Review of While We’re Here, written by Anne Wynter, illustrated by Micha Archer

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

While We’re Here

written by Anne Wynter
illustrated by Micha Archer

Clarion Books, 2026. 32 pages.
Review written April 28, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

I was completely captivated by this picture book from my first reading – and find myself happily reading it over and over.

First, the artwork is colorful and beautiful. It’s done with collage papers, so everything from the tree trunks to the grass in the park has subtle patterns. Especially highlighted are the red tops and colorful skirts of our featured characters – a Black mother and her young daughter, all dressed up for a party.

In almost the first half of the book, all the spreads begin with the words “Hurry, Hurry.” And several of them end with “We have somewhere to be!” We see the mother is the one doing the hurrying – getting jackets zipped, out the door, on the train, through the park. The little girl, as little girls do, pays attention to the things she sees along the way

But when they get where they’re going – a picnic bench on a hill beside two trees, there are no words except for a HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner. There are some cups left on the picnic table and colored wrapping paper in the trash. There’s a balloon in the tree.

On the next page, the mother is checking her calendar:

Hurry, hurry,
check the date.

Yesterday.
Yesterday?

Yes, the little girl is clearly upset. But that’s where all the tension leaves the book. When we turn the page, we read:

We’ll head back home,
but while we’re here,
let’s take turns
rolling down the hill.

From there on out, party balloon in hand, the pair make the most of time together in a wonderful sprawling park, because “we have nowhere to be.” They go under a bridge, watch ducklings in the pond, enjoy sitting under a tree, and more.

And it’s all colorful and beautiful and full of love. Their outdoor time together exudes peace and we know it all adds up to a wonderful day.

This is going on my I’d-love-to-see-get-Caldecott-recognition list for this year.

This book just makes me happy.

annewynter.com
michaarcher.com

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Review of Orris and Timble: Star Stories, by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Carmen Mok

Animal Characters, Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Orris and Timble

Star Stories

by Kate DiCamillo
illustrated by Carmen Mok

Candlewick Press, 2026. 76 pages.
Review written April 22, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

Kate DiCamillo and Carmen Mok’s beginning chapter book series about a rat and an owl who are friends just got even sweeter.

All the books are gentle, recapping the details of the friendship and thinking about action before it happens. All the books have Orris and Timble telling stories to each other in their nightly meetings.

In this one, Timble invites Orris to fly on his back. Orris isn’t even a little bit interested. But little by little, we see that gently change. Until finally, the saying on Orris’s treasured sardine tin again motivates him to action: Make the good and noble choice!!

It’s all so wonderfully done, taking the reader along on the emotional as well as the physical journey. And with simple language for a beginning reader, too!

katedicamillo.com

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Review of Silenced Voices, by Pablo Leon

Graphic Novel, Historical, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Silenced Voices

Reclaiming Memories from the Guatemalan Genocide

by Pablo Leon

HarperAlley, 2025. 240 pages.
Review written February 17, 2026, from a library book.
2026 Pura Belpré Honor Book, Young Adult
2026 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
Starred Review

Silenced Voices is a graphic novel with children on the front – that covers a horrific part of history, so this is firmly for teens, rather than children. The historical event was a genocide carried out by the Guatemalan government in the 1980s against indigenous people they claimed were helping the guerrillas.

The graphic novel focuses on the story of one character at a time. First, a boy in America who hears about a genocide trial of a former Guatemalan military leader and asks his mother about it – who’s never said much about growing up in Guatemala.

Then the bulk of the book is his mother’s story – how she barely escaped, with the help of her sister, when soldiers came and wiped out their whole village in horrible ways. But before she could get to safety, she and her sister split up, and they never saw each other again.

And there’s more in the present and in the past tying up that story. (I won’t give it away.)

