Ages 7-9; Gr.5-8.
This stunning meeting of poetic form and luminous artwork transports us out of the bounds of Earth, past a lunar eclipse, beyond the orbiting planets, and into glowing galaxies and twinkling constellations. Sally M. Walker uses her award-winning skill as a writer of nonfiction to explore space through clever haiku, accompanied by narrative explanations of wonders that are out of this world.

Ages 3-7; PrK-Gr.2.
A lyrical narration and breathtaking illustrations transport us to the world of a pond with all its sights, sounds, and pulsing life. The red-winged blackbird spreads his tail and sings his hello morning song; he has sung it since the bright and misty world began. When the soft pink of the dawn sun starts peeking over the pond, a new day has begun for all the animals who live in it and around its watery edges. The friendly duck family, the mysterious water striders, and the busy beaver are a few of the many fascinating and familiar animals included in this glowing poetic tribute to the lively ecosystem of the pond.

Ages 7-10, Gr.4-6.
Welcome to the Wonder House, a place to explore the cornerstone of every great thinker--a sense of wonder. This Wonder House has many rooms--one for nature, one for quiet, and one for mystery, among others. Each room is filled with poems and objects covering a wide variety of STEAM topics, including geology, paleontology, physics, astronomy, creative writing, and drawing, that will inspire curiosity in young readers.

Ages 4-8; PrK-Gr.3.
O'Meara's prose poem, with its hopeful and timeless message about healing of people and the Earth, written in March 2020, quickly went viral on a global level. O'Meara, a former teacher and chaplain, clearly captured an important aspect of the pandemic experience's zeitgeist while offering a thoughtful and optimistic view of the future.

Ages 4-8; PrK-Gr.3,
New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds's debut picture book is a snappy, joyous ode to Word King, literary genius, and glass-ceiling smasher Langston Hughes and the luminaries he inspired. Back in the day, there was a heckuva party, a jam, for a word-making man. The King of Letters. Langston Hughes. His ABCs became drums, bumping jumping thumping like a heart the size of the whole country. They sent some people yelling and others, his word-children, to write their own glory.

Ages 3-7; PrK-K.
When community members work together with trucks and ships to clean up the town's riverfront, an artist and her child hammer, chisel, weld and zap the found materials into something beautiful. Young makers will find inspiration in the playful, rhyming text and mixed media.

Ages 8-12; Gr.3-7.
Lula Viramontes aches to one day become someone whom no one can ignore: a daring ringleader in a Mexican traveling circus. But between working the grape harvest in Delano, California, with her older siblings under dangerous conditions; taking care of her younger siblings and Mamá, who has mysteriously fallen ill; and doing everything she can to avoid Papá's volatile temper, it's hard to hold on to those dreams. Then she meets Dolores Huerta, Larry Itliong, and other labor rights activists and realizes she may need to raise her voice sooner rather than later.

Ages 4-8; PrK-Gr.3.
Caldecott winner Beth Krommes and Newbery Honor-winning poet Joyce Sidman team up in this singular celebration of a beautiful, fascinating shape in nature.

Ages 3-6; PrK-K.
In this bouncy, rhyming story, two best friends think about all the little things that don't matter- and the big things that really, really do. Mostly I care that you're you and I'm me, and I care that we're us, and I care that we're we.

From the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winning author Kwame Alexander, comes the first book in a searing, breathtaking trilogy that tells the story of a boy, a village, and the epic odyssey of an African family. In his village in Upper Kwanta, 11-year-old Kofi loves his family, playing oware with his grandfather and swimming in the river Offin. He's warned though, to never go to the river at night.

Lexile measure NP0L; Ages 4-8; Gr.1-3.
Just in time for its centennial, Robert Frost's cherished poem is showcased in a beautiful keepsake edition illustrated by the award-winning P.J. Lynch.

Prk_gr.3.
From New York Times bestselling authors Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal comes a charming and brightly illustrated spin on classic nursery rhymes that celebrates rich Indian culture and introduces Hindi vocabulary.

Ages 4-8; PrK-Gr.3.
Kwame Alexander, pens a powerful picture book that tells the story of American slavery through the voice of a teacher struggling to help her students understand its harrowing history.

Ages 10 and up; Gr.4-6; Sydney Taylor notable book, 2023.
The moving true story of how young Ukrainian Jewish piano prodigies Zhanna (alias "Anna") and her sister Frina outplayed their pursuers while hiding in plain sight during the Holocaust.

Ages 4-8; PrK-Gr.3.
Celebrate winter with this magical twist on a beloved nursery rhyme that brings the shimmering season of lights to life. Whether it's the moon in the crisp, cool sky, flickering candles in a neighbor's window, or the dazzling lights strung up about town, winter is a time of glowing warmth and cozy closeness.

Lexile measure 750; Ages 9-12; Gr.4-7.
A poetic personification of the winter season, Mother Winter goes walking "on the longest cold night," inviting the reader along to experience chill winds, icy ponds, white snowdrifts, and other quiet wonders.

