A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Feiwel & Friends
(MacKids)
(pub. 10.14.2025)
40 pages
Ages 2 - 5
Author and illustrator: Derek Desierto
Character: Henri Matisse
Overview:
" Henri Matisse loved color. He dreamed of being an artist. Even after his father pushed him to study for a 'serious' job, Henri followed his heart and went to art school. Color was all around him!
After a grueling illness, Henri had to reinvent the way he made art. And what he created became even more magical."
Tantalizing taste:
"With a few snips of his scissors,
interesting shapes started to appear.
Henri realized that he was drawing
with scissors.
He soon turned his studio
into a beautiful garden!
A swimming pool!
Even a jazz club!
His friends remarked that his studio
was like a magician's cave. Henri was a
magician of color!"
And something more: The author-illustrator, Derek Desierto, shares in A Note from the Author: "Matisse's remarkable sense of color and his innovative cutouts have been constant sources of inspiration for me...
But what I love the most is Matisse's unwavering passion and determination. Despite numerous health setbacks, he continued to create. When he could no longer paint, he turned to paper and scissors. His ability to 'make do' with what he had reminds me that creativity knows no bounds...
Just as Matisse did, may we all find our own ways to create and express ourselves, no matter the obstacles in our path."
- Feb 5
A True Story of the Black Woman
Battalion of World War II
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Harper
(HarperCollins)
(pub. 10.7.2025)
40 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Tonya Abari
Illustrator: Lance Evans
Characters: The Black Woman Battalion of WWII
Overview:
"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 backlog and no way to deliver mail to the troops.
Enter the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.
Formed of Black women who had advocated fiercely for their right to enlist in the U.S. military, the “Six Triple Eight” battalion had one special task: sort and send the mail. It wasn’t easy, but the Six Triple Eight got to work!
Putting in long hours to send out each piece of mail in record time, they had a four-word motto that powered them through: “No mail, low morale!” As they helped deliver support to the soldiers on the frontlines, these women proved there was nothing they couldn’t do!
Tantalizing taste:
"There was mail everywhere! Bags of letters filled hangars and were piled from the floor to the ceiling. The mail room was cold, damp, and poorly lit. Could they get through this backlog in only six months?
The mighty battalion was determined. They wore layers of clothes beneath their uniforms and worked long hours, rotating three eight-hour shifts per day. An average of sixty-five thousand pieces of mail were processed each shift using special locator cards, unit numbers, and serial numbers.
The Six Triple Eight developed a motto to stay motivated: No mail, low morale. There was nothing that they couldn't do!"
And something more: The author, Tonya Abari, shares in a Dear Reader letter: "Although the topic of war is very complex, I wrote this book because I wanted to honor the brave women of the Six Triple Eight. I also did not want this vital part of history to be overlooked. The lasting impact of these women's contributions has ushered in significant strides for Black women and girls in the military and civilian life."
- Feb 5
Toni Morrison's Life in Stories
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Little, Brown Books for Readers
(pub. 1.7.2025)
48 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Andrea Davis Pinkney
Illustrator: Daniel Minter
Character: Toni Morrison
Overview:
" 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 its tender refrain, readers will know how much Morrison's stories -- and their own -- mean to the world. She was loved -- and so are they!"
Tantalizing taste:
"Oh, Toni Morrison, do you feel it?
Your love has lifted us to places untouched.
You, born with a roar for stories that speak.
Your word-brush struck truth from the darkest soil.
Filled with seeds of possibility.
You, storyteller. Griot. Novelist.
Weaving tales drawn with dignity.
Beautiful roots springing from your tip's swirl.
You - a girl whose highest power began
with a stick of chalk, gripped in nimble fingers."
And something more: Andrea Davis Pinkney explains in How This Poem Came to Be: "And She Was Loved is drawn from a declaration made in Ms. Morrison's Song of Solomon. When Pilate, one of the novel's central characters, calls out, "And she was loved!" she's railing against a society that allows hatred of Black people to persist. At the same time, Pilates is pronouncing love's infinite power; thus, the echoed refrain that is whispered throughout this book's narrative – And she was loved… And she was loved… – is symbolic of Ms.Morrison's body of work."
