Elephants and etiquette are a fresh combination in the world of picture books. This unlikely pairing lends liveliness and interest to Levitin’s newest picture book, a descriptive guide to proper party behavior. A girl receives an... Read More

Beginning with a long flexible tail grasping a fruit on its cover, here’s a book where “ends” come first. Originally published in Japan under the title How Animal Tails Work, this vividly illustrated book challenges the reader to... Read More

The old bear has danced the kookamonga one too many times. Bear’s heady existence as the best friend of a small girl is one that most families will recognize. A child’s best baby, best quilt, or best bear are the ones most likely to... Read More

The Greeks called them “amphibia,” meaning, “living two lives.” Visitors to wetland areas are familiar with frogs, toads, and salamanders, which begin their lives in the water and move to land as adults, and kids have always been... Read More

Uncertainty in love threatens the foundation of many dream houses. In her debut short story collection, Bean leaves the back door open allowing a glimpse into the domestic lives of her Midwestern teachers, students, and academics. A... Read More

A distinctive voice speaks throughout this generous offering of poems. A thousand people could cry out from the streets, but Komunyakaa’s voice would be the one heard. His voice is immediately recognizable due to its subjects and to an... Read More

Like the turning of carefully synchronized gears, like the tinkling orchestrations of an antique music box, Karp’s book makes music. And like one of the minor characters, a street kid named Jitters who has a bizarre neurological... Read More

Huu Tri was a young lieutenant serving in the South Vietnamese army when Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese in 1975. As an employee of the “Old Government,” he and others like him were viewed as a threat to the incoming communist... Read More