Welcome to the Wonder House by Rebecca Kai Dotlich & Georgia Heard, illustrated by Deborah Freedman. WordSong/Astra Books for Young Readers, 2023. 9781635927627 Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4.5 Format: Hardcover What did you like about the book? The Wonder House is filled with wonders! Curiosity, Praise, Ordinary Things, Creatures, Nature, Science, Time, Place, Quiet,…

Garvey’s Choice: The Graphic Novel by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Theodore Taylor, III. Wordsong,  2023. 9781662660085 Rating:  1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4.5  Format: Paperback graphic novel Genre:  Realistic fiction  What did you like about the book? A very good graphic novel adaptation of a well- loved Nikki Grimes title, Garvey’s Choice. Both words and illustrations are…

Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford. Wordsong, 2007, 2023. 9781662660030 Rating:  1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5 Format: Paperback Genre: Historical fiction What did you like about the book? This fictionalized first person account of the September 15, 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama uses free verse and archival photographs to…

Thunder Underground by Jane Yolen (Poems), illustrated by Josee Masse. Wordsong, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, 2023. 9781662660054  Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4 Format: Paperback Genre: Poetry What did you like about the book? It’s very difficult to explore what is underground but Yolen and Masse do their best to illuminate the world deep beneath our feet.…

Catching a Storyfish by Janice N. Harrington. Wordsong, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, c2016, 2023. 9781662660078 Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5 Format: Paperback Novel-in-verse Genre: Realistic fiction What did you like about the book? Katharen (Keet) has just moved from Alabama with her parents and little brother to be closer to her Grandpa. We are not told…

If This Bird Had Pockets by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater,  illustrated by Emma J. Virján

If This Bird Had Pockets by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater,  illustrated by Emma J. Virján. Wordsong, 2022. 9781635923865 Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 3.5 Format: Hardcover picture book What did you like about the book?  In this celebration of Poem in Your Pocket Day, a little girl imagines that creatures throughout the animal kingdom have scribbled poems to carry around with…

Words With Wings by Nikki Grimes

Words With Wings by Nikki Grimes. Wordsong, c2013, 2022. 97801635924787 Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4 Format: Paperback Genre: Realistic fiction, novel-in-verse What did you like about the book?  In this re-issue of Grimes’s 2013 Coretta Scott King honor book, she uses free verse poetry to introduce readers to Gabby, a young girl who’s a daydreamer. Fall brings change…

Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes

Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes. Wordsong, c2019, 2022. 9781635925623 Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5+ Format: Paperback Genre: Realistic What did you like about the book? Ordinary Hazards Nikki Grimes’s in-verse memoir. She tells the story of her early childhood to adulthood and the distressing trials she had to undergo, from living with a schizophrenic mother and…