Picture Books
July 2022
Recent Releases
Wildflower
by Melanie Brown

With bright and playful illustrations by Sara Gillingham, this sweet and empowering story shows the inner strength required to define ourselves on our own terms, and how supporting one another can help us grow.
Music is a Rainbow
by Bryan Collier

What it is: "A poetic collage of emotion and purpose and a vibrant testament to the power of music" (Kirkus Reviews).

What happens: Heartbroken over his momma's absence and facing tough choices, a young boy remembers his father's advice -- "Leave room for that rainbow to find you. Broken is beautiful." -- as he seeks solace in piano.

Art alert: Celebrated illustrator Bryan Collier employs a myriad of colors to emphasize the feelings in the book's sweeping, swirling artwork.
Ben the Sea Lion
by Roy Henry Vickers

Set in the Indigenous Pacific Northwest village of Kitkatia, this picture book follows an uncle and his nephews as they nurse back to health an orphaned sea lion, who leads them on many adventures until he must return to the wild. .
A Seed Grows
by Antoinette Portis

What it is: An accessible introduction to the life cycle of a sunflower, from seed to sprout to blossom that produces new seeds.  

Who it's for: While the simple, sunny illustrations offer an enchanting pleasure-read, the clear explanations and easy-to-understand words in A Seed Grows will also appeal to beginning readers or preschoolers exploring STEM concepts.
Learning to Carve Argillite
by Sara Florence Davidson

"A quiet, beautiful story on how traditions are kept alive by passing them down from one generation to the next, by remembering the ways things were so we can clearly see the way things can be. " -- from the book.
Retro Reads
My friend Earth
by Patricia MacLachlan

Die-cut pages invite readers to explore how Earth is a friend to all creatures, watching over us as the year cycles through the seasons.
I Am Every Good Thing
by Derrick Barnes; illustrated by Gordon C. James

What it is: An affirming, encouraging poem that centers and celebrates Black boyhood, accompanied by lush, high-impact paintings of realistic boys living their lives with confidence.

Book buzz: You might recognize author Derrick Barnes and illustrator Gordon C. James as the multi-award-winning creators of Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut.

Try this next: Useni Eugene Perkins' Hey Black Child, another poetic picture book emphasizing the many ways in which Black childrens' lives matter.
It's time to say good night
by Harriet Ziefert

.By the time a young boy finishes saying good morning to everything in sight, it is time to say good night.
One girl
by Andrea Beaty

A meditative tribute to the power of reading and how one child can change the world, inspired by the global movement to empower girls through education, depicts a girl who reads a book that inspires her to become a writer and share what she has learned.
Contact your librarian for more great books for ages 0-8!
Newmarket Public Library
438 Park Ave.
Newmarket, Ontario L3Y1W1
905-953-5110

www.newmarketpl.ca