As a writer of children’s books, I have the great privilege of occasionally visiting schools and talking to students about writing and storytelling. The younger students are always excited to see me. They raise their hands and tell me about their pets or their birthday parties or the stories they’re thinking of writing themselves. The older students can be more reserved, more skeptical. Maybe they’re “not really a reader,” or maybe reading is difficult for them, or scary, or deeply uncool.
But I begin each visit by reading aloud, no matter how old my audience might be, and by the time I’ve reached the bottom of the first page, those kids are with me. The adults in the room are with me, too. That’s not because of anything particularly magical about my book, to be clear, but because storytelling itself is a wonderous act. And if we’re given the chance to encounter that kind of wonder, we are never too old, too scared, or too cynical to enjoy it.
Whether the young readers in your life are passionate, jaded, or “not really a reader” at all, I hope you’ll keep reading to them, passing along titles you think they might enjoy, and giving them opportunities to find their way into a good book. The new releases I’m recommending this month span a wide range of genres and topics, but readers will encounter wonderous storytelling in each one.
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Rebecca Stead, Anything
Illustrated by Gracey Zhang
(Chronicle, April 29)
Recommended for ages 3-5
I was excited to learn that beloved middle grade author Rebecca Stead has written her first picture book, and even more excited to learn it’s illustrated by Gracey Zhang, whose work I loved in last year’s Caldecott Honor book Noodles on a Bicycle. Stead and Zhang’s collaboration, Anything, is thoughtful and warm: When a child and their dad move into Apartment 3B, the dad lets the child make a wish on a birthday candle and says they can wish for “anything.” The child “can wish for very hard things,” though—a rainbow, a huge slice of pizza, and especially a return to the home they love and miss. Zhang’s illustrations begin as mostly black-and-white line art, but the images start to fill with color as the characters make Apartment 3B their own.
Nikki Grimes, A Cup of Quiet
llustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson
(Bloomsbury, April 15)
Recommended for ages 3-6
Award-winning writer Nikki Grimes teams up with illustrator Cathy Ann Johnson for a cheerful celebration of small moments, hushed noises, and the quietly powerful love that a child and her grandmother share. When she visits her grandparents’ house each June, a little girl loves putting on puppet shows, baking banana bread, and playing tea party, but when Grandma says she’s “just thirsty for / a cup of quiet,” her granddaughter fills up an invisible cup with bee buzz, lizard scuttle, and the sound of soft wind so Grandma can have a sip. Kids will enjoy watching the cup of quiet grow and imagining what other tiny noises they might be able to collect with a caregiver they love.
Jane Kurtz, Clara the Triumphant Rhinoceros: A True Story
Illustrated by Claire Messer
(Beach Lane Books, April 8)
Recommended for ages 4-8
Young animal lovers will learn a lot from this nonfiction picture book about Clara, a rhinoceros who became an international sensation. Born in India in the 1700s and orphaned at a young age, Clara eventually found herself in the care of a Dutch sea captain who decided to bring her to Europe and show her off as a scientific wonder. Since few Europeans had seen a rhinoceros before, many of them held misconceptions about Clara and her kind, but Clara’s Grand Tour encouraged people to use tools of science, art, and compassion to begin thinking differently about large animals. In a thoughtful endnote, author Jane Kurtz acknowledges the ethical concerns that Clara’s story may raise for modern readers and shares information about ongoing efforts to protect rhinoceros species from extinction.
Greg Pizzoli, Earl & Worm: The Bad Idea and Other Stories (Earl & Worm #1)
(Knopf, April 1)
Recommended for ages 4-8
Plenty of early reader series feature two animal characters who become fast friends despite their differences… but for Earl (an owl) and Worm (a worm), there are a lot of differences. When cheery extrovert Earl moves into the treehouse next door to Worm’s apple, Worm is skeptical. She does not like change. She wants to drink tea and read her book in peace without anyone playing music outside, or coming over to borrow some sugar, or stealing her home décor ideas, or composing bad rhymes. But Earl is sweet and persistent, and it’s a joy to watch these two unlikely friends begin to understand each other. Greg Pizzoli’s text and artwork are both genuinely funny; I dare you not to laugh at the sight of a cranky worm holding a glass of lemonade with her tail. Two more Earl & Worm books will publish later this year.
