Spring. Flowers and bunnies. Baseball and hotdogs. National Library Week. National Poetry Month. Earth Day. Tax Day. And books—spring releases are here! From stories about eggs that don’t hatch to those that do, you won’t want to miss what’s coming for young readers. Keep your eyes out for our blog post on What’s Coming for Middle Grade and Teen Readers. Try the following new releases for readers ages PreK to Grade 6: ALEXANDER, Kwame. Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets. illus. by Ekua Holmes. 56p. Candlewick. 2017. ISBN 9780763680947. JLG Category: AE Arts Elementary (Grades 2-6). Out of gratitude for the poet’s art form, Newbery Award–winning author and poet Kwame Alexander, along with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth, present original poems that pay homage to twenty famed poets who have made the authors’ hearts sing and their minds wonder. ALPINE, Rachele. You Throw Like a Girl. 272p. Aladdin. 2017. ISBN 9781481459853. JLG Category: SE+ Sports Elementary (Grades 2-6). Meet Gabby, a girl torn between competing in a beauty pageant and playing on the boy’s baseball team. ARNOLD, Caroline. Hatching Chicks in Room 6. 40p. Charlesbridge. 2017. ISBN 9781580897358. JLG Category: NEK+ Nonfiction Elementary (Grades K-2). Follow a classroom of kindergartners as they learn about incubating eggs, watching them hatch, and raising the chicks. CHENG, Andrea. The Year of the Garden. illus. by Patrice Barton. 128p. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2017. ISBN 9780544664449. JLG Category: A+ Intermediate Readers Plus (Grades 3-5). When Anna is gifted a copy of The Secret Garden, it inspires her to follow her dreams—maybe she can plant ivy and purple crocuses and the birds will come. COOPER, Elisha. Big Cat, Little Cat. 40p. Roaring Brook. 2017. ISBN 9781626723719. JLG Category: K+ Kindergarten Plus (Grades K-1). There was a cat who lived alone. Until the day a new cat came . . . And so a story of friendship begins, following two cats through their days, months, and years until one day, the older cat has to go. And he doesn’t come back. 5 Starred Reviews ENGLE, Margarita. Bravo! Poems About Amazing Hispanics. illus. by Rafael López. 48p. Henry Holt. 2017. ISBN 9780805098761. JLG Category: MCE Multicultural Elementary (Grades 2-6). Bold, graphic portraits and beautiful poems present famous and lesser-known Latinos from varied backgrounds who faced life's challenges in creative ways. HENKES, Kevin. Egg. illus. by author. 40p. Greenwillow. 2017. ISBN 9780062408730. JLG Category: PK+ Prekindergarten Plus (Ages 2-5). Egg is a graphic novel for preschoolers about four eggs, one big surprise, and an unlikely friendship. 4 Starred Reviews HURWITZ, Johanna. Double or Nothing with the Two and Only Kelly Twins. illus. by Tuesday Mourning. 80p. Candlewick. 2017. ISBN 9780763688080. JLG Category: I+ Independent Readers Plus. (Grades 2-4). What’s the same about identical twins and what’s different? Sleepovers, poetry projects, and new haircuts are in play as seven-year-old Arlene and Ilene start coming into their own. MEISEL, Paul. My Awesome Summer, by P. Mantis. illus. by author. 32p. Holiday House. 2017. ISBN 9780823436712. JLG Category: NEK+ Nonfiction Elementary (Grades K-2). This is the summer diary of P. Mantis, one of the 150 praying mantis brothers and sisters born on a garden bush. NESBIT, Kenn. One Minute till Bedtime: 60-Second Poems to Send You off to Sleep. illus. by Christoph Niemann. 176p. Little, Brown. 2016. ISBN 9780316341219. JLG Category: K+ Kindergarten Plus (Grades K-1). When the busy day is drawing to a close and the whole family is ready for rest, take a minute for poetry and send your little one off to sleep. Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2016, Picture Books and NCTE Notable Poetry List 2017 SIDMAN, Joyce. Round. illus. by Taeeun Yoo. 32p. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. JLG Category: PK+ Prekindergarten Plus (Ages 2-5). Whimsical and imaginative, this poetic ode to all that is round and full of wonder inspires curiosity and wonder for this (round) little Earth we call home. SNYDER, Laurel.The Forever Garden. illus. by Samantha Cotterill. 40p. Schwartz & Wade. 2017. ISBN 9780553512748. JLG Category: CBE Character Building Elementary (Grades 2-6). Every day, Honey tends her garden, thinning the lettuces, pulling up beets, and even singing to the kale. (Honey says if you listen carefully, you can hear the kale singing back!) Laurel, the little girl who lives next door, likes to help, weeding the rows, washing vegetables under the pump, and gathering speckled eggs from the chicken coop. But one day there is a FOR SALE sign in Honey's front yard. Honey's mother is sick, and she is moving away! What will happen to Honey's garden? And what will Laurel do without her friend? WISSINGER, Tamera Will. Gone Camping: A Novel in Verse. illus. by Matthew Cordell. 112p. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2017. ISBN 9780544638730. JLG Category: A Intermediate Readers (Grades 3-5). Hiking in the great outdoors, catching fish, watching the stars come out at night—camping is fun—until it’s time to sleep. Pair this with her first book in the series, Gone Fishing. The books include ideas for how to teach the writing of poetry. WITTENSTEIN, Barry. Waiting for Pumpsie. illus. by London Ladd. 32p. Charlesbridge. 2017. ISBN 9781580895453. JLG Category: SE+ Sports Elementary (Grades 2-6). This fictional account of the true story of Pumpsie Green’s rise to the major leagues is a snapshot of the Civil Rights Movement and a great discussion starter about the state of race relations in the United States today. Here are egg-cellent resources, courtesy of The Horn Book: Ekua Holmes, illustrator of the Kwame Alexander book, was just on the Horn Book Podcast. Elisha Cooper: Here's Martha's Calling Caldecott post Kevin Henkes: He's so great, he has his own Horn Book tag. Ken Nesbitt: Q/A from recent Magazine
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