(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jackie Traverse. Daniel's (Sometimes I Feel like a Fox; Sometimes I Feel like a River) latest offering invites readers to commune with trees. Short first-person verses assign attributes to twelve different trees ("Sometimes I feel like a maple, / full and most generous... / Sometimes I feel like a birch, / smooth and fresh, anew"), following the cycle of the year from early spring to late winter. Traverse's lush acrylic and gouache illustrations never depict a tree in its entirety, with the tops always breaking the edge of the page. This choice suggests that art cannot fully capture the trees' majesty and en-courages readers to imagine what lies beyond the confines of the page, reinforcing Daniel's core concept that there is more to trees than meets the eye. Back matter offers thumbnail images of each tree, restating their names and highlighting the attributes Daniel's verses assigned to them--generosity for the maple, optimism for the birch, and so on. A closing author's note begins, "Like my Algonquin ancestors, I believe that trees are ­sentient beings with spirits who can feel things," prompting readers to reflect on what they, in turn, feel as they consider this Indidenous perspective and how it inspired this book.

Reviewer: Megan Dowd Lambert | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Jennifer K. Mann. Manley offers a child's point of view of a day-long hike up a mountain (identified in the back matter as the South Sister in Oregon's Cascade Mountain Range). Each stage of the hike is described in a rich, telegraphic three-line haiku poem, beginning with a blazing sunrise. Readers follow along as the child swats away mosquitoes, passes a rushing stream, trudges through the snow, munches trail mix, reaches the summit, and heads back down and to the campsite for bedtime: "trying to sleep -- / what mountain will I climb / next?" The economy of words in the haiku form fits the way a child might think and particularly seems to suit the exercise of describing a demanding hike while actually in the midst of one. Mann's mixed-media illustrations work perfectly in tandem with the haiku narration, alternating perspectives -- featuring the landscape and the views, or the child's close observations, or the family on the move. Her cartoonlike characters pop against the natural setting, especially the child protagonist in an orange hoodie and green pants. Back matter includes information about the history and geology of the region, hiking tips, a visual index, a list of resources, and a note about haiku form, which debunks the idea that English-language haiku must follow a 5-7-5 syllable pattern.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ashley Barron. A racoon is panic-stricken after taking a spill down a chimney. During a nighttime car ride, a family is startled when a moose sallies out onto the road. A chipmunk is brought to bay in a rainspout by its feline predator. In the fifteen short narrative poems in this picture book, racially diverse children and their caregivers unexpectedly come face to face with undomesticated critters, some imperiled, and choose to show them kindness and respect. A closing poem observes each animal’s whereabouts following their human encounters. Ruddock’s evocative rhyming verses and Barron’s textured cut-paper-collage illustrations convey both the vulnerability and power of wild creatures. Readers will warm to the wisdom of giving wildlife their space. An eloquent exemplum of animal ethics that avoids preachiness.

Reviewer: Summer Edward

(1) YA Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. This poetry collection masterfully encapsulates Watson's experience of Black girlhood and womanhood. Through an array of poetic styles, she weaves together her personal reflections, celebrating the multifaceted nature of her own upbringing. The poems serve as a testament to the diversity of cultural influences she encountered during her childhood. She describes her identity as coming from "east coast hip-hop and island tradition...Baptist hymns and secular jigs," embodying the intersectionality of her experiences. While she celebrates her uniqueness (e.g., Renée is the only one in her family whose name origin is not connected to another family member), she honors and respects that she is part of a broader sisterhood of Black women. From biological sisters to "aunties by blood & by choice" and other "knowing women," the author pays homage to Black women's collective strength and wisdom. The title poem, appearing after definitions for atlas, especially adds depth, with Watson drawing parallels between Black girls and the Greek mythological figure condemned to hold up the heavens. The collaboration with Holmes, whose magnificent collages accompany Watson's words, adds a visual dimension that also spans cultures and experiences. The result is a celebration of the complexities of, and the bonds formed through, Black girlhood and womanhood.

