Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a picture book celebrating successes big and small, a YA verse novel about a teen struggling with intrusive thoughts, a picture book promising a magic trick, and more.
All Are Welcome: Wherever You Go by Alexandra Penfold, illus. by Suzanne Kaufman (Knopf, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-593-43001-9). This picture book celebrates a variety of childhood milestones, reminding readers to be proud of their accomplishments.
Ariel Crashes a Train by Olivia A. Cole. Labyrinth Road, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-593-64466-9. Queer 17-year-old Ariel Burns grapples with intrusive thoughts about harming others during a pivotal summer working at a carnival. The YA verse novel received a starred review from PW.
The Book That Can Read Your Mind by Marianna Coppo. Chronicle, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-79722-901-0. Readers follow this picture book’s pick-your-path-style format for the reveal of a magic trick.
Bros by Carole Boston Weatherford, illus. by Reggie Brown. Candlewick, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-536-22041-4. A group of Black boys enjoy a day together engaging in multiple activities and highlighting the importance of brotherhood and community.
Bunny and Clyde by Megan McDonald, illus. by Scott Nash. Candlewick, $16.99 ISBN 978-1-5362-2873-1. Best friends Bunny and Clyde are tired of being good and decide to pull pranks on their family and neighbors with little result.
Hamlet Is Not OK by R.A. Sprat. Penguin, $15.99 paper; ISBN 978-0-14-377927-8. Sixteen-year-old Selby Michaels and her tutor Dan are sucked into the pages of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where Selby grows worried about Hamlet’s well-being.
I Am Extraordinary by Stephen Curry, illus. by Geneva Bowers (Penguin Workshop, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-593-38606-4). Zoe hopes to try out for the soccer team but worries that her hearing aid will draw negative attention from her peers, until a new experience teaches her to embrace her disability.
If You Want to Ride a Horse by Amy Novesky, illus. by Gael Abary. Holiday House/Porter, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-8234-5695-6. Using their imagination, the narrator of this picture book invites readers to prepare for a horse ride in their minds.
Just Another Epic Love Poem by Parisa Akhbari. Dial, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-593-53049-8. High school senior Mitra Esfahani shares a poetry journal with her best friend Bea to express her excitement about their friendship turning romantic and her struggles with her absent mother’s return.
The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines by Mo Netz. Clarion, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-0632-6653-7. Disabled 11-year-old Jerry Blum grows suspicious of her mother’s mysterious new gig, which sends her into the nearby woods where loggers have recently disappeared, and launches an investigation. The middle grade novel received a starred review from PW.
The Other Lola by Ripley Jones (Wednesday, $14 paper; ISBN 978-1-250-34046-7). Cam and Blair, hailed as heroes for their last investigation, open a new case on Lola Brosillard, a girl who has been missing for five years. However, when she returns, her brother isn’t quite sure he believes that the woman who has reappeared is who she claims to be and turns to them for help.
Ready to Soar by Cori Doerrfeld. Dial, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-5936-9672-9. Riley, a child excited to fly his paper airplane, must deal with unsolicited advice from birds who claim to know how to fly best.
Six Truths and a Lie by Ream Shukairy. Little, Brown, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-316564-59-5. A group of Muslim teenagers suspected of a terrorist attack face pressure from the press, the police, and their own families to turn against one another. The YA novel received a starred review from PW.
Taro Gomi’s Big Book of Words by Taro Gomi. Chronicle, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-79721-710-9. Gomi illustrates this wide-ranging compendium of words and phrases with his signature cartoons, here rendered as thumbnail-like drawings.
These Bodies Between Us by Sarah Van Name. Delacorte, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-593-64617-5. Best friends Talia, Callie, and Cleo welcome newcomer Polly into their friend group for the summer and join Polly on her quest to learn how to become invisible.
Turtle-Turtle and the Wide, Wide River by Jane and Will Hillenbrand. Holiday House, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-8234-5397-9. When a big storm approaches, young Turtle-Turtle, who is “too new to know what to do,” gets swept away and must rely on his instincts to survive.
Unicorn Boy by Dave Roman. First Second, $22.99; ISBN 978-1-250-83027-2. Brian Re—the eponymous Unicorn Boy—is an ordinary kid who finds his world turned upside down when, one day, a mysterious bump on his head morphs into a sparkling, singing unicorn horn. The graphic novel received a starred review from PW.
Walkin’ the Dog by Chris Lynch. Simon & Schuster, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-5920-4. Tween Louis’s fast-approaching entry into public high school after years of being homeschooled weighs heavily on him. He finds solace in a dog-walking enterprise, an endeavor that gives him the courage to face problems in his interpersonal relationships.
The Wild River and the Great Dam: The Construction of Hoover Dam and the Vanishing Colorado River by Simon Boughton. Little, Brown/Ottaviano, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-316-38074-4. Boughton chronicles the construction of the Hoover Dam—whose “purpose was to stop the floods and droughts that plagued the southwestern United States”—and how it would become the largest feat of engineering ever seen in America. The picture book received a starred review from PW.
You’re Going to Love This Book! by Jory John, illus. by Olivier Tallec (FSG, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-374-38853-9). A picture book invitation to young readers to tackle a myriad of unpleasant tasks via encouragement.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of March, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
