Category: Candlewick

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National Housing Day

Each year, National Housing Day is held on November 22 to recognize and improve access to housing for everyone in Canada. Here are some books that celebrate the different shapes and forms that houses – and homes – can take!

A House for Every Bird
By Megan Maynor
Illustrated by Kaylani Juanita
32 Pages | Ages 3-6 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781984896483 | Knopf BFYR
A young artist has drawn birds and bird houses in corresponding colors. Now it’s time to match them up. The blue bird goes in the blue house, the orange bird in the orange house, and so on. But wait! The birds don’t agree with the narrator’s choices and, much to her distress, are rebelling by swapping houses. Can the narrator make the birds see sense? Or is it possible that you just can’t tell a bird by its feathers?

Home: A Peek-Through Picture Book
By Britta Teckentrup
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593379295 | Doubleday BFYR
A family of bears wanders through the forest, spying all the different places animals call home, including a bird’s nest, a beaver lodge, an icy river full of fish, and a maze of rabbit burrows. Finally, as the snow falls, the bears come home to their cozy cave to hibernate, safe and warm. This comforting celebration of home and nature will enchant children as they peek through the holes on each page to spy each animal. It’s the perfect way for families to share a love of science and nature, while cuddled up together in their own homes.

Home
By Carson Ellis
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780763665296 | Candlewick
Home might be a house in the country, an apartment in the city, or even a shoe. Home may be on the road or the sea, in the realm of myth, or in the artist’s own studio. A meditation on the concept of home and a visual treat that invites many return visits, this loving look at the places where people live marks the picture-book debut of Carson Ellis, acclaimed illustrator of the Wildwood series and artist for the indie band the Decemberists.

Mi Casa Is My Home
By Laurenne Sala
Illustrated by Zara González Hoang
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781536209433 | Candlewick
Bienvenidos to Lucía’s home. Lucía lives in her casa with her big, loud, beautiful familia, and she’s going to show you around! From la puerta, where Abuela likes to wave to the neighbors and wait for packages from Puerto Rico or Spain, to la cocina, where Lucía watches her Mamá turn empty pots into soups and arroces, to el patio, where Lucia and her cousins (and her cousin’s cousins!) put on magic shows, Lucía loves her busy and cozy casa. With warmth and joy, author Laurenne Sala and illustrator Zara González Hoang celebrate home in this bilingual picture book that feels like an abrazo from your most favorite people, your familia.

No Fixed Address
By Susin Nielsen
288 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735262751| Tundra Books
Felix Knuttson, twelve, is an endearing kid with an incredible brain for trivia. His mom Astrid is loving but unreliable; she can’t hold onto a job, or a home. When they lose their apartment in Vancouver, they move into a camper van, just for August, till Astrid finds a job. September comes, they’re still in the van; Felix must keep “home” a secret and give a fake address in order to enroll in school. Luckily, he finds true friends. As the weeks pass and life becomes grim, he struggles not to let anyone know how precarious his situation is. When he gets to compete on a national quiz show, Felix is determined to win – the cash prize will bring them a home. Their luck is about to change! But what happens is not at all what Felix expected.

Over the Shop
By JonArno Lawson
Illustrated by Qin Leng
48 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781536201475 | Candlewick
A lonely little girl and her grandparent need to fill the run-down apartment in their building. But taking over the quarters above their store will mean major renovations for the new occupants, and none of the potential renters can envision the possibilities of the space – until one special couple shows up. With their ingenuity, the little girl’s big heart, and heaps of hard work, the desperate fixer-upper begins to change in lovely and surprising ways. In this bustling wordless picture book, JonArno Lawson’s touching story and Qin Leng’s gentle illustrations capture all angles of the building’s transformation, as well as the evolving perspectives of the girl and her grandparent. A warm and subtly nuanced tale, Over the Shop throws open the doors to what it means to accept people for who they are and to fill your home with love and joy.

Red House, Tree House, Little Bitty Brown Mouse
By Jane Godwin
Illustrated by Blanca Gómez
40 Pages | Ages 3-5 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780525553816 | Dial Books
A little mouse makes her way around the world, and invites preschoolers along as she sets out: Red house / Blue house / Green house / Tree house! / See the tiny mouse in her little brown house? Seamless, simple, and inspiring, the rhyming story abounds in concepts for the very young, with a particular focus on colors, and a delightful search-and-find element on every spread – the intrepid mouse herself!

Shelter
By Christie Matheson
192 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593376386 | Random House BFYR
Fifth grade can be tough for anyone. There are cliques and mean kids and homework and surprise math tests. But after tragedy strikes her family, almost-eleven-year-old Maya has a painful secret that makes many days feel nearly impossible. And today might be Maya’s toughest yet. Her family is on edge, she needs to travel alone across the city, a bully is out to get her, and Maya has to face this winter’s biggest rainstorm without a coat or an umbrella. But even on the rainiest days, there’s hope that the sun will come out soon. Emotional and compassionate, Shelter looks at homelessness through one girl’s eyes and explores the power of empathy, friendship, and love.

Ship in a Bottle
By Andrew Prahin
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781984815811 | Putnam BFYR
All Mouse wants to do is eat gingersnaps, lie in the sun, and enjoy her ship in a bottle. All Cat wants to do is eat Mouse. This is a problem. So one day, Mouse sets off in her ship in a bottle in search of a new home. But the great big world is a scary place for one small mouse. As she sails downriver, she faces grabby seagulls, selfish rabbits, and stormy waters before finally finding refuge in a park on the shores of an enormous city, where she is welcomed by friends of all shapes and sizes. Readers will cheer Mouse’s quiet perseverance on her epic journey as she seeks a tiny spot to call her own.

Story Boat
By Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735263598 | Tundra Books
When a little girl and her younger brother are forced along with their family to flee the home they’ve always known, they must learn to make a new home for themselves – wherever they are. And sometimes the smallest things – a cup, a blanket, a lamp, a flower, a story – can become a port of hope in a terrible storm. As the refugees travel onward toward an uncertain future, they are buoyed up by their hopes, dreams and the stories they tell – a story that will carry them perpetually forward. When you have to leave behind almost everything you know, where can you call home? Sometimes home is simply where we are: here. A imaginative, lyrical, unforgettable picture book about the migrant experience through a child’s eyes.

Take Back the Block
By Chrystal D. Giles
240 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593175170 | Random House BFYR
Wes Henderson has the best style in sixth grade. That – and hanging out with his crew (his best friends since little-kid days) and playing video games – is what he wants to be thinking about at the start of the school year, not the protests his parents are always dragging him to. But when a real estate developer makes an offer to buy Kensington Oaks, the neighborhood Wes has lived his whole life, everything changes. The grownups are supposed to have all the answers, but all they’re doing is arguing. Even Wes’s best friends are fighting. And some of them may be moving. Wes isn’t about to give up the only home he’s ever known. Wes has always been good at puzzles, and he knows there has to be a missing piece that will solve this puzzle and save the Oaks. But can he find it . . . before it’s too late? Exploring community, gentrification, justice, and friendship, Take Back the Block introduces an irresistible 6th grader and asks what it means to belong – to a place and a movement – and to fight for what you believe in.

The Blue HouseThe Blue House
By Phoebe Wahl
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781984893390 | Tundra Books
For as long as he can remember, Leo has lived in the blue house with his dad, but lately the neighborhood is changing. People are leaving, houses are being knocked down and shiny new buildings are going up in their place. When Leo and his dad are forced to leave, they aren’t happy about it. They howl and rage and dance out their feelings. When the time comes, they leave the blue house behind – there was never any choice, not really – but little by little, they find a way to keep its memory alive in their new home.

The Cot in the Living Room
By Hilda Eunice Burgos
Illustrated by Gaby D’Alessandro
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593110478 | Kokila
Night after night, a young girl watches her mami set up a cot in the living room for guests in their Washington Heights apartment, like Raquel (who’s boring) and Edgardo (who gets crumbs everywhere). She resents that they get the entire living room with a view of the George Washington Bridge, while all she gets is a tiny bedroom with a view of her sister (who snores). Until one night when no one comes, and it’s finally her chance! But as it turns out, sleeping on the cot in the living room isn’t all she thought it would be.

Time for Bed, Old House
By Janet Costa Bates
Illustrated by A. G. Ford
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781536209983 | Candlewick
Isaac is excited about having a sleepover at Grandpop’s house, but he’s a little nervous about being away from home for the first time. Luckily, his knowing Grandpop tells him it’s not quite time to go to bed yet – first, he needs Isaac’s help in putting the house to bed. Quietly and slowly, they move from room to room, turning out lights and pulling down shades, as Grandpop gently explains the nighttime sounds that Isaac finds unfamiliar. Now it’s time to read the house a bedtime story (Isaac is good at reading the pictures). By the time the house is settled in for the night, Isaac and Grandpop are ready for bed, too. Janet Costa Bates’ tender story and A. G. Ford’s cozy illustrations will have families – and extended families or friends – eager to take a wise Grandpop’s cue and embrace a new nighttime tradition.

Uma Wimple Charts Her House
By Reif Larsen and Ben Gibson
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593181188 | Anne Schwartz Books
Uma’s been making charts since she was a little kid. But when her teacher gives the class Uma’s dream assignment – to make a chart of their own homes – she is thrown for a loop. Oh, the possibilities! Oh, the pressure! What makes a house housey? she wonders. In order to figure it out, she asks each member of her family – Mom, Dad, and brothers Rex, Bram, and Lukey. But it’s not until she has a meltdown and Lukey comforts her that Uma figures out the secret to her chart – and her family. It’s the love that is shared inside a house’s walls.

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Hanukkah Reading List

This year, Hanukkah begins the evening of Sunday, November 28 and ends the evening of Monday, December 6. Get into the Hanukkah spirit or learn more about this Jewish holiday with these books!

All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah
By Emily Jenkins
Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780399554193 | Schwartz & Wade
The beloved All-of-a-Kind Family comes to life in a new format perfect for younger readers. Join the five sisters back in 1912, on the Lower East Side of NYC, and watch as preparations for Hanukkah are made. When Gertie, the youngest, is not allowed to help prepare latkes, she throws a tantrum. Banished to the girls’ bedroom, she can still hear the sounds and smell the smells of a family getting ready to celebrate. But when Papa comes home she is given the best job of all: lighting the first candle on the menorah. Jenkins and Zelinsky’s charming compliment to Taylor’s series perfectly captures the warmth and family values that made the original titles classics.

Baby’s First Hanukkah
By DK
14 Pages | Ages 0-3 | Board Book
ISBN 9781465499721 | DK Children
From the miracle of the oil, lighting the menorah candles, and delicious fried latkes and doughnut treats, to the spin-the-top dreidel game, shiny chocolate coins, and fun family time with songs to sing and gifts to give and receive, all the elements of this wonderful Jewish festival of lights are included. This classic little picture book has simple language and engaging, real-life photos that bring the warmth and celebrations of Hanukkah to life.

Hanukkah Lights
By David Martin
Illustrated by Melissa Sweet
26 Pages | Ages 0-3 | Board Book
ISBN 9780763630294 | Candlewick
Candles on the menorah, ready to light! At Hanukkah, there are many much-anticipated rituals – latkes to eat, dreidels to spin, presents to give and receive, and shiny gold treats. Add some free-form fun, from shadow puppetry to singing and dancing, and you have a warm, truly child-friendly celebration.

Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights
By Bonnie Bader
Illustrated by Joanie Stone
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781984852496 | Golden Books
It’s Hanukkah time! Preschoolers will learn all about how people celebrate Hanukkah – from eating latkes, spinning dreidels, exchanging gifts, and lighting the menorah. And they’ll also learn why they celebrate – from the destruction of the Temple, the bravery of the Maccabees, and the miracle of that little bit of oil that lasted for eight nights. Filled with colorful illustrations and simple, yet informative text, this Big Golden Book is perfect for reading again and again. Share it with your family this Hanukkah!

