Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles including a middle grade fairy tale about a girl who can talk to animals, a picture book from a classic author, a YA novel set during WWII, and a middle grade adventure novel.
The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson. Scholastic Press, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-338-58083-9. In this middle grade fairy tale, a girl gains the ability to speak to animals. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown, illus. by Greg Pizzoli. HarperCollins, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-267651-1. The third version of Brown’s rhythmic picture book about trains, previously illustrated by Jean Charlot, then by Leo and Diane Dillon, now gets fresh illustrations from Geisel Medalist Pizzoli.
The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron. Scholastic Press, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-338-35593-2. Cameron’s saga of life in wartime Poland under German occupation stretches from 1936, when 11-year-old Fusia first falls in love with city life on a visit to Przemys´l, through July 1944.
Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor by Ally Carter. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-358-00319-9. In this middle grade adventure novel, five precocious foster siblings discover secrets in their sprawling new home.
Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco. Sourcebooks Fire, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4926-7266-1. Combining legends, myths, fairy tales, and classic children’s literature from Oz to Neverland, Chupeco (The Bone Witch) creates an enchanting YA novel that is both a feast for the senses and a unique spin on the hero’s journey. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare. McElderry, $24.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-3187-3. Spun off from her Infernal Devices trilogy, book one of Clare’s Last Hours trilogy uses a large cast of characters of varying ethnicities, sexual orientations, and species (vampires, warlocks, etc.) to explore the intricacies of friendship and love.
Nesting by Henry Cole. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-288592-0. This rhyming picture book demonstrates the robin’s nesting habits. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Rita and Ralph’s Rotten Day by Carmen Agra Deedy, illus. by Pete Oswald. Scholastic Press, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-338-21638-7. The classic hand game “Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle” is recast in this picture book with two best friends who live “in two little houses, on two little hills.”
The Three Billy Goats Buenos by Susan Middleton Elya, illus. by Miguel Ordóñez. Putnam, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-399-54739-3. Elya’s deftly retells “The Three Billy Goats Gruff,” weaving in Spanish vocabulary words. The book earned a starred review from PW.
How to Be a Pirate by Isaac Fitzgerald, illus. by Brigette Barrager. Bloomsbury, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-68119-778-4. The boys won’t let CeCe play pirate, so she runs to her seafaring grandfather to get the lowdown on what it takes to yo-ho-ho in this picture book.
My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano, illus. by Jillian Tamaki. Atheneum, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-2722-8. This picture book captures the feeling of giddy infatuation when a child first meets another and feels an instant bond. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Help Wanted, Must Love Books by Janet Sumner Johnson, illus. by Courtney Dawson. Capstone, $17.95; ISBN 978-1-68446-075-5. Shailey, a brown-skinned girl who sports a pink bandanna, adores bedtime because her father reads to her every night.
When You Need Wings by Lita Judge. Atheneum, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-3755-5. On this picture book’s wordless opening pages, a girl who waves goodbye to one parent and walks hand-in-hand with another caretaker is palpably apprehensive, evidenced by her expressive face and body language.
Hat Tricks by Satoshi Kitamura. Peachtree, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-68263-150-8. Kitamura’s (The Rainmaker Danced) picture book is an amusing peek-a-boo tale for budding magic fans.
Escape from Hat by Adam Kline, illus. by Brian Taylor. HarperCollins, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-283997-8. Screenwriter Kline and artist Taylor collaborate in this funny, originally self-published saga meshing fantasy and farce and pitting good against evil.
Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee. Flatiron, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-23643-2. TV writer Lee modernizes Anna Karenina with a heavy serving of Gossip Girl in her ambitious YA debut.
Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte. Scholastic Press, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-338-25581-2. Set in 1805, LeZotte’s engrossing historical novel explores prejudice and racism through the eyes of 11-year-old Mary Lambert, who is deaf. The book earned a starred review from PW.
When My Brother Gets Home by Tom Lichtenheld. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-328-49805-2. As a ponytailed child waits on the sidewalk in front of her home with her dog and cat, she imagines all the wonderful things she’ll do with her brother when he gets home from school.
The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu. Putnam, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-5247-3901-0. Lu (Rebel) layers fantastical elements and historical fiction to craft an expansive YA tale of rivalry based on two Mozart siblings, both talented pianists and composers.
World So Wide by Alison McGhee, illus. by Kate Alizadeh. Amazon/Two Lions, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5420-0633-0. Striking a resonant chord that is at once intimate and universal, McGhee (Someday) explores evergreen picture book turf as a couple welcomes their first child.
