It’s bedtime and everyone is settling down to sleep. Little children are tucked into bed. The cows and calves are sleeping in the fields. The foals, piglets, rabbits, lambs, and birds are going to sleep, too. A cat wanders through the fields. He is not ready for bed until the last page of the book, where he finally curls up on the child’s bed. The hand-painted gouache, ink, watercolor pencil, pastel, and acrylic illustrations are beautiful and filled with secret animals curled up in their beds. mjw |
| Title: Now That Night Is Near Author: Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002) Illustrator: Marit Tornqvist Publisher: Floris Books Copyright: 2020 Original Language: Swedish Translator: Polly Lawson Original Title: Alla Ska Sova Original Publisher: Raben & Sjogren Original Copyright: 2019 ISBN: 978-178250-675-1 Hardcover pages: 24 Age range: 3-6 Genre: Picture Book Book setting: Sweden Author’s ethnicity: Swedish Illustrator’s ethnicity: Swedish Illustrator’s residence: Sweden Subjects: Bedtime story, Cats, Earth, Nature, Sleep |
Tag Archives: Nature
Hello Earth! Poems To Our Planet
This beautiful, over-sized poetry book is a love letter to the Earth. There are poems about volcanoes, earthquakes, continental drift, the moon, jungles, mountains, deserts, ocean currents, rainbows, and more. The stunning paintings were created with watercolor and acrylic. They are packed with incredible detail. Included are six pages of additional information about all the topics covered in the poems, resources about climate change, ways kids can help, science projects, and a list of books for further reading. mjw |
| Title: Hello Earth! Poems To Our Planet Author: Joyce Sidman Illustrator: Miren Asiain Lora Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers Copyright: 2021 Original Language: Spanish Original Title: Versos de la Tierra Original Publisher: Ediciones SM, Madrid Original Copyright: 2016 ISBN: 978-0802855282 Hardcover pages: 68 Age range: 5-9 Genre: Picture Book, Poetry Author’s ethnicity: U.S. Author’s residence: Minnesota, U.S.A. Illustrator’s ethnicity: Spanish Illustrator’s residence: Spain Awards: Author has won the American Library Association Newbery Medal Subjects: Earth, Earth Science, Ecology, Ecosystems, Human impact, Jungles, Oceans, Plate tectonics, Water cycles |
Meet Me By The Sea
A little girl feels overlooked by her busy parents, so she packs up and goes to her favorite place by the sea. On the way, she goes through a forest and meets a friendly fox. At the end of the book, her family comes to join her. Delicate pastel illustrations complement the simple text. mjw |
| Title: Meet Me By The Sea Author: Taltal Levi Illustrator: Taltal Levi Publisher: NorthSouth Books Copyright: 2020 Original Language: German Original Title: Wo ihr mich findet Original Publisher: NordSud Verlag AG Original Copyright: 2020 ISBN: 978-0-7358-4432-2 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 5-8 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: Born in Galilee, Israel Author’s residence: Basel , Switzerland Illustrator’s ethnicity: Born in Galilee, Israel Illustrator’s residence: Basel, Switzerland Subjects: Forest animals, Foxes, Girls, Parents and child, Running away, Sea |
The Night Walk
Two young children and their parents go for a summer nighttime walk through the darkness. The world is quiet and shadowy. They walk out of their village and through the forest until they come to a lake where they stop to play with the moon. They lie down in the grass to watch the glittering sky. Finally, they climb a hillside just in time to see the dawn of a new day. The rich illustrations were hand-drawn using graphite pencils and watercolors and finished digitally. The only lights in the evocative darkness are lamps, porch lights, lights in windows, a flashlight, and the moon, until the sun rises on a double-page spread of the sun and its bright yellow light. mjw |
| Title: The Night Walk Author: Marie Dorleans Illustrator: Marie Dorleans Publisher: Floris Books Copyright: 2020 Original Language: French Translator: Polly Lawson Original Title: Nous Avons Rendez-Vous Original Publisher: Editions du Seuil Original Copyright: 2018 ISBN: 978-178250-639-3 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 4-8 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: French Author’s residence: France Illustrator’s ethnicity: French Illustrator’s residence: France Awards: Prix Landerneau Subjects: Forest, Natural world, Night, Lakes, Moon, Sunrise, Village |
Beyond Me
This novel-in-verse examines the aftershocks of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan and damaged a nuclear power plant in March, 2011, through the eyes of eleven-year-old Maya. Maya and her family were lucky. They didn’t lose their Tokyo home or the lives of family members, but Maya is still terrified. She feels helpless and hopeless. What can she do to help? She chronicles the 24 days after the quake, sometimes minute by minute. Maya and her friend Yuka fold paper cranes and ask for sunflower seeds to plant. She continues writing her journal for 113 days with interesting formatting and timelines. An author’s note tells more about the Great Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011. mjw
| Title: Beyond Me Author: Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers Copyright: 2020 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-1-48143-789-9 Hardcover pages: 304 Age range: 8-12 Genre: Fiction, Verse Book setting: Japan Author’s ethnicity: U.S. Author’s residence: Tokyo, Japan Subjects: Earthquakes, Family life, Japan, Novels in verse, Paper cranes, Sunflowers, Survival, Tsunamis |
The Last Tiger
Plasticus Maritimus: An Invasive Species
Lemon Butterfly
The Bear And The Duck

Two young children and their parents go for a summer nighttime walk through the darkness. The world is quiet and shadowy. They walk out of their village and through the forest until they come to a lake where they stop to play with the moon. They lie down in the grass to watch the glittering sky. Finally, they climb a hillside just in time to see the dawn of a new day. The rich illustrations were hand-drawn using graphite pencils and watercolors and finished digitally. The only lights in the evocative darkness are lamps, porch lights, lights in windows, a flashlight, and the moon, until the sun rises on a double-page spread of the sun and its bright yellow light. mjw






