- Dec 9, 2025
How Rose Valland Saved Art
from the Nazis
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Beach Lane Books
(Simon Kids)
pub. 9.16.2025
40 pages
Ages 6 - 10
Author and illustrator: Erin McGuire
Character: Rose Valland
Overview:
"Rose Valland loved art. When the Nazis invaded Paris during World War II and took over her beloved museum, Rose could have fled. But who would save the artwork?
So, Rose remained and saw how she was underestimated by the soldiers for being a quiet, unassuming woman. She knew it was the time to act. And Rose had a secret weapon: she could speak German. She listened, kept track of all the stolen art, and saved what she could. Rose became a spy. And in the end, she saved thousands of works of art."
Tantalizing taste:
"She loved that modern art tossed aside rules, traditions,
and expectations - allowing art to run wild and free.
Color. Subject matter. Technique.
Modern art liberated all of these -
and changed the definition of art forever.
Adolf Hitler hated modern art...
His Nazi Party had twisted and hateful ideas about anything
new or different. Whatever they hated, they destroyed."
And something more: Erin McGuire in the Author's Note explains: "I've spent a long time researching Rose against the backdrop of other modern-day cultural shifts. Censorship, book banning, even the destruction of books, all helped me realize that the question is not 'Why does it matter to protect art?' but rather 'Why did it matter to the Nazis to destroy it?' They were not just destroying meaningless paint, canvas and paper, but the ideas themselves. They were trying to tell entire societies that these ideas did not deserve to flourish and persevere."
- Dec 8, 2025
The Wondrous Tale of Joey Ramone
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Drag City (Chicago)
pub. 9.26.2025
51 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Jay Ruttenberg
Illustrator: Lucinda Schreiber
Character: Joey Ramone
Overview:
"Gabba Gabba We Accept You is a children's picture book that tells the story of how a kid who was bullied and felt like a misfit grew up to become a hero to so many as lead singer of The Ramones.
This story speaks to one of the greatest silent majorities in the world – all the kids who feel a little off. It contains an essential message that the world of punk rock has always meant to communicate. All of us, regardless of our diverse and non-exclusive design, have something that we are meant to have and share, in a place that we can call our own. As children, these things may appear to many of us as problems and shortcomings.
The challenging passages of life that brought Jeffrey Ross Hyman to the place where he became Joey Ramone provide a natural lesson to young folks navigating their way through the complexities of growing up."
Tantalizing taste:
"This was the splendor of Joey Ramone. He was always Jeffrey Hyman - awkward, tall, shy Jeffrey Hyman, who was born sick, who spent years being taunted by bullies, who so often felt out of place and uncomfortable. But Jeff never curved to the world.
Jeff curved the world to him."
And something more: An excerpt from the Kirkus review: "With eloquent wordplay, Ruttenberg gives readers an intimate sense of Joey Ramone’s life and times without ever tipping into fictionalized details or faux dialogue. Even the lack of backmatter (nary a timeline or bibliography in sight) cannot overshadow the frenzied fun on the page.
The bold colors and sheer delight of Schreiber’s art make Ramone an appealingly larger-than-life figure, each page vibrating with music and movement.
Above all, Ruttenberg underscores the inclusive nature of Ramone’s music; the titular lyrics (from the song “Pinhead”) serve as a rallying cry for outsiders everywhere. Space is left at the end for kids to write their own songs (librarians beware!)."
- Dec 4, 2025
a story about Arnold Lobel
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Viking Books for Young Readers
(Penguin Random House)
pub. 9.23.2025
40 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author and illustrator: Emmy Kastner
Character: Arnold Lobel
Overview:
"Arnold Lobel was many things: a quiet observer, an avid reader, and the kind of man who kept a gorilla suit in his closet, just in case. Above all else, Arnold was an artist and a storyteller.
And he infused pieces of himself in the characters he created. This made sharing his books with the world scary sometimes—but his stories would go on to inspire and delight readers and live on in their hearts for generations."
Tantalizing taste:
"Arnold gave Frog and Toad the stories
from his own life.
He was a very good friend.
He knew what it meant to be generous,
to be lonely,
to worry,
to be thankful,
to celebrate…
and how difficult it was to eat just one cookie.
Arnold Lobel tenderly put his entire being
into the friendship of a frog and a toad.
His inside, out."
And something more: Emma Kastner in the Dear Reader section explains: "I didn't want to make this book. I was wildly intimidated by the thought of telling Arnold Lobel's life story … one cold October day, as I was watching my daughter play tennis at the YMCA, I set down the biography of Lobel I was reading and briefly closed my eyes. I thought, Arnold, am I going to make a book about you? I wasn't trying to actually ask his spirit. Maybe I was asking myself? Either way, that very instant, a woman sitting near me hit my knee and shouted, "Frog!"… I saw her pointing to the actual frog who was hopping toward me and then stopped at my feet! A frog? On the indoor tennis court? On a cold October day? That's the moment I gave up trying to fight myself from making this book and knew that I was meant to pursue it. What a tremendous honor it has been diving into Arnold Lobel's life and work. I am forever changed as an artist."
