Category Archives: review

From A Rocky Start to Solid Pals: A Review of Still Friends

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Still Friends
Troy Wilson
Illustrated by Mike Deas
Orca Book Publishers
Ages 3-5
Available May 19th, 2026

On a routine trip to the neighborhood park with his owner, one friendly (and inquisitive!) pup notices a lone girl sitting on the bench. He wants to play, but she doesn’t move (or talk!). Nothing but stone-cold silence. But as the seasons pass and the months go by, he learns to appreciate her stability. She doesn’t make him go to the vet, or scold him when he eats a dropped hot dog, and maybe, after all, he can learn to love her for exactly what she is… rock solid.

The charm of this picture book lies not just in its endearing, offbeat premise—unlikely companionship between a statue and a dog—but also in its world. Quirky characters, like a recurring flock of nosy pigeons, the stern lady manning the hot dog cart, and a family of birds who just won’t stop eating seeds, let the story come alive; perfect small details for eagle-eyed younger readers. The words are simple and sparse, yet still emotionally resonant. Deas’ soft pastel and watercolor illustrations bring a warmth and nostalgia to the story, with thoughtful usage of white space and sketchily drawn lines that feel lived-in and familiar, keeping each page spread from feeling too cluttered with the chaos of this faux-Central Park.

All in all, Still Friends is a tenderly funny read, inviting young audiences to reconsider what friendship can look like—and how sometimes, the most unexpected companions are the ones who stay.

By the Pricking of My Thumbs: A Review of A Coven of Witches: Spellbinding Tales of Magic and Myth

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A Coven of Witches: Spellbinding Tales of Magic and Myth
Alexis Powell
Illustrated by Marina Vidal
Gibbs Smith
Ages 8-12
Available July 14, 2026

This collection of scary stories form Alexis Powell asks what it means to be a witch, through the lenses of folklore, mythology, and history. Whether they’re climbing on to ghost trains or being dragged into the spotlight of a circus sideshow, the characters in these stories come face to face with the otherworldly and unexplainable. Will they make it out of their encounters unharmed?

Mixing the imagined and the factual, each story is accompanied by a blurb explaining the real folktale, mythological figure, or event its based on. Powell takes inspiration from across time and space, pulling from sources from the Bible to 19th century New Orleans.

A Coven of Witches is well-suited for readers from scared-cats to hardcore horror fans, with each story receiving a “fright level” score out of three to serve as a guide for those who might want to skip the true spine tinglers. A wide variety of cultural perspectives allows anyone who picks up the collection to learn something new, regardless of their previous knowledge of witchcraft and mythology.

The Nature of Healing: A Review of To the Last Gram

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To the Last Gram
Shreya Davies
Illustrated by Vanessa Wong
Difference Engine
Ages 13+
Available May 12th, 2026

To the Last Gram follows eighteen-year-old Divya as she reflects on childhood insecurity and navigates her teenage years in a body that never feels quite right. What begins as an awareness of her weight quickly spirals into portion control and exercise obsession as Divya’s relationship with food—and herself—becomes more and more turbulent.

Shreya Davies approaches Divya’s coming-of-age story with a careful balance of honesty and tact, detailing the gradual descent into anorexia in a way that feels both deeply personal and painfully recognizable. What seems to linger most is the graphic novel’s understanding of food as something far more complicated & complex than just sustenance. Within Divya’s Indian-Singaporean upbringing, food is seen as love, ritual, and expectation; it’s something you can’t easily turn away from. That tension sits at the heart of the story, exploring Divya’s struggles in a cultural way, a narrative that’s seldom explored this carefully. Vanessa Wong’s illustrations carry that same emotional weight, their limited color palette and careful attention to the characters’ expressions highlighting just how quietly painful and incredibly nuanced disordered eating can be.

Although the story ends with hope, it never simplifies recovery. Davies leaves space for relapse, uncertainty, and for the ongoing nature of healing, being far from linear. To the Last Gram is unflinchingly honest and incredibly human: a resonant read that explores something sadly so many young adults face.

New Adventures: A Review of Unexpected Guests

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Unexpected Guests
Mariajo Ilustrajo
The Quarto Group/Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Ages 3-5
Available March 17, 2026

The mice have some unexpected guests — humans have moved into their house! They’re not too sure what to think, but when they start investigating, they discover that the humans come with all sorts of exciting (and delicious) human things. But when they push their luck and sneak back for more, they end up face-to-face with a human girl. Are humans everything they were afraid of after all?

Illustrajo’s charming mixed media illustrations bring life to the mice and their human counterparts, often playing with scale and contrast between the mice’s home below the floorboards and the humans’ home above.

