(2) YA Written in first person, this heartfelt verse novel tells the fictionalized story of Rubén Darío (based on his autobiography), who was born in 1867 in Nicaragua and initiated the modernismo literary movement (a blend, as Engle writes in her appended author's note, of "poetry and prose, complex rhymes, assonance...and free verse, as well as classical European and indigenous Native American images"). Abandoned by his mother in the jungle as a baby, Darío is eventually taken in by a great-aunt and -uncle whose stories told aloud become the basis for his poetry. Darío becomes known as the "Poet Boy of Central America" and uses that fame to leave Nicaragua for El Salvador and Chile, where he seeks further literary commissions but experiences racism due to his dark skin and indio heritage. Darío's childhood abandonment haunts him, making him feel unwanted, always in exile; these feelings eventually motivate him to work for social equality and develop new, experimental literary forms. Although it's often difficult to place the larger narrative in historical context and track its subject through time, the brevity of the poems allows readers to make rapid progress through the novel, and the placement of line breaks is thoughtful and effective: "With paper as my sky, words / are the wind that should help my mind fly." An author's note and a list of references complete the book.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020

(2) PS Illustrated by Richard Jones. A chilly wind blows into the den where Small Bear and Mama live. It's time to hibernate. Small Bear requests stories before slumber, but Mama tells her that there's work to be done--with "no dilly, no dally." Small Bear gathers spruce sprigs for a "soft, warm" sleep spot; takes a bath in the stream; and collects acorns. But, much like human children, and despite an admirable determination, Small Bear cannot resist tantalizing distractions. "The forest was full of food and adventure," and Small Bear is eager to experience it all. McGinty tells the story with a pleasing rhythm and economy: "Sun was setting, wind was biting, winter knocking, and she had to save time for stories." The repetition of particular phrases, including the satisfying "no dilly, no dally" refrain, will hook young listeners. The smudgy, soft-focus illustrations bring to life this forest in autumn, with walnut and copper hues dominating. And Jones depicts an endearing protagonist in curious Small Bear, who leaps through the forest, exploring in wonder. Readers turn the book for one dynamic vertically oriented spread, in which Small Bear climbs a tall tree. "Ahh! She could climb forever." The snug ending, which makes this one a fitting bedtime book, reveals that Small Bear succeeded in leaving time for stories: as Mama and cub cuddle, snow falling, Mama recounts the events of Small Bear's day.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson

(2) K-3 In this imaginative and self-referential book, cartoonist Varon (Hold Hands, rev. 7/19) is working on a new picture-book project, but getting started is hard. Her dog Sweet Pea reminds her to seek encouragement from her talking pencil. Affirmations and prompts abound as the pencil supports Varon through self-doubt and decisions relating to setting, character, and plot. "It doesn't need to be perfect." Varon begins to illustrate (in lively, thick-lined art with speech-bubble dialogue and cartoonish forms) a baseball game between her imaginary friends and real friends. When the pencil reminds Varon that every story needs a conflict, Sweet Pea becomes upset: "This isn't a book with conflicts! This is a book where everybody gets along!" After a scuffle, the pencil snaps in half. The protagonist's imaginary friends save the day by taking over the storytelling and showing that creators have the power to "make anything happen." Varon, Sweet Pea, and the pencil finish the book, send it to an editor, and watch it appear in the real-life window of Brooklyn's Stories Bookshop + Storytelling Lab; a dramatic page-turn reveals these final steps through photography, with a superimposed doodle of the imaginary friends admiring the book on display. Endpapers contain images of various writing instruments, and the cover resembles a page ripped from a spiral-bound notebook.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(1) PS Milo's mother is too busy to read him a story, so the boy reluctantly heads out to play in the snow. Under the bird feeder near their house, he sees the footprints of a mouse and follows them. He stops at a winterberry, notices that its berries are all gone, and finds a single feather atop the shrub ("What had happened here?"). Following the footprints into the forest, he sees branches from a hemlock tree on the ground ("Why have they fallen like autumn leaves?"). By the time his mother calls him in for dinner, Milo has found loose clods of dirt (perhaps animals were digging for acorns), mysterious smooth runs in the snow leading down to a creek, a spot where the mouse's footprints were disturbed ("Had the bird calling in the distance swooped to the snow?"), and finally a small hole in the ground leading, he posits, to the mouse's home. Back in his own home, Milo's mother offers to read him some stories after dinner, but Milo refuses: "'This time,' he said, 'I have stories for you.'" Words and pictures work together to tell a taut and just-right-for-the-audience suspenseful tale. Mixed-media illustrations evoke the majesty of the wintry landscape but keep the focus on Milo's--and the mouse's--small journey. Young viewers will enjoy doing some noticing of their own: details such as a berry dropped by a cedar waxwing that the mouse brings back to its mate make the book even more satisfying. Endpapers label all the creatures featured--and even there, viewers may have to look closely to find them all.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(1) YA After the Greek god Hephaestus catches his wife Aphrodite, goddess of love, in a passionate affair during WWII, Aphrodite defends her actions by relating--with pathos and wit--two intertwined love stories involving four mortals swept up in WWI. Masterful storyteller Berry's tight, short, descriptive chapters span years, continents, and multiple perspectives. This poignant saga will make readers by turns laugh, cry, and swoon. Extensive historical notes on WWI appended. Bib.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) 4-6 Alice's storytelling dad is in a psychiatric hospital, having lost the ability to distinguish story from reality. Wild animals start appearing in town, seeking Alice to save the threatened Story Web she discovered when she was little. Blakemore skillfully uses shifting points of view in this complex and captivating tale. A realistic, honest consideration of the impact of mental illness commingles effectively with the fantastical elements.

