Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a YA science fiction collection, a picture book about love, an illustrated diary written by a dog, and a friendship story in verse.

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton. Delacorte, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-525-58095-9. The six linked tales in this YA sci-fi collection delve into the question of ethics in scientific and medical human modification. The book earned a starred review in PW.

Love by Stacy McAnulty, illus. by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff. Running Press, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-7624-6212-4. In a picture book companion to Beautiful and Brave, McAnulty describes how love can be expressed through simple, genuine gestures and time spent together.

Dog Diaries: A Middle School Story by James Patterson with Steven Butler, illus. by Richard Watson. Little, Brown/Patterson, $9.99; ISBN 978-0-316-48748-1. Patterson and Butler’s illustrated middle grade book, will catch—and hold—the attention of young dog-loving readers.

Goat’s Coat by Tom Percival, illus. by Christine Pym. Bloomsbury, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-68119-901-6. In buoyant rhymed couplets and well-executed meter, Percival (Perfectly Norman) underscores the rewards of resourcefulness and care in this cheering friendship story.

Chilly Da Vinci by J. Rutland. NorthSouth, $17.95; ISBN 978-0-7358-4283-0. Rutland begins this maker story on Vinci, an improbably named glacier, where Chilly the penguin invents machines very much like his intellectual forebear, Leonardo.

The Littlest Things Give the Loveliest Hugs by Mark Sperring, illus. by Maddie Frost. Little, Brown, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-316-48434-3. In bright, layered art that calls to mind Eric Carle’s collages, Frost depicts animals of all varieties expressing their affection through embrace in this picture book.

Is That You, Eleanor Sue? by Tricia Tusa. Roaring Brook/Porter, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-250-14323-5. In this picture book, a girl disguises herself as a new neighbor and introduces herself to her mother for tea. The book earned a starred review in PW.

For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of December, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.