Hitting shelves next week are a picture book about a shifty-eyed triangle, a middle grade novel from a Chinese author about two inseparable friends, and a lush nonfiction book about the diversity of plant life.
Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander, with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth, illus. by Ekua Holmes. Candlewick, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-8094-7. This illustrated collection from Newbery Medalist Alexander and collaborators Colderley and Wentworth includes poems honoring—and in the style of—20 poets, including Rumi, Langston Hughes, and Gwendolyn Brooks. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Yvain: The Knight of the Lion by M.T. Anderson, illus. by Andrea Offermann. Candlewick, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-5939-4. Anderson’s clever, nuanced recasting of Chrétien de Troyes’s Arthurian legend blends archaic courtliness (“May God hear you”) with modern clarity (“Oh, dry up”). The book earned a starred review from PW.
Rutabaga Boo! by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, illus. by Bonnie Adamson. Atheneum, $15.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-2461-5. Whenever Bardhan-Quallen’s picture book protagonist says “Rutabaga” to his mother, she responds with “Boo!” It’s a multipurpose call-and-response game that can be a wake-up call, greeting, or backdrop to a game of hide-and-seek.
Triangle by Mac Barnett, illus. by Jon Klassen. Candlewick, $15.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-9603-0. In the first book of a planned trilogy from the team behind two Caldecott Honor winners (Extra Yarn and Sam and Dave Dig a Hole), Triangle plots some serious mischief. He’s a charcoal-colored triangle with sticklike legs and Klassen’s famous shifty-eyed stare, and he plans to frighten his friend Square. The book earned a starred review from PW.
A Psalm for Lost Girls by Katie Bayerl. Putnam, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-399-54525-2. In this YA novel told through two perspectives—an alleged saint and a grieving sister—debut author Bayerl unspools a gripping story of loss and grace. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Martina & Chrissie: The Greatest Rivalry in the History of Sports by Phil Bildner, illus. by Brett Helquist. Candlewick, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-7308-6. Bildner (Marvelous Cornelius) and Helquist (The Doll People’s Christmas) offer a gripping, dual middle-grade biography of tennis players Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, two athletes who could not be more different, despite their shared talent.
Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper. Roaring Brook, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-62672-371-9. Like a Japanese brush painter, Cooper (8: An Animal Alphabet) uses bold, black lines to trace the outlines of a white cat; it roams through an apartment, playing with yarn and gazing at the bird feeder. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Bravo!: Poems About Amazing Hispanics by Margarita Engle, illus. by Rafael Lopez. Holt, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-8050-9876-1. Eighteen Hispanic individuals from diverse professional and personal backgrounds are honored in Engle’s plainspoken free-verse poems, written from each person’s perspective.
A Song About Myself by John Keats, illus. by Chris Raschka. Candlewick, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-5090-2. At age 22, Romantic poet John Keats (1795–1821) wrote home to his younger sister, Fanny, while hiking the hills of Scotland. His letter included a playful and self-deprecating “song about myself,” here illustrated by Raschka (A Ball for Daisy) in watercolor scenes bisected by brightly colored arrows that allude to a long journey in progress. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Time Now to Dream by Timothy Knapman, illus. by Helen Oxenbury. Candlewick, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-9078-6. In this picture book, two siblings explore the mysterious woods at the edge of their home. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Charlotte and the Rock by Stephen W. Martin, illus. by Samantha Cotterill. Dial, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-101-99389-7. In this picture book, knowing that their daughter craves a pet, Charlotte’s parents, with great fanfare, present her with a large rock.
Matylda, Bright and Tender by Holly M. McGhee. Candlewick, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-8951-3. In this middle grade novel, fourth-graders Sussy and Guy are inseparable, sharing everything—including a leopard gecko they name Matylda. When Guy dies protecting Sussy, she channels her pain into caring for Matylda, believing the lizard keenly feels Guy’s loss.
Anywhere Farm by Phyllis Root, illus. by G. Brian Karas. Candlewick, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-7499-1. Even children who live in dense urban environments can become small-scale farmers; all they need, Root (One North Star) explains in this picture book, is “soil and sunshine,/ some water, a seed.”
Bronze and Sunflower by Cao Wenxuan, trans. from the Chinese by Helen Wang. Candlewick, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-8816-5. Hans Christian Andersen Award–winner Wenxuan’s translated novel is about two orphaned friends growing up during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Botanicum by Kathy Willis, illus. by Katie Scott. Big Picture, $35; ISBN 978-0-7636-8923-0. In a coffee-table-ready companion to Animalium and Historium, readers make their way through seven “galleries” devoted to categories of plants. The book earned a starred review from PW.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of March, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
