Author: Karina Glaser

Super Silly Picture Books

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date May 1, 2020

Children’s Books for Protecting the Earth

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date April 24, 2020

Children’s Books Celebrating National Poetry Month

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date April 17, 2020

Sponsored by Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Prairie Lotus is a powerful, touching book about a girl determined to fit in and realize her dreams: getting an education, becoming a dressmaker in her father’s shop, and making a friend. Award-winning author Linda Sue Park has placed a half-Chinese girl, Hanna, in a town in Dakota Territory, in 1880. Hanna’s adjustment to her new surroundings, which primarily means negotiating the townspeople’s almost unanimous prejudice against Asians, is at the heart of the story. Narrated by Hanna, the novel has poignant moments yet sparkles with humor, introducing a captivating heroine whose wry, observant voice will resonate with readers.

Hi Kid Lit Friends,

April is the month to celebrate poetry, and children’s books do a marvelous job bringing poetry to young people. Here are some of my favorite newer releases that have poetry in them. What are your favorite books of poetry?

Follow the Recipe: Poems About Imagination, Celebration, and Cake by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman is a sweet collection of poems that celebrate food! The book has the look of a vintage collector’s compendium that includes pictures, ephemera and annotations to add interest. Even young children are familiar with recipes–a series of steps to help them make something–and the book begins with simple dishes and ideas (such as a recipe for reading a recipe and a recipe for measuring), and then adds more ideas and grows in sophistication until the last recipes broach lofty concepts (such as a recipe for understanding and a recipe for peace).

Another great pick for younger readers is the picture book Whoo-Ku, Haiku: A Great Horned Owl Story by Maria Gianferrari, illustrated by Jonathan Voss. This book is an accessible introduction to poetry for younger readers who will be enthralled by this story of a pair of great horned owlets that peep and squeak in their feathered nest. Mama and Papa hunt for food and fend off predators while the chicks grow strong enough to hop and flap between the branches of their tree, then leap and fly away, ready to explore the wild world around them.

For slightly older readers, Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Browne, illustrated by Theodore Taylor III is a collection of poems by women that reflects the joy and passion in the fight for social justice, tackling topics from discrimination to empathy, and acceptance to speaking out.

For upper middle grade readers, I have two recommendations. The first is On the Horizon by Lois Lowry, illustrated by Kenard Pak. This collection of poems tell the story of people whose lives were lost or forever altered by the twin tragedies of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima. Based on the lives of soldiers at Pearl Harbor and civilians in Hiroshima, On the Horizon contemplates humanity and war through verse that sings with pain, truth, and the importance of bridging cultural divides. Kenard Pak’s stunning illustrations depict real-life people, places, and events, making for an incredibly vivid return to our collective past.

My last recommendation for upper middle grade readers is Dreams from Many Rivers by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Beatriz Gutierrez Hernandez. From Juana Briones and Juan Ponce de León, to eighteenth century slaves and modern-day sixth graders, the many and varied people depicted in this moving narrative speak to the experiences and contributions of Latinos throughout the history of the United States, from the earliest known stories up to present day.

What are you reading these days? Let me know! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at KarinaBookRiot@gmail.com.

Until next time!
Karina

The Kids Are All Right

5 Middle Grade Books for Asian Pacific Heritage Month

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date April 10, 2020

5 Great Picture Books for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date April 3, 2020

Picture Books That Celebrate Book Love!

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date March 27, 2020

Sponsored by Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit.

Marigold “Goldie” Vance lives and works at the Crossed Palms Resort Hotel in Florida. While life at the Crossed Palms is always busy, the resort is currently overrun with Hollywood-types filming the hottest new creature feature, and tensions are at an all-time high. Even Goldie’s mom is in on the movie act, doing what she does best: playing a mermaid. Just when Goldie thinks the movie biz couldn’t get any more exciting, a diamond-encrusted swimming cap goes missing, and all fingers point to Goldie’s mom as the culprit. Can Goldie uncover the true thief before it’s too late?

