written by Lisa Mantchev
When the local Pet Club won’t admit a boy’s tiny pet elephant, he finds a solution—one that involves all kinds of unusual animals in this sweet and adorable picture book.
Today is Pet Club day. There will be cats and dogs and fish, but strictly no elephants are allowed. The Pet Club doesn’t understand that pets come in all shapes and sizes, just like friends. Now it is time for a boy and his tiny pet elephant to show them what it means to be a true friend.
Imaginative and lyrical, this sweet story captures the magic of friendship and the joy of having a pet.
Reviews
"Yoo’s (Hands Say Love) linoleum block prints of brick buildings and quiet sidewalks have the softness and warmth of a favorite blanket. It’s a message book about exclusion with an oh-so-gentle lead-in for discussion."
- Publishers Weekly
"Illustrations emphasize the warmth of this message with Photoshop, block prints, and pencil in color spreads alternated with smaller vignettes highlighting the expressions of the children and their pets.With a gentle message of inclusion and helping others, this title reaches beyond a mere friendship story. A solid general purchase for libraries and classrooms."
- School Library Journal
"Yoo's concluding scenes depict a treehouse occupation (its restrictive message changed to "ALL ARE WELCOME") and multiethnic, multispecies harmony. Sweet and affirming."
- Kirkus Riviews
written by George Shannon
- A CCBC Choice List 2015 Book
Hands touch, hold, and hug. Hands feed, give, and share. Hands create, mend, and heal. Hands say love! Every day, our hands show the most important people in our lives how we care about them, from parents helping children learn to walk to families playing and working together to friends waving hello and good-bye. This perfect read-aloud for toddlers celebrates the many hands-on moments we share and reminds us that even the simplest gesture can be a profound expression of love.
Reviews
"For a family read or simple identification of the day's activities, this charming book sends a loving message and will be a hit."
―School Library Journal
"Strong rhythms, simple words, and clear pictures make this the kind of picture book that might end up being memorized."
- Publishers Weekly
written by Polly Kanevsky
- New York Times Best Illustrated Book award
This New York Times Best Illustrated Book captures all the sweet and touching moments in Baby's day, from Mama’s first cuddle in the morning to Daddy’s last kiss at bedtime.
Parents and their little ones will enjoy seeing themselves in the simple, straightforward observations of the routines of a baby, including Baby’s first shaky steps, Baby’s much needed nap, the comfort of Baby’s bottle, a steamy bath, and a bedtime story.
Reviews
"The linoleum block prints are warm and homey. The palette is mostly drawn from autumn leaves, until moonlight shines into the blue bedroom where the baby succumbs to sleep. This is the sort of book you finish with a sigh of contentment."
- School Library Journal
"Yoo's (Only a Witch Can Fly) understated block prints in autumnal and citrus tones convey a sense of security, while Kanevsky's (Sleepy Boy) quiet text hints at both tiny dilemmas and a child's broadening understanding of the world ("But where's Baby's mitten? And where is his mama?"). A reassuring and subtly insightful story for readers graduating from board books."
- Publishers Weekly
"Yoo’s illustrations have a cozy, reassuring warmth, strongly reminiscent of mid-20th-century classics. Events in the baby’s day are created in an attractive combination of colored pencils and linoleum prints, alternating full-page bleeds with small vignettes."
- Kirkus Review
With simple instructions and bright, clear illustrations, award-winning artist Taeeun Yoo invites children to enjoy yoga by assuming playful animal poses. And she sparks their imagination further by encouraging them to pretend to be the animal - to flutter like a butterfly, hiss like a snake, roar like a lion and more. Yoga is great for kids because it promotes flexibility and focus - and it's relaxing good fun! The charming pictures of children and animals and the lyrical text make this gentle introduction to yoga a book to be treasured.
Reviews
"Yoo gracefully merges the spirit of yoga with children's intuitive sense of play."
— Publishers Weekly
"A pleasingly uncomplicated introduction to yoga that can also simply be read as an invitation to play. A celebration of the ways that even young children can experience the wide world through their bodies as well as their minds."
— Kirkus Reviews
"Extremely basic and appropriate for young children; the illustrations will encourage participation and some rambunctiousness. . . . Could be used to corral the energy of a rowdy group or an individual child. . . . A good choice for introducing yoga."
— School Library Journal
"Inviting demonstration of seven safe, relatively easy poses."
— Booklist
“You Are a Lion!” provides clear and inspirational guidelines."
-The New York Times
written by R.P. Harris
Ten-year-old Tua—Thai for “peanut”—has everything she needs at home in Chiang Mai, Thailand, except for one thing she’s always wanted: a sister. In the market one day, Tua makes an accidental acquaintance—one with wise, loving eyes, remarkable strength, and a very curious trunk. And when Tua meets Pohn-Pohn, it’s clear this elephant needs her help. Together, the unusual team sets off on a remarkable journey to escape from Pohn-Pohn’s vile captors. From the bustling night market to the hallowed halls of a Buddhist temple and finally, to the sanctuary of an elephant refuge, this clever girl and her beloved companion find that right under their noses is exactly what each has been searching for: a friend.
Reviews
" A charming story sure to capture the hearts of young readers"
- School Library Journal
"Pure adventure. "
- The New York Times
"Enchanting. . . A strong read-aloud choice. "
- Shelf Awareness for Readers, starred review
"Charming"
- Education.com
"A rousing adventure."
- Kirkus Reviews Starred Review
"A gem!
