News & Reviews

How Marie Procai Kept the Ukranian Art of Pysanky Alive A TRUE TALE WITH A C HERRY O N T OP Calkins Creek (Astra Books) 2.10.2026 48 pages Ages 7 -1o A uthor: Sandra Neil Wallace Illustrator: Evan Turk C haracter: Marie Procai O verview : " As a new immigrant to America living in Minneapolis, Marie Procai felt homesick and alone—she missed her homeland, Ukraine. She took comfort in the ancient Ukrainian art of making pysanky, intricately decorated eggs for Easter, an art

How the Apollo Moon Missions Made Alma Thomas's Art Soar A TRUE TALE WITH A C HERRY O N T OP Millbrook Press (Lerner Publishing) (pub. 11.4.2025) 32 pages Ages 6-10 A uthor and Illustrator: Nina Crews C haracter: Alma Thomas O verview : " In 1969, people around the world watched as the Apollo 10 astronauts sent the first-ever live color television broadcasts from space. Abstract painter Alma Thomas was among those watching, and afterward, she began a series of bright, bold p

Discovering the Stuff of Stars A TRUE TALE WITH A C HERRY O N T OP Eerdmans Books for Young Readers (pub. 1.27.2026) 56 pages Ages 7 -12 A uthor: Laura Alary Illustrator: Yas Imamura C haracter: Cecilia Payne O verview : " Cecilia Payne loved learning to see nature’s wonders, even things other people called impossible. While studying at Cambridge, she dreamed of becoming a great astronomer like the ones she read about in the library. But too many people thought women didn

Calkins Creek (Astra Books for Young Readers) (pub. 10.14.2025) 48 pages Ages 7 -10 A uthor: Erin Frankel Illustrator: Jasu Hu C haracter: Mary Oliver O verview : " Young Mary Oliver was enthralled by nature. In the forest, she wondered about the birds and the lilies and the water in the stream—about all the things that cannot speak yet somehow spoke to Mary. She wondered, too, about poetry, about how words pieced together filled her with light and how some poems felt like

A True Story of the Black Woman Battalion of World War II A TRUE TALE WITH A C HERRY O N T OP Harper (HarperCollins) (pub. 10.7.2025) 40 pages Ages 4 - 8 A uthor: Tonya Abari Illustrator: Lance Evans C haracters: The Black Woman Battalion of WWII O verview : " In 1944, the United States was facing a unique wartime crisis—too much mail! Millions of letters and packages, stacked from floor to ceiling, sat unsent in cold, dark warehouses, with no one to sort through the bac

Toni Morrison's Life in Stories A TRUE TALE WITH A C HERRY O N T OP Little, Brown Books for Readers (pub. 1.7.2025) 48 pages Ages 4 - 8 A uthor: Andrea Davis Pinkney Illustrator: Daniel Minter C haracter: Toni Morrison O verview : " From imaginative child to visionary storyteller, Toni Morrison was a fiercely inspiring writer that helped change the world. This poetic picture book is part love letter and part biography, praising the power of this Nobel Prize winner. With i

Barbara Hillary, the First Black Woman to Reach the North and South Poles A TRUE TALE WITH A C HERRY O N T OP Atheneum Books (Simon & Schuster) pub. 10.21.2025 40 pages Ages 4 - 8 A uthor: Deborah Blumenthal Illustrator: Anastasia Magloire Williams C haracter: Barbara Hillary O verview : " As a young girl, Barbara Hillary imagined a life of adventure. Despite facing hardships in her childhood and illness as an adult, she never gave up on her dream: to travel the world and

André Leon Talley― A Fabulously Fashionable Fairy Tale A TRUE TALE WITH A C HERRY O N T OP Henry Holt (MacKids) pub. 11.11.2025 56 pages Ages 4 - 8 A uthors: Carole Boston Weatherford and Rob Sanders Illustrator: Lamont O'Neal C haracter: André Leon Talley O verview : " Growing up in the Jim Crow South wasn't easy for young André. He escaped into the glimmering worlds he discovered inside magazines like Ebony and Vogue . He fell in love with all things French, and honed

The Promise of the Packhorse Librarians A TRUE TALE WITH A C HERRY O N T OP Union Square Kids pub. 8.12.2025 48 pages Ages 4 - 8 A uthor: Lauren H. Kerstein Illustrator: Becca Stadtlander C haracters: Kentucky Packhorse Librarians O verview : "Following the Great Depression, literacy rates in the country had dwindled, and education and opportunities were harder to come by, especially in areas like rural Appalachia. But still, there was a dream: a vision of a nation in whi

How Ursula Marvin Mapped Moon Rocks and Meteorites A TRUE TALE WITH A C HERRY O N T OP A Paula Wiseman Book (Simon & Schuster) pub. 10.14.2025 64 pages Ages 4 - 8 A uthor: Sandra Neil Wallace Illustrator: Nancy Carpenter C haracter: Ursula Marvin O verview : " While attending college in the early 1940s, Ursula Marvin fell in love with geology, but when she asked her male professor about making the field her major, he tried to stop her, saying it would be a better use of