Niko loves to draw his world: the ring-a-ling of the ice cream truck, the warmth of sun on his face. But no one appreciates his art. Until one day, Niko meets Iris . . . This imaginative and tender story explores the creative process, abstract art, friendship, and the universal desire to feel understood.

A misunderstood wolf writes poems about his forest home and friends in this breathtaking picture book Black Bear-ies Cute black fruit snack. Tiny. Shiny. Pick some, lick thumbs. Cub grub. The Poet Wolf loves to write pithy verse in the pine forest, but his forest friends see not a poet, but a hungry wolf. That is, until they listen to his lovely poems about life in the woods and discover that behind this apex predator is a sensitive soul who prefers to eat not his furry fellow creatures, but crisp pears.

Who says words need to be concrete? This collection shapes poems in surprising and delightful ways. Concrete poetry is a perennially popular poetic form because they are fun to look at. But by using the arrangement of the words on the page to convey the meaning of the poem, concrete or shape poems are also easy to write! From the author of the incredibly inventive Lemonade: And Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word comes another clever collection that shows kids how to look at words and poetry in a whole new way.

An empowering reflection on the many things we are and the ways we relate to the world. You are a living thing. You breathe. You eat. You Sleep. You work and play. You have dreams and fears. You have thoughts and memories. You are. What makes you you? So much goes into who you are, and you are so many different things: A child, an animal, a body of water, a friend, a mystery, one-of-a-kind, a miracle. You are and could be so many things, but whatever you choose to do, it’s your life to write, you are a story. Poet Bob Raczka’s You are a Story highlights all of the nuance and potential of a growing person’s identity, delighting in the things that make us special and connect us to others. Text and illustrations replete with inventive imagery and appealing metaphors show how we all live as individuals and citizens of the world.