Happy Hanukkah, Pups!
By Random House
22 Pages | Ages 0-3 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593177808 | Random House BFYR
Nickelodeon’s PAW Patrol get ready to celebrate Hanukkah in Adventure Bay! Learn to count from one to ten with dreidels, latkes, snowflakes, and more as the PAW Patrol helps their new friends Rachel and Jimmy decorate for their Hanukkah party! Girls and boys ages 0 to 3 will love this sturdy board book, which follows Marshall, Skye, Rubble, and the rest of the pup heroes on a holiday adventure.

Is it Hanukkah Yet?
By Nancy Krulik
32 Pages | Ages 4-6 | Paperback
ISBN 9780593375846 | Random House BFYR
Families who celebrate Hanukkah will recognize the familiar anticipation of the little girl in this story. And what better way to make the wait go faster than to read this sweet family story. Kids will recognize their favorite songs, games, and traditions in this early reader that captures the joy and warmth of the Festival of Lights.

Meet the Latkes
By Alan Silberberg
36 Pages | Ages 3-5 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780451479129 | Viking BFYR
Lucy Latke’s family is just like yours or mine. Except that they’re potato pancakes. And also, they are completely clueless. After lighting the menorah and gobbling the gelt, Grandpa Latke tells everyone the Hanukkah story, complete with mighty Mega Bees who use a giant dreidel to fight against the evil alien potatoes from Planet Chhh. It’s up to the Latke family dog to set the record straight. (To start with, they were Maccabees, not Mega Bees…) But he’ll have to get the rest of the Latkes to listen to him first!

The Eight Knights of Hanukkah
By Leslie Kimmelman
Illustrated by Galia Bernstein
48 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780823439584 | Holiday House
It’s the last night of Hanukkah and everyone is doing their part for the big celebration, but a dragon called Dreadful has other ideas. He roams the countryside, interrupting the party preparations. Lady Sadie must call upon the Eight Knights of Hanukkah to perform deeds of awesome kindness and stupendous bravery and put an end to the dragon’s shenanigans. When Dreadful eats all the special donuts the baker made, Sir Lily helps the baker make more sufganiyot. Sir Alex makes a young lad a new dreidel after Dreadful scorched his original one. And on the Knights go – but when they finally catch up to Dreadful, a funny surprise awaits them!

The Hanukkah Magic of Nate Gadol
By Arthur A. Levine
Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
40 Pages | Ages 5-8  | Hardcover
ISBN 9780763697419 | Candlewick Press
Nate Gadol is a great big spirit with eyes as shiny as golden coins and a smile that is lantern bright. He can make anything last as long as it is needed, like a tiny bit of oil that must stretch for eight nights, a flower that needs to stay fresh to cheer up someone ailing, or a small lump of chocolate that grows to allow the Glasers to treat their children over the holiday and, during a harsh winter when medicine is needed more than sweets, spurs them to share what little they have with the O’Malleys. In this charming holiday hybrid story, well-known children’s author and editor Arthur A. Levine pairs with award-winning illustrator Kevin Hawkes to offer a mythical, magical take on the way Jewish families came to give and receive gifts over Hanukkah, just as their Christian neighbors do at Christmas, thanks to a loving spirit named Nate Gadol working behind the scenes – together with a certain jolly old soul.

Yitzi and the Giant Menorah
By Richard Ungar
32 Pages | Ages 5-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781770498129 | Tundra Books
On the eve of Hanukkah, the People of Chelm have received a special gift from the Mayor of Lublin. A giant menorah in which they place in the square for all the admire. Every night, the villagers meet to watch the lighting of a candle on the menorah. And every night, the villagers ponder What is the most fitting way to thank the Mayor of Lublin? The villagers come up with idea after idea, but their gift never quite reaches the Mayor. What will they do? Finally, on the last night of Hanukkah, Yitzi has an idea to orchestrate the surprise thank you gift.

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Books Set in Cities

Since we’ve spent so much time in our homes this last year and a half, we’ve been exploring new cities with books! Here are some of our favorites including real cities and imaginary ones!

