Love, Panda

Written by Elaine Su

Illustrated by Charlene Chua

Orchard Books (An imprint of Scholastic)

978-1-5461-7958-0

32 pp.

Ages 4–8

July 2026 

 

Who wouldn't love to cuddle a super-squishy stuffie of a panda? Apparently Baby Lou does, but Panda, who has always been Benny's, is having none of it.

 

After Panda gets left in the baby's room, Baby Lou is smitten. But Panda, distressed by the unfamiliar, from diapers aplenty and the baby sucking on its ear, begins a letter campaign to get his original boy, Benny, to retrieve him. 

Illustration by Charlene Chua from Love, Panda, written by Elaine Su

In letter after letter, delivered by Dump Truck, Panda describes what he has had to endure—the elephant mobile, a lift-the-flap book, annoying parents who are thrilled with the baby's simplest efforts—and begs Benny to come and get him. But, with each new letter, Panda begins to appreciate Baby Lou and even recognize things familiar to his time with Benny. By learning Baby Lou's routines and finding the familiar, Panda finds it's not so bad after all.

Illustration by Charlene Chua from Love, Panda, written by Elaine Su

Elaine Su's bio speaks of her own favourite stuffie which has since been passed down to her own children. There's always one toy, especially a stuffed one, that is fondly remembered as bringing comfort. (Mine was a pink and green stuffed snake named Horace.) But, what happens when a child outgrows it, and another child covets it? In Love, Panda, the stuffie has something to say about that. Without realizing it, Panda's perspective changes. He learns to recognize that different isn't bad and that perseverance can help one transition from the scary and unknown to something unexpected good.

Illustration by Charlene Chua from Love, Panda, written by Elaine Su

Without Charlene Chua's digital art, Panda would never be so adorable and heartwarming. She gives him the textures and expressions of the sweetest of stuffies. His shape and cushiony appearance will remind young readers of Squishmallows toys, but his facial expressions, from his eyes and brows to his mouth, give us the full range of feelings. He's distressed, he's surprised, he's resigned, and he's joyous.

 

I know Panda is a stuffie and his dilemma—being unceremoniously adopted by a new child—will not be a familiar one to most children, but Love, Panda is a lesson in persevering through that which might seem unimaginably challenging. Perhaps, for children, it will attending a new school, accepting a new baby, or welcoming a new teacher when one goes on maternity. For children, different can be overwhelming. But with time and with the clarity that can come with getting thoughts down on paper, they can triumph. Panda did, and he's not even mobile.

Still Alive (Kidnapped From Ukraine, Book 3)

Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Scholastic Press

978-1-5461-0457-5

320 pp.

Ages 8–12

April 2026 

 

 

While the war on Ukraine by Russia continues to this day, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is ready to resolve the story of twins Dariia and Rada Popkova. The story that began with Dariia's perspective on the attack and invasion of Ukraine in Under Attack (2025) after the girls' separation, and that led to Rada's story in Standoff (2025) comes full circle with a story that brings families together. They are still alive and fighting for themselves, each other, and their country.

 

Still Alive begins in November of 2022 with Rada and her mom living in a ski village in the Carpathian Mountains. Mom works as a manicurist at the Hotel Karpaty, and they are preparing to move into their prefab home in a new refugee area in nearby Prytulok. They receive unexpected messages from Dariia, who has been "adopted" by a Russian family in a Moscow suburb, with details about her "new" name and birthday, as well as those of other Ukrainian children who had been kidnapped to Russia. So begins their fight to get Dariia and the other children back to Ukraine.

 

With the help of Save Ukraine, a Ukrainian charitable organization whose initiatives includes rescue and reunification of children taken from Ukraine, Mom and Rada and their new family of friends get to work trying to find families of others so that they might rescue as many as possible. But it's an arduous task as all must be done legally, finding legal guardians, obtaining powers of attorney, and more.

 

The second part of the story comes after Dariia is rescued and comes to live with Mom and Rada. She may be back with much of her own family—the whereabouts of her soldier father are still unknown—but she must navigate a new reality. She and Rada may be twins but they have always been different. With the traumas that they have endured, it's not just being together like it had been. Here's healing that has to happen but still with the mission to help their country. In fact, they do even more. They find a way to...

