Spotlight: Sea Bear: A Journey for Survival by Lindsay Moore

Lindsay Moore’s remarkable and beautifully illustrated picture book follows a lone polar bear as she makes her way across sea ice in the Arctic. Sea Bear is a deeply moving and informative story about perseverance, family, nature, and climate change that will resonate with readers of all ages.

A solitary polar bear travels across the sea ice in pursuit of food. As the ice melts and food becomes scarce, she is forced to swim for days. Finally, storm-tossed and exhausted, she finds shelter on land, where she gives birth to cubs and waits for the sea to freeze again.

Informed by the author’s background in marine science, Sea Bearis a vivid and moving page-turner with a vital message about our changing planet. This is a gorgeously illustrated book, with the perfect marriage of scientific fact and poetry, that shows the reality of climate change and how it poses a threat to animals of the Arctic. Perfect for family and classroom sharing.

Includes extensive backmatter about Arctic animals, climate change, and sea ice.

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About the Author

Lindsay Moore is an artist and writer with roots in Northern Michigan. She studied marine biology and fine art at Southampton College on Long Island and figure drawing at the Art Students League of New York, and earned her master of science in medical and scientific illustration from Medical College of Georgia, now Augusta University. Lindsay Moore lives with her family in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Spotlight: Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams

This deeply sensitive and powerful debut novel tells the story of a thirteen-year-old who must overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive family to finally learn to love herself.

There are ninety-six things Genesis hates about herself. She knows the exact number because she keeps a list. Like #95: Because her skin is so dark, people call her charcoal and eggplant—even her own family. And #61: Because her family is always being put out of their house, belongings laid out on the sidewalk for the world to see. When your dad is a gambling addict and loses the rent money every month, eviction is a regular occurrence.

What’s not so regular is that this time they all don’t have a place to crash, so Genesis and her mom have to stay with her grandma. It’s not that Genesis doesn’t like her grandma, but she and Mom always fight—Grandma haranguing Mom to leave Dad, that she should have gone back to school, that if she’d married a lighter skinned man none of this would be happening, and on and on and on. But things aren’t all bad. Genesis actually likes her new school; she’s made a couple friends, her choir teacher says she has real talent, and she even encourages Genesis to join the talent show.

But how can Genesis believe anything her teacher says when her dad tells her the exact opposite? How can she stand up in front of all those people with her dark, dark skin knowing even her own family thinks lesser of her because of it? Why, why, why won’t the lemon or yogurt or fancy creams lighten her skin like they’re supposed to? And when Genesis reaches #100 on the list of things she hates about herself, will she continue on, or can she find the strength to begin again?

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About the Author

Alicia Williams is a graduate of the MFA program at Hamline University. An oral storyteller in the African-American tradition, she is also a kindergarten teacher who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Genesis Begins Again is her debut novel.

Spotlight: Penguin Flies Home by Lita Judge

Penguin mastered his quest to soar with the eagles in Flight School—now he’s heading home to teach his friends in this sweet and inspiring stand-alone companion story!

Penguin loves everything about flying: the wind beneath his wings, the song that rises from his belly, and the sight of new and wonderful places.

Still, he misses his penguin friends in the South Pole. So, he flips and flaps back home, ready to teach them the magic of flight!

But when he arrives, his enthusiasm for flying doesn’t get quite the reaction he expected. Will Penguin’s friends still like him, even if they don’t share his soaring dreams?

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About the Author

Lita Judge is the award-winning author and illustrator of many children’s books, including Flight School; Penguin Flies Home; Red Sled; Red Hat; Good Morning to Me!; Born in the Wild; and her illustrated young adult novel, Mary’s Monster. She lives with her husband, two cats, and a parrot in New Hampshire. You can visit her online at LitaJudge.com.

Spotlight: Mighty Meg 1: Mighty Meg and the Magical Ring by Sammy Griffin and Illustrated by Micah Player

In the first book of the Mighty Meg series, Meg receives a ring for her eighth birthday and wakes up with superpowers!

Meg's life is turned upside down when a magical ring gives her superpowers! But Meg isn't the only one who changes. Strange things start happening in her once-normal town, and now Meg must use her brand-new superpowers to keep everyone safe.

Can Meg master her new powers and find the courage to be the hero her town needs?

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Spotlight: Best Family Ever by Karen Kingsbury With Tyler Russell

Much-loved storyteller Karen Kingsbury’s Baxter Family books have captured the hearts of millions who have come to think of the Baxter family as their own. Now Karen Kingsbury and her son Tyler Russell tell the childhood stories of the beloved Baxter children—Brooke, Kari, Ashley, Erin, and Luke—to inspire and entertain younger readers.

Brooke is the perfect older sister. For that reason, Kari and Ashley work hard to make their parents just as proud of them as they are of Brooke. Each girl has her own talents. Brooke is an excellent student. Kari is a great soccer player. Ashley, a talented artist. And they are always there for each other. But when the news comes that Dr. Baxter is moving the family from Ann Arbor to Bloomington, Indiana, and the Baxters need to leave the only home and friends they’ve ever known, no one is happy. Saying goodbye is hard but the family still has what’s most important—their faith and their love for each other. 

The first book in the Baxter Family Children series, #1 New York Timesbestselling author Karen Kingsbury and Tyler Russell tell the story of what it was like to grow up in the Baxter family, the best family ever.

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About the Author

Karen Kingsbury, #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, is America’s favorite inspirational storyteller, with more than twenty-five million copies of her award-winning books in print. Her last dozen titles have topped bestseller lists and many of her novels are under development as major motion pictures. Her Baxter Family books are being developed into a TV series slated to debut fall 2019. Karen is also an adjunct professor of writing at Liberty University. She and her husband, Donald, live in Tennessee near four of their adult children.

Tyler Russell has been telling stories his whole life. In elementary school, he won a national award for a children’s book he wrote, and he has been writing ever since. In 2015 he graduated college with a BFA from Lipscomb University. Soon after, he sold his first screenplay, Karen Kingsbury’s Maggie’s Christmas Miracle, which premiered in December of 2017 on Hallmark. Along with screenplays and novels, Tyler is a songwriter, singer, actor, and creative who lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where he enjoys serving his church, adventuring around the city, and spending time with his family.

Spotlight: Spencer and Vincent, the Jellyfish Brothers by Tony Johnston and Illustrated by Emily Dove

When two jellyfish brothers are separated at sea it takes all of the ocean’s creatures to help them reunite in this heartwarming tale of brotherly love.

Spencer and Vincent are jellyfish brothers who live together in the sea, their wet and shining home. They invented a little song which went like this:

My brother, my brother,
he’s sweet, not smelly.
I love him from down in my jelly belly.

One day a wave of superior magnitude separates them! The brothers know they have to do whatever it takes to find each other again. And they’ll need some help along the way…

Sometimes friends can really make a the difference. Spencer and Vincent is a story of adventures and the bond of family.

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About the Author & Illustrator

Tony Johnston is the award-winning author of more than 100 beloved children’s books. She lives with her family in San Marino, California, where she grew up.

Emily Dove is an illustrator and author who lives in Cleveland, Ohio, where the winding rivers and fall foliage never cease to inspire her. As a certified naturalist, she uses illustration as a tool to educate and inspire others about the natural world. About her debut picture book Wendell the Narwhal, Kirkus Reviews said “children will find a lot to like in little Wendell.” She also illustrated Spencer and Vincent, the Jellyfish Brothers by Tony Johnston.