As winter turns to spring, young readers can consider the many new books out this month, including a picture book about a turtle convinced it’s a bear, a graphic novel following a tween with selective mutism, a YA novel about a daughter finding her estranged father, and more notable picks.

Picture Books and Early Readers

Afloat

Kirli Saunders, illus. by Freya Blackwood. Levine Querido, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-64614-507-2. Ages 4–8. This work by two Australian creators, Saunders—of Gunai heritage—and Blackwood, delves into themes of creating a future of balance and community with the natural world, while a slow, rhythmic tone and loose-lined illustrations emphasize saving what’s most important. The book received a starred review from PW.

Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa: Join the Quest with Peru’s Famed Scientist and Potato Expert

Sara Andrea Fajardo, illus. by Juana Martinez-Neal. Roaring Brook, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-2508-3861-2. Ages 4–8. This picture book biography traces the life of agronomist Alberto Salas and his journey questing for “the potatoes of the Americas.” The book received a starred review from PW.

Bearsuit Turtle Makes a Friend

Bob Shea. Abrams, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4197-7155-2. Ages 4–8. A battle of wills unfolds when a teal-colored turtle encounters a green turtle, sporting an oversize yellow bear suit, who coolly declares itself a “for-real bear.” The book received a starred review from PW.

Blake the Snake Bakes a Cake

Amy Young, illus. by Alison Young. Viking, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-5936-2174-5. Ages 3–5. In this story with high-energy slapstick, the eponymous protagonist faces a series of mishaps as he attempts to bake a cake. The book received a starred review from PW.

Book Comes Home: A Banned Book’s Journey

Rob Sanders, illus. by Micah Player. Random House, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-593-81368-3. Ages 5–8. Sanders and Player explore book banning from the perspective of a dog-eared library volume. The book received a starred review from PW.

Dear Bookstore

Emily Arrow, illus. by Geneviève Godbout. Candlewick, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-5362-1069-9. Ages 3–7. This unabashed love letter to independent bookstores traces the crucial role they play.

Downpour: Splish! Splash! Ker-Splash!

Yuko Ohnari and Koshiro Hata, trans. from the Japanese by Emily Balistrieri. Red Comet, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-63655-114-2. Ages 3–6. Making their English-language debut, married duo Ohnari and Hata tell the story of a young person’s encounter with a summer rainstorm. The book received a starred review from PW.

Every Peach Is a Story

David Mas Masumoto and Nikiko Masumoto, illus. by Lauren Tamaki. Abrams, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-9494-8029-0. Ages 4–8. Three generations of a Japanese American family pass down embodied wisdom in this tender seasonal tale authored by a father-daughter team. The book received a starred review from PW.

Faith Takes the Train

Kesi Augustine, illus. by Mokshini. HarperCollins, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-325134-2. Ages 4–8. Writing moment-by-moment, and paying close attention to physical sensations and perceptions, Augustine captures a child reacting mindfully to a request that others ignore. The book received a starred review from PW.

Home

Matt de la Peña, illus. by Loren Long. Putnam, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-593-11089-8. Ages 4–8. The creators of Love tell a moving story about cultivating home in different places—one that leans into themes of healing, resilience, and finding center. The book received a starred review from PW.

Magic in a Drop of Water: How Ruth Patrick Taught the World About Water Pollution

Julie Winterbottom, illus. by Susan Reagan. Rocky Pond, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-593-62022-9. Winterbottom spotlights oft-overlooked aquatic ecologist Ruth Patrick in this eye-opening book, which considers the origins of Patrick’s scientific work and lauds her pivotal role in the study of biodiversity as a gauge of ecosystem health. Ages 6–9. The book received a starred review from PW.

Mural Island

Katie Yamasaki. Norton, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-324-05392-7. Ages 4–8. Kengi loves to draw in unconventional places, but soon discovers Mural Island—where the walls are just for painting. See our story on Yamasaki and other multidisciplinary picture book artists.

Our Lake

Angie Kang. Kokila, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-593-69823-5. Ages 4–8. Kang debuts with a deeply felt story about siblings returning to a cherished place, a lake where their father once swam. The book received a starred review from PW.

