Bella and I are excited to share our latest reads in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR is a community of bloggers who link up to share what they are reading. Kellee Moye of Unleashing Readers and Jen Vincent of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give it a #kidlit focus and encourage everyone who participates to visit at least 3 of the other #kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.
Are you ready for the Solar Eclipse? Bella is!
Grateful to Barbara Fisch of Blue Slip Media for sharing copies of the newly published and soon to be released picture books with Beagles & Books. All opinions are my own.
The Storyteller by Lindsay Bonilla Illustrated by Noar Lee Naggan
Bonilla’s passionate text and Naggan’s soulful illustrations gorgeously express how a grandmother nourished her grandson Griffin with stories. As his grandmother shares her tales, Griffin listens attentively, sketches in his notebook, and asks questions Their love for each other is sweetly depicted in Naggan’s warm artwork which hearkens to a time long ago. When his grandmother fell ill, Griffin was distraught; however, he took comfort in remembering all her stories. The tale of Jack and the Beanstalk gave Griffin the strength to say goodbye to his grandmother and he kept her memory alive by sharing her stories with others.
The Storyteller is a tender story about love, loss, and legacy. The Storyteller released on March 5, 2024.
Speck: An Itty-Bitty Epic by Margaux Meganck
This lyrical picture book chronicles tiny specks on their journey across the ocean. Beginning in the tide pool. they travel via waves and currents searching for a place to stay and grow. Through gorgeous artwork, children will see the specks dwindle in number from thousands to hundreds to only one. Instead of hiding in the deep sea, the speck treks with a school of fish venturing to the surface. Finally, the speck has found its home attaching to a blue whale joining other barnacles. The illustration of the smiling barnacles show the joy of finding your place in the world.
With a melodic, concise text, and vibrant watercolor illustrations, Meganck’s Speck is a reminder that the goal of every living thing is to discover the place to evolve and thrive. Speck published on March 19, 2024.
The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants by Phillip Bunting
Ants are pretty common insects, but did you know that there are 10 quadrillion on our planet? In The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants, Bunting humorously shares facts about what ants love and hate as well as how ants live, work, and communicate. The witty text and amusing illustrations with dialogue from the ants will make readers laugh out loud while they learn about these intriguing insects.
I especially love that Bunting ends with what lessons ants can teach us such as love your family, waste nothing, take power naps (LOL), and always help those around you. The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants published on March 19, 2024.
This Baby. That Baby by Cari Best Illustrated by Rasin Kheiriyeh
In a city, two babies live across across each other on the fifth floor of tall buildings. When the babies see each other through the windows, one waves and one claps. In their home, one baby kisses his cat, and one baby tugs on her pup’s tail. One baby sings about a baby whale. The other baby sings about a baby shark. Both babies are hungry and get to eat but at naptime, both babies do not fall asleep quickly, Waking up, one baby is sad and the other baby is grumpy. Both babies go for a walk and meet up at the park. When they see each other, both babies smile. One baby says “Bay Bay,” The other baby says “Bee Bee.” Together, they play peekaboo.
With Best’s peppy text and Kheiriyeh’s lively illustrations, This Baby. That Baby. is an energetic story that shows how babies with different personalities and interests can be friends. I love how both single parents (and pets) demonstrate patience with their children as they go throughout their day. This Baby. That Baby released on February 27, 2024.
Bella’s Dog Pick of the Week
Wanting to spread the dog love, Beagles and Books has a weekly feature of highlighting a literary selection with a canine character.
Saving Delicia by Laura Gehl Illustrated by Patricia Metola
A young girl named Kari sits under the last remaining delicia tree with her pup Cookie listening to Old Otis tell stories. Sharing a small piece of the last delicia of the season with Cookie, Kari asks Otis if she can plant the seeds. Through Otis, Kari learns that a plant disease called blight will prevent any new delicias to grow. With Cookie following her, Kari bikes to the library with an idea stirring in her head inspired by one of Otis’ stories. After much research, Kari decides to dry, store, and freeze delicia seeds in Otis’ old shed freezer. If scientists can can find a cure for blight, Kari’s seed bank will be ready.
While Cookie is only a minor character, I love how the pup is Kari’s constant companion. Metola’s artwork shows the sweet relationship between Kari and Cookie as she carries the dog in her arms, shares fruit, and is by her side when both the last delicia tree and Otis are no longer with them. At the end of the story, Kari is an adult sitting under a delicia orchard (spoiler) telling Otis’ stories to children and there is a heartwarming tribute to both Otis and Cookie. And another pup is part of her family.
Like their previous collaboration in Apple and Magnolia, Gehl and Metola tell an uplifting story about the power of planning and patience to make a dream come true. Gehl’s gentle narrative text and Metola’s warm illustrations wrap readers in a hug. In the author’s note, Gehl shares that while delicia trees are not real, seed banks are. In fact, there are more than 1000 seed banks in the world. Saving Delicia celebrates its book birthday tomorrow on April 9, 2024.
Bella and I thank you for visiting Beagles and Books!
#IMWAYR is dedicated to dear Etta, my original book beagle. Blessed that Etta is part of my story.
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