the jaded cat responding with countless nos and the enthusiastic dog answering with every kind of yes. The question "Are you both excited for the day?" is met with an eager ­affirmative from the dog, while the cat responds, "Hmpff." Cooper's ­variations on the responses and the creative ways he ­captures the pets' personalities with loose-lined, gestural illustrations in warm watercolors propel the story. After they are shooed out of the house and told to "look out for each other," we are treated to four expansive and eloquent wordless spreads in which the two climb a nearby hill and, side by side, take in the exhilarating view of a lake and mountains. Dog lovers everywhere will recognize the sad "Nooooo" howled when it's time for the pets to come inside at day's end. Yes, indeed.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Woodrow White. Eggers, with input from students in a San Francisco Young Editors Project, captures an unusual visit from a child's grandmother in this imaginative adventure. The story is told from the point of view of the child, who has met his grandmother only once before. Dressed in a jacket that looks a lot like a jaguar's fur, the glam grandma gets on all fours and commands: "Let's be jaguars." The two venture outside and then, as we see in a double gatefold spread, into the woods. They explore outdoors with abandon, running across a lake, crossing a mountain, traversing the Himalayas, and more. Grandmother, as both human and jaguar, is a powerful and somewhat intimidating presence: at one point, as a jaguar, she eats a raw rabbit. Eggers spins phrases with an evocative beauty. They traverse the water "nimbly...like marbles on glass." Grandmother "laughed like great thunder and I laughed like lesser thunder." In his picture-book debut, painter White animates the pair's adventure in expansive, richly colored scenes that depict the murky, purple-hued shadows of the night, effectively establishing the book's mysterious, majestic tone. It all ends on a cryptic note: could his grandmother really be a jaguar? Either way, the peculiar journey is worth taking.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(1) K-3 In this collection of five connected short stories, clocking in at over ninety pages and composed solely of dialogue, Klassen introduces readers to a turtle, an armadillo, and a snake--all in hats, of course. And because this is a deeply strange set of stories, there is also an alien creature and the book title's meteor. As with I Want My Hat Back (rev. 11/11), font colors are assigned to each character, providing clues as to who is speaking. The first story is all about a close call; the second, saving face; the third, a fantastical creature from the future (a gigantic eyeball on six towering legs that can shoot fire from its pupil); the fourth, a failed attempt to appreciate beauty; and the fifth, hurt feelings. Klassen masterfully builds suspense, particularly in the first story: readers know that a massive rock is falling from the sky, while characters continually change (precarious) position on the page. (No worries: no animals were harmed in the making of this book, though the same can't be said for an orange flower and, eventually, the alien visitor.) Throughout, Klassen's characteristically deadpan humor refuses to patronize readers; he lets them in on the joke, as always, by putting them one step ahead of the protagonists. Smart, funny, and offbeat, this is quintessential Klassen.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) PS Illustrated by Hyewon Yum. A little girl and her father take regular bike rides through their coastal town. The girl, seated snugly in the booster seat behind her father, pretends to be a bird, repeatedly crying "CA-CAW!" In return, she receives friendly responses from the people they pass, but one elderly woman, walking with determination, doesn't acknowledge the girl: "She does not wave. She does not smile." Her lack of response concerns and frightens the child, and her joyful bird cries fade. But one day she sees the woman in the park, talking quietly to the birds that surround her. Finally, the girl and woman greet one another with bird calls. "I am a bird again. CA-CAW!" declares the child. Yum (Saturday Is Swimming Day, rev. 7/18) brings viewers a bright, light-infused outdoor world in a palette of sunny yellows, warm greens, and the velvety blue of the ocean. Lim's plainspoken prose captures the perspective of a young child, especially in the dialogue ("Daddy, I don't like her") and, specifically, the fear the girl experiences and the way in which she recedes because of it. The connection she makes with the woman at story's close is a moment of exuberance. It's a tale that celebrates imagination; birds (the monochromatic drawings of graceful birds in flight on the endpapers are a highlight); and the value of getting past fears to discover that we all have more in common than we might think.