Night Light, written and illustrated by Michael Emberley. Holiday House, Penguin Random House. 2025. $20.49 ages 3 and up

 

"How is that?

Too bright!

You're right. 
Here. 

Better?"

The main characters are clad in pajamas, and wearing bright noses and hats with pointy ears to match the pjs. They are preparing for bed by looking for books to read together. (I love that the last one chosen is Go Away, Big Green Monster, written by Michael's father Ed in 1993 and one of my all time favorites to read to kids). 

Once settled in bed, the reading begins. All too soon, a blackout makes it impossible to continue. What will they do? A flashlight makes a difference for mere moments as its batteries are dying and the light is fading. A long ladder will work for climbing out into the sky to capture as many stars as possible. Whoa! Now it's too bright. Sunglasses help with the shine, and the reading continues until the last book is read. 

While settling in for sleep, the little one hears sobbing coming from outside his window. It's the moon lamenting the darkness created when the stars disappeared. What to do? Easy peasy ... gather them up and send them back to the sky. Wait! Now, it's too dark inside again. Taking the one star left in the bag, two pillows and blankets, Papa implements the perfect plan. 

Using minimal text and artwork filled with warmth and charm, Michael Emberley has created another winner for emerging readers. What an adventure! If this sounds like a book you would like to share with your favorite beginning reader and want more like it, check the library for I Did It! (Holiday House, 2022) and Let's Go! (Holiday House, 2024).

Poo-Dunit? A Forest Floor Mystery, written by Katelyn Aronson and illustrated by Stephanie Laberis. Candlewick Press, Penguin Random House. 2022. $11.99 ages 3 and up

 

"OH, POOOOORCUPIIIIINE ... 

"Not mine," he said. 
"You've got it wrong. 
My poo is short! 
This poo is long. 

Ask Fox.""

Need I say it? Readers are going to love this book. It's easy to tell from the mouse's face on the front cover that its morning has not started well. What is that smell? It turns out that it is a BIG pile of poo. Mouse wants to know who the culprit is that left it so close to his burrow. 

Eager to solve the mystery, Mouse turns first to Squirrel. Squirrel is appalled and blames skunk. Skunk explains that its poo is thin, while this pile of poo is very thick. The questioning continues with Porcupine, Fox, Coyote, and Deer, who is quick to state it is much too messy to belong to her. Mouse is irate and determined to discover who left that poo at his door. 

There are some clues - must be big, hairy, and eat seeds and berries. Oh dear, it's Bear. Bear is happy to admit it. 

"A poo that no one can outdo! 

A poo that no one can out-poo!" 

Has Mouse found the offender? Apparently, not! Can you guess? 
Mouse is quite resourceful. Next spring brings a more pleasant odor. 

Back matter offers a game concerning whose poo is whose, and a brief explanation for the value of poo in the grand scheme of things.   
                                                                          

My friend Don and I have launched a new adventure. We have been presenting Great Books For Great Kids workshops for teachers and others for more than twenty years. We recently decided to give podcasting a try. Episode One is launched! You can find it here: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-1-lets-get-started/id1806751468?i=1000702261476

Good Golden Sun, written and illustrated by Brendan Wenzel. Little, Brown and Company. Hachette, 2025. $25.99 ages 4 and up

 

"Good golden sun, 
          does your belly ever ache? 

All the world is 
filled with sweetness. 

Would you like a little taste? 

Good golden sun, 
          tell me, how'd you get so big?"

The shadowed darkness of the opening endpaper hints at the sun's rise. Turn to the title page and a flower bud responds to the sun's light. The flower opens, the shadows begin to fade, and the sun pokes higher in the sky. A narrative voice welcomes the sunlight, asking where it has been. The text continues in a series of questions concerning every day events happening on earth. 

As a bee takes flight from darkness to light, it lands on the opened flower, taking its collected pollen back to the beehive where it is met by other bee friends. The narrator wonders if the sun is lonely on its own in the sky.  From flower to bee, from bee to hive, from the hive's honey to bear, its role is important in the earth's life. It doesn't stop at the bear. That bear is bitten by a mosquito that flies away to be eaten by a bird. The bird drops an egg just in time for a mouse's meal. So it goes, from morning till night, with the sun providing the energy and warmth needed at every moment along the way.  

The cut paper, watercolor, acrylic, colored pencil and crayon artwork is digitally created, and stunning. The sun's path is a constant as it bathes each and every creature it encounters in a warm glow that is sure to delight readers. Brilliantly detailed art, as we have come to expect from Mr. Wenzel, fills each spread with a glow as the sun moves across the sky. 

"Good golden sun, 
            there is nothing more to ask.
Every day's the same - 
            you stay silent as you pass."
                                                                                     

If You Were Here, written by Kathy Stinson and illustrated by Maya McKibbin. Greystone Kids, 2025. $23.95 ages 4 and up

 

"If you were here, we would smell
the damp mushrooms and moss 
deep inside these woods,

see the pine trees like towers so high, 
and hear whispers in the needles on the ground."

The child who narrates this book seeks solace in natural surroundings as a loss is mourned. We don't know who is missing; we do know they are keenly missed. Wandering through nature, all the sights and smells remind the child of what another day would be like if they could just be together again. 

Wandering through a green and sunny meadow into the darkness of the deep forest and then out onto the seashore, where all senses are fully engaged by the smell of the ocean, the sight of items washed up by a storm, the feel of sunshine on cool skin as it pokes through cloudy skies, and the sound of waves washing over seashore pebbles, are moments the two would savor together.

The final double-page spread shows the joys found in the wander through nature ... a lovely collection of child-like colorful and heartfelt images of the two together doing what they loved to do. Readers are left to consider and decide what may have happened to the loved one. Did they move away? Why are they no longer where the child is? This heartfelt story leaves space for open discussion of grief and loss, while also considering the peace found in nature. 

Gorgeous digital images of the Pacific Northwest environment where the artist lives accompany this quiet story of love and loss. The details are truly lovely, and offer perspective shifts that are sure to hold attention and offer opportunity for further conversation. 
                                                                                            

Little Bird Laila, written by Kelly Yang and illustrated by Xindi Yan.Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House. 2025. $24.99 ages 4 and up

 

"Mama and Baba want to take English classes, 
but they cost too much money. 

(People say America is free, but it's actually 
really expensive.)

I wish there was a way. One night, as I'm 
watching my neighbor's TV, an idea comes 
to me. 

Maybe I can be their teacher."

Laila is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who don't speak or read English. Laila is with them whenever they face new and often challenging situations. Opening a bank account, filling in forms (which are not always done perfectly), and protecting them from the taunts of neighbors. It isn't fun to have others make fun of them. 

Laila knows how clever and capable her parents are, how kind their actions are at every turn, and how funny they really are. They can't afford to take lessons in English. Laila makes it her work to teach them. It is not easy for Laila as she is learning very difficult language lessons herself. 

"C'mon, out with it! 
Don't beat around the bush!

This is getting out of hand! 

You really missed the boat on that one!"

It's a lot to understand and share with her parents. There are many obstacles. Laila is persistent even though it is tough going. They share jokes in both languages and improve day by day. Mama and Baba make their daughter proud. At the first parent-teacher conference, they are able to communicate and explain that it is due to Laila's teaching. 

Warm art, created digitally, shares the emotional journey when learning a new language Expressions are clear as the three show persistence and patience navigating their new reality. Young readers will be interested to see the speech bubbles that show both Chinese and English words. This is Kelly Yang's debut picture book, and shows promise for what comes next. 

Head Full of Clouds, written by Joanne Schwartz and illustrated by Afsaneh Sanei. tundra, Penguin Random House. 2025. $24.99 ages 5 and up

"Hop over the lines in the sidewalk. 
Where the concrete is cracked, weeds push through, 
   spreading along the seam like a tiny forest, 
         roots winding down, down into the earth below."

Do you sometimes wake up in the morning with just a hint of a dream you were dreaming still in your head? The young girl in this story can't quite remember what she was dreaming about. The first illustration makes that abundantly clear for readers. While having breakfast with her bunny friend, she feels a bit foggy. 

As she wanders outside, last night's rain remains in ocean-like puddles that support all types of marine life. Once the brain fog has cleared and she is bent on exploring her natural surroundings, she settles in to some regular routines that still seem slightly surreal. 

Her senses are fully alert as she wanders free. Filling the bird feeder results in a wide variety of creatures hidden nearby; biting into an apple offers a taste worth writing about in a poem; the cracked lines in the sidewalk make a home for a multitude of tiny blossoms; pigeons leave and return to a rooftop in a flurry of purple and green; a busker fills the air with music from his violin; and the old maple tree in the end of the park offers safe haven for a girl seeking shady comfort. 