...take a shattered world and make it into something beautiful. (pg. 273) 

A series titled Kidnapped From Ukraine does not intimate a story of joy.  Of course, a story based in the ongoing war on Ukraine could be nothing less than horrific. While Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is an author who tells real stories, she is also one who handles them with sensitivity, aware that there is a way to tell an impactful story and still offer reassurance. With Still Alive, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch remind us that this war is not over, and that people are still suffering. Rada's question about the senselessness of this war—"How much hate does it take to kill your neighbour with missiles aimed at churches, children, hospitals?" (pg. 43)—resonates throughout the book as Ukrainians consider atrocities, new or repeated. Their reactions are as diverse as their experiences but their resolve to do what they can—build drones, sew camouflage nets, feed abandoned animals—to save Ukraine is unmistakable. 

 

The Kidnapped From Ukraine trilogy may be disheartening in the nature of its story, but Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch heartens it by comforting young readers with a narrative of families, made and found, and hope for a new future.

 

Under Attack (2025)

Standoff (2025)

Still Alive (2026)

When You Dream Big!

Written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Orchard Books

978-1-339-00035-0

40 pp.

Ages 4–8

March 2026 

 

All of us will remember being asked what we'd like to be when we grow up. It's a rite of passage to be asked, to answer with something practical or unlikely, and then to change our minds. Knowing what you want to be when you grow older is a challenge. Ah, but dreaming big may be the start of a grand future. 

From When You Dream Big! written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

When their teacher, Miss Rayna, plans a Dream Big Week, during which her students would share their dream jobs by writing them on colourful wings, Charley is stumped. Her classmates are enthusiastic about their ideas of going to mars, becoming an actor, or building a bridge across the ocean. They want to be engineers, astronauts, and artists. But Charley has no idea.  

From When You Dream Big! written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

As she ponders and stresses about dreaming big, Charley becomes immobilized with anxiety. It's only when she focuses on her feet—"Ten toes — all pointing in the right direction" (pg. 20)—that she feels grounded enough to go on. The next morning, she awakens inspired by her dreams. She may not know what she wants to do when she grows up, but she know who she wants to be.

 

When You Dream Big! is less about doing than it is about being. Having dreams about your future job is normal, whether you're seven or twenty-seven. The dream can guide you in your education and your interests, and it can propel you to work hard. But dreaming about the future can be as much about who you will be as a person as what job you will have. Will you be adventurous? Will you be more assertive? Will you be responsible and caring? Peter H. Reynolds gives us a character who feels anxiety about the big dreams she's supposed to have and shows us that she's always had the right stuff to dream big, even if it is different than the dreams of her classmates. Even better, Peter H. Reynolds's Charley helps her classmates to dream big about who they can be, not just what they will do. 

From When You Dream Big! written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

When I read Peter H. Reynolds's books, I always feel like someone has taken my hand. It's the hand of understanding, of compassion, and of guidance. He does this with his uplifting words and his heartfelt art. His text resonates with the voice of children who worry about their abilities or ideas, who compare themselves to others, and who feel joy when supported. Those same feelings come through in Peter H. Reynolds's pen and watercolour illustrations. Beyond the classroom posters of positive messages, he uses colour tellingly. His golds and purples are as reassuring as his words, and he spreads joy and reveals distraction and worry with colour and an effective use of line. His characters are fabulously diverse, and convincing in themselves. (Colby, a boy in a "Be You" shirt wants to make people smile more, while Josh wants to sleep a lot.) 

 

There is no one way to dream big, and Charley and her classmates and Miss Rayna all learn that this is true. With this epiphany comes relief, encouragement, and even creativity. So, when you dream big, good stuff can happen, even if it's not the dream coming true. (But maybe it will.)

The Gift of Words

Written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Orchard Books (Scholastic)

978-1-339-00034-3 

40 pp.

Ages 4–8

October 2025 

 

While most of Canada still hasn't seen snow since last winter, and many are still ramping up their decorations and party plans for Halloween, there will be some who are starting to think about the winter holiday season. Jerome, Peter H. Reynolds's lexicographer from The Word Collector (2018), is inspired to collect some holiday words, sure that he will find words of hope and of joy that he might share with those he loves. What he finds is surprising.

From The Gift of Words, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

With his bright yellow notebook and accompanied by his dog Ekko, Jerome checks out words posted throughout his town. Words like "Buy" and "Sale" and "Low Low Prices" do not inspire the good feelings he'd hoped to find. 

These words left Jerome feeling cold.

From The Gift of Words, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

When he looks beyond the shops, he finds even more distressing words. There's the newsstand where headlines scream about war, poverty, and disasters. And the people he encounters are demanding and hating on the weather and frustrated with others.

