June 16 – Celebrating America’s 250th Anniversary

About the Holiday

On July 4th America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. This foundational document, adopted by delegates to the Continental Congress, summarized the colonists’ motivations for severing their ties with Great Britain to become an independent country. Written largely by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence contains this famous proclamation: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” the Declaration of Independence has served as an inspiration to other nations around the world.

USA ABC

By Ingela P. Arrhenius

This year the United States of America is celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence as well as American traditions, pastimes, ideals, and everything that makes our country unique. With this special alphabet board book, you can share your love of American culture with your little one! Charmingly illustrated by Ingela P. Arrhenius, this book takes kids on a tour of America, one letter at a time.

First you’ll drop in on Grandma as she pulls a freshly baked Apple pie from the oven then it’s off to a Baseball game and further afield as young children visit with other kids as they enjoy American favorites among foods, music, and games. They’ll even meet George Washington and take a trip to the moon! Along the way they’ll also celebrate our country’s ideals, symbols, and stunning geography.

Ingela P. Arrhenius’s vibrant pages are cheery and inviting, marked with bold capital and lowercase letters and simple text that fosters early letter recognition and reading as children grow. This engaging board book also includes plenty of opportunities to count, name objects and colors, and even talk about the fifty states that make up our map. This sturdy book makes a perfect at-home read-aloud or companion to take along on any outing.

Ages Baby – 3

Nosy Crow, 2026 | ISBN 979-8887772806

About the Illustrator

Ingela P Arrhenius graduated from art school in the early 90s and has been working as an illustrator ever since. At first, she worked in advertising and magazines, but her focus over the past ten years has been on products and books. She has created patterns for fabrics, wallpaper and stationery, as well as packaging and home accessories. She has also collaborated with several toy producers around the world and her love of retro style, typography and colour is reflected in all her work. Ingela lives in Stockholm with her husband (an author) and two sons. Visit her at ingelaparrhenius.com.

You can purchase USA ABC from these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop

Picture Book Review

May 15 – National Inventors Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Today we celebrate the creative minds who devise new products, better ways of performing tasks, faster methods of communication, and all kinds of innovative ways to interact with our world. Established in 1998 by the United Inventors Association of the USA, the Academy of Applied Science, and Inventors’ Digest magazine, this month’s holiday encourages people to embrace their creativity and go that extra step toward producing their invention. If you’re a tinkerer, who knows—your product or service could make the world a better place! Today’s book introduces readers to an innovator in the medical field.

Thank you to Beach Lane Books and Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media for sending me a copy of this book for review!

A Doctor at Heart: The Story of Groundbreaking Scientist and Teacher Vivien Thomas

Written by Joan Schoettler | Illustrated by Steffi Walthall

Vivien Thomas had always loved figuring things out. As a teenager he worked in his father’s carpentry shop, always making and guiding pieces to fit together perfectly because “that’s how things were done in his family.” While in high school, Vivien decided to become a doctor. When the financial crash of 1930 wiped out his college savings, Vivien got a job as a lab assistant for Dr. Blalock at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He was a quick learner, and within a month was performing surgery on dogs.

Illustration copyright © 2026 by Steffi Walthall. Text copyright © 2026 by Joan Schoettler. Courtesy of Beach Lane Books.

Even though his job entailed much responsibility, as a Black man he was only paid as much as a hospital custodian. When Vivien considered returning to “his better-paying carpentry job,” Dr. Blalock procured a raise. Dr. Blalock thought so highly of Vivien’s work that he took Vivien with him to a new job at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

There, Vivien and Dr. Blalock began working on heart defects in babies that led to “blue baby syndrome,” in which the “babies’ blood lacked oxygen” because their lungs did not work properly. After the two designing a shunt to reroute the blood from the heart to the lungs and Vivien’s extensive experimental surgery on dogs, the new procedure was ready to apply to a child. Vivien designed tiny surgical tools to use on the first patient, a toddler. When it came time to perform the surgery, however, he had to watch from above as only white doctors and nurses were allowed to work on white patients.

But Vivien had much more experience performing the surgery than Dr. Blalock, and Dr. Blalock called him down to “guide him step-by-step.” This first open-heart surgery on a child was a success, leading many parents of similar children to come to the hospital for treatment. Some of these children arrived in wheelchairs, some being held by their parents. Following their surgery, these once-sick children thrived.

Vivien taught other surgeons the procedure and went on to teach many medical students who became renowned cardiac surgeons as well as training Black lab technicians, some of whom went on to medical school. At the age of 66, Vivien Thomas was awarded an honorary doctorate and named an instructor of surgery in the School of Medicine.

Back matter includes an Author’s Note that expands on Vivien Thomas’s life and experiences as well as a list of book, video, and internet sources and further reading for children. A photograph of Vivien Thomas as a lab technician in the 1930s and his painted portrait at Johns Hopkins Hospital are also included.

