Comprising 18 tales, this sprightly short story collection by Hungarian author Tóth feels intent on stretching minds. “Once upon a time there was a Nothing. In this Nothing there was nothing,” the first begins. After listing many things that are missing from the Nothing (“There were even no bedtime stories”), the narrator admits, “I guess there isn’t anything left to say.” Intriguing titles (“Story of the Little Boy Whose Pajamas Wouldn’t Let Him Go to Sleep”) lead to provocative questions (“Would you do something in this anything?”) and unexpected drama. In the punctuated, oddly exhilarating “Story of the Air and the Ball,” for example, a ball bounces up far enough to see “rainbow-tinted roofs, chimneys puffing out plumes of white smoke,” before falling to the ground and then again visiting this aerial paradise. Budapest-born graphic designer Nagy lends gravitas to the collection with illustrations in a mix of styles—cartooned, carefully naturalistic, fantastical—in shades of rust, mustard, and asparagus. Levy’s translation stays impish throughout this work, which offers opportunities to imagine opinionated erasers and doors that open to unpredictable places. Ages up to 6. (June)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

In a gentle allegory, delicately worked, stipple-textured forest scenes create an idyllic home for Little Bear, who loves his favorite rock and his cozy cave. Soon, though, a fire destroys the woods; dancing flames appear tinted in the same autumn colors as the forest, making a scene that’s graceful as well as scary. After Little Bear flees for his life, he must bravely search for a new place to call home. Every time he locates a likely-looking spot, though, other creatures protest: “Go away and find your own burrow!” shouts a rabbit. At last, in a very different forest, he finds a place and creatures who welcome him. Teckentrup (A Happy Place) presents the general dilemma of searchers everywhere, paying particular attention to those who never dreamed they’d have to leave their homes and who find themselves in places bewilderingly different from those they came from. More than physical circumstances, the welcome that Little Bear receives makes it clear that it’s the warmth of fellow creatures that will help him to settle in, a message that serves as a jumping-off point for reader discussions. Ages up to 5. (July)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Filled with zerbert-able bellies of various shapes and sizes, this affirming board book is based on a popular song by TikTok performer Mother Moon (Grandma’s Breath). As the pages celebrate many different kinds of human bellies, they simultaneously model a wealth of loving connections between children and adults. Collage-like illustrations by Giles (When Isaac Hears the Rain), which portray individuals with various body types and skin tones, are set against radiant-hued, textured backgrounds. The opening pages (“Big belly,/ little belly”) show a child snuggling the rounded stomach of a bald, bearded adult. A page turn later (“round belly,/ flat”), two grown-ups with different physiques encircle a child delighted by belly tickles. Kids also dance, attempt yoga, and swing from an adult’s arms, exhilarated to be in the company of someone who loves them, and likes “whatever kind of belly... you’ve got!” The text, set in bold block type, lends a feel of joyful proclamation to this body-neutral tune. A QR code on the back cover links to the author performing the song. Ages up to 3. Illustrator’s agent: Chambers-Black. Andrea Brown Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 04/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Though “some people look at the road and just see TRUCKS,” bearded enthusiast Trucky Roads sees “all KINDS of trucks” in this imaginative appreciation that muses on the vehicles’ many modes. Early pages list commonplace variations (dump trucks, garbage trucks), but things grow increasingly outlandish after Roads muses, “If you can dream it, it could be.” On the next spread, which introduces “Tow Trucks and Toe Trucks,” Roads is seen in the cab of a tow truck pulling a foot-shaped vehicle wearing a Band-Aid. Amid the goofy assemblage, things turn contemplative: asked whether a Bus Truck is “a bus made of a truck, or a truck made of a bus,” text indicates that “Truck is in the eye of the beholder.” And the onset of nighttime suggests even dreamier opportunities for vehicle expansiveness. Punny narration from Miller and friendly-faced digital renderings by Skipp conjure a high-energy truck rally with far-out vibes. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

With a smile on her front basket, Bike zooms through her first day on the job in this introduction to city bike-sharing systems. “Beep Beep Bicycles are for anyone to use, but they do cost a bit of money,” Jenkins explains; “You pay with an app on your phone.” Bike is nervous about the new beginning (“What if I get wobbly in traffic?”) but gets her bearings as her first passenger pedals toward Seattle’s Pike Place Market, soaring down a steep slope. A father and a baby on their way to the aquarium and more build Bike’s confidence. Only when a “fierce and wise” woman takes on a tremendous hill do challenges arise. As Bike finds her place and readers learn about a transit alternative, stylish, vintage-style cartooning by Karas lends texture to Seattle scenes. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Tips for safe biking conclude. Ages 4–8. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