 

Jerome's solution is to share inspiring words rather than find new ones. After all, he is a curator of words. So, finding a joyful assortment, he packs up several large bags and pulls them on his sled to the downtown park. There he invites others to join him in decorating a tree with positive words and messages.

 

A word collector's tree.

A tree of hope.

A tree of dreams. A tree of wishes. 

 

From The Gift of Words, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Soon the tree is festooned with words of positive actions like "Smile" and "Listen," and of feelings like "Joy," as well as messages like "We can make more light together" and "Together we can." With that tree, with those words, and with his community, Jerome is able to share and help others participate in the gift of words.

 

Peter H. Reynolds has always be a fabulous patron of goodness, inspiring young readers with his picture books that promote self-expression (Happy Dreamer, 2017), love (All We Need Is Love and a Really Soft Pillow!, 2023), empowerment and activism (Say Something!, 2019), creativity (The Dot, 2023), and so much more. With The Gift of Words, Peter H. Reynolds not only promotes a lexicon of heartfelt words and messages, but he also makes us stop and think about the unpleasant communications with which children are bombarded daily. Sadly, there is much of this troubling content, especially during the holidays when commercialism and selfishness abound. Thankfully, Peter H. Reynolds addresses it with a lover of words and that child's pursuit of finding joy in the season. 

From The Gift of Words, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Still, the overall feeling of The Gift of Words is one that uplifts. It's one of community and positivity. And Peter H. Reynolds gives us all the children and community participating in making things right. Everyone has the opportunity to be included and to contribute. And all you see is joy in their faces and in their activity. Peter H. Reynolds gives us colour and kinship through his characters and his whimsical tree of hope, dreams, and wishes.

 

Get your students and children in the right holiday spirit with a reading of The Gift of Words and thinking about their own inspiring holiday words—Scholastic has a couple of activity sheets here to help—before the holiday season starts, and the toy and tech commercials begin to bombard them. Help them find the goodness within their community and their place in contributing to it. Help them make this holiday season one of heartfelt sentiment that might sustain them throughout the year.

Activity sheets available for The Gift of Words at Scholastic (https://www.scholastic.com/site/peter-reynolds.html)

Under Attack (Kidnapped From Ukraine, #1)

 

Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

 Scholastic

978-1-546104513

320 pp.

Ages 8-13

January 2025

 

Apologies to author Marsha Skrypuch and Scholastic for my tardy review of this exceptional novel. They kindly ensured I received a copy of Under Attack and, while a gripping read, it has an emotional component for me, making my reading of it far more challenging. But, because it is so well written and told with such compassion and insight, I could not stay away from Under Attack. Years from now, readers will look to Under Attack as an authentic commentary of how the attack on Ukraine that started in 2022 played out for children and their families. 

 

Twelve-year-old Dariia Popkova's story did not just start on February 24, 2022, although this is the starting point of Under Attack. Her life in her family's fourth floor apartment in Mariupol would have been typical. Her father worked at the Azovstal steel plant. Her mother worked at a nail salon. And Dariia and her twin sister Rada went to school, had friends, did crafts, and loved using their cell phones. Then Putin declares a "special military operation" to free Ukrainians from their "Nazi" regime. When the first bomb hits their apartment, Dariia and her mother are separated from Dariia's dad and Rada. With this begins a separation of place and experience as they try to find their way back together.

 

Dariia and her mother shelter in a basement of a school supply depot with many others. Some are strangers like Sonya Marynovska and her four-year-old daughter Ariadna and two Tatar boys Rustem and Asan, but also a classmate Natalia and her dog Mimi. From their basement base, the twenty-eight hunker down, make unsafe outings to scavenge for food and water and get cell phone reception. They are "eating practically nothing, drinking bad water, and hearing the thunder of nonstop bombing overhead." (p. 53) Weeks turn into months and though Dariia and her mom are first looking to get to the Avostal steel plant where her father's army reserve is stationed and Rada is safe, ultimately they get the message to get to the humanitarian corridor and go to Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeast Ukraine. 

This wasn't a war.
This was the Russian Federation executing civilians because they were Ukrainians.
It was terrifying and senseless. (p. 82) 

Stealing an abandoned car, amidst the continued shelling, roaming tanks with white Z markings, and marauding Russian soldiers, Dariia, her mother, Rustem, Ariadna and Mimi the dog don't get very far before they are stopped and sent to a "filtration center" where they are told they would be evacuated to safer parts of Russia. 