In her inspiring biography of Vivien Thomas, Joan Schoettler presents a fascinating portrait of this brilliant and precise scientist who, along with his mentor and without formal medical training, pioneered open-heart surgery on children. Schoettler clearly explains medical terms and hospital conditions and reveals Thomas’s gentle and caring nature that made him beloved by patients, hospital staff, and his students. Through eye-opening examples, she helps children understand the times in which Thomas lived, the discrimination that constrained his advancement, and the challenges he overcame. Her book also serves as a reminder that these injustices and the loss of talent, both personal and for society, continue today.

Steffi Walthall’s stirring illustrations follow Vivien Thomas throughout his life from his father’s carpentry workshop to Vanderbilt University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the operating room. Her realistic depictions of medical equipment and procedures help children see how “blue baby syndrome” affected children and how the shunt that Thomas and Dr. Blalock devised to reroute blood worked. Children interested in medical science and history will be especially drawn to Walthall’s compelling and educational imagery.

Ages 4 – 8

Beach Lane Books, 2026 | ISBN 978-1481476669

About the Author

Joan Schoettler is a children’s author and professor of children’s literature and storytelling at California State University, Fresno. Her book The Honey Jar won the Gold Medal for Juvenile Books at the 2024 California Book Awards and was a 2024 Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year. Joan lives in central California with her husband. Visit her at JoanSchoettler.com.

About the Illustrator

Steffi Walthall is an illustrator and character designer born and raised in Virginia. She received her BFA in Game Development from the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD). Steffi focuses on crafting a diverse range of characters and unique stories and is the illustrator of Joan Schoettler’s A Doctor at Heart, Chris Barton’s Moving Forward, and J.E. Bright’s Wonder Woman: The Way of the Amazons. For more information about Steffi, please visit SteffiWalthallArt.com.

National Inventors Month Activity

Sparkle Test Tubes

Kids love inventing and experimenting! This activity lets kids use their imagination to create medicines, potions, or specimens to accompany imaginative play. Note: the contents of these test tubes is not for eating or drinking.

Supplies

Plastic test tubes with tight-fitting screw cap, available at craft or science supply stores. Having two or three will allow for more experimentation
Glitter glue
Hot water
Fine glitter
Chunky glitter
Small glass beads (optional)
Neon food coloring (optional)
Test tube stand (optional)
Whisk
Mixing bowl
Teaspoon

Directions

Fill a test tube 1/3 full of hot water and pour the water into the mixing bowl
Add 1 – 2 teaspoons of glitter glue (the more glitter glue that is added the thicker the liquid will be and the more the objects will be suspended in the liquid. To allow the objects to flow more freely when the test tube is shaken, add less glue
Whisk the water and glitter glue together
Add chunky glitter, glass beads, or try other small objects
Pour into test tube
Add more water to within a ½ – 1 inch of the top to allow for shaking
Experiment with amount of glitter glue, glitter, and colors

You can purchase A Doctor at Heart: the Story of Groundbreaking Scientist and Teacher Vivien Thomas from these booksellers

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Picture Book Review

March 24 – National Agriculture Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Established in 1973 by the Agriculture Council of America (ACA), National Agriculture Day raises awareness about the importance and wide reach of farming to help people understand how much agriculture contributes to the economy and daily life—from the food we eat to the clothes we wear to the products we use. Today, we celebrate the farmers, ranchers, and all farm workers involved in producing the food, clothing, and even the biofuels we rely on every day.

This year’s theme is Together We Grow and includes activities like farm tours and educational programs for kids that encourage younger generations to consider careers in farming. The work of agriculture is always evolving. Today, farmers use technology to grow more food while protecting the environment. Such sustainable farming practices are a highlight of this year’s celebration.

Thank you to Atheneum Books for Young Readers for sending me a copy of this book for review!

From the Fields to the Fight: How Jessica Govea Thorbourne Organized for Justice

Written by Angela Quezada Padron | Illustrated by Sol Salinas

Every summer morning before dawn four-year-old Jessica and her Mexican-American family joined other families in the fields to pick crops, earning only a few dollars a day while suffering hunger, physically punishing labor, and constant exposure to chemical pesticides. Jessica picked cotton, clipped grapes, and retrieved plums from the ground. As she got older, Jessica became more aware of the struggles in her community for whom education, housing, medical care, and equal treatment were denied “just because they were Latino.”

When her father joined other farmworkers to raise awareness of the unfair treatment and conditions, young Jessica joined him in passing out flyers door-to-door and paid close attention to the growing organization. Jessica was a born leader: beginning in childhood, she began speaking to crowds, learning to be persistent, and even organizing “other kids to petition for a neighborhood park.”

When Jessica was a teenager, their burgeoning organization joined with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, founded by Filipino farm workers, in a strike for higher pay against grape growers in Delano, California. When the grape growers hired other workers, leaving many farmworkers without a job, Jessica delayed going to college to further help the cause.