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(2) K-3 A contemplative and somewhat meditative series of "14 Questions for Humans" from French author-illustrator Majewski prompts child readers to ponder the planet we live on--and the consequences of our actions. Majewski attributes human feelings to our planet, ­asking readers if the Earth feels alive. Is it rested? Does it feel friendly? Does it feel love? Or could it also be lonely and/or hurt? Maybe it's tired, and maybe it feels "unheard." Each double-page spread features text on the verso and an accompanying illustration on the recto, art that suggests answers to the questions posed. Earth may feel sick, for instance, because of the ways in which we pollute it; here, Majewski depicts ships and industrial plants spewing exhaust from smokestacks. The illustrations that, midway through the book, hint at humans' destructive tendencies have a darkening palette, dimmer than the ones opening and closing the book, with their more verdant greens. All illustrations are delicately rendered acrylics on canvas; all creatures, including humans, are depicted as small, with the landscapes taking center stage. At book's close, Majewski directly addresses readers with "What do you want Earth to feel?"--a call to action to readers to safeguard our planet.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) K-3 In this sweet debut, we meet timid Willow the rabbit, who lives in an abandoned mail collection box near a bustling street. She doesn't like to venture out, preferring to stay in her snug home. After a boy named Theo mistakes Willow's home for an active mailbox, she reads the letter he's dropped inside: Theo has written to the moon to see if it can shine brightly for his mother's birthday. Willow is determined to deliver this letter to the moon and, after several failed attempts, she finally succeeds in her mission, by sacrificing something dear. In the end, the boy's wish comes true--and Willow makes a new friend. The subdued rose and yellow hues of Willow's home are juxtaposed with the bright, rich blues and greens of the outdoor world in Min's velvety soft and textured illustrations. Willow's journey on an enormous, splendid, glowing pink-and-yellow bird steals the show, even if a gust of wind stalls her plans. Willow, a lovable protagonist, is consistently outlined in scarlet red to set off her white fur from the rest of the action, the vivid color doubling as a reminder of the excitement she feels at undertaking a risky, frightening ­journey--all in the name of compassion.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(1) K-3 This playful and innovatively designed book tells the story of a small bird who is eager to fly. When Mama leaves the tree one day, Mel jumps, and readers follow her freefall, beak pointed straight at the ground--a moment made even more dramatic by the vertical orientation of this book. As she falls, she passes other tree-dwellers who try to catch her--squirrels, owls, a spider, and more (all their dialogue is captured in speech bubbles). When she splashes into the water below, readers are instructed, via smaller font, to turn the book clockwise, and then once again to follow her path back up ("She flew!") with a fish in her beak. She passes the same creatures on her flight up, all of whom cheer her on, the spider even weaving a "yay" for Mel in its web. There's a good deal of humor in this lighthearted story; a slug keeps promising to help but never makes it far, and a fly is liberated ("I'm free!") from the spider's web when Mel falls through it. Tabor's relaxed, loose-lined illustrations capture the energy of the fall as well as Mel's endearing, determined personality. A short closing note from the author states that Mel is a kingfisher, and that kingfishers are unlikely to catch fish the first time they fly--but that "Mel is a very special bird." Indeed.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) PS The notion that "everything passes, moves on, or changes" is the subject of this playful, introspective French import. The bird that perches on your finger; small wounds; music; bubbles; baby teeth; dust; and even lice--they all pass by, fly away, or disappear. Alemagna also addresses deeper, more abstract subject matter, such as the notion that "dark thoughts," sadness, and fear may appear but will make their exits. Each double-page spread is bisected by translucent paper vellum, upon which Alemagna makes simple markings in a bold line, shifting meaning and mood depending on which side of the spread is covered. A monster, constructed out of a series of black dots, looms over a child lying fearfully in bed, whom we see through the vellum. Turn that vellum page, and the monster has moved to the verso, away from the (now peacefully sleeping) child. In one funny spread, a woman's head of hair moves over to become the mustache of her friend to the left. The richly colored oil illustrations engage readers with their occasionally off-kilter perspective and scale. The closing theme of unconditional love is implied in the text--but shown in the illustrations in the form of a warm, tender hug between adult and child. That bond is here to stay.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