 

Dariia, now separated from her mother, is sent with Rustem and other children–Katya, Volodya, Ihor, Dmytro and siblings Lilia and Vadim–to the Romashka Children's Camp where they are told about Putin, the benevolent president, who has helped rescue them from the Nazi regime of Zelensky. The children know it is propaganda but play along.

It made me angry that the Russians had brought me to this prison that looked and smelled like freedom. (p. 136)

When they are sent to their respective Russian "foster homes," the children vow to get in touch whenever they can with a Gmail account Liliya and Vadim had created to drop messages. Separated from any family they might have and each other, they are determined to keep their connections to each other, to the truth and their homeland.

This could be historical fiction. It could have been a story from the 1940s. I wish that it were. But it's a contemporary story from 2022 through the present, recounting the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the continuing war in a fictionalized story. Someday Under Attack will be historical fiction and readers will shake their heads at the senselessness of the war. I can only hope that they'll be looking back from a time when Ukraine is free from Russian oppression and violence.

While a fictionalized story, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch takes the time and effort to understand the truths, like the truth about how the war started, the propaganda levelled at both Ukrainians and Russians, and the impact of the war on Ukrainians, from children to workers to the elderly. It is a tough story because of these truths which are so distressing and disheartening. Still Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is a master at telling such stories (e.g., Winterkill, Traitors Among Us, Dance of the Banished, and Making Bombs for Hitler), ensuring a sensitivity to her characters and her readers, and a thoroughness and accuracy of details.

It's fitting that I review Under Attack on a day which Christians commemorate as Good Friday. Like the day, this book is one of grief and injustice. And it is one that requires contemplation. We can only hope that after the grief comes a resurrection for Ukraine and a future of peace. Only history, and Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's follow-up books in the Kidnapped From Ukraine series, will tell.

• • • • • • •

Standoff, Book 2 in Kidnapped from Ukraine, releases in October, 2025.

 

 

The Inside Scouts Help the Strong Cheetah

Written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths

Illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

Acorn (Scholastic)

978-1-338-89504-9

64 pp.

Ages 5-7

October 2024

 

Our intrepid inside-the-body explorers from The Inside Scouts Help the Kind Lion and The Inside Scouts Help the Brave Giraffe are back to help another animal with a body ailment.

From The Inside Scouts Help the Strong Cheetah, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

Sanjay and Viv, the children who can shrink down and go inside animals to help them feel better, discover that the cheetah has a leg cramp. Explaining it as a muscle that is stuck and will not relax, the two grab their gear and head out to meet Zora the cheetah. Zora explains how she'd been running when her leg started to hurt, and she had to stop. (This may be familiar to many young readers.) They carry her to their Care Lab and head inside Zora for a "little poke."

From The Inside Scouts Help the Strong Cheetah, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

Inside Zora, Sanjay and Viv pass through the fur, the skin and into the muscle, all appropriately depicted. The kids reach the muscle, described as made of bigger and smaller ropes and surrounded by a sleeve (connective tissue), and locate where the ropes are bunched up i.e., the cramp. With the help of a few nifty tools, they repair the muscle and head out. As a pain-free Zora returns to the wild, they advise her to rest, and stay hydrated.

From The Inside Scouts Help the Strong Cheetah, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

With a couple of information pages called "Fun Facts about Muscles," describing how muscles work in our bodies, including the use of terms like skeletal muscles, fibers and connective tissue, Mitali Banerjee Ruths informs while telling a sweet story about kids who help others. She's got a great blend of animals, kids, compassion and STEM to make the Inside Scouts a valuable and charming addition to Acorn's early reader books. And by focusing on an injury or ailment that any child might experience, some common and others less so, Mitali Banerjee Ruths's Inside Scouts will help kids understand and be comforted.

From The Inside Scouts Help the Strong Cheetah, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

The illustrations by New England's Francesca Mahaney have the right chemistry of biology and art. She keeps her shapes bold and distinct and surprisingly defined as necessary for a book that looks at the body structures. As a primer for health and the body, The Inside Scouts Help the Strong Cheetah shows the strong collaboration between Francesca Mahaney's art and the story of Mitali Banerjee Ruths, working like the body itself: distinct parts supporting and integrating.

