Picture Books
■ An American Story Kwame Alexander, illus. by Dare Coulter (Little, Brown) “How do you tell a story/ that starts in Africa/ and ends in horror?” Alexander asks, launching this compassionate picture book about communicating difficult truths regarding chattel slavery. Alternating between Coulter’s elaborately sculpted historical scenes and charcoal vignettes of a contemporary classroom, the work converges into a cohesive telling that suggests a route forward: “holding/ history/ in one hand/ and clenching/ hope/ in the other.”
■ Ancestory: The Mystery and Majesty of Ancient Cave Art
Hannah Salyer (Clarion)
“The lives of our ancestors were filled with difficulties and danger,” explains this visually stunning global survey of cave and rock art, “and yet... they took the time to create.” Salyer magnificently reimagines the artistic “time capsules,” detailing symbols used, now-extinct animals depicted, site specifics, and connections to Indigenous communities, making for a fascinating look at a still-unfurling human history.
■ Ancient Night
David Álvarez, with David Bowles (Levine Querido) In this absorbing variation on several Mesoamerican stories, Earth’s firmament is lit every evening by Rabbit, who fills the moon with “precious, glowing nectar” aguamiel. But when crafty Opossum steals the aguamiel, the orb loses its radiance, and Opossum must find a way to illuminate the world. Bowles’s unhurried lines and Álvarez’s saturated digitized paintings make for a luminous telling with an enduring feel.
■ Before, Now
Daniel Salmieri (Rocky Pond)
Salmieri uses the concept of opposites to follow a young maturing protagonist, initially “a small person in a big chair” who eats “squishy oatmeal in a hard bowl,” in this contemplative picture book. Via a quiet narrative voice and burnished colored pencil illustrations, the pages note patterns as the child grows, building into a moving intergenerational view that considers how moments can echo and recur.
■ Big Vashti Harrison (Little, Brown) Deceptively simple text emphasizes the affirming message present throughout Harrison’s empowering ode to self-love, which begins with a smiling baby who has a “big laugh and a big heart/ and very big dreams.” In images set against dreamy pastelhued backdrops, the happy infant grows into a girl who, when faced with cruelty about her size, reminds herself that “she was good.”
■ Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers?
Junauda Petrus, illus. by Kristen Uroda (Dutton)
Via jewel-bright illustrations, Uroda winningly interprets Petrus’s poetic vision of grandmothers as peacekeepers who drive “badass” classic cars and play “old-school jams.” Lush and celebratory, this moving depiction of a precinct-free world overseen by elders “comfortable in loving fiercely” offers a radiant meditation on intergenerational bonds and community care.
■ Do You Remember?
Sydney Smith (Holiday House/Porter) In a loving familial portrait, an adult and child take refuge in shared remembrances, rendered in crystalline dialogue and light-filled vignettes by Smith. Offering glimpses into the duo’s past en route to a final reveal, this steadily paced exploration of life’s change envisions tender intentionality around the process of memory-making.
■ Eclipse
Andy Rash (Scholastic Press)
Rash combines bold cartooning with countdown-style storytelling in this meaningfully starry-eyed view of an eclipse. After a child narrator learns that there will be a total solar eclipse, the narrative details planning steps leading up to the event’s viewing, and beyond. It’s a breathtakingly momentby-moment work about looking forward to, experiencing, and reminiscing about a singular occasion—and more to come.