Papilio

Ben Clanton, Corey R. Tabor, and Andy Chou Musser. Viking, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-5936-9325-4. Ages 3–7. Three friends and creators depict the three stages of a black swallowtail’s life—caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly—in this playful, punny collaboration. The book received a starred review from PW.

The Peanut Man

Carmen Agra Deedy, illus. by Raúl Colón. Peachtree/Quinlin, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-68263-568-1. Ages 4–8. Drawing from personal memories of her childhood immigration journey, per an afterword, Agra Deedy kicks off this relational telling focusing on the friendship between a child, Coqui, and Emilio, the peanut man of Old Havana. See our In Conversation with Agra Deedy and Colón on the story’s roots. The book received a starred review from PW.

Pop! Goes the Nursery Rhyme

Betsy Bird, illus. by Andrea Tsurumi. Union Square, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-4549-6046-1. Ages 3–5. Bird and Tsurumi imagine the giggly-good havoc wrought by ending myriad nursery rhymes with “POP! Goes the Weasel.” The book received a starred review from PW.

Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave

Drew Beckmeyer. Atheneum, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-66592-663-8. Ages 4–8. Beckmeyer views the history of life on Earth from within a cave, via a conversation between a stalactite and stalagmite. The book received a starred review from PW.

When a Tree Falls: Nurse Logs and Their Incredible Forest Power

Kirsten Pendreigh, illus. by Elke Boschinger. Chronicle, $18.99 (44p) ISBN 978-1-79721-867-0. Ages 6–9. Nurse logs receive much-deserved appreciation in this poetic profile by Pendreigh and Boschinger, which highlights the majestic afterlife of fallen trees. The book received a starred review from PW.

Middle Grade

Isle of Ever

Jen Calonita. Sourcebooks, $16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-7282-7703-5. Ages 10–13. Benny is likely to inherit millions from her ancestor Evelyn Terry, but only if Benny can solve a mystery using clues left by Evelyn. The book received a starred review from PW.

Okchundang Candy

Jung-Soon Go, trans. from the Korean by Aerin Park. Levine Querido, $21.99 (128p) ISBN 978-1-6461-4514-0. Ages 10–14. A child’s unconditional love for their tender, quirky grandparents pivots into a bittersweet coming-of-age narrative in Go’s delicate and raw autobiographical tale. The book received a starred review from PW.

Right Back at You

Carolyn Mackler. Scholastic Press, $17.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-338-73421-8. Ages 9–12. When Mason starts dropping letters in his closet and finding responses from Talia, who lives in 1978, the two form a friendship and find the courage to face interpersonal challenges. See our q&a with Mackler.

Speechless

Aron Nels Steinke. Graphix, $24.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-338-84933-2; $14.99 paper ISBN 978-1-338-84932-5. 8–12. Jewish sixth grader Mira, who lives with selective mutism, struggles with bullying and new friendships ahead of a class presentation. The book received a starred review from PW.

The Strongest Heart

Saadia Faruqi. Quill Tree, $19.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-0631-1585-9. Ages 8–12. Thirteen-year-old Mohammed Mirza pretends he doesn’t care about anything, but struggles with his unemployed Pakistani American father’s untreated paranoid schizophrenia. The book received a starred review from PW.

A Study in Secrets (Last Chance Academy #1)

Debbi Michiko Florence. Aladdin, $17.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-6659-5047-3. Ages 8–12. Japanese American seventh grader Megumi Mizuno is enrolled at a strict, exclusive academy, where she is forced to work with her new classmates to participate in an illicit treasure hunt. The book received a starred review from PW.

The Trouble with Sunshine

Yamile Saied Méndez. Scholastic Press, $19.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-546-12274-6. Ages 9–12. In a heartfelt novel about adapting and overcoming personal challenges, Méndez spotlights the camaraderie to be found in difference and the joys one discovers while learning to fit in. The book received a starred review from PW.

Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen

James Robinson, illus. by Brian Rea. Penguin Workshop, $18.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-593-52395-7. Ages 10 and up. Filmmaker Robinson crafts an accessible and immersive account of growing up with strabismus, a condition of eye misalignment that causes difficulties with tracking objects, depth perception, and reading. The book received a starred review from PW.