- ReadKiddoRead.com
written by Alison McGhee
- Book Sense Book of the Year Winner
Life is full of surprises, big and small, and what children will grow up to do with their lives is one of the biggest and most joyful surprise of all. So Many Days reminds us to celebrate the choices our children make along the way, and the bravery it takes for them to decide exactly who they want to be. Like Dr. Seuss’s Oh, The Places You’ll Go, it’s a perfect gift for graduations, weddings, new babies, difficult transitions, and when you simply want to let someone know you adore them.
Reviews
"Yoo counters with images of a girl in a raincoat and boots and her dog, who run, sail, fly, and tumble from one landscape into the next. To accompany the line You are hope that wants to take wing, the girl blows a handful of leaves into the air, which, as they rise, become a flock of birds and fly away. It’s these earnest depictions of small miracles that emphasize the magic and adventure that life offers."
- Publishers Weekly
"This book seamlessly pairs lyrical text and digitally manipulated linocut illustrations in a philosophical offering that encourages youngsters to face life head on. /This youngster is quite different from the rather passive child in Dr. Seuss's Oh, the Places You'll Go! (Random, 1990). Her enthusiastic embrace of life can spark a one-on-one conversation about daily choices and future possibilities."
- School Library Journal
"Sweetly reassuring for young children, this poetic offering will also have crossover appeal as a gift for young-adult graduates."
- Booklist
"McGhee’s understated words are elegant and sure rather than sappy or saccharine. Yoo’s pictures, linocuts digitally worked, make lovely images in a limited palette of greens, blues, browns and yellows."
- Kirkus Review
written by Alison McGhee
- Ezra Jack Keats Book award
- New York Times Best Children's Book award
- 2010 Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year
Only a witch can fly.
But one little girl wants to fly--more than anything. So on a special night, with the moon shining bright and her cat by her side, she gathers herself up, she grips her broom tight, and she tries. And she fails. And she's brave. And she tries again. Until . . .
Utterly enchanting, New York Times best-selling author Alison McGhee's lyrical language and Taeeun Yoo's transcendent linoleum block prints create a bewitching tale about finding one's own path that will send your heart soaring.
Reviews
"The effortless quiet of McGhee's words is beautifully matched by Yoo's pictures. …There's more than enough magic in these pages…for young readers and for their parents, who might otherwise give up on finding anything truly enchanting about Halloween."
- The New York Times Book Review
"It's an enchanting book that makes a compelling point about the perseverance needed to follow your dreams. It's not hard to imagine such a potent message resonating with young readers this Halloween."
- BookPage
"This sophisticated picture book is rich with imagination… More personal, quiet, and transcendent than most Halloween books, this is not a call to witchcraft, but rather to following one's heart."
- Booklist
"Like its protagonist, this book soars."
- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"This gentle, lyrical tale, written in the unusual poetic stanzas of a medieval sestina, recounts a young trick-or-treater's dogged attempts to make her dreams of flight come true. …This is a quieter, more reflective addition to Halloween collections that offers an enchanting storytime read-aloud."
- School Library Journal
"Beneath the vintage spooky setting lies a subtle message about perseverance and individuality."
- Publishers Weekly
- Society of Illustrators Founders award
A little boy enters a library with his grandfather and his little red fish at his sDelicate, dusky sepia etchings capture the mysterious atmosphere of the old library, and the repetitive use of red for JeJe’s fish proves an attractive lure for the eye. Was JeJe’s adventure a dream or was he just lost in the pages of a book? The pictures are worth a thousand words in this fantastical tale. ide. But when he awakes after falling asleep amidst the library shelves, his fish is missing. Could his little friend have disappeared into that red book over there on the shelf?
Join us in celebrating this stunning debut by first-time illustrator Taeeun Yoo. With dreamlike qualities of early Maurice Sendak and fine etchings that strongly evoke the mysterious and the magical, The Little Red Fish pays homage to imagination and the power of a good book.
Reviews
"Delicate, dusky sepia etchings capture the mysterious atmosphere of the old library, and the repetitive use of red for JeJe’s fish proves an attractive lure for the eye. Was JeJe’s adventure a dream or was he just lost in the pages of a book? The pictures are worth a thousand words in this fantastical tale."
- Kirkus Review
"Newcomer Yoo's sepia-toned pen-and-inks and watercolor wash, rich with shadows and spidery figures, provide a haunting obligato for her story of a boy's adventure alone in a deserted library. The cloth-covered, jacketless book and handsewn pages suggest the attention to detail and craft found within....Yoo's exhilarating visual images don't really need words. They seem to call to a place beyond language, and shutting the book feels like awakening from a dream."
- Publishers Weekly starred review
written by Shirin Yim Bridges
When Noot is finally allowed to paint umbrellas like the other women and girls in her village, she secretly hopes that she might be chosen as this year's Umbrella Queen. Carefully, she creates serene flowers and butterflies exactly as she has seen her mother and grandmother do for years.
But soon her imagination takes over, and Noot finds herself straying from the old patterns, to the dismay of her family, who depend on the traditionally painted umbrellas for their livelihood.
Her parents tell her she must go back to the old designs and Noot obeys, knowing that the King is coming soon to name the one who has painted the most beautiful umbrella. After all, the King would never choose a queen who breaks from tradition . . . would he?
Reviews
"Yoo's orange, green, and black colored linoleum prints wonderfully establish the tone for the story, which is related through gracefully told text. The delicately detailed images convey the characters' expressions as well as the loveliness of their creations. Narrative and artwork combine to tell a universal tale about individuality and following your heart to develop your talent."
- School Library Journal
"The distinctive linoleum-print-and-pencil illustrations feature varied compositions, lively line work, and an eye-catching palette. The setting may be unfamiliar to many, but the emotions are universal and the story well worth sharing."
- Booklist
written by John Sullivan
