Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a picture book about a hibernating hedgehog, a holiday hide and seek, a picture book set in a traffic jam, and a TV celebrity’s Christmas fairy tale.
The Snowy Nap by Jan Brett. Putnam, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-399-17073-7. In this fetching companion to The Hat, autumn gives way to winter on young Lisa’s Danish island farm, where her woodland friend Hedgie decides he’ll “just take a last ramble” before hibernating.
The Lost Christmas by B.B. Cronin. Viking, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-451-47904-4. Cronin returns to the candy-colored world of The Lost House and The Lost Picnic for a holiday seek-and-find just difficult enough for poring over. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Poe Won’t Go by Kelly DiPucchio, illus. by Zachariah OHora. Disney-Hyperion, $17.99; ISBN 978-148479059-5. In this collaboration from DiPucchio (Gaston) and OHora (The Teacher’s Pet), a bright pink elephant wearing a jaunty Tyrolean hat impedes traffic in Prickly Valley.
Plum by Sean Hayes and Scott Icenogle, illus. by Robin Thompson. Simon & Schuster, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-0404-5. With a nod to E.T.A. Hoffman’s chestnut The Nutcracker, married debut authors Hayes and Icenogle spin a sweet origin story about one of Hoffman’s favorite characters.
How Tickles Saved Pickles: A True Story by Maddie Johnson. S&S/McElderry, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-3662-6. In this photographic picture book, piglet Pickles is the last of his siblings to be adopted.
Stop That Yawn! by Caron Levis, illus. by LeUyen Pham. Atheneum, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-4179-7. Gabby Wild has a missing tooth, brown skin, and beaded “click-clacky hair,” and she has had it with sleep. She convinces her grandmother to take her to Never Sleeping City, where neon lights blink, the streets hop with revelers, and everyone stays up all night long.
The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon. Random/Lamb, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-5247-1595-3. This memorable novel about three African-American boys in small-town Indiana opens with a trade: Bobby Gene and his little brother, Caleb, swap their baby sister for a sack of fireworks. The book earned a starred review from PW.
If You Ever Want to Bring a Pirate to Meet Santa, Don’t! by Elise Parsley. Little, Brown, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-316-46677-6. In this holiday-themed addition to the series that began with If You Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don’t!, an enthusiastic heroine buddies up with a pirate while waiting to see Santa.
Meet the Latkes by Alan Silberberg. Viking, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-451-47912-9. In this humorous picture book, the Latke family is celebrating the Festival of Lights. Yes, they’re actual potato pancakes; no, they’re not going to eat themselves.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of October, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