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 Alexander and Nikaido offer a single poem as this lyrical picture book's text, inviting young readers (and listeners) to "dive deep into the silent sea of your imagination" and "discover... / words / raining / everywhere. / Invite them / into your paper boat / and row row row." They cleverly integrate alliteration, similes, allusions, and wordplay to model for young writers what a poem can look and sound like. The buoyant text provides ample sensory imagery and nudges readers to look, listen, hear, feel, touch, speak, and then write, offering a guide for the process of observing, imagining, and putting it all down in words. Sweet's dynamic collage illustrations, composed of "vintage and handmade papers, paint, pencils, printed letterforms, and beach pebbles," suggests another level of engagement with the concept; her lively arrangement of words and lines across each double-page spread gives readers a visual example of how to play with language. In her appended note, she reveals that the text inspired her to think of circles ("big rounded marks, delicate lines, and cut-paper shapes in orbit filling the space"), suggesting the circular nature of the writing process; lined notebook paper is visible in many of the illustrations, hinting that the goal of the book is to inspire writing, too. A note from Alexander provides further thoughts on the question: "What is poetry?"

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Deborah Freedman. Twenty-nine poems in a lovely mix of forms and styles populate this book, presented as a "house" with twelve double-page-spread "rooms." Each room has a slightly different focus on the function of wonder in exploring the natural world. In "Room of Curiosity," two poems invite readers to question, think, and imagine as they observe their surroundings and investigate the world around them. "Room of Science" considers the work of different disciplines: e.g., "In a lab, a physicist creates soap bubbles, / wobbling gifts of air wrapped in slippery skin / that POP in an instant." The topics are abstract (time, imagination, quiet), but the poems guide readers through specific moments and questions, including wondering about a pebble's history and speculating about dinosaurs' last day on Earth. Freedman's intriguing mixed-media illustrations use wide washes of color in shades of blue, green, gold, or purple with subtle hints to the objects referenced in the poems. In the final "Note About Wonder," the poets encourage questioning and creativity and challenge young readers to express themselves through writing, painting, building, and more.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ellen Rooney. That paragon of poetic pith Elliott (In the Woods, rev. 3/20; and others) returns with another winning entry. Here his focus is on animals of the Polar Regions, from emperor penguins in Antarctica, through two species that inhabit the waters of both regions, to polar bears in the Arctic. Many of the fifteen brief poems use direct address, the better to connect creature with readers (orca: "You have a reputation / both / thrilling and widespread. / You inspire admiration, / awe, / and not a little dread"); some employ internal rhymes or multiple rhymes (southern elephant seal: "But how do you ex- / plain your tremendous / amplitude when you / sometimes go for months / without a single / bite of food?"); all display originality of thought. Rooney's eye-catching portraits--created using printmaking ink, gouache, crayon, and digital and traditional collage techniques--vary to match the tone of each poem, from lighthearted and humorous to majestic and haunting (see her shivery Greenland shark). Appended with useful and relevant "Notes About the Animals."

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(2) K-3 Gaiman, who serves as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency, used social media to ask people about their memories of being warm, to draw attention to--and raise money for--those unhoused or displaced due to violent conflict. He wove respondents' words into the free-verse poem that is this compelling picture book's text. The twelve loose stanzas are vivid and specific with relatable details. Each is interpreted by a different artist (with fascinating explanatory notes from the illustrators appended), including Yuliya Gwilym, Petr Horaek, Oliver Jeffers, and Nadine Kaadan. What makes us warm? Physical things like blankets, radiators, fireplaces, coats and gloves, and hot cocoa, as well as more abstract concepts such as a smile, memories, safety, or a kind word. The double-page spreads create entire scenes that expand both the context and the meaning of the lines--all in only three colors: shades of black, white, and orange. It's an unusual palette; the orange is especially effective in conveying heat and warmth, and the grayscale provides a unifying thread across the various artistic styles. Midway, the illustrations feature several scenes of refugees and migrants, but the hopeful conclusion depicts children at play and at home with the words, "You have the right to be here." One other intriguing element is the graphic look of the text, with spacing that varies and key words in a larger font size--creating another telegraphic poem-within-a-poem.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Michaela Goade. Generation-spanning Native creators deliver a lustrous celebration of generational memory. U.S. Poet Laureate Harjo (Mvskoke) wrote the poem that is this book's text in 1983; Caldecott ­Medalist Goade's (Tlingit) illustrations bring it to a child audience forty years later. "Remember the sky you were born under," urges Harjo, along with sun, moon, and stars. "Remember your birth, how your mother / struggled to give you form and breath. / You are evidence of her life, / and her mother's, and hers." Thus is the child reader explicitly linked to their human heritage, but Harjo's web of belonging extends beyond literal family to the earth, its flora and fauna, and its peoples. Goade (We Are Water Protectors, rev. 7/20; Berry Song, rev. 7/22) begins with creation, as white Raven delivers light in the form of swooshes of color. Her imagery is drawn from her own heritage, the unmistakable iconography of Pacific Northwest Coast art informing figures both terrestrial and celestial. (Her illustrator's note expands thoughtfully on her inclusion of these elements.) One of the many striking spreads depicts a child and an adult picking berries. The child's hand rests on the ground, and roots spread out in cross section below; across the gutter, a stylized hand provides a visual representation of growth and continuity, with motifs of fish skeletons and shells nourishing the soil and plants sprouting, etc. The teeming images thrillingly catch young viewers up as they swirl, circles emphasizing the cyclical nature of life. Remember," closes the text, and children will.

