A Different Pond
Bao Phi
illustrated by Thi Bui

This a children’s picture book with a story that is quiet and gentle. In Minneapolis, a young boy is awakened by his father before dawn to go fishing. They stop to buy minnows, and when they reach the pond, the boy gathers sticks for a small fire to warm their hands. As they fish, the father tells the son he fished with his brother at a similar pond in Vietnam. Father and son return home with a bucketful of fish just as the sun rises. The boy is proud—he successfully built a fire and helped catch fish for the evening meal. In the Author’s Note, Bao Phi, whose family came to Minnesota as refugees from Vietnam, says he has written the story to honor the struggles of his parents, and to acknowledge the history which was a part of their lives. Bao Phi is an author, a community organizer, and a father.

—Sally

Cancer Hates Kisses
Jessica Reid Sliwerski
illustrated by Mika Song

Jessoce Sliwerski was diagnosed with breast cancer soon after the birth of her daughter. She says, “I wrote this book to give families touched by cancer an empowering way to speak to children about the disease while also providing children with a mechanism for supporting their loved one through a difficult time.” The book is positive, upbeat, and straight forward. It will be a helpful book for families dealing with cancer.

—Sally

Found Dogs
Erica Sirotich

What a cute counting book! It’s complete with counting rhymes and illustrations of darling dogs. Great for learning numbers and just plain fun!

—Ann

The Cranky Caterpillar
Ricahrd Graham

Music! A curmudgeon! A big-hearted friend! And… a wonderful change—all in this book.

—Jen

Little i
Michael Hall

If anyone cared to add up how many times I’ve said, “I have a new favorite picture book!”, well, it would be a lot of favorite picture books. And here’s a new one, a new favorite! Little i lost its dot. Now it looks like a number instead of a letter. Friends of i, the letters s, t, r, a, n, g, and e point out that this is strange. So little i sets off to find the missing dot. Little i encounters all sorts of things (exclamation points and commas, for example!). The story and text of this book is clever and charming. The artwork is beautiful and different. The ending of the book is unexpected and wonderful (and I won’t ruin it for you.) This would make a great read-aloud book either for storytime or bedtime – I can imagine kids reading along the letters spelling out words. I highly recommend this new favorite!

—Jen