Get ready for a major milestone: kindergarten graduation Of course, there's a lot of preparation the night before as kids prepare for the momentous occasion. This is a great school-year follow-up to The Night Before Kindergarten

The Wonderful Things You Will Be has a loving and truthful message that will endure for lifetimes and makes a great gift to the ones you love for any occasion.

After an imminent yet unnamed danger forces people across Colorado to leave their homes, a group of kids including an aspiring filmmaker and a budding journalist find themselves in the same evacuation camp. As they cope with the aftermath of having their world upended, they grow curious about the mysterious threat.

And as they begin to investigate, they start to discover that there's less truth and more cover-up to what they're being told. Can they get to the root of the conspiracy, expose the bad actors, and bring an end to the upheaval before it's too late?

The exact type of book I would've loved, and needed, as a kid. --Jasmine Warga, New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Honor recipient for Other Words for Home

Seventh grade begins, and Kareem's already fumbled it.

His best friend moved away, he messed up his tryout for the football team, and because of his heritage, he was voluntold to show the new kid--a Syrian refugee with a thick and embarrassing accent--around school. Just when Kareem thinks his middle school life has imploded, the hotshot QB promises to get Kareem another tryout for the squad. There's a catch: to secure that chance, Kareem must do something he knows is wrong.

Then, like a surprise blitz, Kareem's mom returns to Syria to help her family but can't make it back home. If Kareem could throw a penalty flag on the fouls of his school and home life, it would be for unnecessary roughness.

Kareem is stuck between. Between countries. Between friends, between football, between parents--and between right and wrong. It's up to him to step up, find his confidence, and navigate the beauty and hope found somewhere in the middle.

Three women narrate a perilous wagon journey westward that could set them free--or cost them everything they have--in this intergenerational verse novel that explores the history of the Black homesteader movement.

1879, Mississippi. Young dreamer Lettie may have her head in the stars, but her body is on a covered wagon heading westward. Her father, Thomas, promises that Nebraska will be everything the family needs: an opportunity to claim the independence they've strived for over generations on their very own plot of land.

But Thomas' hopes--and mouth--are bigger than his ability to follow through. With few supplies and even less money, the only thing that feels certain is danger.

Right after the war ended/and we were free/we believed/all of us did/that couldn't nothing hurt us/the way master had when we were slaves/Couldn't no one tell us/how to live/how to die.

Lettie, her mother, Sylvia, and young teacher Philomena are free from slavery--but bound by poverty, access to opportunity, and patriarchal social structures. Will these women survive the hardships of their journey? And as Thomas' desire for control overpowers his common sense, will they truly be free once they get there?

Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author Lesa Cline-Ransome's striking verse masterfully portrays an underrepresented historical era. Tackling powerful themes of autonomy and Black self-emancipation, Cline-Ransome offers readers an intimate look into the lives of three women and an expansive portrait of generations striving for their promised freedom.

A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
One of Evanston Public Library's 101 Great Books for Kids
A CSMCL Best Multicultural Children's Book of the Year
An ALSC Notable Children's Book
Selected for the Rise: Feminist Book List

* A Stonewall Award Honor Book * ALA Notable Book *

Perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead, Natalie Lloyd, and Jasmine Warga, this beautiful novel in verse explores one girl's struggle to regain her magic after a hurricane forces her to move away from her beloved ocean that, she believes, has given her special powers.

Bighearted and observant twelve-year-old Murray O'Shea loves the ocean. Every chance she gets, she's in it. It could be because the ocean never makes her apologize for being exactly who she is--something her family refuses to do--but it could also be because of the secret magic that Murray shares with the ocean. Though she can't explain its presence, the electric buzz she feels from her fingertips down to her toes allows her to become one with the ocean and all its creatures, and it makes Murray feel seen in a way she never feels on land.

But then a hurricane hits Murray's Jersey Shore home, sending the O'Sheas far inland to live with relatives. Being this far from the ocean, Murray seems to lose her magic. And stuck in a house with her family, she can no longer avoid the truths she's discovering about herself--like how she feels in the clothes her mom makes her wear, or why she doesn't have boys on the brain like other girls her age.

But it's not all hurricanes and heartache. Thankfully, Murray befriends a boy named Dylan, who has a magic of his own. When Murray agrees to partner with him for a youth roller-rama competition in exchange for help getting her magic back, the two forge an unstoppable bond--one that shows Murray how it's not always the family you were given that makes you feel whole...sometimes it's the family you build along the way.

Ivo lived in a great big shell.
That floated in the sea.
He wrote stories to make the time pass.
Millions and millions of stories.
More than a shell could hold.
More than a boy's life could hold.