A little digger struggles with bedtime in Mama’s absence until a construction-oriented song from Papa eases the way in this likable rhyming sleep aid for truck-lovers. After a big day “of revving and rumbling/ and rough-tumble play,” mud-splattered Dozer heads in, but bedtime arrives before Mama gets home: “He snuggles his teddy,/ counts jeep after jeep,/ but poor little Dozer,/ still can’t fall asleep.” Luckily, Papa readily jumps in with a lilting lullaby about “Rumbletruck Town,” where various vehicles “all settle their motors,/ and peacefully snooze.” When final stanzas elude Papa, Dozer takes part, finding the calm necessary to shut off his engine before Mama’s return finds him tucked in tight. Hilsaca’s round-edged digital artwork features light-toned colors and long shadows, supplying an appropriately soothing vibe for this relaxing read. Ages 3–7. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

“Put your wishes in your pocket..../ Open the hatch and climb down the ladder.” A Dream Submarine allows readers to observe myriad sea creatures preparing for slumber in this soporific oceanic journey. As a child with light brown skin peers from a round window, the vessel travels from Zanzibar across the world’s oceans, encountering jellyfish, pufferfish, rays, turtles, and more. Lightly poetic lines highlight the remarkable bedtime habits of maritime fauna: “Shrimp tiptoe in to clean” yawning eels’ teeth, and “parrotfish snooze in slime sleeping bags.” As the submarine descends, the depths become reminiscent of the starry night sky, until the vehicle resurfaces and the child emerges, “right on time/ to make a wish for every fish/ and each creature in the sea.” Sweet, beachy-hued digital renderings by Hilsaca suggest a striated watery environment, while Gunnufson’s maritime meanderings point the way toward pelagic dreams. Back matter includes a map and species facts. Ages 3–7. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

When strong winds cause a cargo ship to get stuck sideways in a canal, neither protagonist Tug nor hardworking dredgers and diggers can get her free. But the silver moon’s “dance with the earth and the sun raised the tides that help ships,” and her orbit eventually moves her into a position where she’s “the fullest and closest and strongest she could possibly be,” Hamilton writes. Now a supermoon, “she pulled the sea up in a mighty tide. A KING TIDE!” that propels the cargo ship out of the sand. Gott’s digitally rendered illustrations present a fully anthropomorphized toylike world: puffy-cheeked clouds create the wind, the poor cargo ship sheds anxious tears (“Ships float. That’s what we’re supposed to do”), and the moon is concerned but confident—the very picture of a benevolent force. An afterword explains the science behind the story. Ages 3–7. (July)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

Leung and Wu portray renowned modernist architect I.M. Pei (1917–2019) as perceptive, serious, and determined from an early age. Visiting stream-carved volcanic rocks in Suzhou, China, young Pei notes the “careful planning” behind the pieces. As an adult, he breaks with decorative architecture and embraces modernism—and he soon becomes one of its most recognizable champions, with commissions that include a new entrance to the Louvre. Pei’s relentless creativity, and the excitement of modernism itself, are conveyed via digital images that combine crisp lines with almost luminescent colors, evoking the movement’s signature geometric shapes and favored materials of glass and steel. Reportorial spreads occasionally take wonderful flights of fancy: one shows Pei leaning over Hong Kong as he contemplates creating a skyscraper that will withstand typhoons. A timeline and sources conclude. Ages 4–8. (May)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

Yang draws subjects Charles (1907–1978) and Ray Eames (1912–1988), titans of modern design, as intensely observant, doll-like figures, while also capturing the sense of problem-solving that drove their creativity. After noting an early success designing splints for soldiers out of bent plywood, the bulk of the book is devoted to the duo’s creating a chair “that looks like it was born to be a chair.” Though the “impossible puzzle” of a process, the couple eventually realizes that their work on the splint can be applied to making what would be called “the best chair of the twentieth century.” Young readers may not have the context to recognize how beautifully Yang tips his hat to mid-century-modern design, but they will come away with a sense of how exhilarating it can be to make something new—and with whetted appetites for discovering more. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (May)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink