This is a tender, culturally rich story that belongs in every school and community library. A touching celebration of culture, honesty, and family that inspires young readers to cherish their roots.
Highly recommended for libraries serving older teens
Poring over the details and finding themselves in the pages makes this a mirror-and-window board book with reach beyond the usual preschool demographic.
Succinct text, audacious facts, and vibrant imagery make this nonfiction text a good selection for preschool-aged readers with an interest in animal adaptations.
The pigeon will count to 10 in story hours and classroom counting units; children can take it from there. Bold and funny.
A timely, heartfelt, and emotive adventure for fans of survival or dog narratives utilizing a quick pace to grip readers.
This inventive and explosive beginning to a cyberpunk trilogy is a first purchase.
This book offers a unique and engaging blend of fictional storytelling and scientific education, making it an excellent addition to school library collections. It celebrates themes of self-identity, bravery, and understanding scientific concepts in a fun, accessible way, making it valuable for young readers and for social-emotional learning.
Board books don’t always come with an “essential” stamp, but this one is.
A must-purchase for libraries looking for books on algorithms, bias, and media literacy.
Informative and engaging, this is an important addition to nonfiction library collections for elementary school-aged readers. Grades K-3
Heartfelt and moving, this is an exceptional and a must-have for the shelves helping children deal with divorce and other challenges.
This simple yet highly effective early reader will greatly help new readers. A first purchase for all early reader collections.
Deeply unsettling and absolutely perfect for those who understand the vulnerability at the root of every vicious monster.
A compelling and important addition for mature young adult collections, this novel powerfully portrays the fight for freedom and self-determination against overwhelming odds.
Gr 1-4–Using a friendly tone and speaking directly to readers, this book explains how a carbon atom that is now in a human might once have been in the body of a dinosaur...
This is a delightful and highly recommended picture book that celebrates imagination, communication, and the power of forming new friendships. It supports social-emotional learning (SEL) by encouraging openness, curiosity, and embracing unexpected connections, making it ideal for school libraries.
A must-have book for educators and libraries about the importance of medicine.
Cassidy excels in making history personal in a way that middle grade readers will connect to and feel empowered by and lets young people know they too can be creative, break down barriers, and help their communities.
A nearly perfect board book in tone and content. Bring it on, story hour.
A lovely look at the seasons, an excellent choice for story time, that shows the sensory experience of a child who is never depicted as anything but whole.
Messner’s newest entry in the massively popular “History Smashers” series is accurate, entertaining, and compulsively readable–a must-purchase for library and classroom collections alike!
Highly recommended for readers who enjoyed books like John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars or Dustin Thao’s You’ve Reached Sam.
A definite first purchase that can be read as a standalone or as part of its series.
For collections in need of more diversity in their political leader sections, this book will make a great addition.
This is a perfect fit for SEL lessons about owning up to one’s mistakes and asking for forgiveness. A must-buy and ideal read-aloud for all libraries.
An educational tool in an accessible format, and an excellent buy for librarians who collaborate with English teachers.
For nonfiction that elicits an emotional investment from readers, this is an excellent purchase for all libraries.
A must-purchase biography that illuminates both an important American innovator and the origins of a timeless art form.
This tender story about empathy, war, and family is a must-buy for libraries with readers who already love Applegate’s dynamic repertoire.
Readers should get ready to laugh and cry as they spend the summer helping Glory and Gus solve the mystery of belonging.
This guide is a smart, accessible blueprint for youth and caregivers interested in making positive changes in their communities by providing sound advice and plans, moderated by the reality that creating change can be challenging. A great first buy for all libraries.
Hand this collection to any reader who is looking for a place made for them; they will find it between these pages.
A fantastic purchase for YA collections.
From the informative bilingual poems to the incredible artwork, this title is a great choice to learn more about these important peoples. A must-have for children’s book collections.
A deeply affirming portrayal of sibling dynamics and growing up. Highly recommended for collections exploring family, emotional resilience, and love in all its quiet forms.
This gorgeously illustrated picture book about sisterhood is a must-purchase for all collections.
For story hours and read-alones, this is for dinosaur lovers and all readers
Gentle and loving, this is a ghost story for readers who are looking for something beyond the traditional scary ghost story for a tale of everlasting connection. Wistful and wish-fulfillment personified: What reader has not hoped that a loved one long gone is near?
A strong first buy for its explanations and examples of how to become an ally, while clearly explaining that it is ongoing and personal work.
A superb effort for enthusiasts who want the latest technological advances in dinosaur research. Perfect for libraries, classrooms, and research.
This powerful tale of race and American culture and history seamlessly weaves a popular middle grade topic, football, with crucial lessons about justice and humanity for tween and younger teens. This is Barnes at his best and is a required purchase for middle school libraries.
Fans of Jasper Rabbit will love this new addition to the popular series.
Lovers of historical fiction will thoroughly enjoy this novel, which is recommended for all junior high and high school collections.
A strong addition for library collections looking to expand their Sapphic sports and rom-com offerings.
A middle grade must-read highly recommended for fans science fiction and books like A Wrinkle in Time.
A skillful tale of family lost and found, one that skillfully weaves discussion of heavier and relevant topics into a comedic plot.
A must-buy for any school library (and many public libraries) where patrons are actively using AI tools or considering AI-related careers. This book is equally valuable for librarians (and teachers) developing instruction on research methodologies, digital literacy, or copyright ethics.
History lovers and budding political enthusiasts will enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at presidential history.
A deeply human, absolutely riveting, and expansively inclusive marine biology nightmare.
A highly recommended Christmas story that captures the magic of friendship, this title has something for the young at heart of all ages and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
For patrons looking for a heartwarming, comforting Christmas tale, this is perfection.
A must for holiday collections. This book will charm young children.
Recommended for story hours revolving around Christmas.
A great addition to any picture book collection.
When these devils sing, audiences will have to keep listening.
Santana endows all-star treatment on Davis’s remarkable debut.
A virtuoso trio (with ending identifying credits!) connects then and now with gratifyingly healing results.
Sanderson gifts readers with a brilliantly distinctive, hair-raisingly convincing performance of Mackay’s brilliant debut.
Libraries should be prepared for significant demand in all formats.
Gibson single-voicedly transforms an already electrifying read into a polyphonic marvel.
Van Ness gloriously elevates these pages into empowering, enlightening entertainment.
A must-purchase for Spanish-language YA collections, this first volume in a planned trilogy will draw readers in from the start.
A standout among early readers. Every library should have a copy of this one on the shelves.
An exceptional choice for libraries that cherish the stories of unsung, exceptional American people.
This book is a fine choice for supplementing and supporting studies of plants, animals, and natural settings. It is also useful for examining how written text and illustrations can work successfully together to inform and surprise readers.
A generous view of the phases of the moon, written with great care, pacing, and illumination.
A lovely homage to Matisse’s life and work, this is a positive addition to nonfiction biography collections for young readers, and it is especially well-suited to reading aloud.
A first choice for every library
Recommended for lower elementary grades where fearless books on difficult topics, here masterfully captured in wordless form, are collected and lauded as required viewing.
An immensely engrossing historical story, perfect for introducing elementary readers to past visionaries and locations.
An excellent introduction to an American pioneer and a good segue into classroom discussions of the upcoming Artemis expeditions.
Highly recommended for both school and public libraries seeking to support STEM learning, global awareness, and reading skills.
Another excellent title from Fitzharris. Recommended for all middle schools.
An essential addition to middle and high school libraries, this graphic novel is a green how-to manual for 2025.
A skilled author of popular Australian children’s books takes on issues of suicide and serious illness with love and care in her first YA novel.
A highly recommended read for fans of young adult psychological thrillers and Jackson’s previous works.
A gritty story of trust and betrayal, Lucy’s life absorbs readers and leaves them wanting more. A definite first buy.
A sophisticated blend of science and realism for readers who enjoyed the time-travel mystery of Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me or the intergenerational depth of Kelly Barnhill’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon. A strong addition to those seeking diverse speculative fiction with emotional resonance.
A heartwarming, hilarious gem that young readers will return to again and again. A must-have for any collection serving young readers.
While shelving a title this size could pose some challenges, this is a beautiful book to return to again and again for the images, descriptions, and overview it offers.
A gorgeous, genre-blurring work of art and science. Ideal for classroom libraries, environmental studies, or anyone seeking to fall in love with the living world. Highly recommended
With tenuous alliances and ongoing negotiations ever-present in the news, this book cannot be added faster to any collection to help teens understand the background of the countries and the men who lead them.
Highly recommended for fans of Rick Riordan, or reluctant readers who enjoy Marvel’s Thor and Loki adventures.
This vampire tale is a must-purchase for all middle school collections.
Mejia’s deft exploration of a distressing topic provides a window into disordered eating and shows the importance of providing help to someone in crisis. Highly recommended.
A quietly powerful, compassionate exploration of environmental loss, friendship, and activism. A standout verse novel that belongs in every middle grade collection.
A timely exploration of love, conservation, and resilience, it’s highly recommended and heartfelt story for those looking for an emotional read full of lessons and all YA Spanish-language collections.
A perfect addition to libraries looking to expand their LGBTQIA+ and mental health collections that is sure to resonate with fans of authors like Lynn Painter and Jennifer Dugan.
An excellent first purchase for libraries, especially those looking for supernatural mysteries.
Every library, especially those looking for more LGBTQIA+ representation on their shelves, should have this on the shelves.
This tale has an unusual ecological theme that makes seed preservation not only an essential task, but sacred one. A must-have story for all libraries.
A gift made of childhood recall, wrapped in the making of a Persian rug, an act of creating “precious memories out of everyday chores.” A solid purchase for most libraries.
With its lilting text and gorgeous artwork, this is the rare book that amplifies the ferocity and the necessity of fire in nature, employing the ecology of the sagebrush.
An excellent choice for social studies units dealing with geography, as well as integrated studies showing how art and social studies can work together to create meaning. This is a beautiful, fascinating, and uniquely told book.
A must buy for every library, fostering curiosity for cultures throughout the world, and bringing balance to such Eurocentric works as the Opies’ landmark titles.
PreS-Gr 2–“We take the groove wherever we go...
Highly recommended especially for collections with fans of collected biographies such as Vashti Harrison’s “Leaders & Dreamers” series and Robin Stevenson “Kid Legends.”
With its manageable and impactful subject matter alongside engrossing illustrations, this is a valuable handbook for learning about the objects that surround readers every day
Readers will discover a wonderful role model and a perfect message: be true to yourself and do what you love. A touching and wonderful tribute to a real star, and a first purchase for all libraries.
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