One day, a bear cub finds something strange and wonderful in the forest. When he touches the keys, they make a horrible noise. Yet he is drawn back again and again. Eventually, he learns to play beautiful sounds, delighting his woodland friends. Then the bear is invited to share his sounds with new friends in the city. He longs to explore the world beyond his home, and to play bigger and better than before. But he knows that if he leaves, the other bears will be very sad . . . This gorgeously illustrated tale of following one's dreams reminds us of the value of friendship, wherever we go.
Hélène Druvert. The Eiffel Tower is bored...so it decides to cut loose and fly over Paris! Sailing through the night air, it glides over the Seine; a short hop away, it finds the Opéra. It weaves through crowds on the streets and in the department stores, falls asleep in the sun, and wakes up to the jangling bells of Notre Dame. This beautifully crafted book, brought to intricate, magical life by Druvert’s ornate lasercuts, is a won- derfully imaginative introduction to Paris and its monuments for young children. 3-7. $24.95. April. Preorder yours today.
Liz Wong. Quackers is a duck. Sure, he may have paws and whiskers. And his quacks might sound more like...well, meows, but he lives among ducks, everyone he knows is a duck, and he’s happy. Then Quackers meets another duck who looks like him (and talks like him, too!)—but he calls himself a cat. So silly! 3-7. $15.99. Preorder yours today!
Peter Brown. When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. Why is she there? Where did she come from? And, most important, how will she survive in her harsh surroundings? Her only hope is to learn from the island’s hostile animal inhabitants. 8-12. $16.99. April. Preorder yours today.
Leslie Connor. Eleven-year-old Perry shouldn’t be living in a prison—he has com- mitted no crime, simply was born and raised
at the Blue River Coed Correctional Facility, where his mother is a resident of Cell Block C. So far, the warden has made it possible
for them to be together, but then Perry is discovered by the new, ambitious district attorney and brought to live on “the outside” for the first time. Desperate to be reunited with his mother, Perry goes on a quest to learn the whole truth behind their Blue River story. Award-winning Connor (Waiting for Normal) was raised in Glenville. 8-12. $16.99.
Akiko Miyakoshi. In this evocative picture book, a powerful storm threatens a planned trip to the beach, and a young boy watches, worries, and dreams. 3-7. $16.95. April. Preorder yours today.
Monica Hesse. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, Hanneke spends her days delivering black market goods to paying customers, her nights hiding the true nature of her work from her concerned parents, and every waking moment mourning her boyfriend, who was killed when the Germans invaded. Then a client asks her to find the Jewish teen she’s been hiding from the Nazis, who has mysteriously disappeared. Intricately plotted and stunningly told, this thriller will stay with readers long after they’ve turned the last page. 12+. $17.99. April. Preorder yours today.
Lindsay Eagar. While her friends are spending their summers having pool parties and sleepovers, twelve-year-old Carol is spending hers in the middle of the New Mexico desert, helping her parents move the grandfather she’s never met into a home for people with dementia. As the summer wears on and the heat bears down, Carol finds herself drawn to prickly Grandpa Serge, fascinated
by the crazy stories he tells her about a healing tree, a green-glass lake, and the bees that will bring back the rain and end a hundred years
of drought. As the thin line between magic and reality starts to blur, Carol must decide for herself what is possible—and what it means to be true to her roots. 10-14. $16.99.
Janet Fox. Katherine, 12, believes in a logical explanation for everything. But even she can’t make sense of the strange goings-on at Rookskill Castle, the drafty old Scottish castle-turned-school where she and her siblings have been sent to escape the London Blitz. What’s making those ter- rifying sounds at night? Why do the castle’s walls seem to have a mind of their own? And why do people keep mysteriously appearing and disappearing? Is a ghost the cause—or a Nazi spy? 10+. $16.99.