Reviewer: Vicky Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi. "Mint-chip ice cream (so fantastic!), / Key-lime taffy (so elastic!), / Bags of all-green jelly beans... / Every day I eat my greens!" Come for the funny poems; stay because there's so much to pore over that you can't put this collection down. Harris follows up I'm Just No Good at Rhyming4 (rev. 11/17, illustrated by Lane Smith) with another meta extravaganza. There are intrusions from, ostensibly, Harris's own children, including a "book-within-a-book." There's the threat of a meteor heading for the pages, which pays off just when you've forgotten about it. Poems appear in footnotes, in the glossary, and spread out among the folios (page 65: "When one becomes senior (traditionally)" / page 66: "A famous old route that's from song and TV"). The green and grayscale digital illustrations are often a critical part of the action, as in the poem where snakes are ignoring their duty to serve as the letter S, with hilarious results. (A few poems are more sincere than silly, providing a chance to catch your breath.) Don't miss the back matter, including but not limited to an index by subject (e.g., "Eek! There's a bug!" and "Paper, with some ink on it") and a "partial list" of "non-books by neither Chris Harris nor Andrea Tsurumi," which includes tricycles, Belgium, and Toy Story 2.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Kevin Howdeshell & Kristen Howdeshell. A red-haired child introduces the picture book's topic forcefully with a large word balloon before the title page: "What? YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ANIMALS IN PANTS?!?" Twenty-three very short and funny poems cover a wide variety of animals and the many types of pants they might wear. For example, the "downward dog" wears yoga pants while the polar bears wear snow pants, of course. The poems are both silly and clever, as in "Deep Thoughts," where the speaker wonders, "If a snake yanked a sock to his face... / would we say 'pant' in that case?" The vibrant Photoshop illustrations are filled with textures and patterns, resembling a combination of collage and stamped art. The palette features orange, teal, yellow, and green, with lively postures and expressions on each of the dozens of animals' faces. A final poem goes on for four pages with animals waiting and waiting for the tailor who is working on their pants, concluding, "The good news? / He's fast for a sloth." At the end, the red-haired child is back hinting at a sequel: "What? YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ANIMALS IN HATS?!?"