This is a graphic depiction (literally) of a family and culture traumatized and victimized – showing the fallout into the next generation. But I appreciate the positive and optimistic framing of letting voices that were once silenced speak up and that injustice won’t stand forever. All in a compelling and powerful story.

artsypabster.com
harperalley.com

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Review of Goldfinches, by Mary Oliver, art by Melissa Sweet

Children's Nonfiction Review, Poetry, Starred Review 0

Goldfinches

by Mary Oliver
art by Melissa Sweet

Viking, 2026. 36 pages.
Review written April 20, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This little book is a poem by Mary Oliver – illustrated by Caldecott Honor illustrator Melissa Sweet. The poem about goldfinches shows the author observing in fields as goldfinches fly by and make their nests. Then a note at the back explains how Mary Oliver did just that – and Melissa Sweet imitated her to make authentic pictures.

I also enjoyed how the artist put a palette of colors at the front, labeled with phrases from the poem, and you can find them later in the book.

But of course what I love most is the poem, which grew on me more each time I read it – and Melissa Sweet’s illustrations helped me appreciate it more from the start.

Here’s how the poem ends:

Is it necessary to say any more?
Have you heard them singing in the wind, above the final fields?
Have you ever been so happy in your life?

This book has the power to fill you with peace and happiness and send you out to nature to find even more.

MaryOliver.com
MelissaSweet.net
Penguin.com/kids

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Review of Relit, edited by Sandra Proudman

Fantasy, Short Stories, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Relit

16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories

edited by Sandra Proudman

Inkyard Press, 2024. 346 pages.
Review written December 26, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

Here’s a bit of the Foreword from the editor so you know what’s going on in Relit:

This anthology began with a hope, a dream, a spark of an idea that the contributing authors and I felt passionately about: to take some of the most popular classics out there (the novels, myths, and plays we’ve all read in class or seen adaptations of on TV and in movies)… and reimagine, reignite, remix them into some epic science fiction and fantasy tales, with Latinx characters at the center of all the action.

I’ve always loved a good retelling, and this authors of the stories in this collection bring creativity and a sense of fun to the originals. Some of my favorites: Anna Meriano starts off by giving us Pride and Prejudice as livestreamed from space. Monica Sanz gives us a version of Jane Eyre with witchcraft and some female empowerment. David Bowles writes a science fiction version of Hamlet with fighting in mech suits. And Sandra Proudman does a version of The Old Man and the Sea in the future barren desert of Nevada.

There’s lots more here, with a collection of stellar authors retelling tales as varied as “Bartleby, the Scrivener” and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” They all have a speculative fiction twist, and they all feature Latinx characters showing resourcefulness and creativity. It took me a long time to get this book read – it’s too tempting to put it down between stories – but that way I got to lengthen the fun.

sandraproudman.com

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Review of Two Artists, Grandad and Me, by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Two Artists, Grandad and Me

by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2026. 28 pages.
Review written February 20, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is a sweet picture book about a little girl and her artist grandfather, and the joy she found making art with him in his studio, and how he’d gently guide her.

What makes it extra special is that this girl’s grandfather was the wonderful Jerry Pinkney – an amazing creator of children’s books, Caldecott Medalist, and a kind human being. (Yes, I’ve met him and heard him speak a few times. The man radiated goodness.)

This book pictures her as a little girl coming into Grandad’s studio, being greeted with love, given access to his paints and supplies, and shown how to use them.

He gives her her own sketchbook and gets her started filling it, drawing side by side.

“I don’t think I did it right.”
“There is no right way,” he assures me.
“Every artist sees the world differently.”

Hmmm . . . artist?

I’ve never been called an artist before.
I like the sound of it.
I have so many stories to tell.

May kids continue to be inspired to make art, continuing to build Jerry Pinkney’s generous legacy.

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Review of Sacred Belonging, by Kat Armas

Christian, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Sacred Belonging

A 40-Day Devotional on the Liberating Heart of Scripture

by Kat Armas

Brazos Press, 2023. 195 pages.
Review written April 14, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

I have a strong knowledge of Scripture – attending Christian schools since elementary school and memorizing large portions – but Kat Armas is able to get me looking at Scripture with new eyes and asking new questions and yes, making new applications.

There are 40 devotionals in this book, in nice bite-sized pieces to mull over as you go about your day. I read them during Lent this year, but they are appropriate for any time of year.