Grape boycotts in grocery stores followed the strikes, but many growers began shipping their grapes to other stores and even to Canada to avoid improving wages and conditions for workers. “Putting her fears aside to do what was needed for justice,” Jessica went to Canada with the union. For months she and her team protested at grocery stores and elsewhere, gaining the support of Canadian union workers and increasing numbers of shoppers who stopped buying grapes. Finally, the growers agreed to provide “higher pay, better working conditions, and medical care.” Throughout her life, Jessica Govea Thorbourne continued to stand up for equality, empowering people of all ages to organize and create impactful change and “showed that making a difference can start with just one child.”

Back matter includes a short biography of Jessica Govea Thorbourne’s life, a glossary, pointers on organizing for a cause, and a timeline of the events related in the text.

Angela Quezada Padron writes a powerful biography of Latina activist Jessica Govea Thorbourne, who even as a child made an impact within her family and for her community of farm workers. Through Thorbourne’s example, Padron empowers today’s children to speak out and act when they see or experience injustice and shows them that with determination, passion, and persistence they can influence others and create necessary change. Quezada Padron’s straightforward text clearly outlines the growth of the labor unions in a way that children can understand while also spotlighting Jessica’s emotions, character, and contributions in single, stand-alone sentences sprinkled throughout the pages that will resonate with young readers.

Sol Salinas’s richly hued, layered illustrations take readers from the hot, sun-drenched fields to Jessica and her father’s door-to-door rallying to union meetings and protests to a victory celebration. The workers’ struggles are evident in their facial expressions. One potent image captures 21-year-old Jessica volunteering to join the protesters in Canada, leaving behind her family and everything familiar. Children may enjoy following and talking about the wispy, symbolic vine that emanates from a seed in Jessica’s hand and wends its way from the front cover and page to page, connecting Jessica to her life’s work and community.

Ages 4 – 8

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2026 | ISBN 978-1665946704

Angela Quezada Padron is a Latina author-illustrator who spent her childhood days writing stories and doodling on the garage walls of her New Jersey home and her summers visiting family in the Dominican Republic. In addition to writing From the Fields to the Fight: How Jessica Govea Thorbourne Organized for Justice, she is the author-illustrator of As the Seas Rise: Nicole Hernández Hammer and the Fight for Climate Justice. She won first place in the Portfolio Showcase at the 2023 Florida SCBWI Conference and was a semifinalist for the SCBWI Tomie dePaola Award in 2014. Visit her at AngelaPadron.com.

Sol Salinas is a non-binary artist from San Antonio, Texas. At a young age, they fell in love with history while watching old Hollywood movies with their grandmother. When they aren’t drawing, Sol can usually be found playing Dungeons & Dragons, collecting rose quartz, drinking warm cups of tea, and listening to their favorite music: Fleetwood Mac. Find more at SolSalinasIllustration.com.

You can purchase From the Fields to the Fight: How Jessica Govea Thorbourne Organized for Justice from these booksellers

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Picture Book Review

February 3 – Black History Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Marking 100 years of celebrating Black history, this year’s theme for Black History Month is A Century of Black History Commemorations and looks back to 1926, when Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a historian and educator, instituted the first week-long celebration, to today’s month-long observance. Throughout this time Woodson’s goal to show that Black history, culture, and accomplishments are all woven into the fabric of America has been championed and embraced by individuals and institutions that recognize the immeasurable contributions of Black thinkers, creators, scientists, educators, entertainers, athletes, military personnel, builders, business owners, workers, and friends.

During this centennial celebration, especially, when displays of Black biographies and contributions are being dismantled and historical records rewritten and erased, it is all the more important to stand up for and support our neighbors, to look around and see the beauty in the vibrant, diversity of our country. To celebrate, look for special events in your local schools, libraries, museums, and other venues.

Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava

Written by Gary Golio | Illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Come join Gary Golio and E. B. Lewis on a walk through 1940s Harlem with photographer Roy DeCarava as he captures this neighborhood’s people and spirit through his camera lens. No need to hurry to catch up. It’s just now 5:00, and Roy’s leaving work to begin doing what he loves best. “On the subway, he pulls out a new roll of film, opens the back of his camera, and pops it in. He’s ready.” You are too.

At the stop, follow Roy onto the street where the air smells delicious, but you’re not stopping to eat. There’s so much to see: a boy drawing with chalk, an artist selling his paintings, and a woman taking a picture of a young boy. “Roy watches the boy, who’s looking at his mother. There’s a lot of love in those eyes.” “Snap! Snap! Snap!” Roy will tell you, “Beauty is not in the camera. Beauty is in the person.”

