(3) K-3 Translated by David Henry Wilson. In this handsome volume, Swiss artist Fischer's sprightly line-and-wash illustrations accompany well-translated Grimms' tales. "The Musicians of Bremen," "Riff-Raff," and "Puss in Boots" (the Grimm version of the Perrault classic) are fully illustrated; "Rum-Pum-Pum" is a section filled with drawings from several stories; the last six tales each sport a single full-page illustration that highlights the whole story's actions. A short biography of Fischer is appended.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kayla Harren. As a teenager in 1979 northern India, Jadav Payeng was concerned that many snakes died after flood damage to the eroding Brahmaputra River region. He planted twenty bamboo saplings...and ended up many years later with a protected 1300-acre forest teeming with animals. Hopeful and inspiring, this true-life ecological story is illustrated with evocative, verdant art. Appended with endnotes and a planting project.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 In Jakarta, Indonesia, Nia's food-vendor widower father is mired in poverty and alcoholism while the young teenager cares for her little brother. When Nia survives a minibus accident, superstitious locals believe that she has miraculous powers, which aspiring-writer Nia uses to raise money for her schooling. Readers will cheer Nia's real powers--her storytelling talent and her resiliency--in this vividly set story. Glos.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 Orca Footprints series. An unusual book about urban innovations, full of engaging color photos from different countries, including many from the author's Canadian hometown of Victoria, British Columbia. Young people will get ideas for projects they could recreate in their own neighborhood--murals, street libraries, community gardens, knitted decorative tree coverings, and more--and may even be inspired to get involved in local politics. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jaime Kim. When everyone asks a light brown–skinned girl the titular question, she's confused: "I'm from here." Then Abuelo takes her on a dreamy tour, from South America's Pampas to a warm island to "this land where our ancestors...were in chains." Most importantly, though, she's from Abuelo's "love and the love of all those before us." Warm watercolor and digital art illustrates the overt but useful story.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Growing up in Russia, left-handed Anya is forced to use her right hand. But she refuses to use it for drawing, her special talent, and imagines she's in a secret society with famous left-handed or ambidextrous artists. When Anya immigrates to the U.S., she can use her left hand freely and becomes an artist herself--as demonstrated by this whimsically illustrated picture book based on the author/illustrator's childhood.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Vincent Bergier. Sandy, a blue cat, leads readers through nocturnal adventures in NYC on dark-blue acetate overlays imprinted with clear windows allowing shapes from the digital pictures below to create strange nighttime images. Flip the acetate page to see a different, day-lit view of the city, guided by red squirrel Frankie, including Central Park, urban traffic scenes, and other sights. This French import's interesting concept isn't always successfully executed.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jamey Christoph. When police raided Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn in June 1969, its LGBTQ+ patrons decided to stand up, heralding that "a new day was dawning for the gay rights movement." The text is engagingly narrated by the nineteenth-century-constructed building itself while handsome digital illustrations show the historic changes in architecture and occupants. Appended with a photo gallery, historical note, and participant interview. Reading list, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 This story, translated from the Spanish, is a fictionalization of the early-twentieth-century incident when young cousins Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths took photos of (what they claimed were) fairies in the woods of Yorkshire, England. Fanciful multimedia illustrations catch the mood of the story, engagingly (and a bit unreliably) narrated by Frances. An endnote discusses the historical event.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Uma Krisnaswamy. In this volume of original trickster tales set within a frame story and inspired by Indian folklore, Prince Veera and his friend Suku, a farmer's son, enjoy holding court when the king is not available. Time after time, the pair acts logically and kindly--and metes out appropriate justice, often with a humorous comeuppance for the villain. Traditional black-and-white illustrations are sprinkled throughout.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 Fighting for Justice series. Illustrated by Laura Freeman. Enslaved midwife and herbalist Biddy Mason was brought to California in 1851 by her masters; she later sued for her freedom, bought land, and became a community leader. Illustrated free-verse poems (with some fictionalized elements) alternate with factual chapters documenting Mason's life, historical context, and the early Los Angeles African American community. Stylized illustrations accompany the verse; archival images appear throughout. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 In this companion to Morpurgo's Greatest Animal Stories, the popular English author selects twelve classic "magical" stories, mostly tried-and-true folktales and all European except for the Japanese "Yoshi the Stonecutter." With many different retellers and illustrators, beginning comments from Morpurgo before each story, and a handsome open format, this collection is good for both storytime or individual reading.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) PS Illustrated by Rafael López. López has adapted the well-known spiritual to invoke a humanistic theme: "We've got everybody everywhere in our hands." His exuberant mixed-media illustrations include digital elements and convey the happiness of a diverse set of international children and animals frolicking in all kinds of environments. Musical notation appears at book's end. Also available in a bilingual English/Spanish edition.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) YA High-school senior Maya, daughter of a Muslim Indian-American family in suburban Chicago, longs to find her own romantic partner and attend NYU film school, in defiance of her parents. Her family problems are also affected by increasing hate crimes against Muslims after 9/11. Maya's convincing first-person narrative touches on intercultural teen dating, school life, generational conflict, and current social issues.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Julie Morstad. During a girl's immigration to America, she loses her favorite flowered dress, handsewn by her mother. Years later, she spots the same dress in a shop and buys it for her own daughter. A warmhearted, quietly told story, with expressive, delicate-lined illustrations showing the girl's Mediterranean-looking island home, the child's shipboard experiences, and the imagined travels of the dress.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Daniele Fabbri. Bezalel, an Israelite slave in Ancient Egypt, collects unusual things. When the Exodus begins, the boy insists on bringing his Beautiful Things Box with him. When God asks Moses to build a mishkan, a house filled with beautiful things, Bezalel is the only one ready to provide treasures. Soft paintings convey a sense of wonder in this unusual retelling of a biblical story (discussed in the author's note).

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) YA Two teens originally from Mumbai--troublemaker Zarin (a half-Hindu and -Parsi girl) and Porus (a Parsi boy)--die in a car accident in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Told from their points of view before and after death, together with the narratives of local Muslim teenagers, this novel about the constraints of gender, sexual assault, and family conflicts in a theocratic world is complex and multifaceted. Glos.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Translated by Michael Neugebauer. Illustrated by Zaü. In terse, first-person sentences, a boy describes the emotional ups and downs during his regular visits, accompanied by his quiet mother, to his incarcerated father. The French import is illustrated with strong, expressionistic sketches in black, gray, and white on cream-colored backgrounds. With few books on the topic, this unusual, mature picture book should find its place in libraries.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 4-6 When Tash's Tibetan Buddhist parents are arrested for religious and political activity by the occupying Chinese soldiers, Tash escapes with her friend Sam and two yaks. They make a dangerous trek through the Himalayas to the exiled Tibetan community in India, where she meets the Dalai Lama. The exciting adventure story would benefit from more in-depth information about Tibet's current situation and a map. Brief facts are appended.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Julie Flett. In the Nicola Valley, British Columbia, where Interior Salishan peoples live, Nikki and friends forage for wild plants with relatives, including Yayah (grandmother). Yayah emphasizes the importance of plant identification and naming in their endangered Indigenous language, Nłe?kepmxcín. Using the text's pronunciation guidance and the glossary, interested readers will learn along with the young characters. Quiet collage-like art emphasizes the land's natural riches. Author's note included.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt