Betty and the Mysterious Visitor
by Anne Twist, Emily Sutton (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Betty loves to visit her grandmother in the country. They get to work in the community garden and harvest berries to make jam. But one morning they discover that something has destroyed part of the garden, digging up the grass and flowers and plants. Betty stays up late to spy out her window and she sees a badger digging up the garden looking for food. Betty comes up with a plan to scare off the badger and save the garden!

Dakota Crumb and the Secret Bookshop: A Tiny Treasure Hunt
by Jamie Michalak (Goodreads Author), Kelly Murphy (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Dakota the mouse receives a letter from her cousin Julien begging for her help to find a lost book. Dakota follows the clues to a bookstore in Paris. She must search diligently to find each clue along the way that leads her to the secret book. But when she reaches the end of her search, the book is not at all what she expected.

Moving the Millers’ Minnie Moore Mine Mansion: A True Story
by Dave Eggers, Júlia Sardà (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

In the 1870s, a silver mine was established in Idaho when a dog chasing a gopher starting digging a hole and found silver in the ground. A man named Minnie Moore sold the silver mine to Henry Miller, making it Miller’s Minnie Moore Mine. Henry Miller built a beautiful mansion for his wife and son.

Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories
by Jarvis

5 out of 5 stars

Bird is waiting for Bear to come out and play when she falls into a flower and can’t get out. She’s trapped upside down inside the petals! Bear comes out looking for her and thinks he has found a talking flower that keeps yelling for help.

A Gift from Abuela
by Cecilia Ruiz

5 out of 5 stars

Abuela and Niña are as close as can be. They play together, shop together, cook together, and make beautiful cut banners (papel picado) in pretty designs. They always go to the park and buy delicious pan dulce (sweet pastry) to share together. Every week Abuela sets aside a little bit of cash in a savings tin to someday buy a special surprise for her granddaughter. But as the economy in Mexico changes, they can’t afford as many things. The government changes the money, and everyone has to exchange their cash. And Niña grows up a little more all the time. She spends more time with her school friends, instead of spending all her time with her grandmother. With all the changes around them, can Abuela and Niña still capture the love and happiness they used to have?

Lupe Lopez: Reading Rock Star!
by E.E. Charlton-Trujillo (Goodreads Author), Pat Zietlow Miller (Goodreads Author), Joe Cepeda (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Lupe is a rock star with music, but when she tries to read it’s slow going. The school has a “Reading Wall of Fame” and you can get a shiny yellow star next to your name. Lupe wants to be rock star with reading too! But when one of her classmates makes fun of her slow reading, Lupe decides to give up on reading. It’s too hard to sound out all the words. Her teacher tells her that reading and music work together, but Lupe just can’t see it. Will she ever become a star reader?

Great White Shark
by Claire Saxby (Goodreads Author), Cindy Lane (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

A female great white shark roams the oceans, searching for prey. She navigates through a sense called electroreception. She can find her way through miles and miles of ocean. She hunts seal pups, striking fast and sure to get her meal. She has special muscles that help her to move quickly in the water. She travels to warmer water to give birth to seven baby sharks, and immediately abandons them. They must fend for themselves, but she has left them in a place with rich and abundant food.

My Dog Just Speaks Spanish
by Andrea Cáceres

5 out of 5 stars

When Aurora moves to the United States, she learns English. But Nena the dog does not learn English! Aurora has to give Nena commands in Spanish so that the dog can understand. All the other dogs at the park obey English commands, and only Nena needs to hear “fetch” in Spanish. But Aurora doesn’t mind. She has fun teaching their new friends how to give commands in Spanish, so that they can all play with Nena!

The Night the Stars Went Missing
by Arthur J. Gonzalez (Goodreads Author)

3.5 out of 5 stars
One night the stars disappear, and Winston asks the moon what is going on. The moon says that the stars are all hiding because they are afraid. Winston climbs into the sky and walks among the clouds to see if he can find the stars. One little star falls into the cloud, and leads Winston to the hiding place where the other stars have congregated. The stars tell Winston that they are distressed by all the pollution on Earth, so he promises that he will help to clean up the Earth. He returns to Earth and rallies all his friends and neighbors to clean up trash and plant trees. The next night, the stars have returned, knowing that Winston and others like him will keep their promise.

My Piano
by Jen Fier Jasinski (Goodreads Author), Anita Bagdi (Illustrator)

4.5 out of 5 stars
A little girl prepares for her recital. She explains to the reader about all the different parts of the piano in a sing-song rhyme. We learn about the frame and strings inside the piano, and how the pedal controls the dampers, and how the keys control the hammers which strike the strings. When it’s time for the recital, the little girl is nervous, but she takes a deep breath and focuses on her music. She shares the beautiful rhythms and cadences with her listeners. The music flows out of her instrument, and there is thunderous applause!