Coming Fall 2021

Back to School Pick!

Hey! A Colorful Mystery

by Kate Read

A mysterious rumor spreads among a colorful sea of fish in Kate Read’s new picture book, a follow-up to the award-winning One Fox.

All is quiet in the deep blue sea, when a rumor bursts forth about a “great big fish hiding in the deep!” One by one, new fish are sucked into the growing story—the red octopus was really rattled, which petrified the purple puffer fish, and startled the blue shoal, until they all flee…into a deep, dark cave. Uh-oh! That’s no cave at all, but the mouth of a whale!

Ezra Jack Keats Illustrator Honor Award-winner Kate Read returns with a clever oceanic twist on the old telephone game starring a tiny pink fish and schools of brilliantly hued fish in a deep blue sea. As the chatter spreads, young readers will explore different varieties of sea animals, colors, and themes of gossip and unchecked claims. Perfect for interactive readalouds as well as for early childhood education units on colors, friendship, and marine life. Back matter includes an introduction to color theory.

Also by Kate Read:
One Fox

Back to School Pick!

Stanley’s Library

Visit the Stanley Fan Page

by William Bee

It’s another busy day at Stanley’s library, and Stanley has stocked his bookmobile with lots of great books to take to the local park.

All of Stanley’s rodent friends stop by to borrow a book that Stanley selected just for them, and later at the main branch, he hosts an out-of-this-world author visit from Agatha Mouse! The day concludes with Stanley’s comforting nighttime routine of supper, bed, and bath.

Stanley’s Library is a brightly colored salute to reading, libraries, and librarians and features all of Stanley’s friends, including Charlie, Myrtle, and Little Woo. Young readers will love Stanley’s library van, and grownups will appreciate Stanley’s community-minded approach to his work.

Perfect for fans of Maisy, William Bee’s beloved Stanley series features adorable hardworking hamster Stanley and his rodent friends as they work different jobs and help each other along the way. The sturdy padded picture book format is ideal for readers at a transitional age between board books and picture books, and the books are trusted models of basic preschool concepts such as colors and shapes, kindness and teamwork, community helpers, jobs and careers, vehicles, and daily routines.

Coming Fall 2021

Boo Stew

by Donna L. Washington
illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler

Award-winning storyteller Donna L. Washington has cooked up a delightfully spooky fractured fairy tale with a diverse cast of characters and an imaginative twist on the classic “Goldilocks.”

Curly Locks is a good-hearted girl, but she’s an awful cook. All the townspeople of Toadsuck Swamp know to steer clear of her culinary concoctions—like the batwing brownies and toad eye toffees. So when one of her dishes goes missin’ from her windowsill, word spreads like a kerosene fire about how the Scares have been terrorizin’ the town at mealtime. They shriek “Gitchey Boo, Gitchey Bon! Gitchey Goo, Gitchey Gone!” and send folk runnin’ from their dinner plates.

With everyone else tremblin’ and squawkin’ about the Scares, Curly Locks gets an inklin’. Can she use her smarts and unique talents to help corral those Scares for good?

Internationally known, award-winning storyteller Donna L. Washington uses her tremendous skill to breathe new life into the classic Goldilocks tale. Her clever, can-do protagonist and joyful language paired with Jeffrey Ebbeler’s charming, imaginative illustrations will tempt readers into a ghostly, yet enchanting landscape that they won’t want to leave!

Now You Say Yes

by Bill Harley

Award-winning author and storyteller Bill Harley returns with an unforgettable middle grade novel about two orphaned siblings on a cross-country journey in search of their place in the world.

“I rooted for outcast-misfit protagonists Mari and Conor every mile and (every single page!) of their intimate and epic, grief-fueled road trip. Bill Harley’s Now You Say Yes reminds us that acts of kindness—big and small—make all the difference.” —Patrick Flores-Scott, award-winning author of Jumped In and American Road Trip

When her mother dies, fifteen-year-old Mari and is desperate to avoid being caught up in the foster system. Again. And to complicate matters, she is now the only one who can take care of her super-smart and on-the-spectrum nine-year-old stepbrother, Conor.

Is there anyone Mari can trust to help them? Certainly not her mother’s current boyfriend, Dennis. Not the doctors or her teachers, who would be obliged to call in social services. So in a desperate move, Mari takes Conor and sets out to find their estranged grandmother, hoping to throw themselves at the mercy of the only person who might take them in.

On their way to New England, the duo experiences the snarls of LA traffic, the backroads of the Midwest, and a monumental stop in Missouri where they witness the solar eclipse, an event with which Conor is obsessed. Mari also learns about the inner workings of her stepbrother’s mind and about her connections to him and to the world…and maybe even a little about her own place in it.

A beautiful exploration of identity and family, this heartwarming and engaging middle grade novel comes from renowned storyteller and two-time Grammy Award winner Bill Harley.

Coming Fall 2021

Back to School Pick!

Soccer Trophy Mystery

by Fred Bowen

Fred Bowen is back with more soccer action–and a mystery–in his newest Sports Story, perfect for fans of Mike Lupica and Tim Green.

While soccer-playing twins Aiden and Ava lead their teams to a championship season, they try to solve the mystery of their town’s missing soccer trophy.

Thirteen-year-old twins Aiden and Ava and their good friend Daniel, all avid soccer players, have just learned their county league soccer trophy mysteriously disappeared forty years ago from the town library. It was never recovered. So between games and practices for the town’s soccer championships, the three friends try to solve the case.