Reviewer: Monica Edinger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Paola Escobar. As a bilingual assistant at Nueva York's public library in 1921, Pura Belpré retells the folk stories of her native Puerto Rico at storytimes and eventually writes them down for publication. Descriptive language moves between English and Spanish seamlessly. Both text and expressive, warm illustrations carry the metaphor of planting seeds, so that readers see the seeds of Belpré's stories bloom as the biographical details unfold. Also available in Spanish. Reading list. Bib.

Reviewer: Alicia K. Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2019

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Junyi Wu. Seven little foxes defy their mother and sneak out into the night to visit "the storyteller," hoping to hear some good and scary tales. Heidicker does not hold back on the horror, with stories of zombie paws, humans who trap foxes and peel off their skin, a beloved fox teacher turned rabid, and more. Wu's black-and-white illustrations--menacing, shadowy, and textured--enhance the creep factor.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(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 Ghosts of Ordinary Objects series. Set in a Virginia coal-mining town during October of 1942, this second novel in Smibert's planned trilogy finds seventh grader Bone hoping that her Gift--the ability to touch an object and experience its owner's memories--will unlock the secrets of a jelly jar that steals sounds. Magic realism, historical fiction, and folktales are nimbly braided together with realistic portraits of grief.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Hannah Marks. An offstage narrator insists this book's panda protagonist needs a problem to solve: "that's how stories work." Things devolve as the uncooperative panda hijacks the story. Kid-friendly design distinguishes the narrator's traditionally formatted text from the panda's speech-bubble dialogue while plentiful white space makes the appealing digital illustrations easy to follow. Underwood's meta tale creatively explains storytelling fundamentals, slyly defining plot, setting, and characters as the panda upends the norms.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) K-3 "This is a story about a kitten" begins the story-within-the-story a girl is writing and illustrating. Her orange-and-black tabby responds, "A kitten?! Don't you mean a...TIGER!" As she revises her work to suit his wishes for a tale with "PIZZAZZ!”--adding "ROCKETS! ROBOTS! LIGHTNING! SHARKS!"--the kitten becomes increasingly (and humorously) more nervous-looking. The imaginative child's artwork benefits from Woodruff's own deft use of cheery colors in her mixed-media illustrations.

Reviewer: Megan Dowd Lambert | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2019

(3) 4-6 This volume collects oral histories of men and women who recount their childhood World War II experiences decades later to present-day children. Fear, loneliness, and anger are vividly remembered and shared with the young interviewers. Most of the accounts, organized into sequential segments, are those of British survivors (the book was first published in the UK). Numerous photographs enhance this historical treasure. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mike Curato. A little black girl with flowing violet hair guides readers through her creative process, guided by a limitless imagination: "what if that pencil one day disappeared? / I'd fold up the paper till stories appeared." The popping pink-and-purple mixed-media illustrations--incorporating sculpture, origami, collage, photography, and more--gorgeously underscore the message that an artist is more than her tools.

Reviewer: Robyn Bahr

(3) 4-6 In this fast-paced new adventure series full of fantastical creatures from Hispanic mythology, Charlie has listened to his abuela's scary tales for years. But suddenly, around the time of a mysterious fire, they seem to come to life. Charlie--now growing horns and feathers--and his crush, Violet, set off on a global chase to find his missing parents. At times frightening but consistently entertaining. Glos.

Reviewer: Katie Darrin

(3) 4-6 Servant Felix tells of how, in 1816 Switzerland, his employer Lord Byron's night of revelrous storytelling with friends (including Percy and Mary Shelley) is interrupted by Lizzie, a blind and scarred girl seeking her sister. Horror unfolds as Lizzie recounts her experience with loss, lightning, and an unprincipled woman scientist. Literary-minded readers will recognize Lizzie's haunting story as the germ of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) K-3 Dad's amusing thought bubbles reveal his dread of daughter Alice's abundant ideas for their snowbound day ahead. Once Alice decides they'll make a book, the engaging story-within-a-story features King Alice and her "royal brave knights" on adventures that resemble the biracial family's activities: mealtimes, princess tea, unicorn party, and more. Cordell's loose-lined mixed-media illustrations capture the imagination, mayhem, and love in this family.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) 1-3 Translated by Julia Marshall. In this volume (translated from the Swedish), Little Bear asks his mother for three bedtime stories and she lovingly complies, reciting tales of a Night Guardian, a little girl, and a man--each traversing a dreamy, neon-pink-hued forest before sleep. The textured colored-pencil scenes and Scandinavian atmosphere evoke a timeless nighttime world, appealing in its strangeness. The small, square trim size is perfect for cozy one-on-one sharing.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh. Arlo accidentally drops a book onto the mayor's head. The mayor retorts, "Books are dangerous...they act like seeds, which grow into ideas, and ideas turn into questions." Books get destroyed and the town suffers until Arlo's stories sprout a burgeoning book tree that inspires others to become book gardeners. The allegorical tale's striking mixed-media illustrations feature lots of books in many different languages.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kaylani Juanita. A fair-skinned boy and a brown-skinned girl play competitive make-believe ("DUN DUN DUH! / A dragon came!"; "Ta-Da! The girl turned the dragon into a kind dragon") until they satisfyingly join forces. The all-dialogue text differentiates voice using font color (red and purple). The mixed-media illustrations feature chubby, wide-eyed characters and ground the fantasy with homey details such as a blanket fort, stuffies, and a pet dog.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester