Picture Book Pick: When Alexander Graced the Table

 

When Alexander Graced the Table

by Alexander Smalls and Denene Millner

Illustrated by Frand Morrison 

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

2025

40 pages

ISBN: 9781534488724

Gorgeous illustrations by Coretta Scott KIng Award winner Frank Morrison and a story based on James Beard Award winning chef Alexander Smalls own childhood make this book a must have for every library and child's book shelf. 

Alexander loves to help his mama in the kitchen, and Sunday dinner is a major production in their home. So big, in fact, they'd start planning and cooking on Saturday night. His mama includes his help in every dish: he picks peas and collards from the garden and lemons from the tree, he peels eggs for the potato salad and grates the cheese for mac and cheese. All of this is done with commitment and love. The entire family gathers on Sunday to share the bounty and joy. Even though the dinners are special and filled with love, his papa never seems impressed. 

Alexander wishes he could impress his father. One Saturday evening, his mother says 
Alexander can make a special dessert for Sunday dinner. He is so proud, and gets right to work, making lemon icebox pie, his father's favorite. Mama puts it on a fancy cake stand and Alexander delivers it to the table. Papa says the pie looks great, and Alexander holds his breath, hoping his father will love the taste. His father takes a bite and is impressed. Alexander beams with pride, and the memory of his father trying his pie and loving it will stay with him forever.

Highly recommended ages 3 and up. When 
Alexander Graced the Table will likely be a popular pick in awards this award season. 

Graphic Novel PIck: PAWS: Hazel Has Her Hands Full

 

PAWS: Hazel Has Her Hands Full

by Nathan Fairbairn

Illustrated by Michele Assarasakorn

G.P. Putnam's Sons 

an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

2025

176 pages

Color Illustrations

ISBN: 9780593695807

Book Four in the PAWS series follows twelve-year old Hazel who has moved from Toronto to Vancouver. At first, she was worried she wouldn't be able to make friends or that some people might be mean to her, but she quickly makes friends with Gabby and Priya and later their friend Mindy. They happily welcome her to their PAWS group which stands for Pretty Awesome Walkers where the girls walk other people's dogs for pay. Even though Hazel uses a wheelchair, she can use her legs but only for short distances due to her spinal muscular atrophy. 

With school almost out for the summer, the girls share their summer plans. Gabby is in too many camps to count, Mindy must visit her father for a month and Priya doesn't want to ride the bus twice a day to get to their clients' houses. Hazel is on her own: no one can help her with PAWS. Her mother has made it clear she is only to walk dogs with others, never alone. When a cat sitting job presents itself, Hazel takes the gig and lies to her mother telling her Gabby is helping her. Hazel worries her mom will find out, but she's too afraid to come clean. 

Balancing walking the dogs while her friends are gone and cat sitting for her new clients, Hazel begins to get fatigued. She worries she got herself into a real mess. When the cats accidentally escape, Hazel turns to her friends and their families to help her search for them. One thing she knows for sure: In a crisis, people get together. 

Highly recommended for fans of graphic novels and readers of the series. It is not necessary to read the first three books to understand book four; however, most readers may want to find the first three after reading Hazel Has Her Hands Full. 

Grades 5 and up. 

Community Center Pick: Saturday Morning at the 'Shop

 

Saturday Morning at the 'Shop

by Keenan Jones

Illustrations by Ken Daley

Beach Lane Books

Simon & Schuster, LLC

32 pages

2025

ISBN: 9781665940801

What a joyous and positivie picture book that celebrates a Saturday morning tradition! 

Every Saturday a young boy goes to the barber shop to see all his friends, neighbors and relatives. The 'Shop is the heartbeat of the community. It is not just about the haircuts and the shaves. The 'Shop is a history lesson taught by barbers and friends. It's a playground for the boys until Mr. Charles tells them "to settle down." It's a fashion show, a comedy club, a sports bar, and even a showroom for the neighborhood tailer, and a listening booth to hear David Jr.'s new tracks. Every Saturday is like a family reunion and a time to learn about black history. Every Saturday, the young boy learns something new. 

Illustrations by Ken Daley capture the movement, the joy, and the personality of the shop: it is welcoming, colorful, vibrant and noisy. You can almost hear the noises of the shop from the illustrations. This neighborhood is lucky indeed to have a weekly meeting place for young boys and men to share stories and tell jokes. Saturday Morning at the 'Shop exudes happiness, belonging and love. 

Highly, highly recommended ages 3 and up. 

Picture Book Pick: The Hare Who Wouldn't Share

 

The Hare Who Wouldn't Share 

by Steve Small 

Illustrations by the author

A Paula Wiseman Book

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Originally published in 2024 in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster, UK Ltd 

32 pages

2025

ISBN: 9781665972932

When a family of rabbits show up and become his neighbors, Hare in not friendly. In fact, he sends them away hungry, refusing to give them any of HIS turnips. He tells the rabbits to keep on moving and he does not share his food. 

Hare stays to himself, enjoying his solitude while the rabbits work to plant a big garden of carrots. Even Hare is impressed when he sees it. The rabbits invite him to share their carrot soup, but Hare declines and says he does not need nor want their friendship. Hare cannot believe the kind rabbits would share the food that they worked so hard to grow. 

One night, a ravenous wild boar shows up and steals Hare's turnips. The boar is not sated and goes in search of more free food. He heads off toward the rabbits' home. Hare realizing they are in danger, does something completely unexpected! He races to trick the boar and save his neighbors. His plan works, and the rabbits and their carrots are safe. 

Hare rushes back home to save his turnips, but the greedy boar has eaten every single turnip. The rabbits plead with the Hare to stay with them for the long winter. As Hare watches the rabbits share and work together, he begins to change his mind. He decides being around others isn't so bad. In fact, it's quite nice. 