Everywhere Roy looks, he sees beauty. In hidden crafts of nature, in shy smiles, in the rainbow spray from a fire hydrant dousing boys playing in the street. “Snap!” Do you see it too? Follow Roy’s gaze as he watches people passing on the street, “some happy, some sad. Their eyes are like mirrors. Looking into them, Roy sees Harlem.”

As the sun fades, there’s time for perhaps one more picture. Roy continues looking. Then, there, in an empty lot appears a young girl in a formal white dress with a flower behind her ear. Roy aims his camera. “Snap!” It’s time to head home, but Roy leaves you with one more thought to contemplate: “We’re looking for truth and truth is living, so we find truth in living.”

Extensive back matter includes an extended biographical look at his life from childhood to early jobs to his dappling in painting before turning to photography, as well as his own words about his work, a portrait, and a timeline from his birth in 1919 to his death in 2009. A bibliography and a list of museums featuring his work are also included.

In his stirring tribute, Gary Golio invites readers to view Harlem through the mind, eyes, and camera of photographer Roy DeCarava—and by association, to see their own neighborhood and beyond with clarity, appreciation, and love. Golio’s spare, graceful storytelling is all the more absorbing for its simple depictions of the everyday, often fleeting moments that bring surprise and beauty to life and which DeCarava captured so poignantly. Meaningful quotes from DeCarava sprinkled throughout the pages further enhance the feeling of being present on one of DeCarava’s walks to listen to and learn from one of this country’s preeminent artists.

Drawing readers in to Roy DeCarava’s worldview are E. B. Lewis’s astonishing and homey watercolor paintings that recreate scenes DeCarava encountered in his walks through Harlem and memorialized in his black-and-white photographs. Working with light and shadow, subdued-yet-detailed backgrounds, and the constant of movement on the streets, Lewis highlights the subjects of DeCarava’s photos in ways that allow readers to see the beauty Roy saw. Each page invites lingering as you feel the suppressed energy of the little boy posing for his picture, appreciate the charm of a crumpled soda can, and hear the laughs of the boys in the spray of the fire hydrant.

A picture book that rewards repeat reading with new perspectives and appreciation for the large and small aspects of the world around us, Everywhere Beauty is Harlem is a must for all libraries and will enhance any home collection.

Ages 7 – 10

Calkins Creek, 2024 | ISBN 978-1662680557

About the Author

A visual artist, musician, and psychotherapist, Gary Golio is the author of the New York Times–bestselling picture book Jimi: Sounds Like A Rainbow, which received the 2011 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. His other books, most of which profile important artists, include When Bob Met Woody, Strange Fruit, and most recently Sonny Rollins Plays the Bridge. Visit him at garygolio.com.

About the Illustrator

The recipient of a Caldecott Honor and an Orbis Pictus Award, along with many others, E. B. Lewis is the illustrator of more than seventy books for children. His Calkins Creek titles include Seeking Freedom by Selene Castrovilla and Lizzie Demands a Seat by Beth Anderson, which won Bank Street College of Education’s Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for excellence in fiction, along with many other honors.

Black History Month Activity

A Slide Show of Roy DeCarava’s Photographs and Family Photo Fun!

First, view photographs by Roy DeCarava in this slide show of some of his best-known work presented by NPR. Talk about the subject of each picture and the effect it has on you. Then using a phone or camera, kids and adults can take turns snapping pictures of family, friends, pets, special objects or the neighborhood. Afterward, share your pictures and talk about why you chose certain subjects and what story or feeling you wanted to convey.

You can purchase Everywhere Beauty is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava from these booksellers

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Picture Book Review

May 10 – National Train Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

You just have to love the train. With its storied past and iconic whistle, train travel is imprinted in our minds as a fun, efficient way to get from here to there and back again. Today’s holiday was established in 2008 to commemorate all the mystery and romance of train travel while also remembering the history of the railroad, especially the the May, 1869 completion of the transcontinental railroad, and its importance to the development of the United States. Suddenly, distances didn’t seem as far, and those seeking a new life out West or wanting to visit family back East had a safe, quick way of spanning the miles.

Thank you to Marsha Diane Arnold and Sleeping Bear Press for sharing a digital copy of today’s book with me!

Big Boy 4014 and the Steam Team: The World’s Largest Steam Engine Roars Back to Life!

Written by Marsha Diane Arnold | Illustrated by Adam Gustavson

In 2013, Big Boy 4014, the largest steam train in the world, sat stranded in an outdoor museum in Pomona, California, her work carrying heavy freight across the Wasatch Mountains and her indispensable role in transporting American soldiers and military equipment across the western prairies only a memory (Arnold makes note that trains were referred to as “she” by engineers and crew). She had thrilled museum visitors for more than fifty years, but “cold ashes lay in her firebox / Cobwebs wove through her wheels. / Rust crept into her cab.”

