Spotlight: Maria is My Pal by Dr. Michael T. Solomon

Having a pet isn’t just fun, it’s super important for childhood development. Pets and children go together like the beach and summertime. “Maria Is My Pal” is a whimsical look at children owning their first pet, and the responsibilities that come with ownership, the joys of having a pet, and how they form a commitment to each other while training to live their lives together.
Although a newcomer to this genre, readers would not know it from the way the author’s warm-hearted tale evokes laughter, smiles, joyful emotions, and reflections on his writing. His inspiration comes from watching his daughters grow and mature and become inspirations to many in their own right. His first book captures key moments in their childhood that intersect so many family stories— the first pet.

Excerpt

In the petting area, there was a turtle named Slow Boy, two fish called Lisa and Lori, and two parrots named Annie and Fannie. Fannie had yellow markings, and Annie had green on her wings. There was also a hamster named Fred and a cute little rabbit called Maria. She was white with a funny black pattern on her tail that seemed to move from side to side whenever her perky ears heard her name.

Of all the animals, Willow thought Maria was special. Whenever Mrs. Walls’ class visited the pets, Willow spent most of her time petting and holding Maria. Maria was very friendly and popular with all the students in the class. Somehow, Maria seemed happiest when Willow was near.

As the pets were placed back into their areas, James accidently knocked over a chair. It made a loud noise. The noise frightened Maria, and before anyone could move, Maria jumped onto a chair, hopped to the floor, and then ran out of an open door. Willow’s special pal and the children’s favorite pet was gone before anyone could catch her!

Willow, Mrs. Walls, and the other children tried to catch Maria, but she was too fast. Maria hopped and jumped until she was out of sight. Everyone looked and looked, but she could not be found. Maria was gone!

Willow and the other kids were very sad. Mrs. Walls tried her best to help the children understand that Maria would be okay and not to worry.

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About the Author

Dr. Michael T. Solomon is an accomplished professional who holds a doctorate in social science and a master’s in education. The author is a devoted husband, a proud father of two young professional career women, and an even prouder grandfather of two beautiful, caring sisters who are smart and gifted and funny!
 
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Spotlight: In the Country of Queens by Cari Best

Eleven-year-old Shirley Alice Burns lives with her domineering mother, Hurricane Anna, and loving Grandmother. One day she unexpectedly discovers that her beloved father isn’t in Absentia as her family would have her believe, but dead. And she understands all too well why they haven’t told her; she’s always been shy and quiet, and Anna has always been protective of her. But if Shirley doesn’t start speaking up, she isn’t going to be able to do the things she wants to do: go on vacation to Lake Winnipesaukee with her cousins, stop taking ballet lessons, and talk about her father. Through the help of a mouse, her hero Pippi Longstocking, and her cousin Phillie, Shirley finds the strength to give her dreams a voice and convince everyone, even Hurricane Anna, that she doesn’t need to be sheltered, especially from the truth. IN THE COUNTRY OF QUEENS is the debut novel from acclaimed picture-book author Cari Best.

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About the Author

Cari Best has written many award-winning picture books, including Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year; and My Three Best Friends and Me, described by the New York Times as “refreshing” and “exciting.” Her picture book If I Could Drive, Mama was described by Publishers Weekly as “a wonderful tribute to an imagination in perpetual motion.” In the Country of Queens is her first novel. Ms. Best lives in Connecticut.

Spotlight: The Real McCoys by Matthew Swanson and illustrated by Robbi Behr

Her name’s Moxie. Moxie McCoy.

Bold, opinionated, and haplessly self-confident, the world’s greatest fourth-grade detective faces her biggest challenge! When someone kidnaps beloved school mascot Eddie the Owl, Moxie is on the case—but she’s forced to fly solo now that her best friend (and crime-solving partner) has moved away.

Moxie must interview her classmates—both as potential new best friends and as possible suspects. She finds clues and points fingers but can’t save the owl on her own. Enter Moxie’s little brother, Milton. Quiet, cautious, and boring as a butter knife, he’s a good listener.

Can the Real McCoys form an unlikely alliance and solve the crime of the century?

Bursting with interactive illustrations on every page, Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr’s The Real McCoys delivers clever storytelling, laugh-out-loud humor, and heartwarming insight. This is the first book in a series.

