Illustrated by Andrea Bell 5 stars A sweet and engaging story about friendship, social anxiety, and pushing yourself to take risks. Amy loves mysteries. But when she’s invited to a murder mystery-themed birthday party, she’s conflicted. While she wants to solve the mystery, she worries her social anxiety will draw unwanted attention. Will she be…
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Illustrated by Fabiana Faiallo 5 stars A sweet picture book for helping children cope with the death of a friend or classmate. Violet is Mia’s best friend. She brings sunshine to every day. But after Violet dies, everything changes. With the help of others, Mia is able to learn ways to remember, grieve, and say…
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5 stars Another hilarious, touching, and insightful story based on Huda Fahmy’s high school experiences. Huda has her whole junior year figured out. At least, she thinks she does. Until her parents announce they’re getting a divorce. Now she’s having a hard time dealing with her grades, her sisters, her parents, and her best friend….
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4 stars Another fantastic math-based story. Mei walks through her yard, looking for where her chickens have laid their eggs. She points out the location of each egg, using prepositions and spatial relationships such as under, on, and next to. The straightforward narration and simple story are perfect for the intended audience. Adorable illustrations. The…
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Illustrated by James Ransome 5 stars A beautiful story of family, hope, and the ties between people and places. Follow the journey of a single rope passed down through three generations and used for a variety of purposes, from clotheslines to jump ropes to practicing knots. The rope joins the family as they experience big…
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Illustrated by Ana Sanfelippo 4 stars A sweet story about what to do when you get separated from your grownup. Rafa is shopping with his Mama when he pursues a stray berry and loses sight of her. How will he ever find Mama in the sea of wrong legs? Wonderfully written. I loved the alliteration…
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Illustrated by Chasity Hampton 5 stars A sweet story celebrating hair and the power of words. Selah is excited to show off her newly loc’ed hair at school. But when kids use words like “dreadlocks” to describe her hair, Selah starts to wonder if there’s something scary about her locs. With the help of her…
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3 stars While playing in the snow, Olivia and Mei explore distance and units of measurement as they try to figure out who jumps more. A nice way of introducing concepts related to measurement. I like that the story recognizes that “more” can mean different things depending on what you are measuring. While the pair…
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3 stars A cute board book for learning about patterns. Olivia is decorating a birdhouse and starts painting a stripe pattern. But then she makes a mistake. How will she fix it? A sweet story that nicely showcases patterns. Cute illustrations. The backmatter includes activities for further pattern exploration. A nice simple way of introducing…
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by Ann Hazzard and Vivianne Aponte Rivera Illustrated by Gloria Félix 3 stars A touching story about a young girl dealing with her father being taken to a detention center. One day Carmen’s father is arrested and taken away. Her mother explains that he doesn’t have the government papers he needs to stay. Through family…
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