Rachel Chivers Khoo, The Magician Next Door
illustrated by Alice McKinley
(Candlewick, April 22)
Recommended for ages 7-10
The Magician Next Door is the second middle grade novel from UK author Rachel Chivers Khoo, and like last year’s The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice, it’s full of magical fun. Callie has just moved from London to Northern Ireland with her dad, but she misses her friends and the home she’s always known. Still, her new part of the world isn’t as quiet as it first appears. When a magician named Winnifred crashes her traveling house into Callie’s garden, Callie and her neighbor Sam find themselves launched into a kid-friendly adventure. With illustrations aplenty, this would be a great choice for a newly confident reader or a family readaloud.
Betty C. Tang, Outsider Kids (Parachute Kids #2)
(Graphix, April 15)
Recommended for ages 9-12
Author and illustrator Betty C. Tang grew up as a “parachute kid,” a child whose parents send them to live by themselves in a foreign country where they may have a chance at a safer, happier future. The characters in Tang’s fascinating graphic novels are parachute kids, too: In 1981, ten-year-old Feng-Li and her older brother and sister arrive in California and have to make a life for themselves while their parents remain in Taiwan. The three kids navigate school, friendships, romance, and learning a new language along with the complexities of being undocumented young people on their own. Outsider Kids, the second in Tang’s ongoing series, can be read as a standalone work, but I think most readers will want to check out the opening entry, Parachute Kids, as well.
Jonathan Auxier, The War of the Maps (The Vanished Kingdom #3)
(Amulet Books, April 29)
Recommended for ages 10-14
Jonathan Auxier returns to the world of Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes and Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard with another fantasy adventure that asks big philosophical questions and revels in small moments of storytelling magic. Peter and Sophie’s kingdom of Hazelport has always been full of enchantments, but now strange mapmakers have arrived in the kingdom with measuring tools that seem capable of transforming the miraculous into the explicable, and the children begin to wonder about truths they used to accept without question. I’d encourage readers new to the series to start their journey with the first two novels, reissued in fresh paperback editions this month. To longtime fans, The War of the Maps will feel like a welcome reunion with an old friend.
Tricia Springstubb, How to Tell a True Story
(Margaret Ferguson Books, April 1)
Recommended for ages 12-14
Amber Price’s older brother, Gage, saved her life. That’s how the story goes. When Amber is trapped inside her family’s burning home, it’s Gage who struggles through the smoke to rescue her, suffering serious burns in the process. The devastating fire becomes a story their entire town can’t stop talking about: Gage is a hero, Amber is suddenly popular, and friends and neighbors want to honor the Price family at a special event. But Amber holds a few secret truths from the night of the fire that aren’t part of the official story—and even she doesn’t know everything. In emotionally authentic prose, Tricia Springstubb asks readers to consider complex questions of love, loyalty, and what it means to tell the truth.
Barb Rosenstock, American Spirits: The Famous Fox Sisters and the Mysterious Fad that Haunted a Nation
(Calkins Creek, April 15)
Recommended for ages 12 and up
I have a long-standing interest in magical fads and frauds (I once tried to convince my elementary school classmates to chip in for an order of flying witches’ brooms), so when I heard about American Spirits, I asked for a copy on the spot. This well-researched and wonderfully readable work of nonfiction tells the story of sisters Maggie, Kate, and Leah Fox, who claimed to be able to communicate with the spirit world. By holding “circles,” or what we now call séances, the Fox sisters convinced followers from all parts of society of their supernatural gifts. As she tells the sisters’ story, author Barb Rosenstock provides some broader historical context and explores how reasonable people come to hold unlikely beliefs—a topic as relevant today as it was in 19th century America.
Katie Bayerl, What Comes After
(Nancy Paulsen Books, April 29)
Recommended for ages 12 and up
When 16-year-old Mari dies unexpectedly, she’s surprised to wake up in a suburban-coded purgatory where secular souls go to self-improvement classes and follow wellness-inspired routines in order to earn enough points and good vibes to ascend to the mysterious Ever After. Mari’s not thrilled to be there with her mom, who’s just as hard to coexist with in death as she was in life. And readers may start to suspect that there’s something a little unsettling about Paradise Gate. What Comes After is described as perfect for fans of The Good Place, and I think the comparison’s apt: Like the TV show, it tackles questions about how we live our lives (and our afterlives) with creativity, wisdom, and humor.