(2) PS It is the end of winter. With a running start, Duck attempts to take flight but crashes and injures himself. This racket wakes Bear from hibernation; Bear gently carries Duck to his den and feeds him. As Duck heals, the two spend time together, Bear admiring Duck's stories of life out in the world. When Duck is able to fly again, he leaves, promising to return. Bear mourns his friend's absence, saying to himself, "I guess that's life, as they say when sad things happen." The next year, after Bear wakes from a long winter's sleep, a happy reunion occurs: "Get up, old Bear!" says Duck. 'I'm back!" This French import is an intergenerational story, albeit a furry and feathery kind: Bear describes himself as "far too old," and Duck has the vim and vigor of a youngster. The text is filled with sensory delights ("The first buds were bursting, and from the last patches of snow, the violets' perfume filled the air") as well as moments of humor ("Come any closer and I'll break your head!" Duck threatens Bear when they first meet). The wood engravings that adorn each page are intricate and deliciously textured. The colors both brighten and soften as spring comes and the friendship between Bear and Duck deepens; this subtle shift in palette heightens the book's emotional impact. An affectionate story of an unexpected friendship.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) PS Illustrated by Elizabet Vuković. This moving story opens with an introduction to Mrs. LaFleur, who is watering her flowers; the children playing together outside in the neighborhood; and a noisy crow named Magnificent. Turning our attention across the street, we see medical personnel entering two side-by-side houses. The family on the left is saying goodbye to their beloved old golden retriever; in the house on the right lives a woman about to deliver a baby. In one home, there's a final breath exhaled, and in the other, a first breath taken. A striking penultimate spread is filled by the black wings of the ever-present crow as "the world shifted": "It was an ordinary day in the neighborhood. It was an extraordinary day in the neighborhood." Arnold deftly draws parallels between the interior drama of the two homes--for instance, in each one music plays, "soft and without too many words." Specific details ground the story: Mrs. LaFleur always overwaters her roses, and the dog's name is Sally. Illustrations, in shades of gray, blue, and brown, include touches of warm reds, and the soft edges of the art match the hushed quality of this bittersweet tale.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2020

(2) PS Illustrated by Cátia Chien. A wide-eyed bear--a furry stand-in for toddlers learning to manage strong emotions, as well as readers of all ages dealing with sorrow--spots a red balloon on a string. The smitten bear plays with it, believing that this "small red moon" is a gift from the sky. When he attempts to hug it, the balloon pops. The bear fails to fix it, grieves the loss, and takes the blame: "Bad bear," he thinks. When the shimmering moon rises that night, it speaks: "Good bear. Kind bear. Don't worry, bear." The bear, absolved of his guilt, relies on memories to sustain him, and he dreams of dancing with his departed balloon friend. Burgess's unassuming language is endearing (bear wakes from a "snooze" and gives the balloon "a tour of his whereabouts"), and there are sweet moments of humor ("This is the spot where I sit on the pot," the bear tells the balloon near a waterfall). The pacing is flawless: shortly before it happens, readers anticipate the plot's tragic turn by spotting bear's sharp claws as he lovingly grips his friend. Chien's hazy, atmospheric illustrations, which employ playful perspectives, feature splendid vistas with rich washes of color, though she also knows when to let the bear take the focus in crisp white space. This one packs an emotional punch, and not just for preschoolers: it's about no less than loss, self-forgiveness, and the ways in which memories can serve to mitigate grief.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) K-3 In a series of images that depict halves, Ellis ushers readers into a delightfully surreal setting. With pleasing rhymes ("Half a window / Half a door / Half a rug on half a floor"), the bizarre illustrations show a world of bisections. A woman, split exactly in half, sits on half a chair near half a table with, across the room, half a cat on half a rug. When the woman's other half knocks on the door and enters the room, the two halves unite, making the woman whole again with an exceptionally child-friendly "SHOOOOOP." While the woman rejoices outdoors, reveling under the light of half a moon, the cat's other half enters the home, but instead of uniting, they engage in a half-cat fight. The page-turns are compelling, as one takes in the visually beguiling world of the halves, and the earth-toned illustrations include bright pops of pink (half a vase filled with flower halves) and yellow (the half-moon and stars that twinkle next to it). It's a genuinely offbeat story embracing absurdity, and cat lovers everywhere will easily accept the asocial cat-halves refusing to "shoop" and merely falling asleep next to each other. A wholly entertaining tale.