Hi Kid Lit Friends,

I had an eye surgery earlier this month, and since the recovery was going to take a couple of weeks I pre-wrote all of my Book Riot posts for the month of March. As a result, none of these posts in March had any mention of coronavirus, which I’m sure some of you noticed! I’m popping in here just to say that I’m thinking of all of you teachers and librarians and parents and grandparents who are trying to figure out this new environment we’re living in. If you have ideas for how you’re incorporating reading and books into your socially distanced, quarantined home, email me at KarinaBookRiot@gmail.com to let me know. I’ll be collecting responses and sharing them each week.

And now, on to our book topic of the day! If you’re reading this newsletter, I am certain that you are my people! Those of us who love books are certain to love books that are all about loving books. Here are some wonderful picture books to hand to young bookworms.

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

This book is about author and Caldecott Honor artist Yuyi Morales, who left her home in Xalapa, Mexico and came to the US with her infant son. This gorgeous picture book Dreamers is about making a home in a new place. Yuyi and her son Kelly’s passage was not easy, and Yuyi spoke no English whatsoever at the time. But together, they found an unexpected, unbelievable place: the public library. There, book by book, they untangled the language of this strange new land, and learned to make their home within it.

How to Read a Book by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Poetry by Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander and gorgeous illustrations by Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet make a perfect match in How to Read a Book – a celebration of books and reading. The words sing on the page and the bright, bold colors of Sweet’s illustrations show that there are an infinite number of ways to enjoy a book.

Hooray for Books! by Brian Won

This sweet book is all about loving books. Turtle has looked everywhere for his favorite book, but it’s nowhere to be found! Maybe his book was borrowed by Zebra, Owl, Giraffe, Elephant, or Lion. As Turtle searches, his friends offer to share their own favorite stories, but other books just won’t do. Or is it time for Turtle to try something different?

Let Me Finish! by Minh Le, illustrated by Isabel Roxas

This book is perfect for all of us who get interrupted just when we get to the best part of our book. In Let Me Finish!, our young hero settles in to read and the last thing he wants is for some noisy animals to ruin the ending of the story. But ruin it they do. And as it turns out, the boy is quickly approaching a surprise ending of his own! Maybe he should have listened to the animals after all. . . .

Help Wanted, Must Love Books by Janet Sumner Johnson, illustrated by Courtney Dawson

This new picture book is a perfect bedtime read aloud. Shailey loves bedtime, especially reading with her dad. But her dad starts a new job, and it gets in the way of their bedtime routine. So Shailey takes action! She fires her dad, posts a Help Wanted sign, and starts interviews immediately. She is thrilled when her favorite characters from fairytales line up to apply. But Sleeping Beauty can’t stay awake, the Gingerbread Man steals her book, and Snow White brings along her whole team. Shailey is running out of options. Is bedtime ruined forever?

This Book of Mine by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small

The beloved author-illustrator team of The Gardener and The Library brings us a new treasure in This Book of Mine, a sweet picture book that celebrates the power of reading and speaks of the ways in which books launch our adventures, give us comfort, challenge our imaginations, and offer us connection. From new mothers to fantasy lovers, butterfly hunters to musicians, the readers of This Book of Mine all share a common passion for favorite books―whether freshly discovered at the library or bookstore or saved from childhood and reread across a lifetime.

What are you reading these days? Let me know! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at KarinaBookRiot@gmail.com.

Until next time!
Karina

The Kids Are All Right

Graphic Nonfiction for Middle Grade Readers

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date March 20, 2020

Sponsored by Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby, now in paperback.

Now in paperback, this is a radiant debut about love and art, about growing up and coming out, and more than anything else, it is a story about love—both its limits and its incredible healing power. Sixth-grader Fig is sure it’s up to her alone to help her artist father who is struggling with his mental health. But with the help of her best friend, a cute girl at the library, and a surprisingly kind new neighbor, Fig learns she isn’t as alone as she once thought… and begins to compose her own definition of family.

Hi Kid Lit Friends!

We are living in a golden age of graphic novels, and one of my favorite sub-genres is nonfiction graphic novels. I have loved reading these books and think they are such an invaluable way to reach readers and instill a love of nonfiction in them. Here are some of my favorites; what are yours?

