About the Holiday
What is summer without the luscious taste of raspberries? These little berries are perfect for breakfast in your yogurt, for lunch as an upgrade for a usual peanut butter and jam sandwich, and for dinner in a special sauce or salad. And of course there are so many ways raspberries can elevate dessert! Raspberries can even make an outing with friends so much better, as you’ll see in today’s book. So while these favorite treats are in season, plan a trip to a farmers market or a pick-your-own field for a berry fun day!
Thank you to Scholastic for sending me a copy of this book for review!
Just for Today (A Maybe Tomorrow Book)
Written by Charlotte Agell | Illustrated by Ana Ramírez González
As soon as Norris sees Elba, he can tell that she’s been up all night worrying. He offers to talk about it with her, but she declines. Norris tries another tack, telling Elba “‘sometimes worry is when you tell yourself the wrong story'” and suggesting that “‘just for today'” she tries telling herself “‘a different story.'” Elba is game to try. To start off, Norris decides on a happy ending to aim for then prompts a story with Elba’s help about two good friends who sail off on their boat.
Elba is excited to hear they have a boat, which inspires Norris to actually build a boat with wood and nails he has lying around. Elba helps, and soon they have the Adventure to float down the river to have a picnic. On shore, Norris unpacks their basket to find lots of goodies. . . but no Elba? Where could she be? Norris was “having too many thoughts. All those thoughts were turning into worries!”
Suddenly, Elba finds herself sailing off with the current and then, with a bump, she’s in the water. Realizing Norris can’t hear her cries for help, she finds her way to shore and clambers onto dry land. There, in front of her, is a raspberry thicket full of luscious fruit—her and Norris’s favorite! She nibbles a red raspberry while singing a comforting song to herself then sets off up the riverbank to find her friend. When she’s greeted by one of the butterflies that always hovers around Norris, Elba knows she is on the right path.
Norris, meanwhile, is full of worries that only grow as he tries not to worry. But then, he hears a voice he recognizes, and soon Elba appears. She’s surprised to learn that Norris was worried and that “everyone worries sometimes.” Elba pulls Norris along to see the raspberries she found, as they talk about how their worries actually helped them. They list the things they’ve lost as well as the things they haven’t and celebrate the raspberries they can have for lunch. They finish the story they were telling—short and sweet and all about their friendship—and it will always be their favorite.
Charlotte Agell’s Just for Today, the second book in her Maybe Tomorrow series brings best friends Elba and Norris back together to reassure young readers when they feel worried or overwhelmed. Through her gentle storytelling, Agell lets children know that they are not alone in experiencing the physical jitters and swirling thoughts that can feel paralyzing while giving them a concrete way to reframe the ideas in their mind. Her advice to concentrate on “just today” or simply a task at hand helps kids manage their emotions which fosters self-confidence. This lesson is clearly demonstrated through Elba and Norris’s close friendship, Elba’s uplifting internal dialogue, and the way Elba counters Norris’s regrets on losing their boat and food with positive aspects of the day.
Ana Ramírez González’s vibrant mixed-media illustrations engage readers with lovely landscapes and sweetly drawn depictions of Elba and Norris together. Norris and Elba’s changing emotions are evident and realistic, subtly moving between worry, fear, happiness, and contentment and giving children and adults a range of feelings to talk about.
Comforting and affirming, Just for Today is a balm for the worries and uncertainties of daily life and a book that children and adults will love to share.
Ages 4 – 8
Scholastic Press, 2026 | ISBN 978-1546181323
About the Author
Charlotte Agell was born in Norsjo, Sweden, and grew up in Montreal, Canada. She is the mother of two grown children and is a retired public-school teacher living in Maine. Charlotte is the author and illustrator of several picture books, chapter books, and young adult fiction published in Canada and abroad. Her Scholastic Press debut, Maybe Tomorrow? was hailed by School Library Journal as a story that offers “hope that the world can be a beautiful place.” Learn more at charlotteagell.com.
About the Illustrator
Ana Ramírez González is a New York Times bestselling illustrator, as well as a film director, production designer, and visual development artist who has worked on many high-profile films, including Pixar’s Academy Award-winning Coco. Ana grew up in Guanajuato, Mexico, and lives in San Francisco, California. Learn more about her work at anaramirezgonzalez.com.
National Raspberry Day Activity
Just for Today Activity Pages
Kids can help Elba get together with Norris for a day of fun and write their own story in these two Just for Today Activity Pages from Scholastic!
You can purchase Just for Today from these booksellers
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop
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