The Hare Who Wouldn't Share is an uplifting story of a curmudgeonly, selfish hare who learns to live and work with others and most importantly, learns to share. Ages 2 and up. 

Fail-A-Bration

 

Fail-A-Bration

by Brad and Kristi Montague

Dial Books for Young Readers

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC 

2024

40 pages 

ISBN: 9780593697146

Maybe things didn't turn out the way you wanted. Maybe the cake you baked turned out messed up. Maybe you failed at something important, but author Brad and Kristi Montague have a positive message for all the messers, missers, the late to the party, the ones who came in last place--everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to realize that you learned from your mistake and tomorrow, you will "...fail better." 

The concept of throwing a Fail-A-Bration is lovely. Everyone is invited to share and talk and learn from each other. Bring your messed up cake, show up in your shirt you spilled chocolate milk on earlier, share the time you fell down and got embarrassed, and talk about the time you tried so hard but failed. You learned! 

What a simple, positive concept. Children need this book, libraries need this book, parents need this book. The positive message that failure happens to everyone and it is okay to feel sad or mad or cry, but you could throw a Fail-A-Bration to make your failure a positive experience for you and everyone else.

The rhyming text keeps the message light-hearted and positive. Illustrations are mixed media and include collage elements, string, cardboard, double sided tape, acrylic paint and even cookies! All the pieces were "rescued" from the authors' recycling bin, Use this picture book to teach about the concept mixed media art of reusing and repurposing common items from the recycling bin to create art. 

Highly recommended for all. Ages 2 and up. 

Cute Picture Book Pick: Have You Seen My Acorn?

 

Have You Seen My Acorn? 

by DK Ryland

illustrations by the author 

Flamingo Books

an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC
2024

32 pages

ISBN:9780593622421

A clueless squirrel is in a tizzy when he can't find his acorn. He runs to each of his friends in the woodland: Skunk, Raccoon, Deer and Fox but none of them can find it. Squirrel is in such a huge hurry, he never stays long enough to hear what each friend is trying to tell him. He rushes off in search of his elusive acorn all the while right under his nose! Finally Owl drops an acorn from his tree, and Squirrel is so happy to see his missing acorn, so he decides to bury it! Young readers will solve the mystery of the missing acorn long before Squirrel "finds" his new acorn. 

Clever banter between the animals uses new and fun words for readers: chitchat, skedaddled, scurried, literally and morals. The use of onomatapeoia allows the adult, or older reader, the chance to embellish the word sounds including sounds animals make like "rat-tat-tat" and "whoo! whoo!" Words in bold and all caps direct the reader to make sure and put emphasis on them. 

This is such a fun book! Any reader will giggle as Squirrel scampers all over the forest when the entire time, his acorn has been visible...except it's turning into a small plant that will grow to a giant oak. 

Ages 3 and up. A must-have, must-read for every child and every library. 

Non-Fiction Picture Book Pick: The Dog That Dug For Dinosaurs

 

The Dog Who Dug For Dinosaurs

Ready-To-Read Level Three

by Shirley Raye Redmond

Illustrations Simon Sullivan 

Simon Spotlight

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

2024

Text and illustrations copyright 2004

32 pages

ISBN: 9781665963329

Even the most reluctant reader will want to read about a real life dog who loved to dig for fossils. One day, Mary Ann and her dog Tray discover giant bones on the cliff. They run and find grown ups to help them. The town is surprised to find the largest bones anyone has ever seen. A wealthy man offers to buy the bones and give them to the British Museum in London. The "monster" discovered by Tray was an ichthyosaur, or fish lizard. 

Soon people were flocking to Lyme Regis to see where the bones were found. Scientists were deeply interested in the find and an Oxford scientist, William Buckland, visits and asks Mary Ann to show him where Tray discovered the bones. Tray comes through again. He sniffs out the bones of a plesiosaur and later a pterodactyl--a fossil never seen in England before. The little dog that dug for dinosaurs became famous and people visited Mary Ann's village to buy fossils and search the cliffs. 

The bones and fossils discovered by Tray and Mary Ann are on exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London today. 

Highly recommended for readers who like non-fiction and dinosaurs, but Tray is charmingly captivating and will keep any reader entertained as they learn about fossils, dinosaurs and discovery. 

Grades 3 and up. Level Three books feature more character development, more difficult vocabulary, longer sentences and more complex sentence structure. 

Funny Getaway Picture Book: Stop That Mop!

 

Stop That Mop!

Ready To Read Level One

by Jonathan Fenske

Illustrations by the author 

Simon Spotlight

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

2025

32 pages

ISBN: 9781665932721

An unhappy mop is sick and tired of having to mop and mop and mop all the slop and glop, so they decide to run away. They run away from the pig who's chasing them. A bunny joins in the chase followed by a pony and a fishy. The group of animals continues to chase the nimble mop until they all reach a stop sign, warning of a cliff drop off ahead. 

The mop is not done yet. They fall the cliff and are saved by a bird, but the mop wins freedom as the flabbergasted and tired chasers look on. 

The fun rhyming story will likely be your toddler's favorite book. The mop is winsome, silly, entertaining and speedy. Fenske captures each animal's personality using colorful, almost cartoon-like facial expressions and body language. This book is a rare gem and a must-read. Beginning readers will be captivated by the easy rhymes featuring easy words to sound out and it will help them with their first sight words. 

This picture book is a Theodor Seeuss Geisel Honor Winner and a Junior Library Guild Selection and will be a popular pick for awards this year. 

Highly, highly recommended ages 18 months and up.