Young Adult

Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers’ Rights

Edited by Ashley Hope Pérez, illus. by Debbie Fong. Holiday House, $19.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-823-45830-1. Ages 12 and up. Featuring 15 authors and illustrators, including Nikki Grimes, Kyle Lukoff, and Traci Sorell, this necessary anthology—comprising fiction, memoir, poetry, comics, essays, and more—equips teens with resources to rally against book bans and defend their freedom to read. See our q&a with Pérez. The book received a starred review from PW.

A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe

Mahogany L. Browne. Crown, $19.99 (160p) ISBN 978-0-593-48647-4. Ages 12 and up. Poet Browne delivers a mournful remembrance of those who died during the pandemic in this love letter to New York City and its resilient teen population as they adjust to a changed world. See our q&a with the author. The book received a starred review from PW.

The Corruption of Hollis Brown

K. Ancrum. HarperCollins, $19.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-06328-583-5. Ages 13 and up. After Hollis is wrongfully accused of inflicting severe, mysterious injuries on a classmate, he strikes a deal with an apparent unhoused teen who offers to help Hollis, but realizes he’s been tricked when he’s possessed by Walt, a spirit that takes over his life and body and banishes Hollis to the recesses of his own mind. The book received a starred review from PW.

I Am the Swarm

Hayley Chewins. Viking, $19.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-593-62386-2. Ages 14 and up. Nell Strand manifests her matrilineal magic in the form of yellow ladybugs, but in dealing with the stress of her family dynamic as well as unwanted attention from her piano teacher, Nell learns that she conjures other creatures as well. The book received a starred review from PW.

Kirby’s Lessons for Falling (in Love)

Laura Gao. HarperAlley, $26.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-306780-6; $18.99 paper ISBN 978-0-06-306779-0. Ages 14 and up. High school sophomore Kirby Tan finds herself falling for new newspaper coeditor, forcing her to confront her guilt surrounding her queer identity. The book received a starred review from PW.

A Song for You and I

K. O’Neill. Random House Graphic, $21.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-593-18231-4; $13.99 paper ISBN 978-0-593-18230-7. Ages 10 and up. O’Neill crafts a pastoral fantasy exploring gender identity and what it means to be one’s true self in this tender graphic novel. The book received a starred review from PW.

To Steal from Thieves

M.K. Lobb. Little, Brown, $19.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-316575-48-5. Ages 14 and up. Zaria, who is left struggling with debt after the death of her father, encounters con artist Kane and uses her alchemological talents to help him steal a famous necklace from the Great Exhibition for his terrifying boss. The book received a starred review from PW.

Strange Bedfellows

Ariel Slamet Ries. HarperAlley, $26.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-315809-2; $18.99 paper ISBN 978-0-06-315808-5. Ages 13 and up. Transgender teen Oberon discovers his newly awakened ability to conjure his own dreams when he manifests his crush Kon, who helps Oberon control his powers. The book received a starred review from PW.

True Life in Uncanny Valley

Deb Caletti. Labyrinth Road, $19.99 (416p) ISBN 978-0-593-70861-3. Ages 14 and up. Assuming a false identity, Eleanor Diamond applies for—and gets—a summer nanny gig for her estranged father Hugo Harrison, a famed inventor, hoping to use it to uncover more about the family she never knew and the life she never had. The book received a starred review from PW.

When the Bones Sing

Ginny Myers Sain. Putnam, $19.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-593-62548-4. Ages 14 and up. Dovie, who is able to hear the bones of the deceased sing after burial, begins to unravel the mystery behind a string of disappearances with the help of her newly returned best friend. The book received a starred review from PW.

When We Ride

Rex Ogle. Norton, $18.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-3240-5282-1. Ages 14 and up. In this heartbreaking verse novel, Ogle delivers an affecting portrait of two “ride or die” friends in dire circumstances for whom the phrase becomes scarily literal. The book received a starred review from PW.

Articles: popular themes in children's literature, 2025

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