Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll! The Inventive Rube Goldberg—A Life in Comics, Contraptions, and Six Simple Machines
Catherine Thimmesh, illus. by Shanda McCloskey. Chronicle, $19.99 (56p) ISBN 978-1-4521-4422-1
Rube Goldberg (1883–1970) was born in an era defined by massive technological upheaval. But where others recoiled at the march of progress, Goldberg saw “the funny,” writes Thimmesh in lucidly rendered short chapters. Employing his talent in cartooning and what he learned studying mining engineering, Goldberg created convoluted, comical contraptions with enduring cultural impact. Digitally colored ink drawings by McCloskey tip a hat to the subject’s visual impishness (an opening how-to explains “The Simple Way to Read This Book”), and go on to chronicle his love of catapults and chain reactions, his brilliance in overcomplicating the principles of simple machines, and the delicious nerdiness of his step-by-step instructional captions, which “followed a narrative logic that made perfect sense in context (even if liberties were taken with the laws of nature and physics).” Young makers should find the final how-to chapter irresistible, “Because, really, why do something the simple way... if, instead, there is a catapult option?” Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 8–12. (May)
Lady of the Lines: How Maria Reiche Saved the Nazca Lines by Sweeping the Desert
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Michaela Maccoll, illus. by Elisa Chavarri. Astra, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-66262-009-6
In revelatory prose from Maccoll, this fascinating biography details the efforts of one individual to conserve the shallow figures and shapes etched by an ancient civilization, the Nazca, into the Peruvian desert: Maria Reiche (1903–1998), the German woman whose work led to the geoglyphs’ designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. First hired by an American anthropologist to see if the Lines might have served as a star chart, she then dedicated her remaining life to the forms. Acrylic gouache paintings by Chavarri present naturalistic portraits of Reiche sweeping years of accumulated dirt and pebbles out of etchings to reveal the image of “a spider as big as four city buses.” Later, Reiche becomes an activist, persuading Peru to preserve the Lines. The work calls attention to an individual who dedicated her life to a cultural treasure and invites readers to solve the puzzle of the Nazca Lines’ function. Ample back matter offers further context. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 7–10. (Apr.)
Making Light Bloom: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Lamps
Sandra Nickel, illus. by Julie Paschkis. Peachtree, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-68263-609-1
The studio of Louis Tiffany was renowned for its stained-glass objects, and this revealing story clarifies the role of designer Clara Driscoll (1861–1944) in creating the exquisite table lamps Tiffany was known for—a role that was not understood until after her death. Leaving her beloved childhood home and garden behind, Driscoll sought work in New York City and found employment at Tiffany’s all-woman design studio, choosing among glass sheets “dappled and streaked, shaded and shimmering” to represent light and figures. Homesick, she began to design lamps based on natural forms, including her old garden’s “yellow butterflies and wild primroses,” then withstood her male colleagues’ protests to make still more intricate creations. The lamps earned high prices, and the art world believed Tiffany had designed them until Driscoll’s letters showed otherwise. Alongside delicate, design-oriented text by Nickel, Paschkis combines black outlines and luminous colors to make the pages glow like stained-glass itself. Background characters are largely pale-skinned. An author’s note concludes. Ages 7–10. (June)
Anni and Bert: A Weaving Story
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Emily Hall, illus. by Victoria Semykina. Museum of Modern Art, $19.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-63345-146-9
Textile artist Anni Albers (1899–1994) imparts her ideas about weaving to a bird with a busted nest in Hall’s fanciful story. Searching for materials to fix his drafty home, blue-black bird Bert wanders into an art studio filled with string, where a welcoming Albers teaches him to weave. In lengthy passages, the artist explains a loom’s mechanics, interspersing the instruction with stories about her life. Heady descriptions of artistic philosophy slow the storytelling, but the pair’s quirky banter provides a lightening effect: when Bert complains that he doesn’t have a loom, Albers replies, “You must pull yourself together.... You’re the artist and the explorer and the inventor.” Scribbly, naif-style illustrations by Semykina wrap themselves like textiles around the page-filling text, providing subtle visual context via depictions of Bauhaus objects, South American–inspired textiles, and the artist’s own creations. An author’s note concludes. Ages 5–7. (May)
Fix-It Familia
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Lucky Diaz, illus. by Micah Player. HarperCollins, $19.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-335961-1
In English and Spanish, Diaz’s rhymes sing the praises of a Latinx-cued family who bring a no-nonsense handiness to mechanical problems across Los Angeles. A child speaker, Chavo, opens with introductions: “Mamá y Papá are jacks-of-all-trades./ There’s not a thing they can’t fix or deck out with upgrades!” The family’s called to repair a broken hinge on a spilled “camión of tomates,” and to tweak a tortilla machine that’s “gone loco.” And when a parade’s main float collapses, the child contributes a winning idea that, with others’ assistance, saves the day. California hues, the odd palm tree, and lots of traffic help Player’s unlined digital renderings capture L.A., while variations on a can-do refrain drive home the empowering example set by the subjects: “No job is too big./ No task is too small./ We’re the Fix-It Familia./ We help one; we help all!” Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)
