Shelf Awareness--Ren's Pencil

PB Review: Ren's Pencil

Ren's Pencil by Bo Lu (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 40p., ages 4-8, 9781419769221, February 3, 2026)

Tender and dreamlike, Ren's Pencil by Bo Lu (Bao's Doll) depicts imagination and a "magic" pencil helping ease one girl's transition from her life in "the East" to an unfamiliar new home in "the West."

Ren loves "magical stories... where a brush [makes] pictures come alive." She, Popo, and Popo's yellow-orange cat snuggle and imagine themselves together in books about "princesses trapped under pagodas, rescued by fairies," and other magical tales "from the East." Then one day Ren's parents tell her they're "moving to the West" so they can "build something new." Ren desperately wants to stay where she is with Popo. But Popo hands Ren a pencil and gently assures her she will make her own magic in the West.

When Ren gets there, everything is different. Faces and hair are "unusual colors" and even her name is wrong; she's told that in school she'll be called Lauren. Words in books look like "upside-down letters" and Ren cannot "imagine herself in these stories." When she misunderstands the word "short" while getting a haircut, she can't even recognize her own face in the mirror afterward. Ren longs to be "with Popo and her magical stories"--"maybe everything would feel right again."

Just then, a flash of yellow-orange streaks by. Ren chases a giant cat, who invites her to "hop on," and she enters a dreamscape of "strange trees and houses" and "upside-down letters" that dance in the sky. A yellow orange-haired princess in a tower needs saving and, when no fairies appear, Ren sees the "soft glow" of the pencil Popo gave her: "Make your own magic." Ren does just that and saves the princess, with whom she begins to share her drawings. In time and with hard work, Ren begins to make friends and, "like magic," letters begin to make sense.

Bo Lu's expressive language feels intensely personal as she relates how Ren uses her pencil to communicate and create her own "something new." Lu's pencil, watercolor, and digital illustrations are soft with dark blues and purples to indicate the world of stories; she switches styles to include naïve art for the drawings done by Ren herself. Lu seamlessly entwines Ren's inner and outer lives as she portrays how important imagination is when coping with uncertainty. Art and storytelling provide a familiar place wherein Ren can learn to paint her new and old homes together into stories where she belongs. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.

Shelf Awarenesss--Frog

PB Review: Frog

Frog: A Story of Life on Earth by Isabel Thomas, illus. by Daniel Egnéus (Bloomsbury Children's Books, 48p., ages 5-8, 9781547618200, January 13, 2026)

Frog: A Story of Life on Earth is the third utterly absorbing nonfiction picture book collaboration between author Isabel Thomas and illustrator Daniel Egnéus (Moth; Fox), this time linking the evolution of frogs to the origins of the universe.

A child with a net wades through "a pond full of jelly-like eggs" that will one day grow legs and become "frogs that lay eggs of their own." The ensuing chicken-and-egg question--"if frogs come from eggs, and eggs come from frogs, where did the first frog come from?"--proves the perfect jumping-off point for a journey back in time. The text reverses to a period before frogs and people, all the way "back to the beginning" when time began, and then back even further to when "everything that is, was, and ever will be was squashed together in a superheated speck too tiny to imagine."

That speck expands with a Big Bang to become the universe, "still small enough to hold in your hands" and "fizz[ing] with energy." But "there were no frogs yet." Time begins with new "tiny specks of stuff" that appear, "dashing and veering, colliding, disappearing," as the universe cools and forms atoms. The atoms gather into huge, hot clouds and create even bigger atoms. Billions of years later, these first stars explode, and their stardust is "the stuff that forms new stars and planets." Included in this star-stuff is Earth, a planet with a "not too hot, and not too cool" surface that collects rain "in dips and dents." In one pond "something spectacular" happens. Chemicals form the first cell, which multiplies and evolves into larger forms of life, "from sponges to sea squirts to fish that laid eggs," and from there into "the ancestors of every animal with four limbs," amphibians, including frogs.

Thomas expertly distills massive ideas into tangible facts in a dynamic text that wisely includes both a child stand-in and repeatedly returns to frogs as the touchpoint for exploring the universe. Egnéus's mixed-media illustrations are striking, featuring over-saturated colors and shapes that exude energy and motion. The art is so inventive and nearly neon that it demands viewers' attention. Back matter tells "the [greatly abridged] Story of Everything" in one final supplementary spread offering a bit more context. This clever, fascinating approach to evolution is told through the undeniably child-friendly lens of frogs, who are, clearly, nothing less than "the story of the universe." --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.

November's Book of the Month--The Boy Who Became a Parrot

November Book of the Month is an exceptional picture book, THE BOY WHO BECAME A PARROT: A Foolish Biography of Edward Lear, Who Invented Nonsense, written by Wolverton Hill and illustrated by Laura Carlin.

