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MADreads Reviews

Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

Spark of imagination

Posted by Tracy on Jun 27, 2025 - 7:21pm
Joseph
Coelho

The tiniest of words can create the BIGGEST of feelings – or at least that’s true in Ten-Word Tiny Tales of Love by Joseph Coelho.

Miyeok guk for everyone

Posted by Molly W on Jun 20, 2025 - 9:01am
A review of Birthday Soup by
Grace Seo
Chang
Jaime
Kim (Illustrator)

Maya is excited and nervous to share her Korean family's tradition of birthday soup, or miyeok guk, with her friends at her birthday party.

Little siblings can get away with anything

Posted by Holly SP on Jun 13, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of Chooch Helped by
Andrea
Rogers

Chooch is the baby. Well, he's not really a baby anymore, but anytime Chooch makes a mess, everyone says, "He's just usdi. Let him help." To Sissy, it feels like Chooch can get away with anything. He helps Elisi paint a mural, Etsi sew moccasins, and Edutsi make grape dumplings. Anyone who has ever let a toddler "help" with something can imagine how this goes, and when he helps Sissy make a clay pot she finally loses patience.

The magic of ice

Posted by Molly W on May 23, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of A Little Like Magic by
Sarah
Kurpiel

A little girl using a power wheelchair does not want to get bundled up in a heavy coat, itchy hat, and stiff boots to go out into the cold and wind.  She does not like going to new places, but her mother assures her it will be all right.  They head to a park where an ice sculpture event takes place.  The artists are drilling, sawing, chiseling, and more to create something out of ice.  The girl and her mother talk about why someone might spend so much time creating something that will melt and are not in agreement about whether it's worth it or not.  

To market

Posted by Tracy on May 20, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of The Last Stand by
Antwan
Eady

A young boy takes on the legacy of farming from his Papa/grandpa in The Last Stand by Antwan Eady and Illustrated by Jarrett & Jerome Pumpherey (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024). Papa sells pumpkins, peppers, plums, and eggs at the local Farmer’s Market. But, each year the market has fewer and fewer stands – until - Papa’s stand is the very last one. Papa takes his job of farming very seriously and steadfastly harvests crops and eggs every Saturday. “Papa’s hands are black and wrinkled. And each wrinkle tells me a story.

Melodic Text and Images

Posted by MADreads on May 9, 2025 - 2:36pm
A review of Desert Song by
Laekan Zea
Kemp
Beatriz
Guiterrez

Sounds of the desert come together to form a song that takes the reader through a night full of memories and familial connectedness. The illustrations beautifully accompany the text and make the story feel like a hug.

The book begins at the end of a day with the sun brushing the tops of the mountains and follows the course of a night until the sun rises again. The author and illustrator move in tandem to tell the beautiful story of family, tradition, and the landscape of the desert. This is a beautiful story that I would recommend to any family!

Feeding the world one plate at a time

Posted by Molly W on May 6, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of A Plate of Hope by
Erin
Frankel

World-renowned humanitarian and chef José Andrés's love of cooking started as a boy in Spain cooking paella for family over an open fire.  As he grew older, attended cooking school, and traveled the world, he dreamed of the stories he could tell with food.  While feeding sailors on a famous Spanish Navy ship, José wished that everyone everywhere had enough food to eat. 

Coming soon to a picture book near you!

Posted by Holly SP on Apr 29, 2025 - 3:12pm

A handful of new picture books feature characters and stories from popular books for older kids, introducing these worlds to younger readers!

Another Beautiful Wordless Picture Book by Aaron Becker

Posted by MADreads on Apr 25, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of The Last Zookeeper by
Aaron
Becker

Aaron Becker once again proves how powerful wordless picture books can be. The Last Zookeeper tells the story of Noa, the last robot of a crew of seawall construction team, as he works to save abandoned animals at a flooding zoo. Full of imaginative ingenuity, Noa builds a boat and sails away into the horizon with the animals.

Will he be successful in saving them all? Will they simply survive, or is there something wonderful awaiting them? Be sure to read this gorgeous and heartwarming story to find out!

A bright look at death and grief

Posted by Molly W on Apr 22, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of John the Skeleton by
Triinu
Laan

This picture book is a black, white, and neon pink look at a classroom skeleton named John who retires and moves to the country to live with Grams and Gramps in a cottage in the woods.  Grams and Gramps have lived in this cottage for a long time, and it is described as a little bit crooked and a little bit under the weather.  This perfectly describes what my fixer-upper home is like, with an inspired twist on words.  John the Skeleton is a book in translation, and as such, it opens the reader to concepts, words, and illustrations that have a distinct Northern European flair.  Gramp

In the deep ocean, everything is connected

Posted by MADreads on Apr 18, 2025 - 4:36pm

This gorgeously illustrated nonfiction picture book shows the unique ecosystem of a whale fall. A massive blue whale dies, and her decomposing body nourishes various marine life, from scavengers to microorganisms, on the ocean floor over more than a century. Jason Chin’s watercolors beautifully depict the process in all its phases.

The life cycle of a bus

Posted by Tracy on Apr 15, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of The Yellow Bus by
Loren
Long

Joy comes in many forms in The Yellow Bus by Loren Long. We see the new yellow school bus carrying children from home to school. “And they filled her with joy.” Then, the bus has a new life driving older riders to the library and to country parks. They, too, “filled her with joy.” The illustrations show the sunshine yellow of the bus and everything in and around the bus drenched in color. Beyond these bright colors, the rest of the page is muted and in greyscale. This makes the yellow bus always pop off the page.

Stacks of deliciousness

Posted by Abby R on Mar 25, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of Noodles on a Bicycle by
Kyo
Maclear

Long before the days of cellphones and food delivery apps, demae (cycling deliverymen) used bicycles and amazing acrobatic balancing skills to deliver trays of steaming soba (buckwheat) noodles to hungry residents of Tokyo. The neighborhood kids all wonder, how do they manage those tottering towers of tasty food and stacks of breakable dishes while steering through the crowded streets with one hand on the handlebars? What would happen if the kids tried that too?

Singing in celebration

Posted by Abby R on Mar 18, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of Joyful Song by
Leslea
Newman
There's a new baby at Zachary's house and he is thrilled to be a big brother. Best of all, it's his sister's very first Shabbat, and today she will be welcomed into her Jewish faith community when her name is announced publicly for the first time. On the walk to the synagogue, Zachary, Mama and Mommy encounter many neighbors eager to meet the newest member of the family. "Want to come with us to her naming ceremony?" Zachary invites. Of course they all do, and of course we readers want to come, too!