Then one day men came to visit her. As they inspected her, most decided that restoring her would be too expensive, too crazy, impossible. But one voice disagreed, saying “All we need is a great steam team. It can be done.” Nine men signed onto the Steam Team, with the aim to restore Big Boy for the Golden Spike Celebration in 2019 that would commemorate the finishing of the transcontinental railroad—the first railroad to stretch all across the America from East to West.

To move Big Boy from the museum to the tracks a mile away, temporary tracks were laid and a bulldozer slowly pulled her along inch by inch. She was then pulled and pushed 1,300 miles to Wyoming, where the work on her would be done. There, Big Boy underwent intensive scrutiny, getting new parts, being made to look like new. Years went by, the Golden Spike Celebration was months away, then days away. It was “time to test her out.”

“Double-headed with the ‘Living Legend,’ locomotive 884,” Big Boy, pulling train cars behind her, chugged “to Ogden, Utah, for the celebration.” All along the route, people came out to watch, “to feel the rumble under their feet as Big Boy passed, to see the steam cloud billowing above her, to hear her whistle, loud and clear.” At the ceremony, Big Boy 4014 and Locomotive 884 faced each other, just as two steam engines had 150 years before, when a set of tracks moving east-to-west and another running west-to-east were united with a golden spike.

Following the Golden Spike Celebration, Big Boy 4014 took another trip, a tour of more than 8,000 miles “past grasslands and sagebrush. / Past farmlands and rivers. / Past fields and cities and towns.” Whether it was raining or snowing or blisteringly hot, people came out to cheer Big Boy on and feel that awesome rumble as she passed by. No longer is her time only a memory from long ago. With more tours planned, “if steam locomotives could talk, Big Boy would say . . . “I’m ringing my bell and sounding my whistle.” DONG-DONG-DONG-DONG-DONG-DONG WHOOOOOO-WHOO-WHOOOOOO / “I’m chugging up the Wasatch Mountains at top speed, feeling the warmth of the oil in my firebox, as powerful as 7,000 horses.”

An in-depth discussion about the origins of the twenty-five Big Boy steam locomotives; the incredible engineering feat of designing and building them; how a steam engine works, How Big Boy 4014 was chosen for restoration; short profiles of the men instrumental in Big Boy’s restoration; a brief history of the building of the transcontinental railroad; and the research involved in making tours of Big Boy 4014 possible.

Combining imaginative lyrical text with compelling nonfiction storytelling, Marsha Diane Arnold weaves an immersive tale of the restoration and triumphant comeback of the steam locomotive Big Boy 4014. Where once 25 of these behemoth machines conquered mountains and rough terrain to move freight and people across the country and contributed to our success in World War II, they have been relegated to history as diesel and electric trains took prominence.

Arnold recalls the importance of these storied locomotives for young readers and train enthusiasts of all ages, bookending her story with wistful “If steam locomotives could dream/talk” re-imaginings of Big Boy 4014’s glory days of leaving a station, sounding her bell and whistle, and “chugging up mountains” with the “power of 7,000 horses.” Readers will be wowed by the dedicated and painstaking work that went into moving and restoring Big Boy 4014, a recounting Arnold accomplishes with a deft hand for details that don’t overwhelm. She leaves readers with a new appreciation for steam locomotives and a hope that they too will be able to witness a tour of this earth-rumbling beauty.

Adam Gustavson’s stunning realistic paintings depict Big Boy 4014 from various perspectives, giving readers a sense of her scale compared to the adults and children, the mountainous landscapes she traversed, and the crowds who came out to celebrate her. Up-close renderings allow train lovers to get a glimpse into the steam-powered mechanics that propelled her while also seeing how run-down she had become over her nearly 60 years of disuse. Each page spread is a showstopper to linger and marvel over as readers gain insight and admiration for these trains and those who created them.

For train enthusiasts, history buffs, and those who simply love a story masterfully told, Big Boy 4014 and the Steam Team: the World’s Largest Steam Engine Roars Back to Life! is a book you won’t want to miss. The book is an exciting must-addition for all school and public library collections.

Ages 6 – 9+

Sleeping Bear Press, 2025 | ISBN 978-1534113145

About the Author

Marsha Diane Arnold is a multiple-award–winning author whose books have sold over one million copies. Called a “born storyteller” by the media, Marsha’s works include Badger’s Perfect Garden (Florida Book Awards Bronze Medal), the bilingual Galápagos Girl/Galapagueña (Bank Street Best Book and Campoy-Ada honor book), and Lights Out (Golden Kite finalist). Among her many pastimes, Marsha especially enjoys reading to her grandchildren and visiting schools to talk about writing and books. Born in rural Kansas, Marsha now lives with her husband and dog Sailor in Alva, Florida. Visit her at marshadianearnold.com.

About the Illustrator

Adam Gustavson’s illustrations have appeared in over thirty books for children. He is a teaching professor of art at Rowan University, and lives in a quirky little house in New Jersey with his lovely wife, their two sons, and two rather small dogs.