Edward Lear, was the “wildly imaginative man” who famously wrote The Owl and the Pussycat, and who loved “animals, music, travel, chocolate shrimps, pancakes, and his cat, Foss. And… children who sometimes misbehave.”

Born in London in 1812, Edward grew up with older sisters who taught him to paint and draw, provided books about “plants and animals, mythology and adventure,” and allowed him to “dream of faraway places, both real and imagined.” Teenage Edward sold his artwork on street corners and, before long, his talent was noticed by “important people.” He was hired to work in London Zoo, where he drew and painted all manner of “remarkable creatures.” His watercolors were praised for displaying “a feeling for the fast beat of a heart, the wetness of a twitching nose, the stress of animals far from their familiar habitat.”

Soon regarded as “one of England’s foremost natural history artists,” Edward was invited to draw the Earl of Derby’s private menagerie. It was here he also began entertaining the “jumble-bumble of England’s finest” children, the “sons and daughters of British nobility” who gathered at the estate, and where he revealed “his most enduring gift—the ability to make people laugh.”

He drew the Manypeeplia Upsidownia plant to show the kids where children really came from, introduced them to the Scroobious Pip from the Humbly Islands, wrote limericks “with shocks of suspense and humor,” and in 1846 published “A Book of Nonsense,” which he wrote and illustrated himself.

Feeling stifled by English society, when Lear left the Duke’s estate, he began “traveling the world and inventing his own.” He had adventures and was awarded commissions, and he eventually adopted a cat, drawing himself and Foss over and over again in poems and letters. When Foss died in 1887, Lear himself died six months later.

This exquisite biography unfurls in page upon page of Hill’s whimsy-filled text that’s stuffed with drawings by Carlin—with some of Lear’s thrown in, too—and the whole package manages to convey a lovely sense of the man. It’s a tale of excellence and creativity unleashed, and is full of the wonder of the genius that was Edward Lear.

--Lynn

Shelf Awareness--Forest Magic for Kids

PB Review: Forest Magic for Kids: How to Find Fairies, Make a Secret Fort, and Cook Up an Elfin Picnic

Forest Magic for Kids: How to Find Fairies, Make a Secret Fort, and Cook Up an Elfin Picnic by Susie Spikol, illus. by Renia Metallinou (Gibbs Smith Kids, 144p., ages 5-9, 9781423665533)

Author Susie Spikol and illustrator Renia Metallinou's first collaboration, Forest Magic for Kids, offers a charming and whimsical array of activities, crafts, and ruminations to encourage children to find wonder in the natural world. Readers are encouraged to step outside, look around, and enjoy some essential "open-ended time in nature." Spikol suggests a list of top 10 tools for a "Forest Magic Search" and a DIY secret notebook for "planning, creating, and designing," then delves into potential activities featuring green plants and wildflowers, foraging, mushrooms, "wee" forest inhabitants, or hidden worlds. She offers abundant prompts for creative thinking, such as recipes for dandelion tea and lembas bread, fanciful crafts like a "mini magical moss garden," and hints for sighting myriad marvelous creatures, including gnomes, trolls, and, of course, fairies. Metallinou's full-color, deeply saturated art offers images of fairy folk, the instruments needed to make the magic, and children taking part in the suggested activities. Science, folklore, and imagination come together in this delightful offering brimming with ideas to get kids thinking, observing, and discovering outdoor wonders. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.

Shelf Awareness--Drawing Is...

PB Review: Drawing Is...: Your Guide to Scribbled Adventures

Drawing Is...: Your Guide to Scribbled Adventures by Elizabeth Haidle (Tundra Books, 72p., ages 8-12, 9781774885031)

This inspiring book begins with a discussion about drawing. Drawing is not "a contest," "a waste of time," or only for the "talented ones"; drawing is a way to "explore, think and feel, experiment and question." Outlined in the table of contents as individual chapter headings are Elizabeth Haidle's tenets of drawing: "traveling, wondering, focusing, feeling, growing, not-knowing, and magic."

Readers are invited to take the pressure off and begin with just two things: a dot, which is "like a point on a map," and a line, which "takes you... somewhere." Haidle (Before They Were Artists) invites young creators on "scribbled adventures," smoothly integrating technical considerations such as scale, contrast, texture, and pattern. The author/illustrator wonderfully presents her introduction to drawing with strong-yet-delicate mixed media illustrations and mostly hand-lettered text. Drawing Is... promotes an inclusive, purposefully unintimidating approach by focusing on the process rather than the product, and offers all the encouragement that anyone who blinks, breathes, and reads--or listens to someone reading--might need to open a sketchbook and give drawing a try! --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.

October's Book of the Month--Aggie and the Ghost

October Book of the Month is AGGIE AND THE GHOST, written and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe, also the creator of POKO AND THE DRUM, and MINA.