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023

(2) K-3 Petite Poems series. Illustrated by Tatyana Feeney. In this entry in a series that illustrates existing poems, Feeney takes on Sandburg's 1916 poem, written from the point of view of a pumpkin. On double-page spreads with striking backgrounds, children gather pumpkins and celebrate Halloween. Cheerful hues dominate at first ("I light the prairie cornfields") and give way to Halloween night-appropriate shades of black ("Children join hands...Singing ghost songs / And love to the harvest moon"), but orange and the titular yellow are always present and help emphasize the holiday's festive atmosphere. The poem's full text and discussion of it, plus background on Sandburg, are appended.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(2) PS Illustrated by Anuska Allepuz. British poet Taylor sends little ones to bed with thirty imaginative poems in three thematic sets: "Night Arrives," "Shut-Your-Eyes Time," and "Dream Wheels Turning." With a mix of rhyming and free-verse poetry, along with frequent, satisfying repetition, Taylor offers selections to read aloud and read together. Each poem appears on a double-page spread featuring bold mixed-media illustrations by Allepuz. Her use of vivid color fills the space, with many shades of blue and purple, perfect for nighttime scenes. Angular animals and round children populate the pages with whimsy and purpose, giving each piece focus and specificity. Most young listeners will likely choose favorites to hear repeatedly--perhaps the reassuring "Everyone," or the thought-provoking "Asked by a Pillow," or the list-like "The Middle of the Night," or the silly "Cave Bear's Snore"--rather than experience the poetry from cover-to-cover in linear fashion.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford. From a single photograph and sparse information to a fully realized lineage of excellence, an African American author, with dramatic illustrations by her son, traces their family's roots. Carole Boston Weatherford (Standing in the Need of Prayer, rev. 9/22) deftly weaves a myriad of locations, entities, and mindsets into her imaginative and moving chronicle. Personification poems introduce various locations she visited, such as the Chesapeake Bay ("Surely as I spill into the Atlantic, the current / of greed swept me into the triangular trade") and Wye House plantation in Maryland ("I witness more cruelty than I care to recall / the sin of slavery haunts my every hall"). Most powerful are the poems that give her ancestors a voice. From brief mentions in enslavers' ledgers and other historical documents, Weatherford gives life to kin such as "Nanny / Nancy / Nan Copper, House Servant (born c. 1763)" and Isaac Copper, an elder who taught younger enslaved people Bible verses--among them, Frederick Douglass. Jeffery Boston Weatherford's (illustrator of Call Me Miss Hamilton, rev. 3/22) scratchboard and digital black-and-white renderings match the poems' intensity, with the compositions' points of view being as dynamic and varied as the styles of verse. Fans of Bryan's Freedom over Me (rev. 11/16) and Nelson's Heart and Soul (rev. 11/11) will appreciate this extensively researched and deeply felt genealogical exploration. Appended with an author's note, an illustrator's note (unseen), and a comprehensive bibliography.

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(1) YA "Those you are about to meet are real people, not stereotypes. They are women and men who truly were, through their words and their deeds, voices of the people." Bruchac’s (Abenaki) biographical poems provide chronological introductions to thirty-four notable Native Americans, from the Peacemaker, a Wendat (Huron) leader who united five warring nations around 1000 C.E., to twentieth-century activist Wilma Mankiller, who was the Cherokee Nation's first woman head chief. What stand out most, however, are the accompanying reproductions of artwork by different contemporary Native artists working in a variety of media. Bruchac explains his selection process: some artists were paired with biographical subjects from the same tribe; other artists' work "connects to the subject of the biography in an important way." An appended "More about the Voices" section provides short ­paragraphs of information about the people highlighted, and Bruchac includes a poem about his own life. Intended, per the author's note, to educate non-Native readers and to further inspire Native ones, this ambitious undertaking should encourage all people to learn more about the biographical subjects and to seek out work by the featured artists.

Reviewer: Nicholl Denice Montgomery | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(2) K-3 "If you are awake, / on the longest cold night, / when the wind curls and frost holds time, / you'll hear her bells and smell the first snow, / when Mother Winter goes walking." This lyrical, luminous winter solstice book exhorts readers to go outside and experience the season's natural wonders. The title character appears in the glowing, moonlit illustrations as a benevolent, larger-than-life figure whose blue cape trails behind while (in the text's refrain) she "goes walking" through a town. Swirls of light and color abound in spectacular cool-toned art whose effect is breathtaking.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Amy Schimler-Safford. After visiting such settings as the skies (On the Wing, rev. 11/14), the past (In the Past, rev. 3/18), and the forest (In the Woods, rev. 3/20), Elliott invites readers into another poetic exploration of the natural world. As the sun rises, ushered in by the buttery-yellow endpapers, "the water ripples like a fan / unfolding on the surface of the pond." A red-winged blackbird is first to greet the morning. With each page-turn, Elliott's sensory verse introduces a new resident of this habitat: e.g., a frog amidst vibrant pink water lilies, a snapping turtle under the pond's surface ready to send a minnow to its "hard-shelled fate," and "delicate, / diaphanous, / dazzling" dragonflies. Richly textured mixed-media illustrations present views of the pond and its inhabitants throughout the day, from a misty, ethereal morning to dusk when "the evening light is fading" and "the charismatic fireflies / blink their silent lullabies." Back matter provides ­additional information about the animals. This volume is a celebration of observation, and readers will surely heed the beckoning call of that red-winged blackbird beyond the book's pages.