National Train Day Activity

Steam Engine Coloring Page

Steam locomotives once carried passengers and freight. Enjoy this coloring page of a steam train from days gone by from Monday Mandala!

You can purchase Big Boy 4014 and the Steam Team: the World’s Largest Steam Engine Roars Back to Life! from these booksellers

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Picture Book Review

March 14 – It’s Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Month was established in 2020 by the Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Network. Founded in 1974 as a series of conferences aimed at promoting STEM careers to middle and high school girls, EYH provides hands-on activities, mentoring, and contact with role models as well as information about science and engineering fields.

Women still make up only 28% of the science and engineering workforce. With this month-long observance, the EYH Network hopes to make a significant impact on girls’ perceptions and career choices, encouraging them to explore and embrace STEM subjects.

Thank you to Heyday and Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media for sharing a copy of I Love Salmon and Lampreys: A Native Story of Resilience with me!

I Love Salmon and Lampreys: A Native Story of Resilience

Written by Brook M. Thompson | Illustrated by Anastasia Khmelevska

In her powerful autobiographical story, Brook Thompson, a member of the Yurok and Karuk Tribes, warmly invites readers to join her on her journey from childhood to the present day to experience her intense love for her tribes’ traditions and the fish that sustain them. Readers are first taken out on Brook’s family’s fishing boat, where her father and her grandfather tell stories of their own childhoods as they check the nets in their designated fishing spots along the Klamath River in Northern California. Then it’s back home to learn how Brook helps cook the fish (lampreys in the winter and salmon the rest of the year) in a wide variety of delicious ways.

Salmon and lampreys are more than just food to Brook, however. They are creatures of the earth to be admired and honored. She tells readers about their life and spawning cycles, how they predate the dinosaurs, and even about their fascinating symbiotic relationship. For Brook, this love she feels is shared. She says, “I feel loved by salmon because years ago my ancestors took care of the salmon for their future family” and reveals that the fish in the river now “are the great-great-great-great-great-great-grandkids of the salmon who had a relationship with my great-grandparents.”

In 2002, when Brook was still young, over 60,000 salmon perished from a parasite which spread when the water level of the river became too low and the temperature too hot due to the six dams erected on the river. She explains how dams “block the salmon’s way home” and how the warming water promotes the growth of toxic green algae, which affects the fishes’ breathing and spreads disease.

Brook joined protests by the tribal people and others, while scientists did research and local politicians lobbied for change. More than 20 years later agreements with the politicians and the companies that owned the dams were signed, and four of the six dams along the Klamath River were removed.

As she grew into adulthood and inspired by her experiences, Brook set her eyes on higher education. She “went to college to learn about dams and about how to protect salmon in the future.” She became an engineer and a scientist who studies the interconnectedness of “water, nature, people, animals, and buildings” and returned home to the Klamath River, where she continues the legacy of her ancestors in caring for the salmon, lampreys, and the environment.

Back matter includes Fun Facts about lampreys and salmon; photographs of Brook with salmon and at Iron Gate Dam, which was removed in 2024; a map of the Klamath River Watershed area; a note about the inspiration behind the book as well as the book’s font, OpenDyslexic, which makes it easier for those with dyslexia, like Brook, to read; and notes about the author and illustrator.

Brook Thompson, in her compelling autobiographical story, will captivate children and touch their hearts. Thompson’s eloquent and straightforward storytelling immediately immerses readers in the Native relationship with nature and will inspire both young and adult readers to think deeply about how the earth sustains us and how we can show our appreciation in return. The theme of environmental justice and how citizens can and do make a difference is made personal through Thompson’s clear explanations of how the dams affected the salmon population and the long-term steps people took to reverse their damage. Thompson’s dedication—even from childhood—to her tribes, family, and future generations will impress readers. Children will also develop an understanding of how issues of interest to them now can inform their future endeavors.

Anastasia Khmelevska’s vibrant earth tone illustrations endear Brook to children through her evident passion for family, fishing, and the salmon and lampreys that have been a constant in her tribes’ lives. Her pacing and realistic depictions of people and events help children clearly understand the importance of each element of Thompson’s story from how the cyclical lives of salmon and lampreys are demonstrated in a swirling wave to the stunning landscapes highlight of the Pacific Northwest. These images make her depiction of the salmon die-off all the more impactful. Her final portrait of Brook Thompson coming home after earning her university degrees links her life to the salmon she loves so well.

The combination of Native culture and environmental awareness makes I Love Salmon and Lampreys: A Native Story of Resilience a must addition to school and public libraries. The book offers extensive value and research opportunities for science and social studies classes. For families who care about the environment, sustainability, activism, and the future of our planet, I Love Salmon and Lampreys would be a much-loved choice.