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(2) PS "Sometimes I want to run away," says a girl staring out a window. She'd like some company and is frustrated not to have it. Her mother is busy teaching music lessons, and her sister would rather be alone. The girl slides a note under her mother's door and, with her cat Mango by her side, runs away--to the top of a nearby hill, that is. Under a lilac tree, she constructs for herself a small fort out of cardboard and sticks, one that resembles the house she's just left, and wonders if anyone will notice that she's gone. Though disappointed by her family, she misses them and ensures that there's room for them all inside her fort. The family members eventually head outside to join her under the lilacs--although possibly only in her imagination. A lush, lemony yellow and soft, warmly colored shades of green dominate Goodale's deliciously textured monoprint illustrations in the form of the brilliant light outdoors and the grasses where the girl builds her home-away-from-home. Vividly popping off the pages is the lavender of the flowering lilacs on the tree guarding the girl's construction. Goodale examines with sensitivity the need for children to occasionally break away and find their own space for solitude while simultaneously exploring the sense of security they get from a loving, if sometimes distracted, family.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

(1) PS Meet the sun, "as bright as a flower"; a flower that looks like a lion; and a lion, who sees the flower and dreams about a field of them. But these dream-flowers are delicious cookies, and the lion eats them all. Waking up hungry, he runs home to have supper and sleep snugly with his family. Divided into six brief chapters that follow the lion from hilltop to home, this is a perfectly paced picture book for preschoolers that will also be ideal for emerging readers. With simple shapes (the rounded shapes for the sun, the flower, and the lion are the same but with facial features on the lion) and uncluttered, sunny-yellow illustrations that mirror the text, the book includes a mixture of short declarative and interrogative sentences, the latter directed at the audience. In a couple of instances, Henkes even answers his own questions, one with gentle humor: "The lion runs home. Can you see him? No, you can't. He is running too fast." The large, clean, black type is easy to read, always centered in white space. Sentences are full of repetition and rhythm: the flower "is growing on the hill...The lion is running up the hill." It's an endearing, seemingly simple story with a wide-eyed and memorable protagonist, whose adventures will delight preschoolers and support and encourage those taking first steps toward reading.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(2) 1-3 This graphic novel, set on the island of Malta, is the story of stray cats who spend their days wandering the wet docks and eating fish scraps to survive. Cilla, longing for a more stable home, declares she will search for the mythical "quiet garden," which stems from a legendary kitten story; here live humans "with kind eyes who never step on our tails" and who welcome all cats. Cilla's friend Betto dismisses the story as "silly" but joins Cilla so that she doesn't have to travel alone. Their journey is perilous, and they meet curious characters along the way, including a feline who speaks in riddles and a herd of cats who essentially try to imprison them. Cilla is initially disappointed in what she learns about the garden but eventually realizes that "there is a measure of truth in all good stories." The tales the creatures hear on their journey are told through re-creations of classic art (noted in the book's back matter) by Renoir, da Vinci, Zhu Ling, and Randolph Caldecott. Husted has a loose, energetic line that reflects both the cats' graceful movements and their tough lives of scrimping. She captures the Maltese landscape with detail and a scrappy elegance. An enjoyable story, especially for cat-lovers, about how home is where you make it.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) PS Illustrated by Katherine Tillotson. It's "the FULL story" of the classic tale of the three billy goats and the menacing troll, or what late author Jackson calls "the story, like all stories, of Who Wants What...and Do They Get It?" Jackson changes nothing about the plot; we still meet three goats who, in order to graze on grass on the other side of a bridge, outwit a troll, but he gives it new life in this spirited text. The tone is chummy ("SO...here are the Brothers Gruff," it begins) in a text that directly addresses readers: "Just look at him," Jackson writes when we first meet Troll. The story is filled with entertaining asides ("Here's the famous part," we read before Big Billy head-butts Troll); rhythmic language that uses repetition to great effect (the usual "trip-trap," but Jackson throws in some "mutt-muttering" from Troll and some "please and kindly" phrasing to remind readers that politeness goes a long way); and lots of alliteration ("Our biggest brother, Big Billy...is a meal-worthy mouthful compared to middling me"). Changes in font size animate the pages, and the book's vocabulary will delight readers with words such as gnarly, modicum, and ferocious. Tillotson's remarkably textured illustrations match the energy of the tale, and she brings playful perspectives (from both under and atop the rickety bridge). An immensely entertaining retelling, trip-trap!

