Author/Illustrator: Christopher Denise Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books Year: 2022
Publisher's Description: Since the day he hatched, Owl dreamed of becoming a real knight. He may not be the biggest or the strongest, but his sharp nocturnal instincts can help protect the castle, especially since many knights have recently gone missing.
While holding guard during Knight Night Watch, Owl is faced with the ultimate trial—a frightening intruder. It’s a daunting duel by any measure. But what Owl lacks in size, he makes up for in good ideas.
wolfboy
Author/Illustrator: Andy Harkness Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens Year: 2021
Publisher's Description: Wolfboy is hungry!
He's drooly and growly and fussy!
As he stomps through the forest looking for rabbits, he grows hungrier and growlier by the minute. What will happen if Wolfboy can't find those rabbits? And what will happen if he does?
HOPE AT SEA : AN ADVENTURE STORY
Author/Illustrator: Daniel Miyares Publisher: Anne Schwartz Books Year: 2021
Publisher's Description: Hope doesn’t only want to listen to her father’s stories about his voyages at sea, she wants to be part of those stories.
And so, unbeknownst to her parents, she stows away on her father's 19th-century merchant vessel. But look... The wind has picked up and the sky is darkening...
Could there be such a thing as an adventure that is too exciting?
Publisher's Description: When Grandma walks to her special garden, her granddaughters know to follow her there. Grandma invites the girls to explore her collection of treasures--magical rocks, crystals, seashells, and meteorites--to see what wonders they reveal.
"They are alive with wisdom," Grandma says. As her granddaughters look closely, the treasures spark the girls' imaginations. They find stories in the strength of rocks shaped by volcanoes, the cleansing power of beautiful crystals, the mystery of the sea that houses shells and shapes the environment, and the long journey meteorites took to find their way to Earth.
Publisher's Description: Have you ever heard of Gravity? No, not gravity, the centrifugal force pulling us to the Earth. I'm talking about Gravity--the greatest ball player to ever lace up a pair of sneakers.
Gravity is the new kid on the Hillside Projects basketball team, the Eagles. He once jumped so high that his teammates went out for ice cream before he came back down. With Gravity on their side, the Eagles feel unstoppable. They’re ready to win “The Best of the Best,” Milwaukee’s biggest and baddest pick-up basketball tournament. But when they face-off with the Flyers in the final round, the winningest team in the whole city, they realize that it may take a little more than Gravity to bring them to victory.
A SEED GROWS
Author/Illustrator: Antoinette Portis Publisher: Neil Porter Books Year: 2022
Publisher's Description: To understand how a seed becomes a sunflower, you have to peek beneath the soil and wait patiently as winding roots grow, a stalk inches out of the earth, and new seeds emerge among blooming petals.
"A seed falls, And settles into the ground, And the Sun shines, And the rain comes down, And the seed grows…"
Leading up to a striking fold-out spread of a full-grown sunflower, the lively, bold illustrations in A Seed Grows offer a close-up view of each step of the growth cycle.
Additional material in the back of the book explains the science of plant life cycles, and goes into more detail on the ways in which flowers and seeds depend on other creatures.
Publisher's Description: "I know big sisters. Zora, the boss, she's mine," explains Lee as he and Zora head to the library, where Mrs. C is teaching the children how to sew.
Though Zora sews a beautiful flower on her cloth square, little Lee makes a mess out of the half-moon he is trying to stitch. That night, when he can't sleep, he gives sewing another try...and succeeds, even mending the hole in his pants pocket! The next morning, he sneaks into Zora's room and sews the ear back on Bess, her stuffed bear. When Zora discovers Bess, she wraps Lee in her special big sister hug--for just a moment--and then is back to being the boss once again.
INVASION OF THE UNICORNS
Author/Illustrator: David Biedrzycki Illustrator: David Roberts Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing Year: 2021
Publisher's Description: Special Agent Bubble07 is undercover on planet Earth. His mission: to decide whether his team of alien unicorns should invade Earth.
Posing as a stuffed animal, he infiltrates the home of Earthling Daughter, where he puts up with dog slobber, tea parties, and show and tell.
Will the unicorn blow his cover and call for backup? Or will his alien heart be won over by storytime, snow days, and snuggles?
MINA by FORSYTHE, MATTHEW
Author/Illustrator: Matthew Forsythe Publisher: Simon & Schuster Year: 2022
Publisher's Description: Mina and her father live in a hollowed-out tree stump on the edge of a pond on the edge of a forest. Nothing ever bothers Mina, until one day, her father brings home a suspicious surprise from the woods.
Should Mina trust her father—or listen to her own instincts?
LISTEN : HOW EVELYN GLENNIE, A DEAF GIRL, CHANGED PERCUSSION
Publisher's Description: "No. You can't," people said. But Evelyn knew she could. She had found her own way to listen.
From the moment Evelyn Glennie heard her first note, music held her heart. She played the piano by ear at age eight, and the clarinet by age ten. But soon, the nerves in her ears began to deteriorate, and Evelyn was told that, as a deaf girl, she could never be a musician. What sounds Evelyn couldn’thear with her ears, though, she could feel resonate through her body as if she, herself, were a drum. And the music she created was extraordinary. Evelyn Glennie had learned how to listen in a new way. And soon, the world was listening too.