She is not done yet. She still has time to watch a boy and his dog, to roll down a hill, and to watch a line of ants as they carry food to their home colony. What wonder for the senses is found in this magical, natural world. Only then does she remember a whiff od her morning dream ... a secret from the ocean. That reminder is forgotten when she hears a friend's voice that causes her to run forward into the real world for hugs and a happy reunion. 

Ms. Sanei's exceptional images, created in acrylic gouache and color pencil, then finished digitally, beautifully strengthen the measured words chosen to provide the sights and sounds of nature. The changing perpectives invite close attention, and the chosen colors add depth and surprise.  

The world is an astounding place! 
                                                                             

  

Plight of the Pelican: How Science Saved a Species, written by Jessica Stremer and illustrated by Gordy Wright. Holiday House, Penguin Random House. 2025. $26.99 ages 7 and up

 

"To try and help pelicans survive, 
scientists removed some from the wild, 
placed them in zoos, 
and fed them food free of DDT. 

Fragile eggs were warmed away from parents
so shells wouldn't 

      crack     and    break." 

In a new release from the books for a better earth series, readers learn about the scientists who work diligently to solve mysteries in the natural world. This research was concerned with dwindling numbers of brown pelicans. In the 1950s, there was worry that fewer pelican chicks were being born, and it was noted that it was also happening with bald eagles, raptors, and other birds of prey. 

Focusing on the pelicans, scientists set to work to try to understand what was causing the loss. The first clue was that the eggshells were not strong enough to hold the weight of the parents who were sitting on them. How could that be? Making connections led to the fact that DDT was being found in water and soil ... and in the animals pelicans ate. It was in every part of the food web. 

Taking some pelicans into captivity to provide them with food free of the pesticide, and to incubate fragile eggs, the scientists pleaded that the spraying be stopped. Although she is not mentioned, the work of Rachel Carson was the catalyst needed to bring awareness and change. It took people protesting and government action. The pelican population improved over the next thirty-seven years, until they were no longer in danger of extinction. 

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the many other plants and animals that are at risk today. 

"Pollinators dwindle as food sources disappear. 

Songbirds struggle to find a suitable spot to hatch their young. 

Marine life gobble garbage. 

Yet there is hope." 

The work that helped the pelican can continue to fight against climate change and habitat loss. It takes constant work and concerned citizens to speak out and work toward change. 

This tribute to the hard-working scientists who worked diligently to solve a mystery is written in clear and compassionate language, and is accompanied by appealing gouache and acrylic illustrations sure to engage young readers. Backmatter is very useful, and includes the effects of DDT, where to learn more about the brown pelican, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index. 

How To Pee Your Pants * the Right Way, written and illustrated by Rachel Michelle Wilson. Feiwel and Friends, Raincoast. 2024. $24.99 ages 4 and up

 

"If the adults make you sit on a bubble-wrapped chair
while you wait for clean clothes, try not to take it
personally. They've probably forgotten what it's
like to pee their pants.

They'll remember in a couple of years."

Oh, so funny! Can't wait to read it to kids. There is absolutely no judging this tiny, bespectacled bird for the accident described here. It can, and does, happen to many. It could be at school, at home in bed, or really anywhere. There are many reasons that it might happen to you. 

Trying to avoid it involves persistence, contortions, and inevitability. Knowing what to do when it happens requires advance consideration. What do you do if? Book research might be the answer; try books titled Go with the Flow, Urine Control, Pee Prepared, The #1 Rule, and this book as well. 

The distractions offered are priceless, the cover-ups endless and the calls for help inventive. The school office staff is obviously prepared for such events, where sitting to wait on a bubble-wrapped chair is the ultimate punishment. The fact that a second chair is fully prepared for someone else provides a touch of comfort. 

The final spreads provide grand advice: 

"Be the friend you wish you had ... 
... when you peed your pants. 

I am laughing out loud! 

,,, and thinking how an empathetic response in other situations can make things much better. 

Don't miss the endpapers, and be sure to allow time for taking a close look at every spread. Color choices are perfect, and the changing perspectives move the action from concern to acceptance with honesty and compassion.