Everyone’s Awake by Colin Meloy, illus. by Shawn Harris. Chronicle, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-7805-9. Manic though it may be, the family’s live-and-let-live attitude toward its members’ rule-breaking peculiarities makes this rip-roaring romp by Meloy (The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid) defiantly wholesome.
If We Were Giants by Dave Matthews and Clete Barrett Smith. Disney-Hyperion, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-4847-7871-5. The importance of community and collaboration underlies this fast-paced adventure, by musician Matthews and children’s author Smith (Mr. 60%), about a 14-year-old girl with repressed trauma.
If These Wings Could Fly by Kyrie McCauley. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-288502-9. McCauley makes a moving debut with this hard-hitting YA novel set in a small, tightly knit town.
The Next President: The Unexpected Beginnings and Unwritten Future of America’s Presidents by Kate Messner, illus. by Adam Rex. Chronicle, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-7488-4. The core idea behind this picture book is that “the presidents of tomorrow are always out there somewhere.” The book earned a starred review from PW.
All the Dear Little Animals by Ulf Nilsson, trans. from the Swedish by Julia Marshall, illus. by Eva Eriksson. Gecko, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-776572-89-2. Nilsson and Eriksson bring a whiff of Scandinavian noir to this lengthy, small-format picture book. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Coo by Kaela Noel. Greenwillow, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-295597-5. When a human baby is abandoned near their Queens, N.Y., dovecote, a flock of pigeons raises her as one of their own in this middle grade novel.
The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane by Kate O’Shaughnessy. Knopf, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-984893-83-3. Eleven-year-old Maybelle and her mother have moved to a trailer park in Davenport, La., after a falling-out with Maybelle’s Baton Rouge grandparents that she believes is her fault. When her mom gets a monthlong job singing on a cruise, Maybelle is left in the care of neighbor Mrs. Boggs. The middle grade novel earned a starred review from PW.
The Dragon Egg Princess by Ellen Oh. HarperCollins, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-287579-2. This Korean mythology-inspired YA adventure novel follows a teenager whose family legacy of magical nullification draws him into the schemes of those looking to exploit his home’s resources.
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park. Clarion, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-328-78150-5. Newbery Medalist Park explores prejudice on the American frontier in this sensitively told story about a multiracial girl and her white father in Dakota Territory. The middle grade novel earned a starred review from PW.
Be You! by Peter H. Reynolds. Orchard, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-338-57231-5. Reynolds (Say Something!) is back in full affirmation mode, exhorting readers to be themselves and breaking down what that means.
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Little, Brown, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-316-49380-2. In this middle grade novel, Rhodes tells the story of two biracial brothers, Donte and Trey, who are navigating racism, colorism, and bullying.
Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Scholastic Press, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-338-15786-4. Set in the fictional Latin country of Santa Maria, this richly tiered novel is, at its core, wrenchingly real. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar, illus. by Tim Heitz. HarperCollins, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-296538-7. Sachar’s snappy comedic stride doesn’t miss a beat in his series’ fourth installment—the first since 1995’s Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger—as the curiosities of Mrs. Jewls’s 30th-floor classroom multiply more quickly than ever. The book earned a starred review from PW.
One of These Is Not Like the Others by Barney Saltzberg. Holiday House/Porter, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-8234-4560-8. Saltzberg (Dog and Rabbit) puts a winsome spin on the spot-the-difference concept while sending, with humor, the missive that diversity and collaboration are to be unequivocally celebrated.
Almond by Allen Say. Scholastic Press, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-338-30037-6. Say shows children a path toward deciding their own worth for themselves, apart from adult expectations, in this middle grade novel.
Thank You, Garden by Liz Garton Scanlon, illus. by Simone Shin. Beach Lane, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-0350-4. In this picture book, an array of people of varied skin tones and ages work and play among an urban garden’s raised beds, accompanied by fragmentary rhyming text.
The Vanishing Deep by Astrid Scholte. Putnam, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-525-51395-7. Five years before the start of this fast-paced ecological thriller, 17-year-old Tempest “Tempe” Alerin’s scientist parents were lost in a storm, and her beloved older sister, Elysea, drowned three years later.
The Sky Is the Limit: A Celebration of All the Things You Can Do by Lisa Swerling, illus. by Ralph Lazar. Chronicle, $14.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-7982-7. Swerling and Lazar collaborate once again on this diminutive, glittery book that cheers readers on through small accomplishments and major milestones alike.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of March, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