Let me quote from the Introduction to let you know the focus of these devotionals:

The bodily resurrection of Jesus is an invitation to be fully human.

That’s what this devotional is about: being human. And with our humanity comes the ability to inquire, to imagine, to dream, to create.

When it comes to Scripture, I wonder what kind of relationship many of us would have to the text if we had all been invited to do those things when we read it. Rather than viewing the Bible as a book of absolutes, what if we were to read it as a diverse book of stories and instructions relating to the human experience in all its messiness and beauty? Oe of my seminary professors once said that when we read the Bible, we should read it with resistance: constantly asking questions, wrestling with it the way Jacob wrestled with God.

She also talks about the way colonizers and imperialists used the Bible to further their own aims.

I argue that such a syndrome has permeated our being, causing us to view the world as fixed, linear, dichotomous, and functioning in hierarchical relationships of domination and submission. For many of us, the assumptions behind how we perceive the biblical text have brought us to a place of unlearning and unraveling – of decolonizing – where we find ourselves hungry for new, liberating insights into our faith tradition.

For me, she succeeded at bringing a fresh and refreshing approach to biblical stories. She succeeded in these goals she articulated at the end of the Introduction:

My hope is that these words will point you to a belonging deeper than you have dreamed of, that you will see and experience yourself being tethered to your ancestors, to God, and to every created thing. And in exploring this relationality, I also hope that you will get to know divinity as embodied – where you can find a God who is familiar with planting and sewing, good wine and lilies. This is the God to whom we belong: one who is wholly material and wholly spiritual. As close to us as our own skin and far beyond anything our minds can fathom. It is in this paradox where we exist, where our spiritualities find their home. This is where we find sacred belonging.

If you take up this book, I promise your devotional time won’t feel routine.

katarmas.com

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Review of A Constellation of Minor Bears, by Jen Ferguson

Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

A Constellation of Minor Bears

by Jen Ferguson
read by Julie Lumsden, Jesse Nobess, and Shaun Taylor-Corbett

Heartdrum, 2024. 8 hours, 51 minutes.
Review written March 2, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

So far, I love every book by Jen Ferguson I’ve read (or story – She had one in the award-winning Legendary Frybread Drive-in). I’m not quite sure what took me so long to get to this one, but it did help when we got the eaudiobook edition. As with all of her books, this is mostly about relationships between quirky characters who quickly find their way into your heart.

A Constellation of Minor Bears is about a group of teens hiking the Pacific Crest Trail after graduation. Well, that was the plan anyway. Molly and Tray did graduate, Molly at 17 years old, but Molly’s brother Hank had a terrible accident that caused a traumatic brain injury earlier in the year, so he didn’t graduate, and needs to do summer school instead. Tray is the best friend of both Molly and Hank, but Molly’s been angry with him ever since Hank’s accident. Because Tray was there and failed to stop Hank’s fall.

But Molly has been icily polite. They need to talk things out and figure things out – and the Pacific Crest Trail is a good place to do so. Though Molly’s doing a lot of hiding – including hiding from her parents that she’s planning to keep hiking and not actually go to college in the Fall. But would that break the bargain she made with various gods to become a doctor if her brother woke up?

So, yes, Molly and Tray and Hank (our three viewpoint characters) have plenty to work through. And then along the way they encounter a fat girl who quickly befriends them – but needs their help. This book includes profound thoughts on fat phobia and ableist thinking, all in a realistic story setting. As well as issues from Molly and Tray being Métis, and Molly not feeling like she knows enough about what that means.

But above all, this was a book about characters I quickly came to care about in a setting that challenged them emotionally and physically.

jenfergusonwrites.com

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Review of Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll! by Catherine Thimmesh, illustrated by Shanda McCloskey

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll!

The Inventive Rube Goldberg

A Life in Comics, Contraptions, and Six Simple Machines

by Catherine Thimmesh
illustrated by Shanda McCloskey

Chronicle Books, 2025. 54 pages.
Review written March 24, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is a picture book biography of Rube Goldberg, but it’s got so much more. You know Rube Goldberg? He was the cartoonist who diagrammed crazily complicated machines to do simple tasks. As a cartoonist, he never built the machines himself, but now on the internet, you can find hundreds of videos of people who actually built machines inspired by his cartoons.