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) K-3 This picture-book biography of geologist and oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp (1920–2006), who revolutionized the world's understanding of the ocean's floor, begins with a child asking the adult "Miss Tharp" about her career. The page-turn then brings us to Marie as a child. She is a curious (James shows her talking to grasshoppers, cumulonimbus clouds, and imagined ship figureheads) and determined girl who, despite being dismissed because of her gender, knows she'll "turn the world of geography upside down." James dives into Tharp's postsecondary studies to earn multiple degrees, then into her work at Columbia University to plot sounding data of the ocean floor, which led to her discovery of rift valleys on the sea floor and radically changed the scientific community's views on the theory of continental drift. Tharp's work with physiographic diagrams is explained in a detailed and easily understandable way, and the ­illustrations--rendered in a comics-style format with an effective use of panels and speech balloons--incorporate maps of the ocean floor. Most of the backgrounds are based on Tharp's original works. This empowering, accessible account of Tharp's career serves as a reminder that "sometimes it's hard to convince people to believe something new"--and shows readers precisely how the groundbreaking Tharp did just that. Appended are an afterword, a selected bibliography, photos, and source notes.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) PS Illustrated by Julie Paschkis. This entertainingly madcap alphabet adventure is wordless, save for the onomatopoeia and animal sounds that accompany the letters of the alphabet on display. It all starts with a mouse, who sneezes (A is for "achoo") after smelling a big, beautiful daisy. From that flower flies a bee (B is for "bzzz"), while a bird "chirps," and--uh-oh--here comes a large bell, hanging off a cat (D is for "ding-­a-ling"). So it goes, with the far-right recto of each spread often giving us a hint as to what's coming with the page-turn. Paschkis provides delicate drawings of well-dressed animals (in clothes with intriguing, eye-catching patterns) who (mostly) move across the pages from right to left, as if we are watching a play unfold. The solidly colored backgrounds pop with eye-­catching hues, and though things get hectic--there's a bicycle wreck that results in an injured raccoon, a musical parade, and a pig careening through the V and W spread in a sleek blue convertible--­Paschkis keeps the compositions from becoming cluttered. Viewers will delight in narrating the action, particularly given the boisterous sounds occurring all throughout the book, and in spotting and naming all the animals that appear. The ending reveals the recipient of that first spread's daisy--a lion--and never fear: the mouse falls asleep safely and snugly, because Z is for "ZzZzZ."

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(2) K-3 This timely and striking story of a forest wildfire is told from the point of view of a deer, who speaks for all the forest creatures. In lush, earth-toned gouache illustrations, we see creatures in their forest home. "We have always lived in this forest," the deer states. "I used to think this forest would always be our home." But one day a spark flies across dry trees; smoke appears; and flames grow. The sky grows dark, and in an alarming and unflinching spread, a small flame lands on the head of Mountain Lion. The animals, now merely red-hot silhouettes against a wall of flames, flee. Marino's driving text is filled with descriptive verbs--the fire snaps and swallows--and her taut sentences pack a punch: "The smoke was strong. But we were stronger." All the animals eventually return and see new shoots of green in the blackened forest, the powerful final line echoing the book's title. A closing note from Marino describes her own experience in the 2017 Northern California wildfires, seeing embers "the size of dinner plates." The appended "wildfire facts" answer questions for young readers about how wildfires start and spread and how wildlife responds. Lists for further reading and for learning more about wildfires are also appended.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021