 

I don't know if there will be more books in the series but, with plenty of injuries and body functions to delve into, the Inside Scouts would have heaps of helping to do. And by helping an assortment of animals, Sanjay and Viv are helping young children understand their own bodies and what can go wrong without taking them into circumstances like hospitals and doctors' offices which have the potential to cause anxiety. With these characters just trying to do good and using fabulous tech to do it, children get a playful but informative look at their own bodies.

 

 • • • • • • •

 

The Inside Scouts Help the Kind Lion (2024)

The Inside Scouts Help the Brave Giraffe (2024)

The Inside Scouts Help the Strong Cheetah (2024)

A Dragon for Hanukkah

Written by Sarah Mlynowski

Illustrated by Ariel Landy

Orchard Books (Scholastic)

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

September 2024

 

Hanukkah, which is also known as the eight-day Festival of Lights, has many traditions from songs sung, candles lit, and foods eaten. But for Hannah, this Hanukkah is something especially magical.

From A Dragon for Hanukkah, written by Sarah Mlynowski, illustrated by Ariel Landy

In Hannah's family, a gift is given on each night, and the gifts this child is given and shares are extraordinary. On the first night of Hanukkah, Hannah receives a fire-breathing dragon whom she names Nerry. (Ner in Hebrew means candle, lamp, or light.) On the second night, her Bubbie (Yiddish for grandmother) gifts her with a rainbow! A treasure chest of gold coins and gems are a gift from her aunt on the third night of Hanukkah while the fourth night sees Hannah receiving a merry-go-round.

From A Dragon for Hanukkah, written by Sarah Mlynowski, illustrated by Ariel Landy

A time machine for the fifth night allows her and her cousin to go back in time and meet the Maccabees while the rocket boots she gets on the sixth night takes Hannah among the stars. On the seventh night, Hannah gets three rambunctious unicorns from her little brother. The eighth night is Hannah's turn to give gifts and hers is a tasty treat concocted in a lab.

From A Dragon for Hanukkah, written by Sarah Mlynowski, illustrated by Ariel Landy

Finally, when everyone is arriving and Hannah is tidying up her room, readers see what her gifts really were. There's a stuffed dragon, a box of rainbow-coloured crayons, a dreidel, chocolate "gelt" and more. And her special concoction? It's potato latkes which the family enjoys as they gather to sing, play dreidel, and celebrate together.

From A Dragon for Hanukkah, written by Sarah Mlynowski, illustrated by Ariel Landy

Writer Sarah Mlynowski, whose Whatever After and other series have made her a New York Times best-selling author, makes Hanukkah even more magical through Hannah's imaginative experiences with the gifts she receives for this festival. She includes all the traditions of Hanukkah from the tzedakah box of donated toys to the lighting of the menorah and the retelling of the Maccabees' story. And yet, among all the familiar elements, Sarah Mlynowski has created a story far greater and fantastic and one that evolves from a child's imagination and wonder. For young celebrants of Hanukkah, they will easily pick up on the traditional elements but for those unfamiliar with the Festival of Lights, Sarah Mlynowski appends her story with an informative dialogue between Hannah and Nerry to provide details related to the story. 

 

Illustrator Ariel Landy, an American based in France, brings the whimsy to Sarah Mlynowski's words making each gift and Hannah's delight with them even greater. From the rainbow that flows out of the room and carries Hannah along with it to a trio of spirited unicorns that arise from drawings her younger brother gives her, there is a playfulness that emphasizes the joys of the celebration. Moreover, Ariel Landy's use of brilliant colours like purples and pinks, lime green and blues make the story sparkle and fresh.

From A Dragon for Hanukkah, written by Sarah Mlynowski, illustrated by Ariel Landy

Perhaps not every child celebrating Hanukkah will receive a dragon or a rainbow but every child who reads A Dragon for Hanukkah will understand the magic that is part of Hannah's celebration. Through the festivities of gift-giving and of traditional food and activity, Sarah Mlynowski and Ariel Landy welcome all readers to a Hanukkah celebration like no other, while teaching them about the festival in an imaginative and colourful way.

Sleepy Bird (new board book edition)

In March of 2018, I reviewed Sleepy Bird, Jeremy Tankard's newest book in his Grumpy Bird series. This book has now be released as a board book, perfect for the youngest of children whom you may be trying to get to bed. The book is as delightful now as it was when I first reviewed it so I wanted to bring it to the attention of parents and teachers and maybe the very young who are starting to read. Sleepy Bird may become their go-to laugh before bed.