This simple and inviting tale is engaging to read and packed with lots to look at. Young readers can enjoy the tale of adventure while keeping an eye out for recognizable household objects being put to unconventional uses by the mice.

A Stick (Or Princess) In The Mud: A Review of Her Muddy Majesty of Muck

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Her Muddy Majesty of Muck
Beatrice Alemagna
Astra Books for Young Readers / Hippo Park
Ages 5-8
Available March 31st, 2026

Little Yuki and her older brother Shen are far from friends. Yuki has big feelings, and Shen has little patience for her stomps and tears. One afternoon on the walk home from school, Yuki, in a fit of rage, flings their house keys into the sewer. When she climbs down after them, she comes face-to-face with the Muddy Majesty of Muck: an ooey, gooey creature made entirely of mud. The Muddy Majesty takes Yuki on a journey underground, meeting Boogers who love to be mean, and trekking to a museum of objects left behind by those who lost their tempers once, too. Along the way, the Muddy Majesty explains that the meaner Yuki becomes, the bigger she grows. Yuki feels like she’ll be stuck underground forever, but then she spots Shen, who’s come to her rescue. The siblings reconcile, Yuki feels her anger melt away, and although the Muddy Majesty has now shrunk, Yuki promises to come back and visit her soon—to make mud pies, of course.

Alemagna’s incredibly charming illustrations, created through an endearing and eclectic potpourri of gouache, collage, oil paint, and wax pencils, make Her Muddy Majesty of Muck just as delightful visually as it is in its storytelling. The dialogue is simple yet incredibly effective, and the humor—snarky Boogers attempting to read or bathe or don heels and a muddy princess who can’t stop dripping—will appeal to younger and older readers alike. Most importantly, the story’s message resonates: we shouldn’t let our feelings consume us. Anger, envy, and sadness can be messy, but with persistence and love and maybe a nice shower, even the muddiest of feelings can eventually be washed clean.

Can You Survive?: A Review of Dungeon Crawl at the Haunted Mall

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Dungeon Crawl at the Haunted Mall
Jendia Gammon
Illustrated by Elena Dall’Aglio
ChooseCo
Ages 8-12
Available April 21, 2026

The old mall in town has been closed since a toxic spill in the 80’s. It’s totally abandoned, probably haunted, and most likely contaminated with toxic waste, and that makes it the perfect place for you and your friends to explore for your YouTube channel! But when your friend Drea doesn’t show up and your crew is forced to venture inside the mall to look for her, things start getting creepy quickly. Will you survive zombies, popcorn monsters, and the evil warlock Valdraant? Only you can find out, because in this addition to the classic Choose Your Own Adventure series, you make the choices, and you control how the story ends.

Gammon’s Choose Your Own Adventure tale is seeped in 80’s nostalgia, with clear influences from B-Movie horror flicks and Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. Whether the cast of characters is wandering into an old-school arcade or performing synchronized aerobics in neon leotards, the book has an over-the-top campy feel with surprises around every corner. Big moments are accompanied by Dall’Aglio’s illustrations, allowing readers a peek into the wacky world they’re exploring.

With its 80’s aesthetic and D&D influences, Dungeon Crawl at the Haunted Mall is perfectly teed up to appeal to Stranger Things fans looking for a new fix. Fantasy fans will enjoy the magical overtones, while roleplayers will enjoy the engaging Choose Your Own Adventure storytelling format. Fast paced action and plenty of humor give the story wide appeal across young readers.

Not a Long Time: A Review of Here for a Good Time

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Here for a Good Time
Kim Spencer
Penguin Random House Canada / Swift Water Books
Ages 14+
Available March 10th, 2026

It’s 1990, and teenage Morgan and her wild-child best friend, Skye, are two Indigenous girls “here for a good time,” drinking, flirting, and partying in Prince Rupert, a small Canadian fishing town. Morgan is no stranger to tragedy: her alcoholic mother abandoned the family years earlier, but her world completely collapses when her father is killed in a boating accident. When Morgan’s mother returns to town, grief—and recklessness—force her into an alternative school, where she falls for Nate Jones, a well-read Indigenous boy with suprisingly worldly taste. As the two grow closer, an unplanned teen pregnancy and an unexpected mother-daughter reunion force Morgan to confront how loss and love can coexist.

Although classified as historical fiction, Spencer—a member of the Gitxaala Nation herself—writes with poignant accuracy, tactfully balancing the turbulence of teenage life, from fake IDs to bad boyfriends, with the enduring impact of intergenerational trauma shaped by Canada’s residential school system. Despite the sparse sentences and short vignette-like scenes, Here for a Good Time delivers an emotional, impactful story that spotlights Indigenous resilience.

