Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles including a picture book about a piglet, a book following the beat of a drummer, a survival story, an art-infused mystery, and many more.
The Power of Yet by Maryann Cocca-Leffler. Abrams Appleseed, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-4003-9. Recommending persistence and self-assurance, this picture book features a young piglet who grows increasingly impatient at being told “Not yet.”
Stompin’ at the Savoy: How Chick Webb Became the King of Drums by Moira Rose Donohue, illus. by Laura Freeman. Sleeping Bear, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-5341-1097-7. Colorfully accentuated onomatopoeia and musical notes punctuate this picture book biography of self-taught Baltimore-born drummer William “Chick” Webb.
Alone by Megan E. Freeman. Aladdin, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-6756-9. Poet Freeman makes her middle grade debut with this engaging survival story in verse based on Island of the Blue Dolphins. When 12-year-old Maddie’s plans for a secret sleepover fall through, and a disaster hits, she ends up completely alone in her small Colorado town, without power, information, or any way to communicate with loved ones.
Many Points of Me by Caroline Gertler. Greenwillow, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-302700-8. In Gertler’s tale of tween soul-searching, threaded with an intriguing art mystery, the sophisticated and privileged New York City art world milieu is depicted with an insider’s eye for detail.
Off to See the Sea by Nikki Grimes, illus. by Elizabeth Zunon. Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4926-3829-2. Bath time becomes an opportunity for adventure and make-believe in this free-verse picture book by collaborators Grimes and Zunon (Bedtime for Sweet Creatures).
The Nightmare Thief by Nicole Lesperance. Sourcebooks, $16.99; ISBN 978-978-1-72821-534-1. In this first volume of a middle grade fantasy series, Lesperance (The Wide Starlight) constructs a fanciful world in which dreams and nightmares are a commodity: created, bought, and sold.
Clues to the Universe by Christina Li. Quill Tree, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-300888-5. Debut author Li explores themes of bullying and cultural identity, volleying between two seventh grade narrators who, on the first day of school in 1984 Sacramento, mistakenly switch folders in science class.
Time for Kenny by Brian Pinkney. Greenwillow, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-073528-9. Pinkney (Nya’s Long Walk) creates a simple account of a day in the life of a preschooler. Small, everyday events contain plenty of humor and action, illustrating throughout the sense that Kenny is cherished and his concerns are honored. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Try It!: How Frieda Caplan Changed the Way We Eat by Mara Rockliff, illus. by Giselle Potter. Beach Lane, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-6007-2. In this picture book biography of an early food innovator, Rockliff (Jefferson Measures a Moose) takes note of the ways a woman expanded U.S. palates in the 1960s.
The Animal Rescue Agency #1: Case File: Little Claws by Eliot Schrefer, illus. by Daniel Duncan. HarperCollins/Tegen, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-298233-9. In this ecologically minded series opener, Schrefer (The Popper Penguin Rescue) introduces the interspecies odd couple that heads up the Animal Rescue Agency—patrician Esquire, a tweed-wearing, tea-drinking, jazz-listening fox, and fastidious colleague Mr. Pepper, a cantankerous elderly rooster.
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas. HarperTeen/Balzer + Bray, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-06-284671-6. In this prequel to The Hate U Give, Thomas delves into the upbringing of Maverick Carter, the father of THUG’s protagonist, Starr. Thomas brings her trademark wit, nostalgic love of the 1990s and all things R&B and hip-hop, and her penchant for heartfelt characterization to this first-person exploration of Maverick Carter’s coming of age. The YA novel earned a starred review from PW.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of January, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