 

Written and illustrated by Jeremy Tankard

Scholastic Press

978-1-4431-4632-6

32 pp.

Ages 3-5

August 2024

It's late.  Why isn't Bird sleeping?!

From Sleepy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

Bird is not sleepy, or so he thinks.  He wants to play and party and seeks out each of his animal friends to keep him company.  Each one tells him it's bedtime and recommends a sleep aid like hugging a blankie (that's from Fox), or reading a bedtime story (Beaver), snuggling with a stuffie (Rabbit), singing a lullaby (Raccoon) or counting sheep (obviously from Sheep).  But he poohpoohs their suggestions, storming off like he often does (remember, he was Grumpy Bird in his first book).

From Sleepy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

But, after a little while, he is reduced to tears and questioning empathically "WHY SHOULD I GO TO SLEEP?"  His friends, ever faithful, come running and support their dear friend with all the recommendations they'd made earlier, helping their feathered companion find a way to dreamland.

From Sleepy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

What parent doesn't know the child who will not go to sleep?  In fact, they will recognize the crankiness, protestations, and eventual winding down of a little one, and their own ploys used to help a child fall into slumber.  Undoubtedly they will also recognize some comments made by Bird's friends, especially "I thought he'd NEVER fall asleep," as proclaimed by Fox.  But it's Bird's responses that always have me laughing. (I think, Jeremy Tankard, there's a Funny Bird in your future.) Bird's replies to his friends, ever escalating in their intensity, include "Blankie shmankie", "Are you TRYING to give me nightmares?" and to Sheep's suggestion of counting sheep: "HOW CAN YOU GET SLEEPY COUNTING TO ONE?"

But, as clever as the text is and as pertinent as its theme, Sleepy Bird will grab readers and non-readers with its bold and colourful illustrations.  Jeremy Tankard's wacky characters are as familiar now as Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit and Mo Willems's Elephant and Piggie and we love everything about them: their vibrant colours, coarse lines and clean shapes as well as their expressive poses and faces. What is more is that Jeremy Tankard's landscapes of splatterings of flowers, rocks, and trees amidst enormous ground-level stars and a moon provide a surreal contrast to a very commonplace story i.e. putting a reluctant child to bed.

So, the next time you have to help little ones find their way to rest, grab those blankies and stuffies and read Sleepy Bird.  I can't assure you that they'll go to sleep but you'll at least enjoy the attempt until they decide for themselves that sleep is best.

• • • • • • •

 

Grumpy Bird (2007)

Boo Hoo Bird (2009)

Hungry Bird (2016)

Sleepy Bird (2018)

Faker

Written by Gordon Korman

Scholastic

978-1-338826753

224 pp.

Ages 8–12

July 2024

 

As Dad always says, the intersection of too much money and too little know-how is the sweet spot of our family business. (p. 2)

That family business is conning rich people out of their money and Trey and Arianna's father is a master. The con always changes, just like their names and locations, but the kids, Trey who is now 12 and Arianna who is 10, have always been part of the operation. It's often Trey who makes the connections with worthy marks when he is sent to exclusive boarding schools, but Arianna is desperate to prove her worth too. Although Dad and the kids are a strong unit–Mom left when they were very young–Trey is always sorry when they must do a "Houdini" and disappear. He likes having friends and being part of something other than a family scam.

After returning from their latest Caribbean holiday after a necessary Houdini, Dad takes them to Boxelder, Tennessee where they become Davis Kirkwood II (Dad who is known as Junior), Trey is Davis Kirkwood III (get it? - Trey for three), and Arianna is Aryana Kirkwood (same first name, different spelling). They have a house in the exclusive The Pointe neighbourhood and the kids will be going to regular school. Before Dad has even devised a scam, Trey is making a connection with Logan Romano, a neighbourhood kid whose parents are art dealers. Never to be outdone, Arianna brings home Micah Zabrachian whose parents own the largest home around. Finally, Dad comes up with a scam that may be the Big Kahuna: an amazing electric vehicle that can go 1000 miles on a single charge. He calls it El Capitan and gets a guy he knows–Dad knows a guy for everything–to create El Capitan from parts of a Tesla and other cars. It may not do what he's telling everyone it can, but it's gorgeous and attention-grabbing and people want in on the investment.

