The Smallest, Bravest Mouse: Bravepaw

 

Bravepaw and the Heartstone of Alluria

by L.M. Wilkinson

Illustrated by Lavanya Naidu

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division 

originally published 2024

192 pages

ISBN: 9781665986588

Titch Proudleaf is a young mouse who dreams of being brave like her storied hero Bravepaw who is said to have saved the world from all its monsters. Titch believes the old legends and pretends she is as brave and stalwart as Bravepaw. Her best friend Huckleberry offers the perfect sounding board and buddy throughout the story. 

Titch and Huckleberry are on an errand when they happen upon an injured warrior who needs their help. Titch is no Bravepaw, but she does what she can. She grabs the warrior's stick and yells, "Be gone" at the menacing wormlike monsters  as curseworms trying to kill the warrior. Magic happens. The staff in Titch's hand comes to life and kills the monsters. The warrior is amazed and thankful. Could Titch be the answer the world has been waiting for?

Once he is being cared for on the Plateau, the warrior thanks Titch and tells her that she has the magic. There is not one Bravepaw; there have been many  over the years. Clearly Titch yields the magic, so she is the next Bravepaw. The warrior turns out to be a prince who wants her to accompany him on his quest to return the heartstone to Alluria and mend the crack that is unleashing monsters and curseworms into the world.  

Bravepaw is the perfect series for younger middle grade. If readers love Titch, a savvy librarisn will lead them to Brian Jacques' Redwall books. 

Recommended grades 3 and up.  

Where There Is Love: A Story in AFrican Proverbs

Where There Is Love: A Story in African Proverbs 

by Shantay Grant

Illustrated by Letitia Moreno

Penguin Workshop

an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC

2025

32 pages

ISBN: 97805893659939

Beautifully told and illustrated with love, Where There Is Love follows a young girl on her visit to her Nana's (grandmother) for a large family gathering. Everyone pitches in, and Nana says, 
"Many hands make short work." 

There's a bustle inside in the kitchen and stories and dancing outside in the yard. Nana is inspiring and full of wisdom that she passes on to her grandchild. She says, "Having a good discussion is like having riches." The girl listens intently and knows Nana's words are truth. 

The author has included a map of Africa with countries identified and each proverb listed is attributed to its country of origin. This tool is excellent to introduce the continent of Africa to readers. Many adults in America probably cannot name four African countries correctly, and test scores show American children do not know much bout geography.

This little book of wisdom is a must-read for its message and its gorgeous delivery. Where There Is Love is one of my favorites for awards season. I suspect it will be on many state lists and even the ALA picture book recommendations.

Highly, highly recommended ages 2 and up.   

 

Non-Fiction Pick: Fascinating and Factual Must-Read: A World Without Birds

 

A World Without Birds: How To Save Our Planet, One Bird at a Time 

by Nick Lund

Illustrations by Asia Orlando

Workman Kids

Workman Publishing

Hachette Book Group, Inc. 

2026 

176 pages 

ISBN: 9781523518029

THE guide to helping birds bounce back and thrive. For hundreds, if not thousands of years, humans have built, overbuilt, decimated forests and wetlands to build homes and cities and birds have paid the price. Humans' reliance on electricity at night lights up the skies and sometimes confuses birds. Aircraft fill the skies both day and night, Birds' migration patterns have changed due to humans invading their spaces. This is all terrible news, but the more we know about birds and their behaviors and needs, the more we can help them. 

In concise easy-to-understand language and using different fonts for important points and boxes for interesting facts, readers glean paramount data that will change their behavior (hopefully) of exploiting  land to continue to pave the planet and ruin open spaces. 

Science now knows five major areas that have changed nature: Humans changing the physical landscape with building and farming, killing plants and animals through fishing, hunting and logging, climate change and chemicals in the atmosphere, pollution in water and air and adding alien organisms into environments they do not belong in where said new species disrupt flora and fauna already there. 

Your would think knowing this, humans would have fixed things long ago, but we can't lose hope. For the last century (or so) humans have been working to undo the damage we did. Whether it's saving one species of bird or blocking the destruction of forests, there are now movements to stop the damamge, and readers will want to do their part after reading this timely book. 

Divided into sections, you can choose to read the section that interests you most first: from tropical forests to the Poles to the deserts or islands, birds live everywhere. The author includes pages guiding readers to become involved: why not join a group, work with birds or simple things anyone can do: turn out your lights--which interfere with migration patterns. Plant native plants that will attract insects, giving birds food. Use less plastic which confuses seabirds into thinking floating plastic is something to eat. If we each do the little things and keep in mind the big picture, birds have a fighting chance. 

I loved this book, Although I'm not a bird expert nor scientist, this book gave me the knowledge to get angry and change how I think about birds and nature. It is up to every. Single. One. Of. Us. It is a call to action, 

A must-have, must-read for any science minded learner, any non-fiction aficionado, and any caring human. Grades 3 and up. 

ISBN: 9781523518029