For Every One by Jason Reynolds

5 stars A fantastically-worded poetic letter about figuring it out, being enough, and chasing your dreams. Wonderful imagery. Full of power, inspiration, and the vulnerability of admitting you don’t know it all. I loved the visual elements of the text with changes in fonts, sizes, and grayscale highlighting. Pure Reynolds. Lyrical, powerful, inspirational, and honest….

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Waffles + Mochi: Follow That Food! by Christy Webster

Illustrated by Sarah Rebar 5 stars An absolutely adorable introduction to Waffles and Mochi. Once upon a time the two best friends lived in the Land of Frozen Food where all they ate was ice. One day they climb aboard a truck and find themselves in a super market. With the help of some new…

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Waffles + Mochi: Why We Need Water by C. Ines Mangual

Illustrated by Sarah Rebar 3 stars Waffles and Mochi don’t see why wasting water is such a big deal so Steve the Mop assigns them to learn everything they can about water. With the help of Magicart, they learn about the important roles water plays in cooking, cleaning, drinking, and gardening. Adorable illustrations. A nice…

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Agent Unicorn by Jenny Alvarado

3 stars A cute comic-style picture book about a unicorn that longs to be a special agent. The artwork was really cute. I loved the color palette. The story itself was fine. Unicorn is a real jerk for most of the book, but kind of learns a lesson at the end. There is some nice…

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A Little Like Magic by Sarah Kurpiel

5 stars An utterly stunning story of art, beauty, and permanence. The narrator is not happy about facing the cold weather, uncomfortable winter clothes, crowds, and an unfamiliar setting to attend the winter festival. She doesn’t see the point of making ice sculptures that are just going to melt. To make matters worse, on her…

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Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 1 by Honda

Translated by Amanda Haley 3 stars A humorous behind-the-scenes look at working in the manga department of a Japanese bookstore. Filled with relatable customer-service woes, Honda pulls from real-life experiences and shares a variety of interactions and issues such as out-of-stock items, staff recommendations, customer service training, and seriously awkward customer requests. The artwork is…

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Detective Beans: The Case of the Missing Hat by Li Chen

3 stars Detective Beans is the best in the business. Or he likes to think so at least. One day, Beans sets out to solve the mystery of who’s leaving him encouraging notes only to discover… his detective hat is missing. Before he can solve the note-giver mystery, he must track down his hat and…

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