Wee Sister Strange

A young forest spirit known as Wee Sister Strange travels through a forest by night, climbing to the tops of trees and diving to the bottom of bogs in search of something not revealed until the final pages. Grant (the League of Beastly Dreadfuls series) creates a poem rich with metaphor (“She drinks up the moon/ Like a cat drinking cream./ She drinks up the dark/ Like it’s tea with the queen”) in a story that walks a careful line between eeriness and comfort. Barefoot and clad in a yellow shift dress and crown of autumn leaves, Wee Sister Strange is an unthreatening presence, utterly at home in the woods “where no children dare roam.” In moody watercolor and pencil scenes, Campbell (Who Wants a Tortoise?) uses unexpected angles to follow the sprite’s nocturnal search from multiple perspectives. The metafictive conclusion (Wee Sister Strange is lulled to sleep listening to her own story being read aloud as another girl’s bedtime story) brings the tale full circle in the loveliest of ways. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (Sept.)