K-Gr.4.
A book containing unanswerable, fantastical questions, inviting us to be curious, while simultaneously embracing what we cannot know. This bilingual Spanish-English edition is the first illustrated selection of questions, 70 in all, from Pablo Neruda's original poem (320 questions) The Book of Questions.

Ages 4-8; Prk-Gr.3; Pura Bepre award honor.
Author-illustrator C. G. Esperanza delivers a celebratory ode to graffiti and the Boogie Down Bronx through an infectious read-aloud beat and colorful illustrations that leap right off the page!

Ages 8-12; Gr.5 and up; Newbery award honor, 2022.
Reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she's the only Indian American student, and home, with her family's traditions and holidays. But Reha's parents don't understand why she's conflicted--they only notice when Reha doesn't meet their strict expectations. Reha feels disconnected from her mother, or Amma. Although their names are linked--Reha means "star" and Punam means "moon"--they are a universe apart. Then Reha finds out that her Amma is sick. Really sick.

Gr.4 and up; Ages 10-13.
Celebrated poets Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek, and illustrator Richard Jones, explore figures of speech in a spirited and magical way--and invite our imaginations out to play. A freewheeling romp through the world of imagery and metaphor, this quietly startling collection of thirty poems, framed by the four elements, is about art and reality, fact and fancy.

Ages 8-12; Gr.2-6.
A poetry collection that both illustrates what mindfulness is and encourages young, growing minds to be present, from poet and educator Georgia Heard, with art by Isabel Roxas.

Ages 4-8; PrK-Gr.3.
From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her debut picture book--a tour de force that uses the principles of Kwanzaa to talk about the history of African Americans. This lyrical, powerful tribute is sumptuously illustrated by New Yorker artist and rising star Loveis Wise.

Ages 10 and up; Gr.5 and up.
Acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi illuminates the young life of the visionary storyteller Octavia E. Butler in poems and prose. Born into the Space Race, the Red Scare, and the dawning Civil Rights Movement, Butler experienced an American childhood that shaped her into the groundbreaking science-fiction storyteller whose novels continue to challenge and delight readers fifteen years after her death.

Ages 3-7; PrK-Gr.2.
Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright! is a lavishly illustrated collection of 366 animal poems--one for every day of the year. Filled with favorites and new discoveries written by a wide variety of poets...

Lexile measure HL630L; Ages 10-13; Gr.5-7; Printz Award Honor, 2022.
Ellie is tired of being fat-shamed and does something about it in this poignant debut novel-in-verse. Ever since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth birthday party, she's been bullied about her weight. To cope, she tries to live by the Fat Girl Rules-like "no making waves," "avoid eating in public," and "don't move so fast that your body jiggles." And she's found her safe space-her swimming pool-where she feels weightless in a fat-obsessed world.

Lexile measure 660; Ages 5-9; Gr.3-5.
Hello, Earth! explores the wonders of the natural world. This playful journey across our puzzle-piece continents does not hesitate to ask questions--even of the Earth itself! Joyce Sidman's imaginative poems encourage boundless curiosity, and Miren Asiain Lora's stunning paintings capture the beauty of Earth's ecosystems, creatures, and powerhouse plants.

Ages 3-7; PrK-Gr.2.
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts--and unity and connection are most important of all--in a beautifully illustrated counting book with a timely message.

Gr.6 and up; Ages 12 and up.
You Don't Have to Be Everything is filled with work by a wide range of female poets who are honest, unafraid, and so wonderfully skillful at addressing the big feelings of coming-of-age - aloneness, longing, doubt, fear, sadness, anger, a need for approval, and an attitude that pretends none of it matters.

Ages 12 and up; Gr.7+.
A smash-up of art and text for teens that viscerally captures what it is to be Black. In America.

Ages 4-8; PrK-Gr.2
Get swept away by the musical performance of a lifetime as, one by one, each instrument of the symphony orchestra shows off their skills!

Ages 4-8; K-Gr.3.
In this stirring, much-anticipated picture book by presidential inaugural poet and activist Amanda Gorman, anything is possible when our voices join together. As a young girl leads a cast of characters on a musical journey, they learn that they have the power to make changes--big or small--in the world, in their communities, and in most importantly, in themselves.

Ages 12 and up, Gr.7 and up.
From the acclaimed poet featured on Forbes Africa's "30 Under 30" list, this powerful novel-in-verse captures one girl, caught between cultures, on an unexpected journey to face the ephemeral girl she might have been.

Ages 12 and up; Gr.8 and up; National Book Award Finalist 2021.
A debut YA novel-in-verse by Amber McBride, Me (Moth) is about a teen girl who is grieving the deaths of her family, and a teen boy who crosses her path.Moth has lost her family in an accident. Though she lives with her aunt, she feels alone and uprooted. Until she meets Sani, a boy who is also searching for his roots.

Ages 10-14; Gr.5-9.
From Children's Literature Legacy Award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes a feminist-forward new collection of poetry celebrating the little-known women poets of the Harlem Renaissance--paired with full-color, original art from today's most talented female African-American illustrators.