Happy Earth Month, everyone! Enjoy two beautiful nonfiction picture books to share with your readers.
Monarch and Mourning Cloak: A Butterfly Journal, by Melissa Stewart & Sarah S. Brannen, (March 2026, Beach Lane Books), $19.99, ISBN: 9781665962711
Ages 4-8
Sibert Honor recipients Stewart and Brannen combine poetry, art, and facts to create a beautiful book about two types of butterflies: the monarch and the mourning cloak. Just looking at the two, they look similar – they’re butterflies, right? – but their differences make them as fascinating as their different colors. They live in different habitats, eat different foods, have different ways to ward off predators, and hibernate differently. Lovely, evocative poetry over watercolor, pen, and pencil illustration brings readers to the butterflies’ world. Using palette samples to show readers the consideration going into the colors used, we get a view of the artist’s and author’s journals, featuring a coffee stain here; a taped-down poem there; a drawing of a tree that takes life across the page. Stewart and Brannen explore the life cycles of each butterfly, accompanied by verses full of wonder and contrast: “Packed tight, / in plain sight, / monarchs hibernate”, and “Tucked tight, / out of sight, / a mourning cloak hibernates. / Shhhh”.
Back matter includes notes on creating a journal and sketchbook and notes on butterflies. Endpapers each sneak a peek at the butterflies’ life cycles and where they live. Get this book on a display and watch your readers flock to it, and for everyone thinking of summer reading programs, a nature journal sounds tailor-made for this book! Monarch and Mourning Cloak has a starred review from Kirkus.
The Secrets of the Jellies: Amazing Jellyfish and Their Surprising Talents, by Karen Jameson/Illustrated by Marie Hermansson, (April 2026, Chronicle Books), $19.99, ISBN: 9781797221977
Ages 5-8
Think you know jellyfish? This rhyming romp through the ocean is filled with fun facts about jellies that will astound and amazed. Paired with vibrant digital illustrations that bring action and movement to each spread, this is a book made for an ocean storytime: “See-through jellies, / bright ones, too- / colors in each shade and hue! / And in the darkness, down below, / they radiate a blue-green/ GLOW!” The fonts grow large to emphasize exclamations that punctuate each spread and readers will love seeing these colorful jellyfish dash across the pages, evading predators or travel with fish in their wake. Back matter includes fun jellyfish facts and identifies each jellie featured in the book. Endpapers show a diverse group of families marveling at tanks of jellies at a lively aquarium. Great for a STEM storytime or a fun summer storytime!
Awe!, by Chana Stiefel/Illustrated by Susan Gal, (March 2026, Scholastic Press), $19.99, ISBN: 9781546150350
Ages 4-8
Okay, this isn’t SOLELY Earth-related, but it fits because it’s all about AWE – not ‘awwww’, like when you see an adorable kitten, as author Chana Stiefel so deftly points out, but AWE: that incredible feeling you get when you witness something incredible that leaves you speechless and filled with emotion. Or, as Stiefel puts it, “… an Awesome / Wondrous / Empowering emotion”! Gal uses pencil, ink, and watercolor to create awe-inspiring illustrations of a whale breaching, the Northern Lights, and a giant city. But awe doesn’t mean the things we witness are huge – the emotions are, but we can be awestruck by seeing baby turtles run for the water and by a religious ceremony, or by helping others. Awe is all around us, waiting to be discovered; it’s up to us to find it, and that is the message at the heart of this story: “welcome those chills traveling down your spine, / welcome those sudden tears in your eyes”. A perfect read-aloud that celebrates the large and small moments around us. If you haven’t purchased this for your collection yet, buy two. They’ll move, especially with a gorgeous gatefold spread showing the beauty of the Grand Canyon.
Awe! has a starred review from Kirkus.
Mom Read It 