Children’s book fans, I have a quick challenge for you: Close your eyes, clear your mind, and imagine an illustration from a picture book you loved as a child. (Please open your eyes again, so you can read the rest of this column.)
Ok. How’d it go? Do you remember the colors of your illustration or the style used by the artist? Can you remember how you felt when you looked at the very hungry caterpillar’s four ripe strawberries, or how seeing Max’s boat transported you to a world where there are wild things? If you can go back years to recreate an image you loved as a child, you’ll discover how powerful the visual art of children’s books can be. From picture books for younger children to graphic novels for older kids and teens, modern children’s books showcase great art, and this month, I’m sharing a bunch of wonderful new illustrated stories for you that you can share out loud or read yourself.
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jack jors, muegnos
Transit Children’s Edition, July 21
Recommended for ages 3 and up
Muegoños are a traditional Mexican dessert: squares of dough held together with sticky syrup. In author-illustrator Jack Jource’s new picture book, the Mugenos are also a family so close-knit that they’re literally stuck together. The five Muegoños (mom, dad and three kids) go everywhere and do almost everything together. They’re never alone, and most of the time, they like it that way. But Julia, the last member of the family, sometimes thinks life can be a little boring. On an ill-fated trip to the museum, Julia wants to see a different exhibit than the one her family is headed to, and the Mueganos’ sugar-tight bond finally breaks. Can it be repaired? Needed be this? This beautifully illustrated story is thoughtful, unique, and never clingy-sweet.
Sophie Blackall, story rug
Illustrated by Phoebe Wahl
Little, Brown, July 14
Recommended for ages 4-6
Talented picture book creator Sophie Blackall (hello lighthouse) and Phoebe Wahl (little witch hazel) Team up for a fun story about kids from Class 203 who are learning to braid. In fact, they are on a “braid craze”, braiding every braidable thing they find in class. When his teacher, Ms. Morena, gives Noah a whiteboard rag to make a braid, Noah ties a piece of his father’s old shirt onto it to make the braid even longer. Soon, other children are bringing their own valuables (baby blankets, an old yellow saree, a stained tablecloth) to braid. When they discover that their very long braids can be spiraled and sewn together, they discover a classroom rug full of shared memories, perfect for sitting on to listen to Ms. Morena’s stories. The clever text ends with instructions for making your own braided rag rug.
Yevgenia Neberg, another tongue
Neil Porter Books, July 14
Recommended for ages 4-8 years
What is your mother tongue? How does it feel to go to another country where you don’t understand the language? And if you become bilingual, does that mean you have two languages? Through conversational text and witty artwork, author-illustrator Yevgenia Neiberg helps young readers think about how they learned their first language and what it might feel like to learn a different language in a new place. My favorite spread, about linguistic mixing, is a tour guide welcoming visitors to the “Vampire State Building.”
In an author’s note, Neiberg shared his experience of moving to the United States at the age of nineteen and learning English. You can read more about Neberg’s childhood in his graphic memoir, Chernobyl, life and other disastersPublished earlier this year.
Celeste Pewter, Great Pumpkin Pancake Party
illustrated by kelly woo
Henry Holt and Company, 7 July
Recommended for ages 4-8 years
In this heartfelt picture book by budding author Celeste Pewter based on her own family memories, a girl named Lily tells how Lao Ye, her grandfather, who has recently moved to the United States from China, plans to throw a big Halloween party for all the neighbors. Lao Ye fills his car with pumpkins, but instead of carving them into jack-o’-lanterns, he turns them into pumpkin-egg pancakes using a beloved family recipe. Lily worries that the neighbors will not like to eat foods that are unfamiliar to them, but it is Lao Ye’s gift of lovingly prepared food that ultimately brings the community together. Readers can follow the recipe at Backmatter to enjoy some of Lao Ye’s pumpkin pancakes in their neighborhood.
