Rats to the Rescue (Millbrook Press) by Scott Riley and Sambat Meas, illustrated by Huy Voun Lee is getting noticed! It is a Junior Library Guild Selection, A CCBC Choices book, and now a 2026 Towner Award nominated book. The Towner Award is the Washington state award for nonfiction picture books written for 2nd-6th grade students. In the spring, all Washington State students in public and independent schools, from second through sixth grades, are invited to vote for their favorite book if they have listened to or read a minimum of two titles. Student votes can be submitted by school and public librarians only. In addition, we will recognize an Educators’ Choice. This is your chance to share with other educators which book you found most useful in the classroom. Learn more about it here Get the book here
Some of Us (Christy Ottaviano Books) by Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Huy Voun Lee has been garnering praise! A starred review from Kirkus calls the book a moving and captivating civics lesson, while another starred review from Publishers Weekly says the book is an elegantly limned work about US citizenship. A glowing review from Booklist says of the illustrations These scenes provide windows and mirrors for young readers and subtly reinforce the text’s message that immigrants enrich the cultural fabric of the nation. Congratulations Huy!
Claudette Colvin: I Want Freedom Now! (FSG) by Claudette Colvin and Phillip Hoose; illustrated by Bea Jackson has been named as one of four contenders for the 2025 Irma Black Award. Over the next few months, thousands of children in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the United Arab Emirates will vote for the gold medalist. The winner will be announced in School Library Journal in early May. Learn more here. Additionally, the book has been selected as a 2025 Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts. The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance (NCBLA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting literacy and recognizing outstanding children’s literature. Each year, the NCBLA awards committee recognizes 30 books of enduring quality that deal explicitly with language, demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style, and/or invite child response or participation. Learn more here
A VOICE OF HOPE: THE MYRLIE EVERS-WILLIAMS STORY, illustrated by London Ladd and written by Nadia Solomon, has received a BCALA Children & Youth Literary Award for Nonfiction! The Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Inc. (BCALA) Awards celebrate the diversity of the Black experience, and honor outstanding works of fiction and nonfiction for children and young adults by African American authors. A VOICE OF HOPE, published by Philomel Books, honors the life and activism of Myrlie Evers-Williams, whose relentless pursuit of justice helped shape the civil rights movement. Congratulations London!
LADY OF THE LINES, illustrated by Elisa Chavarri and releasing from Astra Books for Young Readers this April, has received a glowing Starred Review from Booklist. The review says: “This picture-book biography of German mathematician, archaeologist, and preservationist Maria Reiche emphasizes both the continuing mystery of who created these enormous sand etchings and the sheer grit of the woman who revealed them… the illustrations, done in acrylic gouache, use multicolored geometric shapes to highlight the geoglyphs, wonderfully capturing their variety and scale. Readers will be left in awe of the geoglyphs themselves and the persistence of the woman who discovered and protected them. A terrific STEM read.” Congratulations Elisa!
MPIBA’s Reading the West Book Awards released their longlist of nominees and included THE WIRE ZOO in the Picture Book category. Congratulations to illustrator, Joanie Stone, on this exciting recognition! THE WIRE ZOO, published by Simon & Schuster, is an inspirational picture book biography that tells the story of how neurodivergent artist Elizabeth Berrien created three-dimensional wire sculptures and went on to become the “godmother” of contemporary wire sculpture.