This book tells his story – he went to college and studied engineering to please his father. He didn’t last long as an engineer, but looking at patent diagrams gave him the ideas for his famous cartoons.

But the book explains the six simple machines for the reader – the lever, the wheel & axle, the inclined plane, the wedge, the screw, and the pulley. We get explanations of how they work and tips for how they can be used in your own Rube Goldberg inventions.

Back matter tells you what to search for to see modern Rube Goldberg machines in action. The first one I searched, I couldn’t help but watch twice. And the main text of the book ends with steps for building your own, one of which is “Embrace Murphy’s Law.” I foresee kids having a whole lot of fun and creating amazing things, inspired by this book.

One note is that the print is very small throughout the book, and it begins with a Rube Goldberg-like diagram, which is a little tricky to follow and also has fine print. So this book is for upper elementary and middle school kids with good reading skills. Those who persist are sure to have their imagination sparked.

shandamc.com
chroniclekids.com

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Review of Bookshops & Bonedust, by Travis Baldree

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Bookshops & Bonedust

by Travis Baldree
read by the Author

Macmillan Audio, 2023. 8 hours, 24 minutes.
Review written March 27, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred review

I have discovered my new favorite genre! Okay, I’ve already read lots of books in this genre and loved them, but when I read a Writer’s Digest interview with this author and heard his books described as “Cozy Fantasy,” I knew I would like them. I was completely correct.

In fact, I think the adult Cozy Fantasy genre is exactly what I liked about Young Adult Fantasy when I started writing Sonderbooks 25 years ago. Okay, the current Cozy Fantasy has a little more sex, but not super graphic sex. Current Young Adult Fantasy has gotten a lot darker, in general, as well as getting sexier, and I still enjoy it, but it’s a little harder to find stories I love. I also sympathize a whole lot less with tropes like the good and noble prince with a terribly evil father ruling, but the prince falls in love with a commoner oppressed by his father. Or other tropes that I’ve seen before which aren’t so wonderfully healthy if you think about them very long. Cozy Fantasy, though, currently seems like a good bet I’ll like it. (Anyway, I’m going to test that out and search for Cozy Fantasy and see how long that lasts.) 25 years ago or so, I said I didn’t like adult fantasy too much because it was mostly epic quests and detailed world-building, and I preferred young adult fantasy which had a mythic element, simpler with a fairy-tale feeling. (I still love fairy tale retellings.) It seems to me that Cozy Fantasy has recaptured that simplicity, throwing a dash of magic into a world you might want to live in.

Okay, so this book is actually a prequel – described as #0 in the series by Libby – and I decided to read it first. I was completely charmed and will queue up to read the rest of his books. (And the author does a great job reading it.)

Our main character is Viv, an orc who works as a mercenary with an elite group of rangers chasing down a necromancer. In the prologue, she gets out ahead of her group, fighting and slaying some wights – when one of them gives her a severe leg wound. Viv has to stay in one place to recover, so she’s in a quiet sea village waiting for the rangers to come back for her.

As an orc, Viv’s an imposing figure, but Fern, the ratkin who owns the village bookshop, dares to recommend a novel to Viv – and a friendship is born, as well as a new habit for Viv. Fern’s bookshop, which she inherited from her father, is cluttered, has a smelly rug, and is in general disrepair. Viv helps Fern spruce things up and revive her business.

But while that is happening, someone comes to the village with the smell of death. Some articles owned by the necromancer turn up in their town, and it’s no surprise to the reader when the battle with the necromancer comes to Viv before she’s necessarily ready.

But most of the story is about the characters and relationships. Enough so that we’re super concerned for everyone in the village when the big showdown happens.

I do love the way an orc who turns out to love to read is our main character. Okay, she is a skilled mercenary, but there’s a lot more to her than that. I was completely charmed by this book and ready to read the other books about Viv and Fern reunited years later (with Viv married to a succubus) in another town. Cozy fantasy is the perfect way to describe this.

travisbaldree.com

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