Ages 4 – 8

Heyday, 2025 | ISBN 978-1597146685

About the Author

Brook M. Thompson is a part of the Yurok and Karuk Tribes. She is a neurodivergent and Two-Spirit author with dyslexia. She has a BS in civil engineering from Portland State University and an MS in environmental engineering from Stanford University, and she will soon have a PhD in environmental studies from University of California, Santa Cruz, where she studies water, politics, restoration, and salmon. You can find out more about her at brookmthompson.com.

About the Illustrator

Anastasia Khmelevska is an illustrator based in Lviv, Ukraine. She has illustrated several children’s books, including My Invisible Zoo, Marella the Mermaid, and Anything Helps. Follow her on Instagram @cute_miuu.

Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Month Activities

I Love Salmon and Lampreys Activity Pages

Play a printable board game, write about your dreams for the future, and learn fun facts about salmon and lampreys with these three I Love Salmon and Lampreys Activity Pages!

Chinook and Coho Salmon Coloring Pages

Coho and Chinook Salmon are vital to the Pacific Northwest. You can learn more about California salmon at caltrout.org. Enjoy these coloring pages of coho and chinook salmon. Colored images are included for your reference.

Chinook Salmon Coloring Page | Colored Image of Chinook Salmon

Coho Salmon Coloring Page | Colored Image of Coho Salmon

You can purchase I Love Salmon and Lampreys: A Native Story of Resilience at these bookstores

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop

Picture Book Review

March 12 – Get Ready for Passover

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is one of the most sacred Jewish holidays and celebrates the Jews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt and their freedom as a nation under Moses. The holiday begins on the fourteenth day of the Hebrew month Nisan and continues for seven days in Israel or eight days outside of Israell. The holiday begins with a seder meal, for which family and friends gather to remember their history, have symbolic dishes, and celebrate the joy of freedom. Games for children, a reading of the Exodus story, and other meaningful traditions also mark the holiday.

Thank you to Random House Books for Children and Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media for gifting me a copy of Next Year in the White House for review.

Next Year in the White House: Barack Obama’s First Presidential Seder

By Richard Michelson | Illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Review by Dorothy Levine

“Malia and Sasha watch White House chefs arrange gefilte fish on fine china. Matzoh ball soup simmers in a sterling silver tureen…Bo wags his tail and sniffs as new smells waft through the Old Family Dining Room.”

Michelson’s story begins right in the action, with everyone preparing for the White House Seder. Barack Obama’s daughter Sasha says, “I bet Bo is wondering why this night is different from all other nights.” She is jokingly referencing the four questions recited by the youngest child in a Passover seder. And why is this night different, you may be wondering? Read on to find out!

When Eric, Arun, and Herbie set out on the campaign trail with Senator Obama as he ran for president in 2008, they did not expect to find themselves seated in the White House celebrating Passover for the next eight years. These young men joined the campaign trail in hopes that “they could help [Obama] make America a place where all people—regardless of their race, gender or religion—would have an equal opportunity to succeed.” But, “helping others doesn’t mean you don’t get homesick, or hungry, or tired.”

Holidays are especially a time when homesickness can hit for folks far from home. And this was the case for Eric, Arun, and Herbie. When Passover came around, they decided to have their own Passover ceremony, or Seder, in the basement of the hotel where they were staying. The trio managed to snag some matzoh, macaroons and Manishewitz wine along with Haggadahs (booklets of the prayers, songs and story of Passover) to tell the story of Passover—the exodus of enslaved Jews in Egypt who escaped through a parting sea to freedom, one of many miracles that ensured their eventual getaway. “Tonight, they would celebrate the sweet taste of freedom and pledge not to rest until all people are free.”

When the three young men rose for the tradition of letting the prophet, Elijah, in through the door they were surprised to find Barack Obama on the other side, requesting to join the gathering. Obama brought to the table connections between the Passover freedom tale and the civil rights movement—how activists throughout time have drawn from the Passover pilgrimage in their protests and speeches. He told of how enslaved Black laborers were the ones who carried the first building blocks for the White House, like how the ancient Pharaoh had made the enslaved Israelites build his stone cities. When Eric called out a traditional Passover expression “Next year in Jerusalem,” a phrase that has come to signify hope for a better tomorrow, Barack replied, “Next year in the White House!”

In the following pages, we return to the prologue scene of the book—a description of the first White House Seder, performed in 2009, hundreds of years after both the first White House Christmas and Easter ceremonies. We read of two previously enslaved peoples joining together in resistance and solidarity, to celebrate in the historic White House, where neither group would have been invited years ago. We learn about the traditional Passover foods and games for children—such as piping hot matzoh ball soup and the race to find the afikomen, a hidden piece of matzoh wrapped in a special cloth. And we’re invited in as dozens of people gather to celebrate and cherish the holiday’s call of freedom. When the prize for finding the hidden afikomen is a dog toy for Bo, Sasha remarks, “Now Bo definitely knows why this night is different from all other nights.”

