Tag: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

The art of friendship: An Adventure for Lia and Lion

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

An Adventure for Lia and Lion, by Al Rodin, (Oct. 2024, Knopf Books for Young Readers), $18.99, ISBN: 9780593903322

Ages 3-7

Lia is a little girl who wants a pet to go adventuring with. Lion is a lion who also wants a pet that he can lead on an adventure. The two meet and clash: they both want to be in charge! Through listening and talking, each learns what the other hopes to gain on their journey and slowly, the two learn that each one has something exciting to contribute. Maybe they can lead and follow at the same time. Mixed media illustrations feel dreamlike: Lion is yellow-orange with a fuzzy mane; Lia is a small girl with a red hat and a net. The size difference makes for an adorable partnership, set against large forestlike settings. Their disagreements are communicated through body language, as Lion twists his body away from Lia; she leans in aggressively. Lion’s tail thrashes; she stands her ground. When a storm threatens, the two stick closely together, sealing their friendship. A gentle, enjoyable story about the evolution of a friendship, the importance of listening to one another, and working together.

 

“A new friendship, tested and affirmed through adventure.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
AL RODIN is a writer and illustrator from London, England. He studied children’s book illustration at Cambridge School of Art and received the 2019 Sebastian Walker Prize. His paintings have been exhibited in galleries across Europe and Asia, and he was selected for the Illustrators Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2019. Learn more at alrodin.com and find him on Instagram at @alrodin.
Posted in picture books, Uncategorized

A new generation meets Edward Gorey!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

As Edward Imagined: A Story of Edward Gorey in Three Acts, by Matthew Burgess/Illustrated by Marc Majewski, (Sept. 2024, Knopf Books for Young Readers), $19.99, ISBN: 9781984893802

Ages 4-8

Edward Gorey was everywhere when I was a kid. If you watched PBS at all, you saw his artwork during commercials for Mystery!; his illustration seemed to be everywhere, and I still have my copy of The Gashlycrumb Tinies, a macabre abcedary that absolutely contributed to my love of the cozy ghastly. A picture book biography brings the sweeter side of Gorey to life for a new generation of readers who, like me, enjoy looking at life a little differently. Dividing Gorey’s life into “three acts”, Act I introduces readers to Gorey; a quirky child who taught himself to read at age three, stalking his father’s library shelves “like an inquisitive cat, pawing this and reading that”, and who painted his toenails green and “strutted down a fancy street” barefoot. Act II follows Gorey to New York City, where he attended nearly every New York Ballet performance for over 20 years and discovered professional success while still reveling in his joyful individuality. In Act III, we see Gorey living in Cape Cod, making art and surrounded by his beloved cats and collections. A genuinely kind story about a talent who enjoyed and lived life on his own terms. Touching on his love of Dracula and his eventual set design for the 1970s Broadway run of the play brings things full circle, and playful descriptions of him as a “tall, bearded man in a long fur coat and tennis shoes and plenty of clinking rings” makes him all the more endearing. Bright illustrative artwork brings joy and color to Gorey’s life; those familiar with his stark blacks and greys with splashes of color will recognize the departure. Display this one with your Lemony Snickets, your Dracula stories, and your goth and goth-adjacent novels for Halloween.

As Edward Imagined has starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.

Posted in Early Reader, Non-Fiction, picture books

The Shape of Things: How we created maps to understand our world

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Shape of Things: How Mapmakers Picture Our World, by Dean Robbins/Illustrated by Matt Tavares, (Aug. 2024, Knopf Books for Young Readers), $19.99, ISBN: 9780593479254

Ages 4-8

An extraordinary discussion on the development of maps, Robbins provides an insight into human history as Tavares illustrates how different eras created maps to make sense of their world. Beginning with the first cultures to make maps using cave drawings and mammoth tusks, Robbins describes how mapmaking developed with humans, going from rocks to papyrus and ink to digital technology; as humans explored the planet, maps became more detailed, including paths connecting cities, rivers, and oceans. Flat, one-dimensional maps gave way to globes and tools like the compass, Gunter’s chain, and satellites, and computers. Robbins skillfully explains how humanity came together with the goal to explore and define the world we share; Tavares’s digital illustrations show realistic depictions of people through different eras creating various maps, allowing readers to see the changes in landscape, cultures, and technology. The story of maps is the story of mankind, beautifully told here. Endpapers depict shards of an early map and a  car-mounted smartphone GPS. Back matter includes an illustrated mapmaking timeline, a bibliography, and notes on mapmaking. Developing mapmakers will return to this book again and again.

 

“Map lovers and readers interested in the development of knowledge and technology will be drawn to Robbins’ look at how we, over millennia, have documented Earth’s shape.” —Booklist

Dean Robbins is a journalist and children’s book author. His previous books include, The Fastest Girl on Earth!, Two Friends; Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, Miss Paul and the President, and Margaret and the Moon. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with his family. To learn more, visit https://deanrobbins.net/

Matt Tavares is a New York Times bestselling author-illustrator of over twenty titles. His books have been featured in: ALA Notable, Parents’ Choice Gold Awards, and twelve were chosen for the Society of Illustrators Original Art exhibit. His artwork has been exhibited at the Brandywine River Museum, the Eric Carle Museum, and the Mazza Museum. Matt lives in Maine with his wife, Sarah, and their two daughters. Visit his website: matttavares.com

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Matt Tavares: @tavaresbooks
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Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

The Paw-sibilities are endless! This Little Kitty in the Garden

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

This Little Kitty in the Garden, by Karen Obuhanych, (Jan 2024, Knopf Books for Young Readers), $18.99, ISBN: 9780593435175

Ages 3-7

Obuhanych spins a delighful rhyming tale about cats and gardening. Endpapers bring readers in with dirty kitten paw prints over bright colored leaves; the verso and recto pages show a cheerful garden with a marmalade cat peeking up from the leaves. Five kittens are ready to “help” their people garden today, and immediately set to rummaging through the tools and starter plants. They play in the garden, sneezing at pollen and poking at various flora and fauna as their humans work around them. When everything has been planted and cleaned up, the exhausted helpers take a nap in the garden bed. Cat lovers will want multiple reads of this sweet and silly story. Mixed media illustration is bold, bright, and textured. A playful story that will make anyone reading it or listening to it happy.

This Little Kitty in the Garden is a companion to Obuhanych’s 2023 book, This Little Kitty. You can see more of Obuhanych’s artwork at her website.

 

 

Posted in Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade

The Great TBR Readdown: Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie of Perfection

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie of Perfection (Cookie Chronicles, Vol. 3), by Matthew Swanson/Illustrated by Robbi Behr, (Dec. 2021, Knopf Books for Young Readers), $12.99, ISBN: 9780593302774

Ages 8-12

Ben Yokoyama is not having a good day. So far, the 9-year-old’s mom has burned his pancakes and his dad ruined his jersey in the laundry. It doesn’t get much better at school until he sees a chance to make a new friend. Darby is a kid who excels in math, and lets Ben in on a little secret: he’s got a super secret alter ego named Darbino. Darby’s quest to become perfect gave birth to Darbino’s identity, and he offers to help Ben attain perfection, too. At first it sounds great, but when you’re working at being perfect, Ben realizes that you have to give up a lot: baseball, for instance. As Ben starts to realize that being perfect isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, he takes readers on a hilarious, very sweet, journey, illustrated in black and white, as if readers are peeking through a journal. This is the third Cookie Chronicle, with two more coming, and it’s a great series to booktalk to your Timmy Failure, Big Nate, Wimpy Kid, and Alvin Ho fans. Ben is biracial and there are nice multicultural nods to his American and Japanese heritage, including a look at the Japanese concept of kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery with gold seams, highlighting the mistakes and making them beautiful. Now that we’re in testing season (at least, we are here in NYC), kids will really appreciate the book’s take on the pressure to be perfect. Back matter includes a history of the fortune cookie.

Visit Matthew Benson and Robbi Behr’s webpage for more about their books (including the other Cookie Chronicles), and loads of fun, free printables.

Posted in Animal Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Middle School, Teen, Tween Reads

Quick Takes: Graphic Novels

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

This is a graphic novel summer: so many good ones hitting shelves week after week! Perfect for Summer Reading and anytime reading, there are some gorgeous, fun, fantastic stories to be found.

Ham Helsing #1: Vampire Hunter, by Rich Moyer, (June 2021, Crown Books for Young Readers), $12.99, ISBN: 9780593308912

Ages 8-12

Ham Helsing is a young descendant of a long line of vampire hunters who never seem to live quite long, usually because they make rather silly decisions. Ham was always content to let his older brother, Chad, wear the monster hunting mantle; he preferred more creative pursuits, like painting and poetry, but Chad’s daredevil acts led to… well, Ham is the new monster hunter in the family, so he’s off to hunt a vampire. The only problem is, the vampire he’s out to get isn’t what you’d expect. Ham Helsing: Vampire Hunter is the first in a planned trilogy and is a fun, not-at-all scary story about learning that people aren’t always what they seem, and that it’s always good to have friends to back you up. The action is animated, the dialogue is fun and witty, and there are robotic knights, sight gags, a toddler werewolf, and animated bacon. What more can you ask from a graphic novel?

Author Rich Moyer’s website has links to more of his illustration work, social media, and school visit information. Get a look at some more of Ham Helsing at Random House’s website.

 

 

Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo Book 3: Battle of the Bards, by James Parks & Ben Costa, (Apr. 2021, Knopf Books for Young Readers), $16.99, ISBN: 9780399556203

Ages 11-14

A fantasy more geared toward middle- and high schoolers rather than middle graders, the third volume of the Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo book continues the adventures of the skeletal bard and his jelly-like friend, Gelatinous Goo. In this adventure, Rickety Stitch – an animated skeleton who retains his love of music and his gentle soul, despite having no memory of who he was when he was alive – and Goo travel with an acting troupe to perform in a music competition, but Rickety discovers another performer, a woman named Canta, who brings back memories of his past. It becomes clear that the competition is a distraction from some seedy behavior underneath the city, and Rickety and Goo find themselves right in the middle of the action. The story is full of action and adventure and manages to tug at readers’ heartstrings with Rickety’s genuine tale of loss and memory. Middle schoolers and early high schoolers in particular will love this great wrap-up to a fantasy tale. It helps to read the first two before beginning the third; you may feel lost otherwise, as there is a lot of world-building and character development that’s gone on thus far. Great for your fantasy section.

Check out the Land of Eem website for Rickety Stitch and Eem-related role-playing games and sign up for a newsletter!

 

Apple of My Pie, by Mika Song, (June 2021, Random House Graphic), $12.99, ISBN: 9781984895851

Ages 5-8

The follow-up to last year’s Donut Feed the Squirrels, the newest Norma and Belly adventure is an adorable romp to save Pops, who falls onto a truck and heads to the apple orchard where he may end up in a pie! Norma, Belly, and their friend, B, are on the case in this sweet story, perfect for newly confident readers. The watercolor artwork is colorful but not overwhelming, with lots of calming earth colors and cute animal artwork. A school trip to the orchard provides some extra fun as the squirrels dash around the kids on their race to find Pops first.

Mika Song’s website has all sorts of treasures for readers, including extra comics, a newsletter signup, and printable activity sheets! Great to bundle with other graphic novels for young readers, like Narwhal and Jelly, Blue Barry and Pancakes, Fox and Chick, and Shark and Bot. You can also mix up the formats and include other books, like Mo Willems’s Unlimited Squirrels series, or Mélanie Watt’s Scaredy Squirrel series (graphic novels are forthcoming, too: future post!).

Apple of My Pie has a starred review from Kirkus.

 

Much, much more to come: let these three start you off!