For middle grade readers (recommended for ages 8+):

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed (Dial, April 14, 2020)

Fans of Roller Girl and All’s Faire in Middle School will recognize Victoria Jamieson’s beautiful illustrations and clever writing. In this graphic novel collaboration, Victoria tells the story of Syrian refugee Omar Mohamed. As a child, Omar and his brother were separated from their family and grew up alone in a refugee camp in Syria. This book joins the many wonderful books written about refugees (the middle grade book A Long Walk to Water and the picture book Lubna’s Pebble are two of my favorites) yet adds something new to the conversation by chronicling Omar’s day-to-day life in the camp and his determination to take care of his brother and get an education. A must read – pre-order now!

Becoming RGB: Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s Journey to Justice by Debbie Levy, illustrated by Whitney Gardner

Not many Supreme Court justices can say that they have a nickname, but Ruth Bader Ginsberg is not just any Supreme Court Justice. Books have been written about her life, her childhood, and her work out routine. Now she has a graphic novel that chronicles her childhood as a shy little girl who later became someone who questioned unfairness, who became a student who persisted despite obstacles, who became an advocate who resisted injustice, who became a judge who revered the rule of law, who became…RBG.

Silent Days, Silent Dreams by Allen Say

While this book is the size of a typical picture book, the interior pages are formatted much like a comic and readers that are used to a graphic format will find this book easy to engage with. This book is a biography of James Castle, who was born two months premature on September 25, 1899, on a farm in Garden Valley, Idaho. He was deaf, mute, autistic, and probably dyslexic. He didn’t walk until he was four; he would never learn to speak, write, read, or use sign language. Yet, today Castle’s artwork hangs in major museums throughout the world. I loved all of the details in this book, especially the way James uses discarded materials to create his beautiful artwork.

For older middle grade readers (recommended for ages 10+, but please use your discretion!)

March Trilogy by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell

Most of you will be familiar with this collection of graphic memoirs which won the National Book Award a few years ago. My ten-year-old read it and loved it, but there is violence in here so it might be good to read in a group so various parts of the book can be discussed while reading. This memoir follows Congressman John Lewis, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper’s farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president.

Drawing From Memory by Allen Say

Like the other book mentioned above by Allen Say, this one is the size of typical picture book but the interior pages are formatted in a graphic format. This is Caldecott Medalist’s Allen Say’s memoir and the story of his path to becoming the renowned artist he is today. Shunned by his father, who didn’t understand his son’s artistic leanings, Allen was embraced by Noro Shinpei, Japan’s leading cartoonist and the man he came to love as his “spiritual father.” As WWII raged, Allen was further inspired to consider questions of his own heritage and the motivations of those around him.

Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier by Jim Ottaviani, illustrated by Maris Wicks

This is a new graphic nonfiction book by the collaborators who brought us Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas. Women on the Final Frontier chronicles the significant contributions of female astronauts, beginning with Valentina Tereshkova, a Soviet who was the first woman in space. It took years for the United States to catch up, but soon NASA’s first female astronauts were racing past milestones of their own. The trail-blazing women of Group 9, NASA’s first mixed gender class, had the challenging task of convincing the powers that be that a woman’s place is in space, but they discovered that NASA had plenty to learn about how to make space travel possible for everyone.

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Elsinger, Steven Scott, illustrated by Harmony Becker

Fans of Star Trek will recognize George Takei, but long before he braved new frontiers, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father’s — and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten “relocation centers,” hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard. They Called Us Enemy is Takei’s firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother’s hard choices, his father’s faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future. There are difficult parts of this book, so be mindful of that!

What are you reading these days? Let me know! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at KarinaBookRiot@gmail.com.

Until next time!
Karina

The Kids Are All Right

Food and Culture in Picture Books!

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date March 13, 2020

Sponsored by Don’t Check Out This Book! By Kate Klise & M. Sarah Klise, new from Algonquin Young Readers.

From the creators of the award-winning Three-Ring Rascals and 43 Old Cemetery Road series! Is the town of Appleton ripe for scandal? Appleton Elementary School has a new librarian named Rita B. Danjerous, but Principal Noah Memree barely remembers hiring her. Student Reid Durr is staying up late reading a book from Ms. Danjerous’s controversial “green dot” collection. Meanwhile, the new school board president mandates a student dress code that includes clothes only available at her shop. Appleton’s fifth-grade sleuths are following the money, embracing the punny, and determined to the get to the core of their town’s juiciest scandal.

Hi Kid Lit Friends!

I had such a fun time gathering middle grade books about food that I thought I would round up some picture books about food from a variety of cultures. I love food and am very interested in the origins and significance of foods from around the world, and these picture books are some of my absolute favorites.

Magic Ramen by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Kana Urbanowicz, is the story of when Momofuku Ando spotted the long lines for a simple bowl of ramen following World War II. Every day, Momofuku Ando would retire to his lab–a little shed in his backyard. For years, he’d dreamed about making a new kind of ramen noodle soup that was quick, convenient, and tasty for the hungry people he’d seen in line for a bowl on the black market following World War II. Peace follows from a full stomach, he believed. Day after day, Ando experimented. Night after night, he failed. But Ando kept experimenting.

You probably already know how much I love the book Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, given how much I’ve talked about it on this newsletter over the last year! This lovely book brings together the origins of fry bread, how it communicates community as well as the terrible history that led to its creation. This book both inspires and educates. Also, check out the end papers – they are beautiful!

Thank you, Omu! by Oge Mora is one of my favorite books. In this story, everyone in the neighborhood dreams of a taste of Omu’s delicious stew! One by one, they follow their noses toward the scrumptious scent. And one by one, Omu offers a portion of her meal. Soon the pot is empty. Has she been so generous that she has nothing left for herself?
An author’s note explains that “Omu” (pronounced AH-moo) means “queen” in the Igbo language of her parents, but growing up, she used it to mean “Grandma.”

Special food for new year is celebrated all over the world, and Freedom Soup by Tami Charles, illustrated by Jacqueline Alcantara, is about the special soup that Haitians all over the world eat to ring in the new year, a tradition dating back to the Haitian Revolution. This year, Ti Gran is teaching Belle how to make the soup — Freedom Soup — just like she was taught when she was a little girl. Together, they dance and clap as they prepare the holiday feast, and Ti Gran tells Belle about the history of the soup, the history of Belle’s family, and the history of Haiti, where Belle’s family is from.

I love the new picture book, Bilal Cooks Daal! by Aisha Saeed, illustrated by Anoosha Syed. Six-year-old Bilal is excited to help his dad make his favorite food of all-time: daal! The slow-cooked lentil dish from South Asia requires lots of ingredients and a whole lot of waiting. Bilal is so excited to share this food with his friends, and as the day goes on, the daal continues to simmer, and more kids join Bilal and his family, waiting to try the tasty dish. But as time passes, Bilal starts to worry about whether his friends will like it as much as he does.

If you want a fun read aloud, Bee-bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Ho Baek Lee is the book for you! Bee-bim bop (the name translates as “mix-mix rice”) is a traditional Korean dish of rice topped, and then mixed, with meat and vegetables. In bouncy rhyming text, a hungry child tells about helping her mother make bee-bim bop: shopping, preparing ingredients, setting the table, and finally sitting down with her family to enjoy a favorite meal. Young readers who aren’t familiar with the dish will recognize the pride that comes from helping Mama, the fun of mixing ingredients together in a bowl, and the pleasure of sharing delicious food. Includes the author’s own recipe.

Sometimes eating foods when they are unfamiliar to other people is hard, and this is beautifully addressed in The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin. In this story, a Chinese-American girl wishes for a garden of bright flowers instead of one full of bumpy, ugly, vegetables. The neighbors’ gardens look so much prettier and so much more inviting to the young gardener than the garden of “black-purple-green vines, fuzzy wrinkled leaves, prickly stems, and a few little yellow flowers” that she and her mother grow. Nevertheless, mother assures her that “these are better than flowers.” Come harvest time, everyone agrees as those ugly Chinese vegetables become the tastiest, most aromatic soup they have ever known. As the neighborhood comes together to share flowers and ugly vegetable soup, the young gardener learns that regardless of appearances, everything has its own beauty and purpose.

The new ¡Vamos! series by Raul the Third is wonderful, and the second book, Let’s Go Eat, comes out next month on April 2. Follow the adorable Little Lobo and his dog Bernabe as they deliver supplies to a variety of vendors, selling everything from sweets to sombreros, portraits to piñatas, carved masks to comic books! Each page is full of wonderful details to explore!

What are you reading these days? Let me know! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at KarinaBookRiot@gmail.com.

Until next time!
Karina

The Kids Are All Right

Magic Food in Middle Grade Books!

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date March 6, 2020

Sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.

April didn’t ask to go live in a big, creepy mansion with a bunch of orphans who just don’t understand that April isn’t like them. After all, April’s mother is coming back for her someday soon. All April has to do is find the clues her mother left inside the massive mansion. But Winterborne House is hiding more than one secret, so April and her friends are going to have to work together to unravel the riddle of a missing heir, a creepy legend, and a mysterious key before the only home they’ve ever known is lost to them forever.

Hi Kid Lit Friends,

I hope everyone is having a lovely Daylight Savings Day weekend with lots of sunshine, puppies, and dessert. I am heading home from Florida today, where I was doing book events at the Southwest Florida Reading Festival. It’s so sunny and warm here!

My ten-year-old daughter has been really into fantasy books lately, especially the Bliss series by Kathryn Littlewood. She read all three of the books in this series within a couple of days. In this middle grade book, Rose and her siblings are in charge of keeping the Cookery Booke, an ancient, leather-bound volume of enchanted recipes, locked away while their parents are out of town. But when Aunt Lily arrives and whips up delicious dishes for dinner, it makes Rose and her siblings want to experiment with just a couple of recipes from the forbidden Cookery Booke. There are three books in this series: check out A Dash of Magic and Bite-Sized Magic next!

Since she loved these books, I found some more books with magic food elements in the story for her. Love, Sugar, Magic is a wonderful series by Anna Meriano, illustrated by Mirelle Ortega. In the first book in the series, A Dash of Trouble, Leonora Logroño’s family owns the most beloved bakery in Rose Hill, Texas, spending their days conjuring delicious cookies and cakes for any occasion. And no occasion is more important than the annual Día de los Muertos festival. Leo hopes that this might be the year that she gets to help prepare for the big celebration, but once again she is told she’s too young. Sneaking out of school and down to the bakery, she discovers that her mother, aunt, and four older sisters have in fact been keeping a big secret: they’re brujas—witches of Mexican ancestry—who pour a little bit of sweet magic into everything that they bake. The series continues with A Sprinkle of Spirits and A Mixture of Mischief.

The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kat Saunders is a delightful middle grade book that is filled with magical chocolate and evil villains. Lily and Oz Spoffard have just inherited a magical house with a mysterious boarded-up chocolate shop on the ground floor. The twins’ great-great-uncles were famous chocolatiers, and their chocolate was ANYTHING but ordinary. In fact, it had magical properties. Now an evil gang is after the secret recipe, and it’s up to Lily and Oz to stop them. The fate of their family, and the world, depends on it. Also, that cat on the cover is everything.

Another magical middle grade is The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis. In this book, Aventurine is a brave young dragon ready to explore the world outside of her family’s mountain cave . . . if only they’d let her leave it. Her family thinks she’s too young to fly on her own, but she’s determined to prove them wrong by capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human. But when that human tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, she’s transformed into a puny human without any sharp teeth, fire breath, or claws. Still, she’s the fiercest creature in these mountains–and now she’s found her true passion: chocolate. Check out The Girl with a Dragon Heart next!

One of our favorite kinds of books are the ones that include recipes in it! A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff is one of them (our favorite recipe is Viv’s Fudge Cake, which is one of those delicious gooey chocolate center concoctions). In this magical world, eleven-year-old Cady is an orphan with a phenomenal talent for cake baking. But little does she know that fate has set her on a journey from the moment she was born. And her destiny leads her to a mysterious address that houses a lost luggage emporium, an old recipe, a family of children searching for their own Talents, and a Talent Thief who will alter her life forever.

I have one last book for you: The Magic Cake Shop by Meika Hashimoto, illustrated by Josee Masse. In this story, Emma Burblee is sent to spend the summer with her loathsome Uncle Simon. Although Emma’s days revolve around cooking and cleaning, there is one bright spot. Her uncle’s sweet tooth means she gets to visit the town bakery, Mr. Crackle’s Cake Shop, all the time. This world-renowned baker is as charming and kind as Uncle Simon is vile. But then Emma discovers a plot by Uncle Simon and one of his shady acquaintances; they’ve set their sights on ruining Mr. Crackle (and the entire dessert making industry for that matter). Can Emma stop their evil plan?