Richard Michelson’s writing is thought provoking, lively and packed with themes of hope and resilience interspersed with knowledge of the Passover traditions. The story contains many references to Passover phrases and themes, such as the call for the homesick, tired, and hungry to come eat and the four questions, which are both part of Passover prayers and motifs shared in Michelson’s story.

Michelson adds a prologue scene to draw readers in, as well as extensive back matter including: a note from Herbie Ziskend, Eric Lesser, and Arum Chaudhary; an annotated page of the Haggadah used at the first White House Seder; more information about the attendees and connections between Black History and Passover; a detailed explanation of Passover traditions; and a special Passover dessert recipe from Arun. His writing instills a sense of social justice, with undertones of the importance of intersectional empowerment and unity.

E.B. Lewis’s signature watercolor spreads bring the book to life with distinctly recognizable characters displaying detailed facial expressions and richly colored backgrounds. Readers will feel immersed in the comradery of the dinner table scenes and the crowds at protests and campaign speeches. The illustrative masterpiece depicting the parting of the sea in the background when Eric, Arun, and Herbie retell the Passover story will inspire awe and mystery. Close-ups of each of the characters also intersperse text and larger detailed scenes. When Arun, Herbie, and Eric are introduced, they each receive their own small illustrative snapshot, as these three unlikely characters become center stage for a Passover miracle story.

Next Year in the White House brings a unique and important historical moment to light and a new story to the table to re-read time and time again, as is tradition with the Passover tale.

Ages 4 – 8+

Crown Books for Young Readers, 2025 | ISBN 978-0593711583

About the Author

Richard Michelson is a poet, children’s book author, and art dealer whose children’s books have been listed among the 10 Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and The New Yorker; and among the 12 Best Books of the Decade by Amazon.com. He has been a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award, the Harlem Book Fest Wheatley Award, and the National Jewish Book Award, as well as receiving two Skipping Stones Multicultural Book Awards, a National Parenting Publication Gold Medal and an International Reading Association Teacher’s Choice Award. In 2009 Michelson received both a Sydney Taylor Gold and Silver Medal from the Association of Jewish Librarians, the only author so honored in AJL’s 50 year history. Michelson received his 2nd Silver Medal in 2017 and his 2nd Gold Medal in 2018. Additionally, Michelson won the 2017 National Jewish Book Award. Michelson is the owner of R. Michelson Galleries, the host of Northampton Poetry Radio, and the current Poet Laureate of Northampton. Massachusetts. You can learn more by visiting him at richardmichelson.com and on Facebook.

About the Illustrator

E.B. Lewis has illustrated over seventy books for children, including the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award, Kirkus Best Illustrated Book Award, and the Golden Kite Honor Award winner Jabari Asim’s Preaching to the Chickens as well as the Caldecott Honor Award Winner, Jacqueline Woodson’s Coming on Home Soon. He is also a five-time Coretta Scott King winner.
Presently, Lewis teaches at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He is also a member of The Society of Illustrators in New York City, and an artist member of Salamagundi Art Club of New York. Learn more about E.B. Lewis and his work at eblewis.com.

Get Ready for Passover Activity

8 Days of Activity Plans from 18 Doors

Celebrate Passover with your family and these Activity Plan Ideas from 18 Doors! For each of the 8 Days you’ll find a song or video, a craft, and a recipe to help you have a fun Passover!

You can purchase Next Year at the White House from these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop (to support your local independent bookstore)

Picture Book Review

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USA ABC

By Ingela P. Arrhenius

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A Doctor at Heart: The Story of Groundbreaking Scientist and Teacher Vivien Thomas

Written by Joan Schoettler | Illustrated by Steffi Walthall

National Inventors Month Activity

Sparkle Test Tubes

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From the Fields to the Fight: How Jessica Govea Thorbourne Organized for Justice

Written by Angela Quezada Padron | Illustrated by Sol Salinas

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Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava

Written by Gary Golio | Illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Black History Month Activity

A Slide Show of Roy DeCarava’s Photographs and Family Photo Fun!

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Big Boy 4014 and the Steam Team: The World’s Largest Steam Engine Roars Back to Life!

Written by Marsha Diane Arnold | Illustrated by Adam Gustavson

National Train Day Activity

Steam Engine Coloring Page

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About the Holiday

I Love Salmon and Lampreys: A Native Story of Resilience

Written by Brook M. Thompson | Illustrated by Anastasia Khmelevska

Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Month Activities

I Love Salmon and Lampreys Activity Pages

Chinook and Coho Salmon Coloring Pages

Share this:

About the Holiday

Next Year in the White House: Barack Obama’s First Presidential Seder

By Richard Michelson | Illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Review by Dorothy Levine

Get Ready for Passover Activity

8 Days of Activity Plans from 18 Doors

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