Coquí in the City
By Nomar Perez
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593109038 | Dial Books
Miguel’s pet frog, Coquí, is always with him: as he greets his neighbors in San Juan, buys quesitos from the panadería, and listens to his abuelo’s story about meeting baseball legend Roberto Clemente. Then Miguel learns that he and his parents are moving to the U.S. mainland, which means leaving his beloved grandparents, home in Puerto Rico, and even Coquí behind. Life in New York City is overwhelming, with unfamiliar buildings, foods, and people. But when he and Mamá go exploring, they find a few familiar sights that remind them of home, and Miguel realizes there might be a way to keep a little bit of Puerto Rico with him – including the love he has for Coquí – wherever he goes.

Dream Street
By Tricia Elam Walker
Illustrated by Ekua Holmes
32 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780525581109 | Anne Schwartz Books
Welcome to Dream Street – the best street in the world! On Dream Street, love between generations rules, everyone is special, and the warmth of the neighborhood shines. Meet kids like Azaria, who loves to jump double-Dutch one leg at a time; Zion, whose dream is to become a librarian; and cousins Ede and Tari, who dream of creating a picture book together one day. Meet grown-ups like Mr. Sidney, a retired mail carrier who greets everyone with the words, “Don’t wait to have a great day. Create one!” and Ms. Sarah, whose voice is only a whisper but who has stories between the lines of her face that she’ll share when you come close. A magical story from the critically acclaimed author of Nana Akua Goes to School and a Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Award winning illustrator. Illuminating this vivid cast of characters are vibrant, joyful illustrations that make this neighborhood – based on the Roxbury neighborhood in Boston where the author and illustrator grew up together as cousins – truly sing. This book is a perfect way for parents to share with their children the importance of community.

Escape to Witch City
By E. Latimer
312 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781101919316 | Tundra Books
Emmaline Black has a secret. She can hear the rhythm of heartbeats. Not just her own, but others’ too. It’s a rhythm she’s learned to control, and that can only mean one thing . . . Emma’s a witch. In a world where a sentence of witchcraft comes with dire consequences and all children who have reached the age of thirteen are tested to ensure they have no witch blood, Emma must attempt to stamp out her power before her own test comes. But the more she researches, the more she begins to suspect that her radically anti-witch aunt and mother are hiding something – the truth about their sister, her Aunt Lenore, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances years ago. The day of the test comes, and Emma’s results not only pair her up with strange new friends, but set her on a course to challenge everything she’s ever been taught about magic, and reveal long-buried family secrets. It seems witches may not have been so easy to banish after all. Secret cities, untapped powers, missing family members – Emma is about to discover a whole new world.

My Little Golden Book About New York City
By Apple Jordan and Melanie Demmer
24 Pages | Ages 2-5 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593304471 | Golden Books
Get ready to explore New York City with Poppy the Pigeon as your guide! This Little Golden Book highlights major attractions of the Big Apple including the Empire State Building, the Apollo Theater, Ellis Island, and the High Line. Plus there are great suggestions of things to do such as ice skate at Rockefeller Center, ride the carousel in Central Park, and eat cannoli in Little Italy! Perfect for families with young kids visiting New York City, NYC residents who wish to discover more of their hometown, and anyone who wants to learn about a fun city from the comfort of their home.

My Two Border Towns
By David Bowles
Illustrated by Erika Meza
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593111048 | Kokila
Early one Saturday morning, a boy prepares for a trip to The Other Side/El Otro Lado. It’s close – just down the street from his school – and it’s a twin of where he lives. To get there, his father drives their truck along the Rio Grande and over a bridge, where they’re greeted by a giant statue of an eagle. Their outings always include a meal at their favorite restaurant, a visit with Tío Mateo at his jewelry store, a cold treat from the paletero, and a pharmacy pickup. On their final and most important stop, they check in with friends seeking asylum and drop off much-needed supplies. My Two Border Towns by David Bowles, with stunning watercolor illustrations by Erika Meza, is the loving story of a father and son’s weekend ritual, a demonstration of community care, and a tribute to the fluidity, complexity, and vibrancy of life on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Over the Shop
By JonArno Lawson
Illustrated by Qin Leng
48 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781536201475 | Candlewick
A lonely little girl and her grandparent need to fill the run-down apartment in their building. But taking over the quarters above their store will mean major renovations for the new occupants, and none of the potential renters can envision the possibilities of the space – until one special couple shows up. With their ingenuity, the little girl’s big heart, and heaps of hard work, the desperate fixer-upper begins to change in lovely and surprising ways. In this bustling wordless picture book, JonArno Lawson’s touching story and Qin Leng’s gentle illustrations capture all angles of the building’s transformation, as well as the evolving perspectives of the girl and her grandparent. A warm and subtly nuanced tale, Over the Shop throws open the doors to what it means to accept people for who they are and to fill your home with love and joy.