Around the web…

10 Middle Grade Graphic Novels for Fans of New Kid and Smile, via Book Riot

21 Fascinating and Fun Books Bilingual Children’s Books, via Book Riot

Q&A with Linda Sue Park, via Publisher’s Weekly

What are you reading these days? Let me know! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at KarinaBookRiot@gmail.com.

Until next time!
Karina

The Kids Are All Right

Children’s Books for Women’s History Month

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date February 28, 2020

Sponsored by The Paper Bag Princess: 40th Anniversary Edition, published by Annick Press.

When the fiercest dragon in the whole world smashes Princess Elizabeth’s castle, burns all her clothes, and captures her fiancé, Elizabeth takes matters into her own hands. With her wits alone and nothing but a paper bag to wear, the princess challenges the dragon in the hopes of saving the prince. But is it worth all that trouble? To mark The Paper Bag Princess’ 40th anniversary, Annick has created a deluxe hardcover with a beautiful dust jacket that converts into a bonus poster, plus commentary from renowned authors Francesca Segal and Chelsea Clinton, as well as Robert and Ann Munsch.

Hi Kid Lit Friends,

It’s March, and in two days it’s Super Tuesday for America (eep!). I hope that all of you who get to vote on Tuesday enjoy engaging in the American democratic process. Meanwhile, I would love to talk about incredible women for Women’s History Month today! There are a lot of wonderful anthologies of fantastic women out there, but here are some of my favorites:

In Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World, author/illustrator Vashti Harrison selects 35 women creators, ranging from writers to inventors, artists to scientists. Readers will meet trailblazing women like Mary Blair, an American modernist painter who had a major influence on how color was used in early animated films, actor/inventor Hedy Lamarr, environmental activist Wangari Maathai, architect Zaha Hadid, filmmaker Maya Deren, and physicist Chien-Shiung Wu. I love Vashti’s illustrations, which infuse each of the stories with hope.

What I love about Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World by Susan Hood is that it’s illustrated by various women illustrators, from Melissa Sweet to Sophie Blackall to Oge Mora and more. In this book of poems, you will find Mary Anning, who was just 13 when she unearthed a prehistoric fossil. You’ll meet Ruby Bridges, the brave six-year-old who helped end segregation in the South. And Maya Lin, who at 21 won a competition to create a war memorial, and then had to appear before Congress to defend her right to create.

I’m a big fan of Chelsea Clinton’s picture books, and one of my favorites is She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger. Throughout American history, there have always been women who have spoken out for what’s right, even when they have to fight to be heard. In early 2017, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s refusal to be silenced in the Senate inspired a spontaneous celebration of women who persevered in the face of adversity. In this book, Chelsea Clinton celebrates 13 American women who helped shape our country through their tenacity, sometimes through speaking out, sometimes by staying seated, sometimes by captivating an audience. They all certainly persisted.

Author Jamia Wilson and illustrator Andrea Pippins create a marvelous collection in Young, Gifted, and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past and Present. Written in the spirit of Nina Simone’s song “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black,” this vibrant book is a perfect introduction to both historic and present-day icons and heroes. Meet figureheads, leaders, and pioneers such as Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Rosa Parks, as well as cultural trailblazers and athletes like Stevie Wonder, Oprah Winfrey, and Serena Williams.

And finally, Herstory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook Up the World by Katherine Halligan, illustrated by Sarah Walsh, follow the stories of fifty powerhouse women from around the world and across time who each managed to change the world as they knew it forever. Telling the stories of their childhood, the challenges they faced, and the impact of their achievements, each illustrated spread is a celebration of girl power in its many forms. From astronauts to activists, musicians to mathematicians, these women are sure to motivate young readers of all backgrounds to focus not on the can’ts and shouldn’ts, but on what they can do: anything!

Around the web…

Witches, Robots, and Sea Sirens: New Middle Grade Graphic Novels and Comics, via Book Riot

When They Got the Call: PW Speaks with Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz Winners, via Publisher’s Weekly

What are you reading these days? Let me know! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at KarinaBookRiot@gmail.com.

Until next time!
Karina