Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including the story of a magician bunny, a YA fantasy anthology, a YA climate disaster novel, a picture book about a boy’s aspirations, and more.
Churro and the Magician by Gastón Caba. Etch, $14.99; ISBN 978-0-358-46775-5. Magic catapults a bunny’s school day into something spectacular in this adventuresome early reader graphic novel. Caba’s briskly paced, imagination-fueled digital panels tell a story that’s equal parts comical, magical, and welcoming to new readers.
Reclaim the Stars: Seventeen Tales Across Realms & Space Edited by Zoraida Córdova. Wednesday, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-250-79063-7. Featuring 17 short stories from “a collective of science fiction and fantasy authors who spanned the Latin American diaspora”—including Romina Garber, Anna-Marie McLemore, Daniel José Older, and Mark Oshiro—this anthology invites readers to expand the bounds of their belief with each impossible creation. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Snow Struck by Nick Courage. Delacorte, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-593-30349-8. A family encounters a freezing landscape in Courage’s (Storm Blown) page-turning climate disaster set in New York City. Courage maintains a swift pace bolstered by engaging appearances, including a candy-loving climate scientist and Pizza Rat.
Nigel and the Moon by Antwan Eady, illus. by Gracey Zhang. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-305628-2. In this expansive exploration of childhood hope, a Black boy named Nigel shares his aspirations—to be an astronaut, a dancer, a superhero—with the moon each night but struggles with whether to share his closely held wishes Earth-side. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, illus. by Daniel Minter. Knopf, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-984894-36-6. Lilting free verse acknowledges the human pain and labor that went into procuring sources of blue over time, while highlighting the significance the color has held in art, fashion, and culture worldwide. The picture book earned a starred review from PW.
Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi. Knopf, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-593-30903-2. In this companion to National Book Award finalist Pet, Emezi introduces Bitter, a Black 17-year-old who attends a private boarding art school in the middle of Lucille, a city that’s on the brink of youth-led political change. The book earned a starred review from PW.
No Nibbling! by Beth Ferry, illus. by A.N. Kang. Roaring Brook, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-76241-2. With the lightest of touches, the creators show how the give and take of friendship—between a grumpy, gardening goat and his bunny neighbor—is itself a kind of cultivation, and that the results can be highly nourishing.
Rodney Was a Tortoise by Nan Forler, illus. by Yong Ling Kang. Tundra, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-7352-6662-9. Wry, observational writing by Forler (Trampoline Boy) and loose, frequently funny vignettes by Ling Kang (The Midnight Club) give this tale of loss its own distinctive, endearing resonance. The picture book earned a starred review from PW.
A History of Underwear with Professor Chicken by Hannah Holt, illus. by Korwin Briggs. Roaring Brook, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-76649-6. A fowl marches across time and space shedding new light on the history of people’s intimate relationship with intimate apparel. The picture book earned a starred review from PW.
The Puffin Keeper by Michael Morpurgo, illus. by Benji Davies. Puffin Canada, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-7352-7180-7. Striking the tone of a fireside chat in this winning story of an enduring friendship, narrator five-year-old Allen Williams recalls the time he and his mother were rescued from a shipwreck near Cornwall’s Scilly Isles. The middle grade novel earned a starred review from PW.
Out on a Limb by Jordan Morris, illus. by Charlie Mylie. Abrams, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-5365-7. A child experiences a range of emotions while recovering from a broken leg in Morris’s evocative debut, accompanied by absorbing illustrations by Mylie (Something for You).
The Chandler Legacies by Abdi Nazemian. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-0630-3932-2. In 1999, five students with disparate identities are accepted into an exclusive writing club, the Circle, at elite Connecticut boarding school Chandler Academy.
The Stack by Vanessa Roeder. Dial, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-593-32438-7. Tucked under the covers in her top-floor bedroom, Luna says of the eerie deep purple night, “It’s too dark!” in this picture book. Roeder’s (The Box Turtle) mixed-media art combines a miniaturist’s precision with a playful sense of scale and perspective.
The Ice Cream Machine by Adam Rubin, illus. by Daniel Salmieri et al. Putnam, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-593-32579-7. In this madcap middle grade debut billed as six “wildly different stories with the exact same name”—each illustrated by a different contemporary artist—Rubin (Gladys the Magic Chicken) varies genre, setting, and subtitle in tales that all feature ice cream as an integral component (and “have a half a dozen little wormholes in common, too”).
Dear Student by Elly Swartz. Delacorte, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-593-37412-2. In this middle grade novel, Autumn is chosen for the coveted role of writing “Dear Student”—an anonymous advice column that’s the school newspaper’s most popular feature.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of February, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