Paris by Phone
By Pamela Druckerman
Illustrated by Benjamin Chaud
32 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780399165061 | Putnam BFYR
When Josephine Harris decides that Paris is where she really belongs, all it takes is a quick call on her magical phone to whisk her away. The city of lights has fancy cafés, baguettes under every arm, the Eiffel Tower, and a fabulous new family who can’t wait to show her around. The city is a feast for the senses, but each new discovery brings a pang of melancholy. There’s something missing here. Could it be the person who loves Josephine’s best – her own mother?

Santa in the City
By Tiffany D. Jackson
Illustrated by Reggie Brown
32 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593110256 | Dial Books
It’s two weeks before Christmas, and Deja is worried that Santa might not be able to visit her – after all, as a city kid, she doesn’t have a chimney for him to come down and none of the parking spots on her block could fit a sleigh, let alone eight reindeer! But with a little help from her family, community, and Santa himself, Deja discovers that the Christmas spirit is alive and well in her city. With bold, colorful illustrations that capture the joy of the holidays, this picture book from award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson and illustrator Reggie Brown is not to be missed.

Take Back the Block
By Chrystal D. Giles
240 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593175170 | Random House BFYR
Wes Henderson has the best style in sixth grade. That – and hanging out with his crew (his best friends since little-kid days) and playing video games – is what he wants to be thinking about at the start of the school year, not the protests his parents are always dragging him to. But when a real estate developer makes an offer to buy Kensington Oaks, the neighborhood Wes has lived his whole life, everything changes. The grownups are supposed to have all the answers, but all they’re doing is arguing. Even Wes’s best friends are fighting. And some of them may be moving. Wes isn’t about to give up the only home he’s ever known. Wes has always been good at puzzles, and he knows there has to be a missing piece that will solve this puzzle and save the Oaks. But can he find it . . . before it’s too late? Exploring community, gentrification, justice, and friendship, Take Back the Block introduces an irresistible 6th grader and asks what it means to belong – to a place and a movement – and to fight for what you believe in.

Tales from the Inner City
By Shaun Tan
224 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735265202 | Tundra Books
A young girl’s cat brightens the lives of everyone in the neighborhood. A woman and her dog are separated by time and space, awaiting the day they will be reunited. A race of fish build a society parallel to our own. And a bunch of office managers suddenly turn into frogs, but find that their new lives aren’t so bad. The ambitious, unique and provocative Tales From the Inner City draws on the success of Shaun Tan’s The Arrival and Tales From Outer Suburbia and updates its sensibilities for a new generation. Combining his poignant and sensitive short stories with surreal, luminous paintings, Tan turns his astute lens on the environment, cities, family and the relationships between human and animals. This work opens a portal to the imagination and captures the beauty, joy and tragedy in the everyday lives of kids, teens and adults.

The Little Library
By Margaret McNamara
Illustrated by G. Brian Karas
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780525578338 | Schwartz & Wade
Everyone in Mr. Tiffin’s class couldn’t be more excited that the new school library has finally opened. Everyone except Jake. Jake is a slow and careful reader. Sometimes he reads the same page more than once to figure everything out. And he often feels left behind on class Library Day. All that changes when Librarian Beck notices Jake running his fingers across the grooves of a brand-new bookshelf and offers him an old, worn book: Woodworking for Young Hands. Jake checks the book out, studies the pictures and instructions, and renews the book again and again. When the school year comes to an end, Jake has the perfect gift idea for the librarian who changed his life – and he makes it with his own two hands.

