What is the most important thing to remember about stargazing? When to do it, who to do it with, what to look for? It's none of those! This picture book's spare, lyrical text offers many possible ways to do stargazing: with a friend, with family, or alone; on a moonless night, or with a full moon, or even with some clouds; on the beach, lying in the grass, or standing on a snowy hill. There is only one rule of stargazing, which is saved for the end, and that is just to do it! Magical illustrations show polar bears, whales, and other animals stargazing too, and in the final illustration, diverse kids and animals gaze at the night sky together. Back matter about the constellations completes this bedtime story with its underlying message of love and respect for nature.

The Thing to Remember about Stargazing

Children's Books

Esenwine, Matt Forrest

Science, Nature & How It Works

Tilbury House, Publishers

Once upon another time, 
the world was young and new. 
If you want to know this world, 
there's something you can do...With sweeping landscapes and up-close details of the natural world, Once Upon Another Time takes readers through a lyrical exploration of the world as it was before humans made their mark. Contrasting the past with the present, this expansive picture book serves as a warm invitation for children--and all people--to appreciate, explore, and protect the magic and wonder of this planet we call home. 
Written by award-winning authors Charles Ghigna and Matt Forrest Esenwine, and illustrated by Andrés F. Landazábal, Once Upon Another Time is a stunning portrait of a world that used to exist, and can still be found--if you just know where to look.\nFrom School Library Journal\nK-Gr 2—The authors use playful rhyme and sweeping landscapes to remind readers about a time "before one human step" was taken. Each outdoor scene depicts the best of each season. Landazábal's artwork teems with abundant wildlife, pristine bodies of water, and clear skies. These "another time" pictures are contrasted with views of a modern city and the airport and towers that surround it. Skyscrapers and busy roads replace any kind of greenery in the city center. Halfway through the book, an illustration with dinosaur fossils shows the two time periods coexisting, and then segues into ways children can experience the richness of these earlier times. The suggestions (e.g., to breathe in the same air the dinosaurs breathed, to play in puddles, to put down screens and look up at the clouds) are active, mindful, and free activities that focus on difference senses. They include activities that can be done alone or with family and friends. VERDICT For Earth Day shelves, but all year around. It's a near-perfect way to remind children of all their planet has to offer.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake P.L., Alta.

Once Upon Another Time

Ghigna, Charles

Literature & Fiction

Beaming Books

Being a human is a lot of work! Thankfully, humans experience many of the same feelings, situations, and challenges, so we don't have to figure it all out on our own--we can help each other navigate the ups and downs. Full of humor and heart, this engaging guide inspires kids to be humans who are kind, empathetic, and thoughtful. No matter what our day brings, we can choose to practice self-control, compassion, and forgiveness. Don't worry, young human, it's okay to make some mistakes along the way--just remember that it's love that keeps us all afloat at the end of the day.

A Beginner's Guide to Being Human

Humor

Don't Ask a Dinosaur is about a party that goes wildly awry when a pack of dinosaurs with very unique physical attributes attempt to help set up. Written in a masterfully-executed rhyme, the book presents a cavalcade of lesser-known dinos and pairs their odd characteristics with little tasks that are hilariously impossible because of those features. "Don't ask Deinocheirus to set the forks and spoons," because his hands were enormous, "Therizinosaurus cannot blow up balloons," because he had very long claws. In the end they find the one thing everyone can help do is to blow out the candles on the cake...but will it create yet another mess?

Don't Ask a Dinosaur

Bruss, Deborah

Animals

POW! Kids Books

A young girl realizes that she doesn’t have to wait until she’s grown-up to stand up for what is right and make a big impact.\nWhile playing on the beach in her coastal town, a young girl comes across a sea turtle ensnared by a wire. Her town is home to a factory that has provided jobs for many of her neighbors, including her mother, but it has also been dumping garbage from a pipe into the waters, threatening the creatures that live in them.\nChildren are used to being asked what they’ll do and be when they grow up, but the girl knows there is so much she can do today to help. Unable to forget the sight of the struggling turtle, with a fantastic act she inspires the townspeople to compel the factory to change its destructive ways.\nWritten in spare and evocative poetry, I Am Today is an empowering story for children who want to be the change the world needs.

I Am Today

Flashlight Night is an ode to the power of imagination and the wonder of books. Three children use a flashlight to light a path around their backyard at night; in the flashlight’s beam another world looms. Our heroes encounter spooky woods, a fearsome tiger, a time-forgotten tomb, an Egyptian god, a sword-fighting pirate, and a giant squid. With ingenuity, they vanquish all, then return to their tree house—braver, closer, and wiser than before—to read the books that inspired their adventure.

Flashlight Night

Action & Adventure

Astra Young Readers

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