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About the Author & Illustatror

Author/illustrator, husband/wife duo Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr spend all day, every day, making stuff together, including their debut trade picture book Babies Ruin Everything, picture book Everywhere, Wonder (February 2017), and the middle grade series The Real McCoys (fall 2017). In addition to speaking and teaching on collaboration and creative entrepreneurship, raising three small children, and fishing commercially for sockeye salmon on the Alaskan tundra each summer, Matthew and Robbi run Bobbledy Books (an indie press offering picture books and music for kids) from the hayloft of their home/barn/studio on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Spotlight: The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein

A boy and his father discover a whale tangled in their only fishing net. Is the whale dead? While the man worries about losing their net, the boy worries about the whale. He remembers the fear he felt when, caught in a net himself in childhood, he almost drowned before being rescued by his father. When the whale blinks an enormous eye, the boy knows that he has to try to save the creature, no matter how dangerous doing so may be.

Expressive and perfectly paced, this powerful story by Caldecott Medal–winner Mordicai Gerstein was inspired in part by a real-life video of a whale’s rescue, and the creature’s joyful dance through the waves after being freed.

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About the Author

Mordicai Gerstein is the author and illustrator of The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, winner of the Caldecott Medal, and has had four books named New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year. Gerstein was born in Los Angeles in 1935. He remembers being inspired as a child by images of fine art, which his mother cut out of Life magazine, and by children’s books from the library: “I looked at Rembrandt and Superman, Matisse and Bugs Bunny, and began to make my own pictures.” He attended Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, and then got a job in an animated cartoon studio that sent him to New York, where he designed characters and thought up ideas for TV commercials. When a writer named Elizabeth Levy asked him to illustrate a humorous mystery story about two girls and a dog, his book career began, and soon he moved on to writing as well as illustrating. “I’m still surprised to be an author,” he says. “I wonder what I’ll write next?” Gerstein lives in Westhampton, Massachusetts.

Spotlight: Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison

This beautifully illustrated book introduces reader of all ages to 40 women who changed the world.

Featuring forty trailblazing black women in American history, Little Leaders educates and inspires as it relates true stories of breaking boundaries and achieving beyond expectations. Illuminating text paired with irresistible illustrations bring to life both iconic and lesser-known female figures of Black history such as abolitionist Sojourner Truth, pilot Bessie Coleman, chemist Alice Ball, politician Shirley Chisholm, mathematician Katherine Johnson, poet Maya Angelou, and filmmaker Julie Dash. 

Among these biographies, readers will find heroes, role models, and everyday women who did extraordinary things - bold women whose actions and beliefs contributed to making the world better for generations of girls and women to come. Whether they were putting pen to paper, soaring through the air or speaking up for the rights of others, the women profiled in these pages were all taking a stand against a world that didn't always accept them. 

The leaders in this book may be little, but they all did something big and amazing, inspiring generations to come. 

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About the Author

Vashti Harrison is an artist and filmmaker with a passion for storytelling. She earned her MFA in film/video from California Institute of the Arts, where she snuck into animation and illustration classes to learn from Disney and DreamWorks legends. There she rekindled a love for drawing and painting. Now she uses her love of both film and illustration to craft beautiful stories for children.

Spotlight: Martha and the Slave Catchers by Harriet Hyman Alonso and Illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon

Thirteen-year-old Martha and seven-year-old Jake must do what adults cannot to ensure their own and others’ freedom. 

Martha Bartlett has a secret. Her life has already been changed by the Underground Railroad. Now the safety of her younger brother Jake depends on her willingness to risk her own life to bring Jake home to their abolitionist community in Connecticut. It’s 1854 and though all people in the North are supposed to be free, seven-year-old Jake, the orphan of a fugitive slave, learns otherwise. Using aliases, disguises, and other subterfuges, his older sister Martha struggles to elude slave catchers while adhering to her parents’ admonition to always tell the truth. Being perceived sometimes as white, sometimes as black during a perilous journey also throws her sense of her own identity into turmoil. Alonso combines fiction and historical fact to weave a suspenseful story of courage, hope, and self-discovery in the aftermath of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, while illuminating the bravery of abolitionists who fought against slavery.

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