But will these amateur detectives be able to unravel the mystery and find someone who had both motive and opportunity to commit the crime? Will their teams make it all the way to the championships?

Award-winning author and Washington Post KidsPost sports columnist Fred Bowen returns with another installment in his Sports Story Series, this time tackling important topics like equal recognition for women in sports. At the end of the book, Bowen includes “The Real Story” behind the disappearance of the original World Cup trophy.

Coming Fall 2021

Back to School Pick!

Amara’s Farm

by JaNay Brown-Wood
illustrated by Samara Hardy

A young girl searches for pumpkins on her farm in this joyful celebration of cool-weather fruits and vegetables, from the new Where in the Garden? series.

Amara is hosting a potluck for friends on her farm, and her snacks won’t be complete without pumpkins. She’s searched and searched, but she’s grown so many plants that she needs help finding them. What do we know about pumpkins? They’re large, round, and orange—and, wait a minute, is that a pumpkin? No, that’s an apple. Where, oh, where could those pumpkins be?

Author JaNay Brown-Wood uses simple, playful text to guide young readers through Amara’s farm, exploring the unique characteristics of the apples, cauliflower, eggplant, okra, persimmons, and more that grow there.

Little gardeners will compare, contrast, and hunt for visual clues that eventually lead to the pumpkins and a fun potluck with Amara, her grandparents, and her diverse group of friends. Artist Samara Hardy brings this multi-layered story to life with vivid, cheerful illustrations created from layers of hand painted ink and watercolor texture. Back matter includes yummy molasses pumpkin bread recipe for little chefs to try.

Amara’s Farm is the first entry in the Where in the Garden? series from author JaNay Brown-Wood and illustrator Samara Hardy. Featuring a diverse cast of characters, the books explore gardening and farming during every season of the year. Perfect for early childhood and elementary education units on agriculture, farming, gardening, and healthy eating.

Coming Fall 2021

The Littlest Yak

by Lu Fraser
illustrated by Kate Hindley

A little yak yearns for BIG things in this rollicking, rhyming picture book that celebrates individuality, unique talents, and the importance of not growing up too fast.

Gertie is the littlest yak, feeling stuck in her smallness. She wants to grow UP – with the hugest of hooves and humongous horns! Because there isn’t anything a BIG yak can’t do.

So Gertie devises a growing-up plan. She eats her veggies, exercises every day, and reads lots of books. Still, she isn’t any bigger. But when the other yaks come calling for Gertie to help them with a daring and dangerous task, could it be because it’s something only a small yak can do?

Lu Fraser’s debut picture book is a heartwarming and relatable story of individuality, self-esteem, and the joys of being young and small. Bestselling illustrator Kate Hindley has created a delightful wintry landscape, packed with adorable yaks in woolly hats and coats. Readers won’t be able to resist snuggling down with this charming read aloud.

Coming Fall 2021

Back to School Pick!

A Shelter for Sadness

by Anne Booth
illustrated by David Litchfield

This poignant picture book explores the many faces of sadness and addresses the importance of mental health in a child-friendly way.

A small boy creates a shelter for his sadness where he can visit it whenever he needs to, and the two of them can cry, talk, or just sit. The boy knows that one day his sadness may come out of the shelter, and together they will look out at the world and see how beautiful it is.

In this timely consideration of sadness and mental health, Anne Booth offers a beautiful depiction of how children (and everyone) must care for their emotions and give attention to their grief on a regular basis. Stunning illustrations by David Litchfield bring the beautiful concept to life with a manifestation of sadness that the young boy protagonist interacts with throughout the story.

Red Truck, Yellow Truck

by Michelle Robinson
illustrated by Jez Tuya

Red truck, yellow truck, and a colorful cast of vehicles push and pull, heave and tow throughout their hard-working day. An action-and visual-packed read-aloud!

Red truck, yellow truck and their dog drivers are on their way to the construction site. But as they drive through the busy city, a snowy forest, and a cow-filled farm, they get sidetracked by a slow garbage truck, a snow-drift, and a speeding tractor. Will they get their jobs done before they have to turn in for the night?

Tractors, diggers, mixers, bulldozers, and more star in this colorful salute to vehicles that roll, lift, climb, squash, and keep going when the going gets tough. Author Michelle Robinson’s rhythmic, action-packed text builds excitement with every page turn, while Jez Tuya’s colorful trucks, townscapes, and adorable dogs on-the-go beg for an attentive pause. End papers bursting with different kinds of vehicles will delight readers looking for even more truck fun. Ideal for storytimes and fans of Richard Scarry’s Busytown.

Coming Fall 2021

Lana Lynn and the New Watchdog

by Rebecca Van Slyke
illustrated by Anca Sandu

Fearless sheep Lana Lynn is all set to train her flock’s new watchdog, but will a case of mistaken identity derail her efforts and put the sheep in jeopardy?

The sheep pasture is in an uproar when they find out a new watchdog is coming to protect the flock, so the intrepid Lana Lynn decides to take training matters into her own hooves. And when a fierce-looking canine emerges from the woods, Lana Lynn jumps right into her efforts.

The new “watchdog” doesn’t quite catch on to herding or staying up all night guarding the sheep, but Lana Lynn isn’t deterred. As she continues showing this new “watchdog” the ropes, she gets a creeping suspicion that something isn’t right. And her fellow sheep could be in jeopardy!

Author Rebecca Van Slyke has created a charmingly overconfident heroine in Lana Lynn, accented by Anca Sandu’s adorable and funny illustrations. An ideal read-aloud full of good farm fun!