A boy named Ivo lives in a giant moon snail shell on a beach. One day, a wave carries him out to sea. While he waits to be rescued, he makes the best of his time writing story poems on the walls inside the shell. In his poems, Ivo introduces you to characters such as dolphin, the nicest creature in the ocean who brings him a crayon when he needs a new one. Crab who takes over when Ivo sleeps and writes crabby poems. There's carrot boy who eats so many carrots that he turns into a rabbit. And two sibling pups taken in by different owners and can't stop looking for each other.

John Himmelman's masterful collection of poems--each illustrated in full-color art--is filled with unforgettable characters and begs to be read time and time again.

Time to pick up all your toys
Why is Mama making noise?
Mama says it's cleaning day.
Llama only wants to play.

Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama is growing up, but he still loves to play with all his toys When Mama Llama says it's time to clean up, Llama responds like any child more interested in playing than cleaning . . . by ignoring her But Mama has an imaginative response of her own. What if she never cleaned? What would happen then? Well, Llama Llama is going to find out Here is a truly funny take on a childhood chore that all children will relate to and laugh at And it is sure to be helpful to get kids cleaning up

Using Mexican concepts, this poignantly lyrical series invites young children to pay witness to nature, to value it, and to become a steward of the planet. Water is essential to all life on earth--it helps us grow, it feeds us, it cleanses us, and it heals us. Its fluidity touches and gives life to every being, showcasing the power of universal interconnectedness. Acclaimed middle-grade author Aida Salazar lovingly turns her attention to the youngest readers, bringing her signature lyrical text - in English with a few Spanish words interwoven. With vibrant, mystical art, this book is a truly meaningful and formative experience for all young readers.

Perfect for fans of Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein, award-winning author Vikram Madan's new poetry collection features delicious vocabulary, hilarious poems, and a full-color graphic novel format!

Vikram Madan packs this whimsical poetry collection with surprise twist after surprise twist and a host of unusual characters. In these pages, you'll meet ghost guppies (and the brave girl who creates them), Stan the Slouching Man(TM) who'll teach you blackbelt slouching, oozing dinosaurs called squishosaurs, a suspicious dragon, and the Nozzlewock (a nose with super-vacuum strength), among many other memorable heroes. Recurring characters and subplots in the art weave the poems together, adding to the merriment. This quirky collection in full-color graphic novel format begs to be read over and over again.

Small enough to fit in a child's backpack, this collection of short poems--one to a page--spans the entire year of kindergarten, offering sweet and simple tips on how to be your best self--sharing your umbrella with a friend; taking turns on the swings, and inviting someone to join in a game. This is the perfect companion to DJ Steinberg's enormously successful Kindergarten, Here I Come

2025 NCTE Notable Verse Novel

Intensely readable. --School Library Journal (starred review)

When her unconventional parents finally agree to settle down in one place, twelve-year-old Cayenne's dreams come true--but the reality of fitting in is much harder than she imagined. Acclaimed author Jessica Vitalis crafts an unforgettable historical novel-in-verse about belonging, family, and social class, for fans of Lisa Fipps's Starfish and Jasmine Warga's Other Words for Home.

As Cayenne enters seventh grade, her parents decide it's time to stop living in their van, roaming from place to place. Cayenne hopes that this means she will finally belong somewhere and make some friends. But it turns out that staying in one place isn't easy at all.

When her social studies class studies the Titanic tragedy (the wreckage has just been discovered and her teacher is obsessed), Cayenne sees more and more parallels between the social strata of the infamous ship and her own life. Will she ever squeeze her way into the popular girls' clique, even though they live in fancy houses on the hill and she lives in a tiny, rundown home with chickens in the front yard? Is it possible that the boy she likes actually likes her back? Can she find a way to make room for herself in this town? Does she really want to? Maybe being normal isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Set in the mid-1980s, this literary novel is for readers of Megan E. Freeman's Alone and Erin Entrada Kelly's We Dream of Space.

In this electrifying follow-up to Kwame Alexander's Newbery winner The Crossover, soccer, family, love, and friendship take center stage. A New York Times bestseller and National Book Award Longlist nominee.

Twelve-year-old Nick learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams. Helping him along are his best friend and sometimes teammate Coby, and The Mac, a rapping librarian who gives Nick inspiring books to read.

This electric and heartfelt novel-in-verse bends and breaks as it captures all the thrills and setbacks, action and emotion of a World Cup match.