The Glass Pyramid: A Story of the Louvre Museum and Architect I.M. Pei
Jeanne Walker Harvey, illus. by Khoa Le. Atheneum, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-6659-5333-7
Architect I.M. Pei (1917–2019) believed that “success is a collection of problems solved,” and designing the Louvre’s now-iconic glass pyramid entrance put that philosophy to the ultimate test. In spare, rhythmic prose and digital illustrations that combine architectural elements with vector-like precision, Walker Harvey and Le weave together Pei’s biography and the pyramid’s creation story. When approaching the project—designed to solve a serious number of visitor flow issues—Pei understands that a purely utilitarian solution won’t suffice. The architect finds inspiration in the rock gardens of his family’s retreat in China as well as the geometric Gardens of Versailles, but the pyramid’s design proves only half the challenge. Pei also faces fierce opposition that he approaches via patience and a partnership with Paris’s mayor, a tack that shows how enduring solutions often emerge from a confluence of expertise, imagination, and persuasion. Back matter offers more context. Ages 4–8. (May)
The Music Inside Us: Yo-Yo Ma and His Gifts to the World
James Howe, illus. by Jack Wong. Abrams, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-4197-5521-7
Howe highlights the celebrated cellist’s introspective nature, conveying questions that Yo-Yo Ma (b. 1955) has asked throughout his life, first as a young musician taught by his father—“What does it mean to be a cellist? To be a musician? To be a human being?”—and later when questioning his future: “Who am I when I am not the obedient son, when I am not the cellist everyone expects me to be?” In diaphanous multimedia spreads with velvety textures, Wong portrays Ma as a young boy struggling to get his cello case up the stairs of his family’s Paris apartment, playing on television for the president of the United States, and then, in adolescence, slumped on his bed reading a comic book. Studying anthropology leads to further questions, a career choice, and to a realization: “I am a human being first, a musician second, a cellist third.” It’s a warm, musing biographical work that details a figure’s desire to “bring people together in harmony and joy”—and invites readers to ask and answer questions of their own. Ages 4–8. (June)
Angel Draws a Dinosaur
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Pavonis Giron. Holt, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-250-87437-5
A budding artist’s efforts to draw “the best dinosaur ever” yield a lesson about embracing imperfection in Giron’s upbeat story, which underscores persistence and creativity as antidotes to perfectionism. The protagonist’s grand ambitions provide an opening frame, with Angel declaring that he’ll create an “absolute masterpiece” that will “hang on museum walls.” But after attempts to draw different dinos fail to achieve his mental vision, Angel throws up his hands in frustration. Quick comfort comes from his two moms’ snuggles and shared wisdom, and when Mom likens the drawings to fossils, the comment provides Angel the inspiration he needs to assemble a work that satisfies. Bold pinks, purples, and oranges lend gouache and colored pencil scenes an energy that aptly conveys the story’s emotional arc—from opening excitement to disappointment to closing pride. The family is portrayed with brown skin. Ages 4–8. (June)
Rima and the Painter
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Leila Boukarim, illus. by Melissa Iwai. Holt, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-250-88131-1
Rima’s “heart arched for the world she’d left behind,” Boukarim begins—it’s so different than the palm tree–studded landscape she’s known, and text indicates that Mama is frequently sad following the hinted-at move. Then, one day, the two catch an artist on television—recognizable as Bob Ross (1942–1995)—who, with deft dabs of paint and gentle affirmations, creates “a new world.” As Rima begins to think of herself as a maker, she also starts to feel connected to her new neighborhood and becomes the center of an informal art club: “In no time, Rima was surrounded by people making big old trees, almighty mountains, and happy little clouds, together.” Closing images by Iwai, rendered in soft textures and translucent washes of sunny color, reveal Rima’s mother creating an image about their recent transition. This gentle ode to a beloved art instructor demonstrates how a sense of belonging can emerge from unexpected sources—and how creativity can transform despair into possibility. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (July)
Tell Me About Juneteenth
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Kortney Nash, illus. by DeAndra Hodge. Holt/Godwin, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-250-90879-7
Nash details a history of Juneteenth through the eyes of a Black child at a block party who inquires, “What was the first Juneteenth like?” Hodge’s unlined digital artwork captures the narrator’s curiosity and the gathering’s vibrancy, portraying a community with various abilities, body types, and skin tones recalling their experiences of the holiday. A cousin remembers “red drink and brisket” from their first celebration, while Aunt Judy describes a 1980s drum circle. When the children ask Mr. Robert, the eldest attendee, he shares details of historical events, including enslavement, and notes that while celebrations have changed, their essence remains. It’s a forthright communal reminiscence that reflects on myriad traditions alongside an overarching theme: “On Juneteenth, we acknowledge our freedom.” Back matter includes notes about Juneteenth and a recipe. Ages 4–8. (May)