In AGGIE AND THE GHOST, diminutive Aggie is “very excited to live on her own.” Until, alas, she finds that her new house is haunted by an ever-present ghost. She’s not upset for the usual reasons; no, rather than being scared, Aggie is grumpy because she’s “never alone.” So she lays down some rules, including no nighttime haunting (a time when Aggie reads in bed), no sock stealing, and the ghost must “stop eating all the cheese.”

The ghost listens but does not follow the rules. So Aggie goes for a walk to be alone. Except she’s still not. The ghost follows her. But after the ghost explains that “there are too many rules in the house,” the two engage in negotiations in which tic-tac-toe, other forest ghosts, the Man-Faced Owl, and a wonderful, closeup spread convey the bumpy ride these two not-friends have in settling their differences. Which they do, though (in an unusual twist for a picture book) while Aggie and the ghost are “both very happy,” they are not, indeed, “the best of friends."

Most excellent for Halloween, but a terrific read for any time of year, Forsythe’s watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil art is stunning as usual, and readers should adore poor Aggie, who really, really wants some privacy, as well as this equally lovable, but definitely more social, ghost.

--Lynn

October Recommendations

JOURNEY OF THE HUMPBACKS, written by Juliana Muñoz Toro, illustrated by Dipacho, and translated by Lawrence Schimmel, is a journey from “glacial waters near Antarctica to the warm coasts of the Pacific” in the company of these acrobatic, “giant-winged” whales. Pages are overflowing with fascinating facts, diagrams, questions, and playful-yet-informative art, all laid out with an energetic design that draws readers in. Occasional wordless, full-color, full-bleed spreads are stunning and add to the value. Fascinating, engaging nonfiction for older readers!

In TUCK ME IN! by Nathan W Pyle, a beach tells the moon that it’s chilly, so the moon “pushe[s] the water up onto the sand” to tuck it in. But then another, distant beach calls out because now this second beach has lost its blanket! So moon “pushe[s] the ocean back and forth,” listening to the two beaches complain. Finally, she stops to explain, in simple terms, the concept of tides. And sand castles! Inviting, cartoony art is perfect for this funny, lightly-scientific book for very young readers. Belongs in every toddlers collection right next to THE DAY MOON AND EARTH HAD AN ARGUMENT, written by David Duff and illustrated by Noemi Vola!

AXOLOTL AND AXOLITTLE, written by Jess Hitchman and illustrated by Sarah Rebar, is the story of two siblings, Axolotyl and Axolytle, told with an inventive rhyme scheme. While Axolotl “lives life to the max-a-lotl,” little brother Axolittle “likes to study facts a little.” He also “dances, sings, and acts a little. And loves to just relax a little.” These two siblings are very close, and together they “axo-lutely run the show,” until they have a falling out. After “a wibble. Then a wobble. Then a giant axo-squabble,” things eventually get resolved, but what a fun ride—reading this aloud is a must! Bold, cartoony, digital art glows with fuchsia and neon yellow that’s set against calmer greens. Super-di-dooper!

VAMPIRE JAM SANDWICH, written by Casey Lyall and illustrated by Nici Gregory, is a barely spooky story narrated by a cute kid with a flashlight under their chin. Readers will learn about a “legend… told in the darkest corners of kitchens far and wide” in which, long ago, a vampire (“possibly named Terrence”) encountered a very tasty strawberry jam sandwich, but when “someone in the house woke up,” the vampire (who was “surprised—not scared”) ran away. The bitten sandwich turned into a cursed creature of the night, always roaming, always searching “for MORE JAM!” The story is perfectly silly, and the graphite pencil and digital illustrations in a limited palette of blacks, reds, and yellow/beige effectively bring to life this strangest of vampires, along with an emotive feline companion slash co-conspirator. Really fun!/div>

In HOME IS A WISH, by Julia Kuo, a child leaves, sometimes with her Mama, sometimes with her Amah, but they “always come back home.” Until one day they leave behind “sounds, smells, feelings, words, and memories,” and home “becomes a wish,” as they travel far away. Everything is strange in this new place and the girl wonders how it can ever be home. She drifts, until “odd becomes ordinary, and strange becomes sweet.” Until these new people and places become a different home, a home for “now.” Poetic and tender, Kuo’s lyrical text soars, and her digital art evokes both yearning and stability.

BEA’S BALIKBAYAN BOX OF TREASURES, written by Christine Alemshah and illustrated by Dream Chen, a cardboard box is a bear cave, a playhouse, and a rocket ship, before it becomes “something even more special.” A balikbayan box is filled with presents for relatives, treasures that are outgrown, gathered, and shopped for. The box is stuffed “full to the tippy top” with all these treasures, then notes and cards are added because the box carries more than gifts; it also carries love. This charming book about a Filipino custom that serves as a “special expression of love to family and friends” has a satisfying ending that comes full circle. Colorful art and supportive back matter highlight both the imaginative and the sentimental elements in this well-written, well-illustrated book.

--Lynn