Reviewer: Grace McKinney | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) K-3 Florian returns to the zoo (zoo's who, rev. 5/05) with twenty new pithy and jubilant poems about animals. Some of the poems are peppered with interesting facts, such as "The African Elephant": "Each tusk can weigh / more than a man / (and measure just as long)." Occasionally a standalone couplet creates the space for sheer silliness: "I wanted to write a poem on an antelope. / But I cantaloupe." Each of the poems incorporates clever wordplay to create an ultimate punch line, while Florian's characteristically rough-textured art, with its thick crayonlike lines and deep colors, plays up the joke. The illustration accompanying "The Midwife Toad" shows a male toad loaded down with eggs on his back and with a "World's Best Dad" hat on his head. "The Hammerhead Shark" declares, "I hunt for squid or bass or ray-- / my hammer head nails down my prey," and the illustration depicts a shark using its head to hammer some nails into a board. The wide range of creatures--from centipedes and seagulls to mandrills and flying foxes--offers young readers familiar specimens as well as some less well-known ones. Florian's experimentation with word meanings and usage models how to have fun with writing, imagery, and verse.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Priscilla Tey. Silly humor and punchy payoffs abound in Franco's (Mathematickles!, rev. 7/03) latest math-themed poetry collection. Take, for example, "Mom Time," in which "Hold on a minute, hon" equates to waiting far longer than sixty seconds, which leads to the ­conclusion: "The next time Mom says, 'Clean your room. / Right now! Your floor's a wreck!'/ I'll answer, 'Sure. No problem, Mom. / I'll do it in a sec.'" That dash of cheeky 'tude is spot-on for the aauience, and better yet, they'll never feel like they're stuck staring at a dull textbook. That's thanks, in part, to Tey's whimsical gouache scenes, a mix of everyday kids and unusual creature-contraption hybrids. Added to that are the child-friendly topics, such as pet mice-ownership gone awry (exponential growth!) and the "exceedingly cruel" unfairness of just three months of summer vacation. Then there's the math content: yes, standard fare like fractions and solid shapes make appearances, but so do multiplying by sevens and number palindromes. Franco ends with "Math Makes Me Feel Safe," a warm-hearted finale that counters mathphobia by centering math's connection to and meaning in daily life: "It's knowing when night falls / and darkens my bedroom, / my pup sleeps just two feet from me. // That watching stars flicker / in the velvety sky / is my glimpse of infinity!"

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) K-3 Photographs by Rick Lieder. As in their earlier collaborations (e.g., Among a Thousand Fireflies, rev. 3/16), poet Frost and photographer Lieder celebrate the wonders revealed through close observation of the natural world--here, the praying mantis. The text invites children to freeze: "If a quick small / movement / takes you by / surprise, / stop and look-- / move nothing / but your eyes." Frost explains that you might see a hungry, hunting praying mantis snag its prey if you watch quietly. Lieder's pictures put the praying mantises and the flora upon which they perch on crisp display, leaving the rest of the surroundings in soft focus. We see a praying mantis capturing a bee in its long, toothed front legs as well as one emerging as a nymph from its nest, followed by "hundreds more" dangling together as they hatch. Between Frost's advice ("Be still and quiet, / watching") and Lieder's photographs, children may be able to start spotting the alien-looking yet beautiful creatures in the wild. A closing note offers additional information about the life cycle of Chinese praying mantises. The book design includes a raised image of the insect on the front cover as well as endpapers that begin in day and finish against a dark background for a subtle good-night message.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022