Spencer opens the novel with a brief heavy content warning, but doesn’t shy away from exploring difficult issues, including racism, alcoholism, and sexual assault. These honest portrayals have the power to be incredibly important for younger readers, providing a window into aspects of Indigenous life, culture, and tragic systemic abuse that are seldom represented by our history books.

From Hades and Back: A Review of Styx and Stones

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Styx and Stones
Gary D. Schmidt and Ron Koertge
HarperCollins/Clarion Books
Ages 8-12
Available May 6, 2026

Simon has been 13 for a long time. 2,000 years, in fact — ever since he died protecting his brothers during a Spartan attack on Athens. He’s spent his time since then in Hades, serving Persephone, learning from all the greatest thinkers who ever lived (and died), and trying every day to get out. When he finally makes his escape, he finds himself once again in the land of the living. Specifically, in a middle school boy’s bathroom. Simon is ready to live life to the fullest alongside his new friend Zeke, but Hades isn’t ready to let him go so easily. The Lord of the Underworld and his demons are set on getting him back, even if it means taking out Simon’s new mortal friends along the way.

Schmidt and Koertge mix the ancient and the modern in ways both hilarious and heartwarming. While Simon is confronted by the mysteries of smartphones and middle school, his new friends and classmates are surprised by his sincerity and gentleness. While reveling in his second chance at life, Simon brings a unique outlook and thankfulness that challenges the ways his new friends see and conduct themselves, Themes of loss and grief are present throughout the book, as are the contrasts between life and death.

Styx and Stones has just enough Greek mythology to hook those with a casual interest and fans of similar series such as Percy Jackson, although those with an especially deep interest may be disappointed by a lack of breadth and depth. Young readers with an interest in thrilling escapes and earnest adventures will enjoy reading about Simon and Zeke.

Olive You, Too: A Review of The Giant and the Olive

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The Giant and the Olive
Leo Daly
Catalyst Press
Ages 4-10
Available February 3rd, 2026

Once there was a happy giant who did all the usual giant things—scaring cows and “Ho-Ho-Ho”-ing all day long. That is, until he stumbles upon what feels like the most beautiful treasure of all: a tiny, shiny black olive. He proudly shows it off to the town & his friends, kisses it goodnight, and tucks it under the covers each evening. But after one fateful, maybe-too-tight hug ends with a POP!, the giant is devastated by his broken treasure. Through all four seasons, he mourns, weeping over the olive’s grave. Things look bleak until one sunny morning, he discovers that his giant tears might’ve made for the perfect fertilizer; an olive tree has begun to grow!

Through simple dialogue that still effortlessly conveys big emotion, The Giant and the Olive tiptoes between grief and humor with a gentle charm, complemented by Daly’s color-packed, hatched illustrations. With themes that align naturally with social–emotional learning, the story emphasizes the importance of leaning on friends, or even an entire town, during moments of loss. This makes it a thoughtful learning & regulating tool for younger children, as well as older elementary readers who may be encountering heavy, hard feelings for the first time. Daly is careful not to paint grief and sadness as something to simply “get over,” as he makes sure to end with a final, encouraging (and perhaps giant) message: change and loss and olive (all of) one’s love can lead to new, beautiful beginnings.

All You Need Is Love: A Review of We All Love

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We All Love
Julie Flett
Greystone Books / Greystone Kids
Ages 3+
Available February 10th, 2026!

From snuggling otters & hand-holding crabs under the sea to a family fireside bundled up in the cold, we all love. Flowers dance in the wind. Big stars illuminate the night. Warm stones make the perfect perch for a plover. The stories of flora & fauna are the stories of love—all around us, inside us, and they, as author Julie Flett suggests, help us grow.

As a sequel to the award-winning We All Play, Julie Flett returns, even five years later, with the same easy-to-read charm that made the original so beloved. The book maintains its distinctly handmade feel through soft pastel illustrations and simple yet poetic sentences that are perfectly suited for younger readers. Throughout the book, a recurring Cree phrase, kîstanaw mîna, meaning “we do too!” appears across various pages, reinforcing the central message of shared experience, interconnectedness between nature, and belonging. A helpful glossary of Cree animal names alongside their English counterparts is included, as well as pronunciation guidance that invites readers to engage more confidently with the language. The glossary thoughtfully notes that many Cree words don’t have direct English translations, instead reflecting a fluid process of innovation and creation rooted in Cree culture. Because of this, the book functions not only as a story but as a gentle educational tool.

We All Love is a great semi-bilingual introduction for readers interested in exploring a new language, particularly one that may be unfamiliar to most, while honoring Julie Fleet’s Cree-Métis roots in Indigenous language and knowledge. Through its celebration of nature, language, and connection, We All Love is the perfect affirmation that love surrounds us.