Witches of Brooklyn
By Sophie Escabasse
240 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Paperback
ISBN 9780593119273 | Random House Graphic
Could there really be witches in Brooklyn?! Effie’s aunts are weird. Like, really WEIRD. Really, really, really WEIRD! The secretly-magic kind of weird and that makes Effie wonder . . . does this mean she can do magic, too? Life in Brooklyn takes a strange twist for Effie as she learns more about her family and herself. With new friends who will do whatever they can to be there for her, a cursed pop-star, and her magically-inclined aunts – Effie’s life is about to get interesting.

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Five Tarot Reads

Get into the Halloween spirit with these five tarot-inspired reads!

A Lesson in Vengeance
By Victoria Lee
384 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593305829 | Delacorte Press
Felicity Morrow is back at the Dalloway School to finish her senior year after the tragic death of her girlfriend. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students – girls some say were witches. Felicity was once drawn to the dark legacy of witchcraft. She’s determined to leave that behind her now; but it’s hard when Dalloway’s occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won’t let her forget it. It’s Ellis Haley’s first year at Dalloway. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can’t shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks Felicity for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can’t say no. And when history begins to repeat itself, Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway – and in herself.

All Our Hidden Gifts
By Caroline O’Donoghue
384 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781536213942 | Walker Books US
After Maeve finds a pack of tarot cards while cleaning out a closet during her in-school suspension, she quickly becomes the most sought-after diviner at St. Bernadette’s Catholic school. But when Maeve’s ex-best friend, Lily, draws an unsettling card called The Housekeeper that Maeve has never seen before, the session devolves into a heated argument that ends with Maeve wishing aloud that Lily would disappear. When Lily isn’t at school the next Monday, Maeve learns her ex-friend has vanished without a trace. Shunned by her classmates and struggling to preserve a fledgling romance with Lily’s gender-fluid sibling, Roe, Maeve must dig deep into her connection with the cards to search for clues the police cannot find – even if they lead to the terrifying Housekeeper herself. Set in an Irish town where the church’s tight hold has loosened and new freedoms are trying to take root, this sharply contemporary story is witty, gripping, and tinged with mysticism.

Dark and Shallow Lies
By Ginny Myers Sain
432 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593403969 | Razorbill
La Cachette, Louisiana, is the worst place to be if you have something to hide. This tiny town, where seventeen-year-old Grey spends her summers, is the self-proclaimed Psychic Capital of the World – and the place where Elora Pellerin, Grey’s best friend, disappeared six months earlier. Grey can’t believe that Elora vanished into thin air any more than she can believe that nobody in a town full of psychics knows what happened. But as she digs into the night that Elora went missing, she begins to realize that everybody in town is hiding something – her grandmother Honey; her childhood crush Hart; and even her late mother, whose secrets continue to call to Grey from beyond the grave. When a mysterious stranger emerges from the bayou – a stormy-eyed boy with links to Elora and the town’s bloody history – Grey realizes that La Cachette’s past is far more present and dangerous than she’d ever understood. Suddenly, she doesn’t know who she can trust. In a town where secrets lurk just below the surface, and where a murderer is on the loose, nobody can be presumed innocent – and La Cachette’s dark and shallow lies may just rip the town apart.

Edie in Between
By Laura Sibson
384 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780451481146 | Viking BFYR
It’s been one year since Edie’s mother died. But her ghost has never left. According to her GG, it’s tradition that the dead of the Mitchell family linger with the living. It’s just as much a part of a Mitchell’s life as brewing healing remedies or talking to plants. But Edie, whose pain over losing her mother is still fresh, has no interest in her family’s legacy as local “witches.” When her mother’s teenage journal tumbles into her life, her family’s mystical inheritance becomes once and for all too hard to ignore. It takes Edie on a scavenger hunt to find objects that once belonged to her mother, each one imbued with a different memory. Every time she touches one of these talismans, it whisks her to another entry inside the journal–where she watches her teenage mom mourn, love, and hope just as Edie herself is now doing. But as Edie discovers, there’s a dark secret behind her family’s practice that she’s unwittingly released. She’ll have to embrace – and master – the magic she’s always rejected . . . before it consumes her. Tinged with a sweet romance with the spellbinding Rhia, who works at the local occult shop, Edie in Between delivers all the cozy magic a budding young witch finding her way in the world needs.

