Via lighthearted illustrations and a sprightly setting, Stuart (My Shadow Is Blue) launches an action-packed series that puts a thoughtful spin on good versus evil. Nine-year-old Sapphire Sparks, who reads as white, comes from a long line of monster hunters, all members of the Society for the Hunting of Monsters, an organization firmly convinced that such creatures are evil. In contrast to society legend Gwendolyn Grapeshot, who vanished under mysterious circumstances, Sapphire’s own family has never caught a monster. Determined to change that, Sapphire enlists help from her nonbinary best friend, Jasper, who happens to be afraid of almost everything. When Sapphire and Jasper spot a monster lurking in the library, they follow it into a hidden world beneath the building called the Museum of Wonders, where a community of monsters live and work in secret. Mistaken for new hires by a no-nonsense gremlin, the pair are quickly swept into museum life, and what begins as Sapphire’s chance to prove herself as a true hunter evolves into something more as she starts to question everything she’s been taught about the beings. Charming narration recounts Sapphire’s journey, along which she learns that tales are often informed by the storyteller’s own experiences and that there’s always more to discover about the world and oneself. Publishing simultaneously: Beware of Sleeping Pixies. Ages 7–10. (July)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink

Teaming up with Thomas (Patchwork Prince), middle grade author Giles (Not an Easy Win) makes her picture book debut with this dynamic celebration of Black joy viewed through the lens of community and culture. Anchored by variations on the eponymous refrain, bright text introduces cherished everyday moments: “We are joy-wrapped/ in tight aunty hugs/ and Uncle’s secret handshake,/ in Nana’s hand-stitched blanket.” Bustling digital illustrations with shape-peppered backgrounds depict group scenes of brown-skinned children playing (“We are joy-connected”), gathering to eat corn bread dressing and sweet potato pie (“We are joy-filled”), taking part in academics (“We are joy-teaching”), reading with an elder (“We are joy-full”), and more. Conceptual spreads that visualize protest against injustice underscore joy as both inheritance and act of resistance (“We are joy-always,/ even when we aren’t smiling/ because joy never leaves us”). Incorporating references to collective memory and intergenerational connection, this uplifting tribute to ancestry, advocacy, and aspiration aptly meditates on the sustaining power of joy: “We are joy-ready.../ Exactly like we are.” Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Elizabeth Bewley, Sterling Lord Literistic. Illustrator’s agent: Chad W. Beckerman, CAT Agency. (June)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink

The title of this series kickoff may suggest a solo portrait, but Ferry (The Wombats Go Wild for Words) and Dudolf (the Piggle the Pig series) offer up a rosy, rhyming ode to teamwork. The creators introduce Turtle, a DIY-savvy reptile with a toolbox shell, engaging in what looks at first like solo play. Verse bounces along with satisfying onomatopoeia (“Here is his hammer./ Bang. Bang. Bang.// Here is his mallet. Clang. Clang. Clang”) as Turtle, tongue stuck out in focus, takes on arrayed tasks. But following the arrival of a friend come to assist, Turtle rallies a crew of forest animals to build an elaborate turreted tree house in a carefully selected oak. Round-headed, with friendly dot eyes and a quiet smile, Turtle appears as the confident foreman of nearly every spread, in which crisply inked, soft-color-fill illustrations document construction from framing to hanging decorative lights. Featuring a cheerful, wholly competent crew who share a goal and a can-do spirit, this sturdy addition to the readaloud pile suggests that good things come to those who collaborate. Ages 4–8. (June)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink

Slater (the Escargot series) and Yim (Rose by the Sea) cast a lively fish tale with a whopper of a twist that suggests the real catch is not what’s landed but what’s shared. When it’s rumored in a small fishing village that the legendary Big One is close to shore, youngest resident Marina joins forces with eldest resident Nana to try to catch the creature. Though the townspeople share their doubts (“Are you sure you have the grit and the gumption?”), the pale-skinned duo’s collaborative bond deepens as they admire clouds, discuss favorite soups, and sing a sea chanty. Then the calm blue sea turns a swirling gray and offers up something unexpected: a breaching whale, tangled in fishing line. When the shipmates set it free, generosity begets generosity as the whale slaps “a shower of fish” into their boat. Via a yarn-spinning voice and pencil and pastel artwork that’s rich in salt-sprayed atmosphere, the creators craft an immersive adventure that’s as bountiful as the sea it celebrates. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions. (June)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink

A snail’s pace turns out to be just fleet enough in the luminous latest by Horácek (Tiny Owl’s Scary Day). On his birthday, Snail, whose shell resembles an arc of colored glass, wants to see the sunset over the sea, but the locale seems “a very long way” off for someone who moves at Snail’s velocity. As he gets going early and makes his way, friends step up with piggyback offers. But Mouse, fluffy and gray with a bright orange tail, zips along too fast, and emerald Frog bounces too roughly. Neither effort is diminished or disparaged—both get Snail closer to his goal, and both cheerfully reply to his genuine thanks with “That’s what friends are for.” It is Tortoise—whose shape and cobblestone-like texture are easily mistaken for a rock—who intuits the destination Snail seeks and carries him, napping, to the shore just in time. Saturated, translucent colors give each character a standout presence and the landscape a lush, tactile beauty as the journey leads to the sea and a sweet surprise. It’s a good-natured narrative about finding a friend who moves exactly at one’s speed. Ages 3–7. (June)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink

Three forest friends, equal parts acorn- and gnome-like, endeavor to write “a beautiful song” in this easygoing picture book from Slack (Kitties on Dinosaurs). As pals Dot, Button, and Dollop enjoy “sunshine... and big juicy berries!” a bird’s song inspires the woodsy trio to try their hands at instrumentation. After gathering a drum, flute, and piano, the budding songwriters’ initial efforts result in little more than a cacophony of onomatopoeia (“SQUEEEE”). In the aftermath, one laments that “it was not a song,” but quick comfort arrives from another: “It was a not-YET song.” After “beautiful thoughts” also fail to produce the desired result, the group’s feathered pal intercedes with brief instruction, and the three-piece band successfully emit the sonorous sounds they’d been seeking and model a simple gratitude. Brightened with yellow-green hues, digital renderings remniscent of Over the Garden Wall unfold across panels whose simple thought-bubble dialogue is easily interpreted sequentially. In this low-conflict telling, the characters work through a learning curve with a genial enthusiasm whose lingering effect charts a positive path toward further series titles. Publishing simultaneously: A Star Wish. Ages 3–7. Agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (June)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink

A wild bear becomes a replacement father figure for the child at the center of Gustavsson’s thoughtful, fairy tale–like telling, whose tone recalls Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family. The work unfolds in four parts, beginning with a classic opening: “Once upon a time, a boy lived with his father where the forest and the blue sea met,” aware of the bears and sharks that share their home. Over time, the parent ages, eventually turning into a tree in whose branches the protagonist takes refuge during an arbor-uprooting storm. After a bear climbs aboard the now floating tree and the two eventually emerge from the water intact, the pair slowly form a relationship that mirrors the one the youth had with his father. Scribble-shaded monochrome illustrations appear on text-facing pages, with different hues signaling new chapters. The result is a timeless-feeling story of growth in the face of inevitable change. Human characters’ skin tones echo the pages’ background hues. Ages 8–12. (May)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink

In a two-part narrative, Barr and Hobday share the bracing but triumphant true account of three sun bears who are rescued from poachers and released back into the wild. After establishing that “Bears are in trouble” and that sun bears are among the world’s most endangered species, wrenching opening text imagines the brutal separation of one bear cub, Tan-Tan, from her mother: “They shoot her mother and then pull the cub roughly from her mother’s warm black fur.” The tone shifts quickly to one of optimism when the orphaned animal ends up in the hands of Dr. Wong, director of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center, who soon takes in two more cubs. With “fact files” interspersed throughout (“What makes a sun bear so special?”), brief chapters describe the multiyear effort to raise the endangered young and prepare them for reentry into the rainforest. Airy calligraphic paintings present the subjects as frolicsome and their environment as lush in vibrant, text-framing illustrations. It’s a sympathetic portrayal that makes a rousing case for conservation. Ages 5–8. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink

Bentley takes readers on a thrilling, alliterative ride in this dryly comedic story about a reticent bear who becomes the unwitting inventor of the world’s first roller coaster. Seeking an efficient, crowd-avoiding route from his cliffside home to his beehives on the other side of the valley, Bear creates a fast, twisty rail system he dubs “the Honey Runner.” To the protagonist’s immense surprise and despite his warnings, other creatures clamor for repeated rides. When signs (“definitely not fun”) fail to dissuade the masses, the accidental designer implements modifications, yielding transport “so stomach-twaddlingly uncomfortable that surely no sane critter would ride it, and Bear would finally be left in peace.” After the effort backfires and Bear moves to a new home, closing pages suggest the character may not be done with inadvertent diversions. Rendered in warm tones, thinly lined digital illustrations infuse forest scenes with golden rays as the animals’ eager, googly-eyed glee contrasts with Bear’s quizzical expressions. Bear’s fantastic forest attraction propels this amusing book to sensational heights. Ages 4–8. (June)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink

Riffing on the title words and their homophones, Mack’s simple, recombinatory narration yields comedic results in this raucous work. After a round-eyed brown bear discovers an electric-blue wig on the ground, “hair on bear” quickly becomes “hare on bear” with the arrival of a fuzzy pink bunny who steals the hairpiece, leaving behind a “bare bear.” As tongue-twisting text proceeds through other possible orderings of the four rhyming words, the pair battle for the hair. Flatly colored minimalist backdrops place all the attention on Bear and Hare, capturing their furry selves with hundreds of individually drawn lines. After both animals have managed to sit on the prop (and on each other), Bear gains the upper hand and two new words—“tear” and “share”—are introduced for a friendship-producing conclusion. The duo’s sustained physical humor gives this heterograph-driven title a pleasing sense of mirth. Ages 4–8. (June)

Reviewed on 04/10/2026 | Details & Permalink