Shy Willow
Cat Min

If you hang around the bookstore long enough, you’ll notice our staff consistently falling in love with new picture books….pretty much every week. Shy Willow is one of our current favorites. Willow is a rabbit who lives in an abandoned mailbox. She’s a homebody and since her mailbox is no longer used by the post office, it’s a quiet life. One day however, someone drops a letter into Willow’s box. It’s a letter from a kid named Theo. The letter is addressed to the moon, asking for extra bright light the next night because it’s Theo’s mom’s birthday. Even though Willow would rather stay home, she sets out to deliver the letter to the moon. As you might imagine, there are challenges… I don’t want to give away too much, but this book is filled with perseverance and a little bit of magic. The illustrations, done in colored pencils, are stunningly colorful. It also reminded me that often, the best gifts we offer each other are moments like the one Theo is searching for, a night with an extra bright moon to shine on his mom.

Meesha Makes Friends
Tom Percival

The Most Beautiful Thing
Kao Kalia Yang

This book makes me think of my mom. She always tried to instill in us the need to be content and thankful for what we had. This book is a great reminder to be thankful!

Quill Soup
Alan Durant

What a beautiful retelling of the stone soup story! This book uses African animals as its characters. The lesson of sharing remind all of us of the joy that comes from sharing.