Lauren Castillo, School for Woodland Creatures (Our Friend the Hedgehog #3)
Knopf, July 14
Recommended for ages 5-9
For readers who enjoy warmth and gentle humor Winnie the Poohtry friendly elephant The series, written and illustrated by Caldecott honoree Lauren Castillo. The stories involve a human girl named Annika Mae and her troupe of forest animal friends. In this new installment, like Christopher Robin before it, Annika Mae goes off to school, and the Hedgehog and his other friends are left wondering how to fill their days. He decided to build a school of his own. The beaver will teach building and the owl will teach beginning vocabulary—but what can the hedgehog teach? With short chapters and full-color illustrations, our friend the elephant Books are great for read alouds or as a bridge to reading longer stories independently.
Gary Golio, Silence Sounds Simple: A Day in the Life of John Cage
Illustrated by Andrea D’Aquino
Calkins Creek, July 7
Recommended for ages 7-10
silence seems simple The composer uses the picture book medium to express the musical philosophy of John Cage, whose most famous work 4’33”-Four minutes and thirty-three seconds, during which the musicians remain silent and the sounds of the surrounding world become music. In this book, Gary Golio’s lyrical text harmonizes with Andrea D’Aquino’s colorfully painted, collage-style artwork, which shows young readers how Cage heard music in “the click of a clock/the ring of a bell/yawning and groaning and laughter.” More impressionistic work than biographical, silence seems simple Young children will enjoy reading aloud. There is also an extensive endmatter for readers who want to learn more about Cage’s life and work.
Sumaiya Beck, maroon witches airrail
Holiday House, July 14
Recommended for ages 8-12
This middle grade novel isn’t illustrated, but I had to include it in this month’s column because I love the fresh, atmospheric world building in this story about a young girl taking the first steps toward her lifelong dream of becoming a witch. Airrel Bookman lives in Mision Dessalines, a hidden community in Southern California separated from the regular world – the Overside – by a magical barrier called the Bomawall. Airrel’s parents are both full-fledged witches, and Airrel is thrilled when a group of talking birds appear and tell her it is time to begin her own magical initiation. The novel takes Arel through her magical trials and training into a vivid new magical world that is a joy to behold.
Abby Denson, my tokyo summer
Portrayed by Utomaru
Graphics, July 7
Recommended for ages 12 and up
In this graphic memoir set in the 1980s and ’90s, two young cartoonists cross continents and come together for a life-changing summer. Abby, who lives in the United States, loves comics and dreams of going to art school. Yuko, who lives in Japan, loves manga and dreams of moving to the United States. When Yuko finds one of Abby’s comics during a trip to New York City, she decides to write to Abby, and the girls become long-distance pen pals. Later, Abby enrolls in a summer program in Japan, and the two friends finally meet in person. With a shared love of art and a genuine interest in each other’s cultures, Yuko and Abi combine their talents to create a comic to sell at a convention in Tokyo. Assign this book to artistic kids with big dreams, or any reader who loves to travel, explore, and create.
Megan Kearney, corps de ballet
1st 2nd, July 7
Recommended for ages 14-18
After reading Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Gough this place kills me Last summer, I was in the mood for more mysterious graphic novels based on boarding schools, so I’m excited to pick up Megan Kearney’s novels. corps de ballet. This young adult psychological thriller takes place at an ultra-competitive ballet school, St. Anselmus, where Rosamund arrives as a transfer student after another girl, Giovanna, leaves under mysterious circumstances. As Rosamund and her classmates prepare for their performance CoppeliaThey also try to figure out what happened to Giovanna, and things start to get supernatural – maybe even supernatural?
Renee Nault, salvage
Ten Speed Graphic, July 21
Recommended for ages 14 and up
salvageThe first original graphic novel by Renée Nault, it takes place in an imagined future where sea levels have risen and much of the world as we know it is underwater. Poor people like Paolo live in flats by the water’s edge, making their living by diving into abandoned buildings beneath the surface and extracting whatever treasure they find there to sell to rich people in glitzy, materialistic suburbs. When Paolo finds an immaculate set of stylish vintage clothes while diving, he decides to wear them and pretend for just one night that he is in the uplands. There, at an exclusive club, he falls in love with a girl named Jules, who leads a very different life from him. Throughout the book, Nault’s luminous artwork invites readers to get lost in Jules and Paolo’s world.