These Witches Don’t Burn
By Isabel Sterling
336 Pages | 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780451480347 | Razorbill
Hannah’s a witch, but not the kind you’re thinking of. She’s the real deal, an Elemental with the power to control fire, earth, water, and air. But even though she lives in Salem, Massachusetts, her magic is a secret she has to keep to herself. If she’s ever caught using it in front of a Reg (read: non-witch), she could lose it. For good. So, Hannah spends most of her time avoiding her ex-girlfriend (and fellow Elemental Witch) Veronica, hanging out with her best friend, and working at the Fly by Night Cauldron selling candles and crystals to tourists, goths, and local Wiccans. But dealing with her ex is the least of Hannah’s concerns when a terrifying blood ritual interrupts the end-of-school-year bonfire. Evidence of dark magic begins to appear all over Salem, and Hannah’s sure it’s the work of a deadly Blood Witch. The issue is, her coven is less than convinced, forcing Hannah to team up with the last person she wants to see: Veronica. While the pair attempt to smoke out the Blood Witch at a house party, Hannah meets Morgan, a cute new ballerina in town. But trying to date amid a supernatural crisis is easier said than done, and Hannah will have to test the limits of her power if she’s going to save her coven and get the girl, especially when the attacks on Salem’s witches become deadlier by the day.

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#PenguinIcebreakers with Don Calame

As you may know, we’ve been doing #PenguinIcebreakers over on Instagram for the last year. Don Calame, the author of The Delusionist, decided to change things up by sending us his answers in written form – check them out below!

#PenguinIcebreakers with Don Calame

What’s the weirdest/most random book on your bookshelf?

Okay, then, let’s have a look. Lots of Stephen King, books on music, hockey, cooking, writing . . . and, wait, what is this? Where To Go and What To Do On Long Island: Third Revised Edition by SCOPE ( Suffolk County Organization for the Promotion of Education).  A book of such vast scope it took an organization called SCOPE to write it. If you were looking to visit the Flax Pond Marine Laboratory or the Huntington Arsenal, look no further.

What are you reading now? 

It’s a long and eclectic list. I seem to have a focus issue. I’m currently in the middle of: Chord Chemistry: For Guitar by Ted Greene; The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson; The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer; Peak by Anders Ericsson; and Until the End of Time by Brian Greene (no relation to Ted the guitarist). Not a lot of fiction the last few months. I’ll have to correct that.

What is the one book you tell everyone to read?

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. The movie didn’t do the book justice at all. The novel is a masterpiece.

What’s a unique talent that you have?

I recently re-taught myself the guitar. I played in high school and then stopped for nearly 30 years. During the pandemic I felt like picking it up again and it’s been amazing. When I was learning in the 80’s there was no internet, of course. Now, whatever it is you want to learn, there is someone teaching it on YouTube.

I guess that’s not so unique, though. I suppose I’m a pretty talented sleeper, also.  I can do that pretty much anywhere, anytime. It’s the one talent my wife is jealous of.

If you could be quarantined anywhere in the world, where would you be?

Right here in my home. There’s a cliché that writers are introverted homebodies. I do not disappoint in that area.

Thanks, Don! Make sure to check out The Delusionist, in stores now!

The Delusionist
By Don Calame
304 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780763696894 | Candlewick
Fifteen-year-old Quinn Purcell wants only one thing: to win a coveted spot at the Masters of Magic Fantasy Camp. But the competition is stiff, including Dani Darling, an incredibly talented, and incredibly attractive, rival magician who prestidigitates her way into Quinn’s heart – unless that’s just another of her tricks. To make matters worse, Quinn and his best friend, Perry, have always performed their magic as a team, but the judges want solo acts, and a two-man audition might disqualify them. When Quinn meets his idol, the Dazzling Lazlo, at a diner, it seems like a sign. If he can convince Lazlo to spill the secrets to his greatest trick, then the spot at the camp is all but Quinn’s. But is the washed-up magician just using Quinn to run a few scams? When the chips are down, what will Quinn risk – his best friend, his new crush, or his career as a magician? Hilarious and fast-paced, Don Calame’s latest novel is full of complicated magic tricks and equally complicated friendships.

Tundra Book Group