Best of 2023 LB School December 2023 Newsletter
Best of 2023
The first picture book written and illustrated by award-winning creator Vashti Harrison traces a child’s journey to self-love and shows the power of words to both hurt and heal. With spare text and exquisite illustrations, this emotional exploration of being big in a world that prizes small is a tender portrayal of how you can stand out and feel invisible at the same time.
A Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2023!
A Smithsonian Magazine Best Kids Books of 2023!
From Caldecott and Newbery Honoree Grace Lin and bestselling author Kate Messner comes a modern folktale about the joy of reading.
Once upon a time, there was a girl. She went to a place alive with colors, where even the morning dew was warm.
Alice loves to imagine herself in the magical pages of her favorite book. So when it flaps its pages and invites her in, she is swept away to a world of wonder and adventure, riding camels in the desert, swimming under the sea with colorful fish, floating in outer space, and more! But when her imaginative journey comes to an end, she yearns for the place she loves best of all.
Paired with vibrant illustrations, this lyrical, expressive story invites the reader to savor each page and indulge in the power of imagination.
Khadija Shami is a Syrian American high school senior raised on boxing and football. Saddled with a monstrous ego and a fierce mother to test it, she dreams of escaping her sheltered life to travel the world with her best friend.
Leene Tahir is a Syrian refugee, doing her best to adjust to the wildly unfamiliar society of a suburban Detroit high school while battling panic attacks and family pressures.
When their worlds collide the result is catastrophic. To Khadija, Leene embodies the tame, dutiful Syrian ideal she’s long rebelled against. And to Leene, Khadija is the strong-willed, closed-off American who makes her doubt her place in the world.
But as Khadija digs up Leene’s past, a startling and life-changing discovery forces the two of them closer together. As the girls secretly race to unravel the truth, a friendship slowly and hesitantly begins blooming. Doubts are cast aside as they realize they have more in common than they each expected. What they find takes them on a journey all the way to Jordan, challenging what each knows about the other and herself.
Fans of Samira Ahmed’s Love, Hate, and Other Filters and Tahereh Mafi’s A Very Large Expanse Of Sea will love Khadija and Leene’s sharp-witted voices in this dual POV narrative. The Next New Syrian Girl is a poignant and timely blend of guilt, nostalgia, devotion, and bad-ass hijabees.
An inspiring memoir of a Caldecott-winning artist and one of the most acclaimed children’s book illustrators of all time, sharing the story of a young artist who finds the courage to follow his passion against all odds.
* “A moving work from a legend of children’s literature and a testament to his legacy of visual storytelling.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Jerry Pinkney—creator of Caldecott Medal-winning The Lion & the Mouse and The Little Mermaid—drew everywhere, all the time. Since childhood, it was how he made sense of the world—how he coped with the stress of being a sensitive child growing up in crowded spaces, struggling with a learning disability, in a time when the segregation of Black Americans was the norm. Only drawing could offer him a sense of calm, control, and confidence. When friends and siblings teased him about having the nickname “Jerry” as his only name, his mother always said, “Just ‘Jerry’ is enough. He’ll make something of that name someday.” And so he did, eventually becoming one of the most celebrated children’s book illustrators of all time and paving the way for countless other Black artists.
Jerry’s vivid recollections and lively sketchbook drawings of his youth in postwar America tell an inspiring story of how a hardworking boy pursued his passion in less-than-ideal circumstances and became a legendary artist against all odds.
Iris tries to act normal at school, going through the motions and joking around with her friends. But nothing is normal, and sometimes it feels like she’ll never laugh again. How can she, when her dad is dying of a virus that’s off-limits to talk about? When she knows that soon all she’ll have left of her kind, loving dad are memories, photos, and a binder full of the poems they used to exchange?
In a sea of rage and grief, Iris resolves to speak out against the rampant fear, misinformation, and prejudice surrounding AIDS—and find the pieces of Dad that she never knew before. Along the way, Iris might just find new sides to herself.
Critically-acclaimed author Ami Polonsky has crafted a lyrical, tender, earth-shattering novel that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.
The perfect gift book for anyone who loves good food—and an even better story!
Newbery and Caldecott honoree and New York Times bestselling author Grace Lin delivers a groundbreaking, lushly illustrated, and beautifully written full-color book that explores the whimsical myths and stories behind your favorite American Chinese food.
A New York Times bestseller!
An ALA Notable Book
A BookPage Best Book of the Year!
A New York Public Library Best Book of 2023!
From fried dumplings to fortune cookies, here are the tales behind your favorite foods.
Do you know the stories behind delectable dishes—like the fun connection between scallion pancakes and pizza? Or how dumplings cured a village’s frostbitten ears? Or how wonton soup tells about the creation of the world?
Separated into courses like a Chinese menu, these tales—based in real history and folklore—are filled with squabbling dragons, magical fruits, and hungry monks. This book will bring you to far-off times and marvelous places, all while making your mouth water. And, along the way, you might just discover a deeper understanding of the resilience and triumph behind this food, and what makes it undeniably American.
Award-winning and bestselling author Grace Lin provides a visual and storytelling feast as she gives insight on the history, legends, and myths behind your favorite American Chinese dishes. Chinese Menu makes the perfect gift book for anyone who loves good food—and an even better story.
Don’t miss:
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Starry River of the Sky
When the Sea Turned to Silver
The Year of the Dog
The Year of the Rat
Dumpling Days
A 2023 New York Times Best Children’s Book
A 2023 Publisher’s Weekly Best Picture Book
An NPR Best Book of the Year
#1 New York Times Bestselling and award-winning author of The Undefeated, Kwame Alexander, pens a powerful picture book that tells the story of American slavery through the voice of a teacher struggling to help her students understand its harrowing history.
From the fireside tales in an African village, through the unspeakable passage across the Atlantic, to the backbreaking work in the fields of the South, this is a story of a people’s struggle and strength, horror and hope. This is the story of American slavery, a story that needs to be told and understood by all of us. A testament to the resilience of the African American community, this book honors what has been and envisions what is to be.
With stunning mixed-media illustrations by Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winning artist Dare Coulter, this is a potent book for those who want to speak the truth. Perfect for family sharing, the classroom, and homeschooling.
Welcome to a magical world of endless curiosity. You are a sleeping salamander. A dancing octopus. A speeding falcon…even a sneaking tiger and playful human child. As one dream slips into another, every page turn immerses you in the sensory wonder of the world and all its creatures, from the ocean depths to soaring skies, and everything in between. Each creature dreams and experiences life in a different way. Each is connected despite their differences.
Poetic and universal in its gentle message of interconnectedness, Every Dreaming Creature yields deeper meaning with every read, offering new discoveries hidden within the acclaimed artist Brendan Wenzel’s dazzling, vibrant artwork.
★ Kirkus Reviews ★ SLJ ★ BCCB
Award-winning author Laekan Zea Kemp’s heart-wrenching novel-in-verse follows two teens who must come together to heal the pain from their pasts, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Ibi Zoboi.
Danna Mendoza Villarreal’s grandfather is slowly losing himself as his memories fade, and Danna’s not sure her plan to help him remember through the foods he once reviewed will be enough to bring him back. Especially when her own love of food makes her complicated relationship with her mother even more difficult.
Raúl Santos has been lost ever since his mother was wrongly incarcerated two years ago. Playing guitar for the elderly has been his only escape, to help them remember and him forget. But when his mom unexpectedly comes back into his life, what is he supposed to do when she isn’t the same person who left?
When Danna and Raúl meet, sparks fly immediately and they embark on a mission to heal her grandfather … and themselves. Because healing is something best done together—even if it doesn’t always look the way we want it to.
Perfect for fans of:
★ Romance
★ Instagram poetry
★ Mental health awareness
★ really good Mexican food!
★ “A moving portrait about discovering what home means.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ “Highly recommended.”—School Library Journal, starred review
★ “Luby’s lyrical text and Donovan’s vibrant…illustrations combine to powerfully convey universal themes about change and the strength of family.”—Horn Book, starred review
A heartwarming look at how the comfort of tradition and story can create a true sense of belonging, told through an Indigenous lens.
When Ojiig moves to the city with his family, he misses everything they left behind. Most of all, he misses the sparkling night sky. Without the stars watching over him, he feels lost.
His parents try to help, but nothing seems to work. Not glow-in-the-dark sticker stars, not a star-shaped nightlight. But then they have a new idea for how to make Ojiig feel better — a special quilt stitched through with family stories that will wrap Ojiig in the warmth of knowing who he is and where he came from. Join this irresistible family as they discover the power of story and tradition to make a new place feel like home.
This hilarious follow-up to the New York Times bestselling poetry book I’m Just No Good at Rhyming is full of surprising twists of wit and wordplay that will have readers rolling on the floor laughing!
“Highly recommended, it gets 5 stars and 8 moons and a chef’s kiss and a tip of the hat and a jump in the lake from me.”—Bob Odenkirk, award-winning actor, writer, and comedian
I’m Just No Good at Rhyming is this century’s most acclaimed comedic poetry collection so far, described as “a worthy heir to Silverstein, Seuss, and even Ogden Nash” (PublishersWeekly), “wildly imaginative…inspired and inspiring” (Kirkus), and as “everything a book for kids should be” (B.J. Novak). Now, Chris Harris delivers all that and more with dazzling new heights of creativity, kooky conundrums, witty wordsmithing, and of course, wacky laugh-out-loud fun!
There’s a whole new cast of characters to meet, from the Nail-Clipping Fairy (who delivers teeth at night), to Orloc the Destroyer (who can be defeated only by his mommy), to the Elderly Caveman (who complains about the younger generation obsessed with playing with fire). There are more mind-bending verbal and visual riddles, plus there’s plenty of hilarious hijinks hiding around every corner, whether it’s a buffalo that escapes one poem and roams through others or a meteor threatening to land on the book and obliterate everything. There’s even a mini book-within-a-book! In between it all, cartoonist Andrea Tsurumi’s diverse range of exuberant people, creatures, and anthropomorphic objects ripple through the pages with playful energy.
If your head has a bellyache as you read this book, it will only be because you’re laughing WAY. TOO. HARD!
Inspire a love of nature in young readers with this gorgeous, simple guide—and learn how, through millennia of transformations, life and land have always found a way to begin anew, for nature-loving fans of Kate Messner’s Over and Under series.
Do you know a little bit of land? It could be smaller than you expect. But its importance is bigger than you know. From the prehistoric past to the dramatic environmental change of right here and now, the land has countless stories to tell. You, too, are a part of the land. Listen, and you will understand what it needs to stay in balance.
A breathtaking exploration of the connections between life and land central to the past, present, and future of our planet, Little Land invites young readers to think about ways in which they engage with the environment in their own lives.
A Junior Library Guild Selection, Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year, and National Science Teaching Association Best STEM Book ● Celebrate the groundbreaking life of astronaut and Johnson Space Center director Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina in space, in this “picture-book biography for tomorrow’s astronauts” (Booklist).
Young Ellen Ochoa loved to learn. An accomplished engineer by age 30, with three patents to her name, she kept learning and trying new things. When NASA began accepting women and people of color to the astronaut program, Ellen found herself drawn to this exciting and demanding career. On her first mission, she was the only woman aboard the shuttle Discovery and the first Latina to reach outer space. After four space flights, she became the first Latina director of the Johnson Space Center and has received numerous distinctions and awards.
This addition to the award-winning Big Words biography series celebrates a STEM pioneer known for her brilliance, persistence, and an intellectual curiosity as infinite as the stars. With dynamic illustrations by Oliver Dominguez, Doreen Rappaport’s richly detailed narrative—punctuated with standout quotes from Ellen herself—will inspire a new generation to unravel the mysteries of the universe.
★ “Brilliant, sure-handed gouache illustrations add even more vivid life to the well-paced text…. A book sure to fly off shelves and into children’s hands.” —Kirkus Reviews
★ “Inspirational.” —Publishers Weekly
★ “The paintings are reminiscent of Norman Rockwell’s work and have incredible detail…. An excellent picture book biography of a groundbreaking Latina that soars.” —School Library Journal
Don’t miss these other titles in the Big Words series!
Ruth Objects: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Helen’s Big World: The Life of Helen Keller
Wilma’s Way Home: The Life of Wilma Mankiller
Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.