A novel about a soccer-obsessed tween boy written entirely in verse? In a word, yes. Kwame Alexander has the magic to pull off this unlikely feat, both as a poet and as a storyteller. --The Chicago Tribune

Can't nobody stop you

Can't nobody cop you...

ILA-CBC Children's Choice List- ALA Notable Children's Book - Book Links' Lasting Connections - Kirkus Best Book - San Francisco Chronicle Best Book- Washington Post Best Book- BookPage Best Book

Chippetty tip! Chippetty tip! Its only name is the Scroobious Pip. Unfinished at the time of Edward Lear's death in 1888, The Scroobious Pip is a fantastical journey into the world of beasts, birds, fish, and insects as these creatures try to determine what, exactly, the Scroobious Pip is. In the end, the Scroobious Pip's unique nature is embraced and he is welcomed among all animals, fish, and insects. Award-winning illustrator, Charles Santore, crafted a fabulously clever interpretation of the illusive Pip before his death in 2019, and his son, acclaimed artist Nicholas Santore, has fully realized his father's vision in the beautiful paintings that bring to life Lear's humorous nonsensical poem.

Two kids. One fight. No one thinks they're wrong.

Flow

I don't even hit girls . . . is what I'm thinking.

I roll my eyes, turn them to my shoes.

Shoes I'ma wear every day till they fall off my feet.

Eb

It was all just an accident!

Nobody was trying to mess up

his Stupid Ugly Shoes.

Now I've got my third suspension of seventh grade.

Ebony and De'Kari (aka Flow) do not get along. How could they when their cafeteria scuffle ended with De'Kari's ruined shoes, Ebony on the ground, and both of them with ten days of at-home suspension? Now Eb and Flow have two weeks to think about and explain their behavior--to their families, to each other, and ultimately to themselves.

Award-winning author Kelly J. Baptist delivers a novel in verse that follows Eb and Flow as they navigate their parallel lives. Single-parent homes, tight funds, and sibling dynamics provide a balancing act for the growing tweens. And whether they realize it or not, these two have a lot more in common than they think.

Afraid her sister (and maybe even herself) could lose sight of their Vietnamese identity, twelve-year-old Bom writes a poetic memoir to help them both remember--a love letter in verse to sisterhood and the places we leave behind.

Bom can't believe that her sister doesn't see herself as Vietnamese, only American. She says she doesn't remember Vietnam or their lives there, their family there, their house and friends. How could her sister forget the terrible journey through Saigon and the airplanes and... everything?

And what about Bom? She remembers now, but how long will she keep her memories? She always found comfort in the sound of her father's typewriter Clickity-clack, clickity-clack. So she has an idea. She'll write down all that she can remember: the time when her father was a spy, when her mother was nicknamed a radio, when they were so hungry Bom couldn't walk well, when the family all said goodbye.

Bom will even tell her sister, and herself, about what it was like moving to Tennessee. The ESL classes, bullies, strange new foods, icy weather, friendships, and crushes--and how her family worked to keep their heritage alive.

She'll type one poem at a time, until they'll never forget again.

Luna has always loved the night sky. She's an eleven-year-old who knows everything there is to know about space, and dreams of one day becoming an astronaut. The first step in her plan to get there is to ace the space unit in her science class and secure a spot in NASA's summer space camp.

But when Luna's teacher is unexpectedly replaced with a substitute, Ms. Manitowabi, who is looking to shake up science class by bringing in art, Luna's carefully laid plans are crushed. And that's not all that's shifting in Luna's life -- changes at home and in her friendships have her feeling topsy-turvy. What on Planet Earth is happening?

Reasons to Look at the Night Sky is an endearing, poetic look at the inner world of a middle schooler grappling with change from acclaimed author and illustrator Danielle Daniel.

The only thing better than a Dr. Seuss book is six of them in one! The easy words, engaging rhymes, and bright art in this collection can turn any kid into a reader. All in on one colorful, sturdy hardcover package, the stories featured include The Shape of Me and Other Stuff; Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!; Ten Apples Up On Top (illustrated by Roy McKie), In a People House (illustrated by Roy McKie); Hooper Humperdink...? Not Him! (illustrated by Scott Nash); and Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo! (illustrated by Michael Frith). Ideal for starting a child's library, this collection will whet young readers appetites for additional books in the Beginner Book series--and help nourish a lifelong love of reading!

Beginner Books are fun, funny, and easy to read! Launched by Dr. Seuss in 1957 with the publication of The Cat in the Hat, this beloved early reader series motivates children to read on their own by using simple words with illustrations that give clues to their meaning. Featuring a combination of kid appeal, supportive vocabulary, and bright, cheerful art, Beginner Books will encourage a love of reading in children ages 3-7.