Meanwhile, Trey is fitting in nicely at Boxelder Middle School and has even joined YAAP, the Youth Alliance for Albion Pond, an environmental group headed by Kaylee Novak who lives in the less-affluent community of Albion. He's a little smitten with Kaylee, whose father is Trey's social studies teacher, so he's happy to help support the remediation of Albion Pond.

But then things go awry when Dad has incidentally selected the location of Albion Pond as the future home of El Capitan's first, and fictional, factory. Trey may know the company isn't real, but Kaylee certainly doesn't and YAAP's fight suddenly moves in a different direction.

How does Trey support "the family business" and still have a cohort of friends, albeit one that will be abandoned when Dad calls the next Houdini? And what of Arianna whose petulance at not being considered a full partner is becoming exasperating? And then there's the emails from I.C. All that suggest the scam has been discovered. 

What a story! Trey is an average kid who wants to have friends and be liked, play sports and be appreciated by his family. He's often torn by the ethics of what his Dad does but he's not exactly in a position to challenge it. The cons are what feed them and provide for them. But Trey is starting to question things more, mostly courtesy of Mr. Novak's lessons on ethics and Trey liking Kaylee, but he knows no other life than that of the scam. Gordon Korman, the master of middle-grade novels with heart and humour, never makes us judge Trey's family though. The reader knows theft by con artists is wrong, but Faker is less about the criminality and more about the ethics of balancing family and what's right and wrong. Gordon Korman makes us empathize with Trey's dilemma–personally I found his younger sister more of a problem than the con–recognizing the familiar need to fit in. Trey may not realize he's becoming popular in his own right but he's a nice guy and fitting in might just become a problem for a kid who's not supposed to make real connections with people, only fake ones.

Faker is a fabulously real story of a middle-grade kid caught between a rock and a hard place who finds out that things aren't always as they appear. His dad may be responsible for much of the deception but, when you're loyal to a person whose vocation is to rip-off people, it's hard to know what's right or wrong. Fortunately, even at age 12, Trey finds a way to see past the fakery and come out from that uncomfortable position and ascend to a place of decency.

The Inside Scouts Help the Brave Giraffe (The Inside Scouts #2)

Written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths

Illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

Acorn (Scholastic)

978-1-338-89501-8

64 pp.

Ages 5–7

June 2024

 

Sanjay and Viv, the Inside Scouts who can shrink down and go inside animals to help them feel better, are on their second case with a giraffe who cannot eat because her tummy feels sick. So, to discover what is stuck in her gut, the two friends approach Sabeena the giraffe to see if they can help.

From The Inside Scouts Help the Brave Giraffe, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

After a few questions about when Sabeena started to feel ill–after eating her lunch of leaves–the two learn from an embarrassed Sabeena that, in addition to not wanting to eat, she can't poop. Thankful for the info, the Inside Scouts suit up and jump into her mouth to travel down the esophagus into her stomach. (For details about the digestive system, there is a "Fun Facts about the Gut" that describes the parts (including how to pronounce them) and its workings.)

From The Inside Scouts Help the Brave Giraffe, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

But the stomach looks clear so the two raft down into the intestines with its walls with "pink fingers" where they find a ball of thorns, undoubtedly the cause of Sabeena's discomfort. With a blast tool and a net, they trap the offending mass, moving themselves back out with sticky grips until Sanjay and Viv are burped out of Sabeena. 

Inside Scouts go inside together.

When animals need help,

we help them get better! (p. 54)

From The Inside Scouts Help the Brave Giraffe, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

When Mitali Banerjee Ruths, MD, introduced The Inside Scouts series earlier this year with The Inside Scouts Help the Kind Lion, I was hooked. She based her story on two friends, both of colour, who worked with animals, health, and tech to do good. The stories are light, perfect for an early reader, but informative, drawing readers in with their rhyming superhero chants, their internal adventures, and wild tech. Coupled with Francesca Mahaney's digital art, the stories are colourful, a little whimsical–see Sabeena shyly "going" behind a bush once her gut is working again–and bold while never complicated.

From The Inside Scouts Help the Brave Giraffe, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

With Sanjay and Viv around to help explain personal health issues, young readers will never need to be embarrassed about asking questions to help them understand their bodies. With Book 3, The Inside Scouts Help the Strong Cheetah, set for a fall release, it looks like there will be more learning happening, inside and out.

 

 • • • • • • •

The Inside Scouts Help the Kind Lion (February 2024)
The Inside Scouts Help the Brave Giraffe (June 2024)
The Inside Scouts Help the Strong Cheetah (October 2024)